History of the Peace Corps
In October of 1960 then- Senator John F. Kennedy made an unprepared campaign speech to a group of students at the University of Michigan. He asked of any if any of them would be willing to spend a few years in an underdeveloped country to create a better understanding between their country and the United States. Soon enough thousands of students signed a petition to begin the program the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps was officially started in 1961. Since then, over 178,000 volunteers have served in over 137 different countries. These volunteers accomplishments include helping farmers grow crops, helping schools develop computer skills, helping mothers to care for their babies, and many other things.The goals of the Peace Corps are to help obtain everyday necessities, promote world peace, and to improve relations between the US and other countries.Every year in March Peace Corps Week is celebrated and many volunteers who have returned from their duties tell their story and experience with the Peace Corps with others.
Accomplishments of the Peace Corps
-The first group of Peace Corps Volunteers head to Ehthiopia, numbering 244, and were greeted by Emperor Haile Selassie in September 1962. They were thanked for helping to "drive out ignorance". They were able, buy trial and error, to figure out what the Peace Corps was all about. By working as teachers, they were able to make a significant difference in Ethiopia's education system.
The Peace Corps: An Organization of Faith The Peace Corps is definetly an organization based on faith. The people in charge of the Peace Corps have faith not only in the volunteers, but also have to put faith in the countries and leaders of that country. They have to have faith that the volunteers will do ther best to better the community they are staying in, because if they don't then the whole point of the organization is abused. They must also have faith that the people of the countries will treat the volunteers with care and respect. Also, the volunteers themselves have to give up about 2-3 years of their lives just to help these countries out. They must have faith in what they are doing and that it is accomplishing good for the nation they are in. My Homepage So you want to know more about the Peace Corps? All photos and facts from www.peacecorps.gov and www.peacecorpsonline.org
-With the expansion to Latin America the Peace Corps numbered over 15,000 volunteers in 1966.
-The government allows family and friends to visit the volunteers and it brings in more visitors to the Third World than any other government program
-A quote from Peace Corps veteran Theodore M. Vestal"Many PCVs in Ethiopia provided students with free room in exchange for their doing simple chores around the house. The number of "host country nationals" supported by PCVs while they were in school is unknown. Doubtlessly there were many, as were the number of host country nationals later sponsored by PCV in coming to the United States. Another unknown statistic is the number of Americans, family or friends, who traveled overseas to visit PCVs in locales far from the beaten tourist paths. Without doubt the Peace Corps brought more American visitors to the Third World than any other government program."
-In the Present Day there are over 7,700 Peace Corps Volunteers, they continue to bring communities clean water, teach young children, help build small businesses, and help to stop the spread of AIDS in many Thirld World communities
