The Importance of the Work of The Peace Corps Volunteers
As an organization the Peace Corps in the US has been in existence since 1961, when it was created by an executive order issued by then President John F Kennedy. since then thousands of young people have traveled all over the world helping people less fortunate than themselves while learning more about their world and the way it works.
At the time the act declared as an organization the Peace Corps was being formed to “ promote world peace and friendship through a Peace Corps, which shall make available to interested countries and areas men and women of the United States qualified for service abroad and willing to serve, under conditions of hardship if necessary, to help the peoples of such countries and areas in meeting their needs for trained manpower”.
What a Peace Corps volunteer in this day and age does varies a great deal. Some still go out in the countryside in counties all over the world and assist the locals with simple everyday tasks like gathering firewood, fulfilling the “trained manpower” mandate. In many countries where reliable electricity and gas supplies are still not always available firewood remains a primary everyday source of heat and method of cooking. These volunteers will live amongst these people sharing their knowledge and learning from their hosts, the intention for the program from the beginning, a peaceful exchange of knowledge and ideas.
Another area where Peace Corps volunteers have become very active is in the field of conservation education. Some of the biggest programs being implemented in 68 different counties around the world by the Peace Corps include the creation of effective and more efficient forms of farming, education about recycling and the implementation of effective recycling programs and basic environmental education to help people learn how they themselves can save their own dwindling ecosystems.