In October 1960, Senator John Kennedy spoke to graduates of the University of Michigan and encouraged them to “live and work in developing countries around the world, thus dedicating themselves to the cause of peace and development.” On September 22, 1961, the culmination of the efforts Kennedy discussed at the University of Michigan the previous year were realized when Congress authorized the passage of the Peace Corps Act officially establishing the Peace Corps.
Since the official establishment of the Peace Corps, nearly 200,000 Americans have donated their time and efforts in 139 countries toward achieving the goals set forth by Senator Kennedy in 1960. In its earliest years, the Peace Corps focused on fundamental and vital necessities, including access to clean drinking water and literacy, which would help promote development in “interested countries.” Today’s Peace Corps performs many of the same functions its first volunteers experienced, but as the world and its problems have evolved, so too has the Peace Corps.
New challenges brought by complex political and economic situations have proven crucial for American volunteers wishing to make a difference in the lives of the world’s most needy. Peace Corps volunteers today (there are more than 8,000 of them) may find themselves helping establish a computer learning center in the Caribbean or instructing young people in Asia on how to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS. With a budget of $330 million in fiscal year 2008, the Peace Corps has grown in size and ambition.
After the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States, a group of returned Peace Corps volunteers established the Peace Corps Fund with its stated mission of “helping Americans understand the people and cultures of other countries.” Former Peace Corps volunteers may apply for funding through the Peace Corps Fund to help achieve the third goal of the Peace Corps mission, to share their knowledge of other cultures with their fellow Americans.
In today’s complex and ever-changing world, there can be little debate that cultural understanding is one of the cornerstones of a peaceful co-existence. I have discussed in several articles posted on this blog the importance of cultural understanding and impact of globalization (see Creative Capitalism; Globalization and the Importance of Understanding Cultures; Economics, Ireland and Similarities to the U.S.; and Price of Gas). For more than four decades, Peace Corps volunteers have devoted their time and energy to promoting such cultural understanding and cooperation while adjusting their activities to fit the most pressing needs of a changing world.
