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By Aaron Rutkoff

The Peace Corps is not for everyone.  It takes a lot to voluntarily relocate to a faraway land — often a place where you do not speak the language — and spend years working towards the betterment of people’s lives in developing countries.

But Tom and Tina O’Keeffe came into their relationship each wanting to join the Corps, and their shared curiosity fueled each other’s interest in the program even as their blossoming relationship seemed to block the way forward. 

“We talked a little about it when we first started dating,” Tina explained, “but you cannot do the Peace Corps together unless you are married, so we tabled the discussion.”

Once they got married, though, they decided to throw themselves into the Peace Corps together, diving into life as newlyweds while simultaneously immersing themselves into training for their roles as Peace Corps volunteers.

Tom and Tina O’Keeffe spoke with the Tribune via email from Ukraine as their training neared completion and discussed their Queens life, their feelings about the Peace Corps and their experiences as newlyweds.

While Tina is quick to point out that the Peace Corps is not their honeymoon — “We spent ten days in Tahiti.  That’s a honeymoon, this is work!” — their experience as fledgling volunteers has shaped their entry into married life.

“We are using this time to build a strong foundation for our marriage and family.  We depend on each other quite a lot,” Tina said.

After completing his undergraduate studies at Iona College, Tom O’Keeffe found himself with the opportunity to do some traveling before moving along with his professional life.  He spent three months backpacking through China followed by another three months making his way across Europe. “That’s where the idea of Peace Corps first hit me,” he explained.

The newlywed volunteers are shown (above) in front of a statue of Taras Shevchenko, a famous Ukrainian poet and leader.

“I kept running into volunteers who were also traveling and they would talk about their experiences.  All of them loved it.”

Now 27, Tom is the eldest of five siblings and was born in Jackson Heights and raised in Bellerose, where his parents live currently.  His mother teaches at St. John’s University and his father is a pharmacist at Creedmor Hospital.

The Peace Corps seemed like a perfect way to see new places and learn about new cultures while doing important work.  Tom said he initiated an application even while he was still trekking across Europe, only to put his plans on hold in order to finish his studies for an MBA and gain some experience at an investment firm.  “The idea of the Peace Corps was shelved, but always stayed in the back of my mind,” he added.

Those ideas came surging forward again when Tom met Christina Teresa Lopez in March 2000. 

“I met Tom at his own housewarming party in Astoria,” Tina said.  The two had several mutual friends from high school — Tom had even taken one of Tina’s friends to the prom.

Tina, now 28, was raised in Fresh Meadows, the youngest of three children born to Cuban immigrant parents.  She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997 with a degree in English and communications, and landed back at her home in Queens to work on a novel before joining the Peace Corps.

After talking at the party, Tom and Tina’s relationship gained intensity almost immediately.  Tina recalled, “The party was on a Saturday night.  We had our first date on that Monday, two days later.  We never looked back, we became serious right away.”

The two discovered their shared interest in the Peace Corps early on, Tom said, but didn’t seriously consider joining until after they were in engaged in October 2001 — shortly after the events of Sept. 11, which put the risks associated with Peace Corps in a new perspective, they told the Tribune.

 “There were many reasons we wanted to join: the excitement of experiencing a new culture in a new land, the chance to learn a new language, the opportunity to use our skills and education to make a real difference,” Tom explained.  “And, frankly, we started feeling that other countries weren’t any more dangerous than New York anymore.”

Tina added, “Basically, we continued forward with the idea that we could back out.  But in the end, we felt it was right for us and we really wanted to do it.”

The O’Keeffe’s were assigned together to the program in Ukraine, where there has been an active Peace Corps presence since 1992, right after the country gained independence from the former Soviet Union.  Currently, there are 82 volunteers working in the country on business development, education (especially teaching English) and environmental programs.

Founded in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy in the spirit of his now-famous remark, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,” the mission of the Peace Corps is to promote world peace and friendship.  There are now 6,678 volunteers serving in 70 countries around the world.

Before embarking on active development work within a local community, volunteers receive a training course that lasts several months. 

“Training is intense,” Tina said.  “We lived for three months in a town called Obuxiv just outside of Kiev.” Tom and Tina lived together with a host family, but attended separate training schools.

All volunteers undergo language, cultural and hands-on technical training.  

Tina said, “While in training, we learn the language and also do an internship program where we work with a local organization.  My group held a seminar on grant writing for the Women’s Business Alliance of Obuxiv.” 

Since the O’Keeffe’s are bound for western Ukraine to a town called L’Viv, they spent the months of training learning to speak Ukrainian and use the Cyrillic alphabet.  Eventually, they will both assist in business development in L’Viv — Tom employing his MBA and investment bank experiences at the local credit union, while Tina works at the town’s Youth Employment Center. 

“We are being trained on how to convey basic business information and skills to the people of Ukraine,” Tina explained.

Not only are Tom and Tina relatively exceptional for embarking on the Peace Corps as a couple (there are five other couple in their program), but they are also among the youngest volunteers. 

Since most in the group are single and struggling with loneliness in a foreign country, other volunteers are reacting and adapting to the stability Tom and Tina’s established relationship brings.  “People tend to confide in us, and we get to see the problems that they are facing compared to our own,” Tom said.

“We share an apartment but will work in different job sites,” Tina said.  “Similar to our life back home in many ways.”

Tina explained that, in coming to the Peace Corps as part of a married couple, she avoids the “state of in-between” that is difficult for many of the singles.  “People at home don’t fully understand what you go through and the people here don’t understand where you came from.  You are in limbo,” she said. 

Tina added, “For married couples, you brought your best friend with you — the person who knows you best and who you are and who now understands what you are going through.”

The disadvantage, however, is that marriage is work — between Peace Corps and their new marriage, the O’Keeffe’s have two jobs. 

“We were advised by our parents and married friends not to take for granted that the first few years of marriage are very difficult, even in the best situations,” Tina said.

The irony of their situation, as they set out to live in an area of a country neither had visited just months ago, is that they are reliving the experiences of their immigrant heritage — for Tina, from her parents; for Tom, from his grandparents. 

“I feel sometimes as if we are mimicking the experiences my parents went through 40 years ago as newly married immigrants in New York,” Tina said, “trying to adjust to a new language and a new culture simultaneously.”