A Shreveport native and executive assistant at the City of Shreveport and Caddo Parish Metropolitan Planning Commission has joined the Peace Corps, where she will be teaching Math and English for the next two years.
Kamrin Hooks, who is formerly a Land Planner and executive assistant to the executive director of the Metropolitan Planning Commission, Alan Clarke, left Shreveport in September to join the Peace Corps in Lesotho, a country in southern Africa.
Hooks attended Caddo Middle Magnet and Captain Shreve High School and worked at the MPC for two years before deciding to join the Peace Corps office in Lesotho, where she is currently preparing to teach Math and English, starting classes with her students in January.
She said working in government gave her a strong foundation in policy and planning, but she was seeking something that felt more grounded.
“I wanted to be part of something more visible and relatable to the people,” Hooks said, like teaching in another country.
She was in pre-service training until December, when she started her teaching job. She’ll return to Shreveport in December 2027.
According to Hooks, she trained for surviving in a completely different place than the volunteers are used to, with no running water or electricity, and they use pit latrines for toilets.
She said some of the lessons included proficiency in Sesotho, the language of Lesotho, safety and security, cooking classes and other measures to help the volunteers adapt.
Hooks said a TikTok video featuring her friends and her speaking Sesotho went viral, and even the king of Lesotho, King Letsie III, saw it. She met him recently and took pictures.
Teaching in Lesotho
While Hooks said she had a host family during her training, she is now in her permanent home, which is only a short walk to the school. She said it’s on a compound, and while she has her own space, there are also landlords there to help her if she needs anything.
In addition to teaching, Hooks said she will also help with clubs in the afternoon, including their running club, an English club, and a computer literacy club.
She already started an English club and an all-girls’ club called empowerHER that included the children she taught during practice training. She said the English club was so they could have fun learning the language without fear of mistakes.
“Basotho kids have a rigorous right and wrong culture, and the use of corporal punishment is an issue here,” Hooks said. “As a result, the kids are often scared to try.”
Hooks said the all-girls club is designed to instill confidence in the girls and also help them each set goals for their future.
She said that the children she taught during practice training all passed to third grade, which she is happy about.
“I recently received feedback from the education program manager and other Peace Corps staff, who called me ‘the class energizer,’’ Hooks said. “The kids respond well to me, and I'm actually so sad to be leaving them now that I’m at my permanent site, but I hope to have an even greater impact here over the next two years.”
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