UPDATED: Hartland Peace Corps volunteer dies in Mozambique

Lena Jenison, a 2007 graduate of Arrowhead High School serving in the Peace Corps, died of injuries sustained in an auto accident on Dec. 20 in Mozambique. Fellow Peace Corps volunteer Elizabeth Alden Landis, 23, from Yarrow Point, Wash., also perished in the accident.

The Peace Corps confirmed their deaths in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.

Jenison, 22, of Hartland, graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in May. In September, she traveled to Mozambique to begin her preservice training for the Peace Corps. She was officially sworn in as a Peace Corps volunteer Dec. 8, and she was slated to remain in Mozambique until December 2013.

Jenison served as an education volunteer at a local high school near Chibuto, Mozambique, where she was assigned to teach biology. Chibuto lies in the south-central region of the country.

According to the statement, she lived with a host family and enjoyed learning the customs of her new community.

"Alden and Lena were both committed and dedicated Peace Corps volunteers who were excited to teach in their new Peace Corps communities," said Peace Corps Director Aaron S. Williams. "This is a tragic loss for the entire Peace Corps community, including their fellow volunteers in Mozambique. Our thoughts are with both of their families during this difficult time."

Jenison and Alden were two of 155 Peace Corps volunteers currently serving in the African nation. Most volunteers work in fields related to education and health.

While at UW-Madison, Jenison majored in biology and Spanish. She is survived by her parents and a brother and sister in Hartland.

Alden was a 2010 graduate of Boston University, where she majored in biochemistry-molecular biology and minored in French. She is survived by her parents and two sisters in Washington.

Further details regarding the circumstances surrounding the accident were not available as of press time.