Today, tarantulas don't phase her.

But when Cristin Smith first encountered one about a year ago, crawling directly above where she lay in her hammock, she ran into her hut for her machete. That wasn't long after the 2002 Bishop LeBlond High School graduate arrived in her village in Suriname, the South American country where she'd been stationed by the Peace Corps.

"That just blows my mind," says Ms. Smith's mother, Christine Pitts, "to think of my daughter in the rainforest with a machete in her hand."

Adjusting to life surrounded by spiders the size of dollar bills is just one of the challenges Ms. Smith has faced since moving to Suriname shortly after earning an MBA from the University of Missouri. But with these challenges has come a chance to help the people in her village make changes that she hopes will improve their quality of life.

At the top of her list is an effort to provide 54 Durotanks - large rainwater catchments with filtration systems - that would replace the rusted oil drums villagers currently use to store water and also would keep them from depending on the bacteria-filled Suriname River for everything from drinking to bathing to washing dishes. Currently, Ms. Smith's hut is the only one in the village equipped with a Durotank.

" ... The river, which serves as a toilet, wash room, kitchen sink and washing machine, become(s) increasingly polluted with the remnants from these activities," Ms. Smith says in a letter sent to the News-Press. " ... After seeing this and partaking in these same activities in the river (Washing dishes and clothes in a muddy river is quite different than tossing them in the dishwasher or washing machine), I realized that one of the most important things I could do for the village was to obtain a source of clean drinking water."

But she isn't alone in her efforts. Because she has chosen to raise funds through the Peace Corps Partnership Program, 25 percent of the $12,000 needed for the Durotanks must be raised by the village - although Ms. Smith's village of about 300 people plans to contribute more than 40 percent - with the remainder coming from donors in the United States. To donate or learn more about the project, go online to www.peacecorps.gov/contribute and enter project number 568-112.

It's important that the village has ownership in the project, Ms. Pitts explains, not only because the people need to be able to sustain the work long-term but also because Peace Corps volunteers' purpose is to come to understand the people and needs in their assigned countries and to work with natives in making changes, rather than to accomplish something for them without their involvement.

And the people in her daughter's village have definitely made sure she's involved in their way of life, she adds - whether this means insisting she transport her dirty laundry to the river by carrying it in a bucket on her head or, once, inviting her to take a walk that ended up being a five-mile trek through the Amazon rainforest rather than the leisurely stroll she'd assumed it would be. Ms. Smith has also had to adjust to people walking into her hut without knocking and living on a looser schedule than she's used to, as well as to the extreme heat and humidity and to the language - one that's not written and is a combination of English and Dutch.

Her village is six hours by boat and bus from Suriname's capital - where she goes once a month for supplies, Internet access and to meet with Peace Corps leaders - and 3,500 miles from St. Joseph.

That's a long way from home, but "she's a pretty strong girl," her dad, Richard Smith, says. "As any father would be when his daughter says 'I'm moving to another continent,' I was concerned ... But she's adapted and likes what she's doing."

"She wanted to do something that would be a challenge," her mother adds. "Something that would mold her and define her, and also something where she could make a difference."

Lifestyles reporter Erin Wisdom can be reached at ewisdom@npgco.com.