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Peace Corps
Volunteers:
Bringing the World Back Home
by Mark D. Gearan
Directorof the Peace Corps
When President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps in
1961, he saw it as a newway for Americans to serve our country and, at the same
time, help the people of thedeveloping world build a better future for
themselves, their children, and theircommunities. Today, there are 6,500 Peace
Corps Volunteers serving in 84 to
countries around
the world. There are 2,200Volunteers serving in 28 African nations. And
President Clinton has urged Congress to joinhim in a bipartisan effort to
expand the Peace Corps to 10,000 Volunteers by the year2000. These Volunteers
represent some of the most enduring values of the Americanpeople-citizen
service, altruism, and a dedication to the cause of peace.
Peace
Corps Volunteerswork with their counterparts on grass-roots development
projects in education, health, theenvironment, small business development, and
agriculture. An equally important part ofevery Volunteer's service in the Peace
Corps is to strengthen our country's understandingof other peoples and cultures
by "bringing the world back home." Volunteers livein their overseas communities
for two years, often in remote villages far from any otherAmerican; they learn
to speak more than 180 languages and dialects; and throughout theirservice,
Volunteers become immersed in the local culture, where they learn about the
richhistories and traditions of the people they serve.
When Volunteers bring this experience back home to communities
across our country andshare it with their families, friends, students, and
professional colleagues, they make animportant contribution to our
understanding of the world beyond our shores. As our worldbecome smaller and
our ties with other people expand, this cross-cultural experiencebecomes more
important than ever.
The following essays are written by men and women who have
served as Peace CorpsVolunteers in the African countries that President Clinton
will visit. The essays reflectin different ways the essence of the Peace Corps
experience: people of very differentcultures learning about one another,
building the bonds of friendship, and workingtogether to help build a better
future. I urge to read these essays and share them withyour children and your
students so that they, too, can experience the world through theeyes of a Peace
Corps Volunteer.
I invite you to read other
essays written by
Peace Corps Volunteers whoserved in Africa and other parts of the world. To
learn more about the Peace Corps and howto become a Volunteer, please visit our
web site.
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