Aid and Innovation Through the Peace Corps

The Peace Corps is a unique arm of the US government first started in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy when he tried to inspire younger generations to serve their country “in the cause of peace, living and working in developing countries.” Since then, the agency has continued with bi-partisan support, expanding its reach and impact by sending American volunteers around the world to help developing communities.

The Peace Corps has three underlying goals:

  1. Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
  2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
  3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

Currently, there are 8,073 volunteers in the field, in 76 countries around the world, primarily working on education based programs. In the past, many Senators and representatives from both parties have served as Peace Corps volunteers. It is the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and House Committee on Foreign Affairs that provides the oversight of all activities and programs. Its annual budget is determined by the congressional budget – generally amounting to about 1 percent of the foreign operations budget.

The video above talks of the tremendous progress that has been made in preventing Malaria deaths through the Peace Corps’ work. They have found that no one “fix” works across the board, and each community is different. So Peace Corps workers have to adapt to each new situation and time. A great example of creative thinking is talked about in the video – in Senegal, where local villagers were not really utilizing their mosquito nets. A PC volunteer used rice bags to visually represent the total money spent on Malaria medications by the locals, and once they saw how much they were spending they realized how much they could save by simply preventing Malaria and using a net. This simple demonstration helped change behavior that can now save lives.

– Mary Purcell

Source: The Peace Corps
Video: You Tube