Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of the United States Peace Corps, and I am proud to have been a Peace Corps volunteer. I served in Thailand from 1993 to 1995 working on Health and Nutrition Education in the northeast region of the country, and I am especially proud of this man:
Last month marked the passing of another man instrumental in the history of the Peace Corps. Sargent Shriver liked the claim of all the Americans who volunteered into Peace Corps, he was the one man who was drafted. Shriver's brother-in-law proclaimed the establishment of the Peace Corps on March 1, 1961, with the signing of Executive Order 10924:
Kennedy Signs Executive Order 10924
March 1, 1961 - President John F. Kennedy announces the formation of the Peace Corps at a national press conference.
I have today signed an Executive Order providing for the establishment of a Peace Corps on a temporary pilot basis. I am also sending to Congress a message proposing authorization of a permanent Peace Corps. This Corps will be a pool of trained American men and women sent overseas by the U.S. Government or through private institutions and organizations to help foreign countries meet their urgent needs for skilled manpower.
It is our hope to have 500 or more people in the field by the end of the year.
The initial reactions to the Peace Corps proposal are convincing proof that we have, in this country, an immense reservoir of such men and women—anxious to sacrifice their energies and time and toil to the cause of world peace and human progress.
In establishing our Peace Corps we intend to make full use of the resources and talents of private institutions and groups. Universities, voluntary agencies, labor unions and industry will be asked to share in this effort—contributing diverse sources of energy and imagination—making it clear that the responsibility for peace is the responsibility of our entire society.
We will only send abroad Americans who are wanted by the host country—who have a real job to do—and who are qualified to do that job. Programs will be developed with care, and after full negotiation, in order to make sure that the Peace Corps is wanted and will contribute to the welfare of other people. Our Peace Corps is not designed as an instrument of diplomacy or propaganda or ideological conflict. It is designed to permit our people to exercise more fully their responsibilities in the great common cause of world development.
Life in the Peace Corps will not be easy. There will be no salary and allowances will be at a level sufficient only to maintain health and meet basic needs. Men and women will be expected to work and live alongside the nationals of the country in which they are stationed—doing the same work, eating the same food, talking the same language.
But if the life will not be easy, it will be rich and satisfying. For every young American who participates in the Peace Corps—who works in a foreign land—will know that he or she is sharing in the great common task of bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace.
Politicians and pundits didn't think that Kennedy could succeed in his goals, and didn't establish funding for the organization. Kennedy used discretionary funding for the Peace Corps, and Shriver as the first Director, focussed his sights to make it a success.
Washington did not have air conditioning at the time, and after Memorial Day, politicians left the city in droves During that time, Shriver and his team organized the Peace Corps, recruited, invited and sent out hundreds of volunteers to central America, Africa and Asia. By the time that Congress returned after Labor day, Kennedy and Shriver came back to Congress and said, we have sent out hundreds of volunteers, and we need dedicated funding. Congress agreed, and finally funded the organization.
As I wrote earlier, I worked in Health and Nutrition Education. Thailand changed my life, and my perspective on life a great deal. I would hope that the world does not need a Peace Corps when March 1, 2061 arrives, but it wouldn't hurt to have an exchange program where Americans volunteer to other countries, and other countries send volunteers to America to help better understand each other.
Peace Corps Three Goals:
Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.