March 1st, 2011, marked 50 years of the existence of the United States Peace Corps. I was in the middle of a training, so I haven't been able to post a commemorative blog entry until now.
The Peace Corps is celebrating 50 years of service this month, and Honduras was one of the first PC countries, so we will be celebrating 50 years of Peace Corps in Honduras in a few months.
Here are bits and pieces from a recent article:
Peace Corps: A Program for the 21st Century
"If the president proposed a program today that was cost-effective, inspired public service, trained Americans for 21st century jobs, strengthened our interests abroad, countered anti-American propaganda and had bipartisan support, we would consider it miraculous. Yet, we already have a program that does all those things. Today is the 50th anniversary of the executive order signed by President John F. Kennedy that established the Peace Corps. Unfortunately, much of the discussion about the program recently seems to be stuck in a time warp. Supporters and detractors alike talk about the Peace Corps as if it were a 1960s-era program -- a disservice because it's actually more modern than many realize.
When the Peace Corps started, many thought government could do just about anything: send a man to the moon, win the Cold War, and end poverty. The Peace Corps was born of that optimism. Although poverty remains far too pervasive, having sent a man to the moon and won the Cold War, we know that some of those ideas weren't entirely fanciful.
Today, we live in a far more cautious time, which blurs the fact that the Peace Corps makes every bit as much sense now as it did in 1961. To start, it's a remarkably cost-effective program. In its entire 50-year history, we have spent less money on the Peace Corps than one percent of the defense budget for just this year, approximately $7 billion in 2011. Given that, the Peace Corps is less than a rounding error in the U.S. budget. Yet, it supports 8,600 volunteers in 76 countries and directly affects at least one million lives each year.
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The Peace Corps helps Americans know the world as it is and as it is becoming. In today's interconnected world we need to know how the world really works, especially in developing countries where there are myriad emerging business opportunities. Basically, the Peace Corps is a 21st century job-training program. It provides the kind of training in language, adaptability, working in foreign cultures that simply can't be taught in business school because to truly understand the world you have to live as others do, seeing the world as they do.
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There are very few programs today that can bring both parties together, yet the Peace Corps is popular with both Republicans and Democrats and enjoys bipartisan support in Congress. It's also been touted by Presidents Ronald Reagan and Lyndon Johnson, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
It is almost inconceivable to think of a program that could do all of this on such a small budget. So today, on its golden anniversary, let's take a moment to commemorate the Peace Corps as a modern-day initiative and recognize its successes over the last five decades. President Kennedy created a valuable program that was amazing in 1961, and is still remarkable 50 years later."
Kevin F. F. Quigley (Thailand 76-79) is president of the National Peace Corps Association
Here is a link to a video from youtube of President Kennedy proposing the Peace Corps, almost exactly 50 years ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOQ85OEZhWg
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