It was nearly two years ago when a local woman first passed through a remote coastal village in Ecuador.

Jessica Delallo, a native of Berks County, said she arrived with a basic knowledge of Spanish and orders from the Peace Corps to positively impact the community.

Delallo, 25, said she planned to give her job her best, but she never expected what she was about to receive.

"I came here. I didn't know a single soul that lived in this town, and within the first week I was offered to come in to eat. I was offered to come in and play with the kids,"said Delallo, whose Peace Corps assignment centered on educating and advancing the rights of Ecuadorian women.

"I enjoy crafting very much because, before this, I was just bored being stuck at home," said Jennifer Quirumbay, a member of the women's community group that Delallo created.

Delallo said she has encouraged the women to step out of their typical routines and into collaborative and supportive activities like crafting, sports and fitness.

Paula Dominguez said Delallo has inspired her to break the mold of her town's male-dominated traditions.

"What I have learned from Jessica is that she isn't afraid to fight for the women of this village and it is important for us to be active," said Dominguez.

Ironically, while preaching the benefits of independence, the Shillington native found herself growing ever more dependent on her loved ones back home and her Ecuadorian family.

"It's a solitary life and you learn to deal with it and you learn to call your mom,” said Delallo.

The simplicity of life found in the small town is something Delallo said she will take back with her to the United States. This foreign way of living, Delallo said, has now become her preferred lifestyle.

"You can work with what you got. It should be about doing the things that make you happy with what you got," said Delallo, "and that's what I want to leave here with and that's what I want to stay with me."

This April, with her tour complete, Delallo will be returning to Berks County, having acquired a new lifestyle and having left a routine for the women of this village.

"I think they will progress to more of what we have here in the United States where you want to go to a university, you get a degree, women with education get jobs and it will progress," said Delallo, making her Peace Corps experience a journey of personal growth for women from both sides of the equator.