A look at the Peace Corps

Page 21: February 18, 2008.
Article: Albert K. Salia

“The Peace Corps shows what is best in America, the generosity of spirit." - Joseph Kennedy.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps to promote world peace and friendship. Volunteers of the Peace Corps were to act as “missionaries of democracy” in whatever field they found themselves.
The mission of the Peace Corps is to help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women, help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served and help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.
Since 1961, the Peace Corps has shared with the world, America's most precious resource—its people.
Peace Corps Volunteers serve in 74 countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central and South America, Europe, and the Middle East. Collaborating with local community members, volunteers work in areas like education, youth outreach and community development, the environment, and information technology.
Ghana has the distinction of being the first country in the world to welcome the Peace Corps. The first group of 52 volunteers arrived in Ghana on August 30, 1961. Since that time, more than 3,700 volunteers have successfully served in the country.
Ghana's stable government, commitment to democracy, and extensive efforts to reform its economy are the key factors that contribute to the Peace Corps' impact.
In Ghana, the Peace Corps has been helping to promote the government’s educational reforms and community development initiatives through programmes in education, small enterprise development, environment and health.
Education
In the field of education, volunteers teach science, mathematics, information and computer technology and visual arts to more than 7,600 students in secondary schools and work closely with Ghanaian counterparts in the development of subject resource manuals. Many volunteers are involved in secondary projects that include rehabilitating school libraries and establishing science and computer laboratories. Some also help to strengthen parent-school and school-community relationships.
Small Enterprise Development
Volunteers provide training in eco-tourism, small business development, financial management, marketing, product quality, client servicing, standards and credit availability for small entrepreneurs. They work with international and local non-governmental agencies, local governments, and private sector associations in both urban and rural areas. Some volunteers organise income-generating projects for people living with HIV/AIDS. Other volunteers develop tourism destinations and products focused on the cultural and historical value of activities such as kente weaving and bead making.
Environment
Volunteers reduce environmental degradation through partnerships with governmental and non- governmental agencies. Ghana faces persistent environmental issues such as deforestation, diminished soil fertility, erosion and disappearance of naturally occurring bodies of water. They facilitate the planting and sale of seedlings, develop community environmental groups and transfer management skills for natural resource-based income-generating projects.
Health
Volunteers promote behavioural change to reduce water and sanitation-related diseases and to create HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. Through participatory community assessment, delivery of health talks and training, volunteers collaborate with community water and sanitation committees. Health projects focus on improving hygiene and nutrition, protecting water supplies, extending clinical services, working to eradicate Guinea worm disease and educating communities on HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Coming from all walks of life and representing the rich diversity of the American people, volunteers range in age from college students to retirees. Every Peace Corps Volunteer's experience is different.
From teaching English to elementary schoolchildren in Zambia to launching a computer learning centre in Moldova and promoting HIV/AIDS awareness in South Africa or working on soil conservation in Panama, volunteers bring their skills and life experiences to where they are needed most.
The success of the Peace Corps since its inception can be seen because there are more than 190,000 Peace Corps Volunteers currently in 139 countries, working on issues ranging from AIDS education to information technology and environmental preservation.
Today, the Peace Corps is more vital than ever, working in emerging and essential areas such as information technology and business development; and more than 1,000 new volunteers are committed to that, as a part of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
Peace Corps Volunteers continue to help countless individuals who want to build a better life for themselves, their children and their communities.
The world has changed since 1961 and the Peace Corps has changed with it. With 8,079 volunteers in 68 posts serving 74 countries, the Peace Corps is more relevant today than ever.
While volunteers continue to do important work like bringing clean water to communities and teaching children, today's volunteers also work in areas like HIV/AIDS awareness, information technology and business development.
The Peace Corps will continue to address global needs as they arise.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks alerted the nation to growing anti-U.S. sentiment in the Middle East, President George W. Bush pledged to double the size of the organisation within five years as a part of the war on terrorism. For the 2004 fiscal year, the American Congress passed a budget increase at $325 million; $30 million above that of 2003, but $30 million below the President's request.