Peace Corps

A voluntary organization set up by the US Government, Peace Corps employs volunteers from across the USA and sends them to different nations that are in need of skilled manpower in areas requiring development.

The following declaration issued under 'The Peace Corps Act' presents before us the perfect picture of the Peace Corps' mission, "To promote world peace and friendship through 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 people of such countries and areas in meeting their needs for trained manpower."

The institution works in areas such as education, environment, agriculture, business and information technology. The tasks set before the Peace Corps volunteers are carried out in tandem with the schools, local governments, businessmen and non-governmental organizations.

Inception
The Peace Corps was established on 1st of March, 1961 and was actualized on 22nd September, the same year when the Congress passed 'The Peace Corps Act'.

Current Activities
At present, Peace Corps operates in 76 countries with 7,876 individuals volunteering on 70 different posts. The major tasks undertaken by today's Peace Corps' volunteers are,

• Providing clean water to needy communities
• Creating awareness in the field of HIV/AIDS
• Development of information technology
• Business development

All the above mentioned activities are given due consideration. However, HIV/AIDS tops the Peace Corps' priority list in some countries like Botswana and Swaziland, where the volunteers are entirely devoted to prevent this pandemic.

Work Till Date
The Peace Corps' work started off with sending geologists to Ghana. From the start of Peace Corps till date, 60,000 volunteers have served in 46 countries of the African continent alone. The EMA region, which comprises Europe, Mediterranean region and Asia has enjoyed the service of 48,250 volunteers. The Inter-America and Pacific region, also known as the 'IAP' has seen 73,000 young Americans toiling hard for the development of their countries.

Goodwill
The Peace Corps volunteers have also been the 'ambassadors' of the USA. They have tried to portray a good image of the USA in the third world, as critics tagged the attempts of Peace Corps, 'a way to foster neocolonialism'.

With demonstrations taking place against the USA, the world over, due its capitalist and imperialist policies, the government is trying to rebuild its tarnished image. For the same reason, the former President of USA, George W. Bush decided to increase the expenditure on the Peace Corps. The current President, Barack Obama too, supports the enhancement and improvement of the Peace Corps organization.

Controversies
Like any other organization, the Peace Corps too faced problems in the beginning. Few volunteers complained about the hygiene and hostile climatic conditions of their work environment. The volunteers of the Peace Corps were even accused of being America's spies, by the students of Ibadan University, in Nigeria.

The Peace Corps program had faced criticism in the USA too. The opposition leaders claimed that the program would facilitate 'draft dodgers', people who try to evade the conscription policies of a government.

Facts about the Peace Corps
Notable facts and records regarding the Peace Corps are as follows:

• The number of volunteers to have worked under the Peace Corps program are 1,95,000
• The average age of the volunteers is 27 years while the median age is 25 years.
• Out of the total number of volunteers, 60% are females and 40% are males. The percentage of unmarried volunteers is 94 while the remaining 6% are married.
• At least 94% of the total volunteers are undergraduates, while 11% of them have graduate degrees, or, are studying.

The seeds of the great tradition of the Peace Corps were sown during Senator John F. Kennedy's speech in 1960, when he addressed the students of the University of Michigan. He appealed to them to serve the poor folks of the third world. Hence, in 1961, the Peace Corps was born.

This devoted and dedicated workforce, developed by America, exemplifies its potential and commitment to serve the poor and the undeveloped.