In its 35-year history, Waubonsee Community College has helped change almost 200,000 lives. Through her humanitarian work in Africa and Albania, Waubonsee's Featured Alumna for the month of August, Penny Deligiannis, has accomplished something similar.

But before she could start her work changing others' lives, she had to be open to changes in her own life, even those that were unexpected or seemingly for the worse. "It's funny how you want to go this way, but end up going that way," Deligiannis said. "But whatever situation you're in, you have to make the most of it." This philosophy was put to the test in 1983 when Deligiannis was not accepted to Northwestern University; true to her word, she instead made the most of her first two years of college at Waubonsee.

"It was for sure, so great," Deligiannis said of her time at Waubonsee. "I got close, personal attention from some of the finest teachers I've ever had." Deligiannis fondly remembers time spent outside of the classroom too, saying it was "ridiculous" the number and variety of activities she joined. "I mean I was a Greek kid in a steel drum band," she said.

Deligiannis graduated from Waubonsee in 1985 with honors in both history and music.

Summing up her community college experience, she said, "The bottom line is I just know I came out ahead. I gained everything; I didn't lose anything."

Deligiannis took all she gained to the University of Illinois where she earned a bachelor's degree in speech communication in 1987 and a master's degree in organizational communication in 1992. It was in the middle of her graduate studies that Deligiannis' life took another turn that started when she signed up for a church mission trip to build a church in Uganda. "It was just me," Deligiannis says of the work and the environment. "I just got that good feeling you get when you're in your element." Deligiannis made several return trips to Africa and upon completing her advanced degree, took a fundraising job at the Orthodox Christian Mission Center in Florida. But soon Deligiannis wanted to go back to Tanzania, and so met with Archbishop Anastasios of Albania to get his approval. The archbishop, however, had another idea.

The archbishop wanted Deligiannis to work in Albania, a country that had just opened up after the fall of Communism. The proposal was not met with immediate enthusiasm from Deligiannis, who was pretty sure she'd prefer the green, lush jungles of Tanzania to the gray mountainous terrain of Albania. But then she got to thinking about that country's proximity to her ancestral homeland of Greece and the stories her grandfather had told her of his Albanian travels.

"It was not a clear decision," Deligiannis said of her finally agreeing to the archbishop's proposal. "It was more of a process of thinking about taking a chance."

But upon actually arriving in Albania, Deligiannis didn't think there was a chance she'd stay. "Every day I wanted to quit," she said. But instead, she struggled through problems like no drinkable water and being without electricity 22 hours a day while working as the coordinator for the Orthodox Church's Office of Publications in the capital city of Tirana. Here she helped ensure hymnbooks, most of which had been destroyed, were reprinted, that books on saints were translated and printed, and that the church's newspaper was produced and distributed.

News of Deligiannis' work spread, and she was soon named director of Diaconia Agapes ("Service of Love"), the Orthodox Church's humanitarian arm, in 1995. In this position, Deligiannis was determined to set up social and developmental programs that would allow her and the organization to work not so much for the people of Albania as with the people of Albania. "There is nothing easy about helping people," she said. "We all want the easy way. The other way is more difficult and time-consuming, but it comes with many more payoffs."

For example, Albanian farmers have to pay off the loans they take out from Diaconia Agapes as part of the organization's agriculture program.

Deligiannis also mentioned the Church's health care clinic renovation and building program as well as a similar program for the building of preschools for children ages 4-6.

"They're the best projects," Deligiannis said of the schools. "When you make positive space and create opportunities to learn, miracles happen."

It was a sort of miracle when two years later, in the midst of a civil war in Albania, no one from the Diaconia Agapes left; instead, they stayed and swiftly shifted their emphasis from quiet developmental programs to emergency services like food and clothing distribution. According to Deligiannis, the organization fed 15,000 families during that time.

Unfortunately, this was not the only emergency the country or the humanitarian organization would face during Deligiannis' time there. In 1999, more than 470,000 refugees came to Albania from Kosovo, causing a 25 percent growth explosion in the country in just three weeks. After receiving $9 million of aid, Diaconia Agapes went to work.

"We knew we needed to do more than just distribute food and clothing," Deligiannis said. The group ended up establishing a refugee camp that housed over 1,200 people. But along with working to ensure the refugees' basic needs were met, Deligiannis and her staff of 87 also made sure the younger refugees' educational needs were met.

"We'd go around and find Kosovar teachers who could set up schools at the camp," Deligiannis explained. Improving education remained a priority for Diaconia Agapes even after the refugees returned home to Kosovo.

As a thank-you to the Albanian people who lent so much support to the refugees, Diaconia Agapes used extra aid money to renovate and rebuild twelve Albanian schools. Deligiannis' collection of the buildings' before and after photos powerfully illustrate each facility's transformation from what was a barely functional school in a condemnable, dilapidated state to a clean, brightly-colored, and well-equipped place to learn.

That's what the last several years of Deligiannis' life have been about--starting from nothing and building people, places and organizations up. And the awards she has received for her work have had a similar effect on her.

"It's like they're telling you 'Keep going kid'," said Deligiannis of honors such as being named Waubonsee's Featured Alumna. "It's like they're proud of what you've done and are looking forward to what you do next."

We couldn't agree more.