As it celebrates anniversary, Peace Corps is as vital as ever
Inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s clarion call to service in 1961, more than 240,000 Americans have served in 144 different countries as Peace Corps volunteers. They have helped expand the technical skills and knowledge base of countless teachers, farmers, entrepreneurs, small-business owners, health care workers, civic leaders, professionals and others.
The Peace Corps’s work provides a practical framework to better understand the values of democracy, and how these principles affect society and individual development. The Peace Corps strengthens ties between the United States and other countries around the world, and promotes American goodwill and world peace, independent of formal diplomatic structures.
More than 8,700 Pennsylvanians have volunteered over the years, bringing home indispensable experience and understanding of the world’s myriad languages, customs and cultures. Returned Peace Corps volunteers frequently reflect on their overseas experience, noting that it provided them with a greater sensitivity of other people, their culture and their needs, and an ability to “stick it out” in often difficult conditions. For many it helped them learn more about themselves and their role in life. They found a passion.
It is of special note that in the midst of current world political crises, the number of countries requesting Peace Corps workers is extremely high. When COVID-19 hit four years ago, out of caution and concern, the Peace Corps evacuated all 7,000 volunteers then serving in 60 countries. Despite having to leave, thanks to the Internet and social media, many evacuees maintained their working relationships by continuing virtual projects and even developing new ones in their host country.
For others, the pandemic became a call to help at home. COVID contact-tracing was a key need among Native American, Hispanic-speaking, refugee and immigrant groups. Because of their unique linguistic and cultural understanding, the returned volunteers proved invaluable. In King County, Washington, for example, 20 returned volunteers were mobilized to help nursing staff at COVID “call centers” respond to urgent concerns. Wait time dropped from 1.5 hours to six minutes, facilitating nursing outreach from 800 to 1,800 calls a day. The project was extended for two more years.
In a remarkable post-COVID rebound, today 2,500 Peace
Corps volunteers — 105 from Pennsylvania — serve in 58 countries. But the world wants more of us.
On March 7, I will join a group of former volunteers from around the country and we will head to Capitol Hill to make the case that the Peace Corps is even more critical now than it was at the height of the Cold War.
Due to inflation, since 2016, the Peace Corps has lost more than $100 million in buying power, or roughly 20% of its budget. In our view, Congress must provide adequate funding to meet the unprecedented demand for volunteers. That is why we will urge Congress to approve $495 million for the Peace Corps in 2025.
Also, it has been more than 20 years since Congress last updated Peace Corps policies. We support a bipartisan Peace Corps Reauthorization Act (Senate Bill 1230; House of Representatives Bill 1273) now circulating on Capitol Hill that broadens opportunity for service and, most importantly, upgrades the health and safety measures that protect volunteers during their assignments. We are dedicated to building a safe and peaceful world for everyone — one community at a time, at home and abroad.
The Mountain Laurel
Returned Peace Corps Volunteers network of former volunteers has been helping to better communities throughout eastern Pennsylvania for more than 30 years. Lehigh Valley former volunteers have made outstanding contributions:
Lisa Walkiewicz (who volunteered in Chad), head of Via of Lehigh Valley, which provides services for adults and children with disabilities so they can reach their potential; Mary Stanford (Thailand), a dedicated school teacher in Bethlehem; Lehigh University computer science professor Ed Kay, who took a leave of absence to serve in Cameroon; and Kevin Dolan (Korea), who directed the Northampton County, Child/ Youth and Family Agency for decades, and now is a board member of Two Rivers Health and Wellness Foundation. The list goes on.
As JFK implored in his famous inaugural address, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Now is the time to heed the president’s call! Interested in becoming a Peace Corps volunteer? Go to peacecorps.gov/ bold.