US Peace Corps volunteers return to help
NEARLY 40 American volunteers arrived in the Philippines to resume the United States Peace Corps’ work to benefit communities across Luzon and the Visayas.
The US Embassy in the Philippines said the American volunteers will be deployed to their permanent sites in Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Zambales, La Union, Laguna, Benguet, Ilocos Sur, Camarines Sur, Bohol, Cebu, Capiz, and Negros Oriental.
Prior to their deployment starting in April this year, the American volunteers will undertake two months of language, technical and cultural training, the embassy said.
The US Peace Corps’ work is in the sectors of education, youth development and coastal resource management, and will fulfill a range of roles requested by host communities in Luzon and the Visayas at the invitation of the Philippine government for the coming 27 months.
These roles include co-teaching English in public elementary and secondary schools and serving as youth development facilitators in Department of Social Welfare and Development-accredited organizations and residential shelters.
The American volunteers, who arrived on January 30, will also support local governments in establishing marine protected areas and implementing coastal resource management plans.
The embassy said additional volunteers will arrive in the Philippines in May, August and September as the US Peace Corps ramps back up its operations this year.
“We are thrilled to welcome the first group of American Peace Corps volunteers to the Philippines since the start of the pandemic,” US Peace Corps Country Director Jenner Edelman said.
Edelman said the volunteers are ready to meet this historic moment with their community partners and staff.
According to the embassy, the 37 newly arrived volunteers are the 279th US Peace Corps batch to serve in the Philippines since 1961.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the US Peace Corps suspended its global operations and repatriated American volunteers from more than 60 countries, including from the Philippines in March 2020.
But the US Peace Corps staff in the Philippines continued to work closely with the Philippine government and other local partners despite the absence of American volunteers.
The embassy said the US Peace Corps staff helped vaccinate over 27,000 Filipinos against Covid-19, support nationwide distance learning, and prepare schools for the safe resumption of face-to-face classes.
It said the corps staff in the Philippines also introduced alternative income-generating activities to communities recovering from the pandemic and strengthened community-level volunteerism.
For decades, the US Peace Corps has engaged in critical global health work, and the Covid-19 pandemic is no exception.
The embassy said the American Peace Corps volunteers will continue to work alongside community members to make progress on the biggest development challenge the world has faced in more than a century.
It also noted that Peace Corps Philippines is the US government’s premier volunteer program in the Philippines and over 9,300 Peace Corps volunteers have worked alongside Filipino community members in support of government and community development priorities since 1961.