Berkeley CSUA MOTD:Entry 41200
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2025/07/09 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular
7/9     

2006/1/2-4 [Industry/Jobs, Politics/Foreign/Asia/Others] UID:41200 Activity:high
1/2     A friend of mine is considering Peace Corps. I've heard that it used
        to be a good program but in the past 25 years has lost a lot of its
        original lustre, that countries need more help managing resources
        than 22 year olds teaching them about sanitation, etc. Does anyone
        have any experience w/ Peace Corps? Or know of any good  criticisms
        of the program? I'll start with:
        http://www.daytondailynews.com/project/content/project/peacecorps/daily/1104voiceag.html
        \_ Use tinyurl.  I just met a woman who is some sort of Africa
               \_ why?
                  \_ why?
                     \_ why ask why?
                        \_ why not?
                           \_ why ask why not?
                              \_ Why not ask why not?
           expert in the peace corps and who described a lot of what they
           do very openly.  Apparently there's still a lot of need for
           outfits like PC--NGOs, as they are not guaranteed funding, tend
           to be very self-interested.  If you like, I can put you in touch
           with her (she was a good friend's roommate at GWU Law.)  -John
           \_ My understanding is people who can teach English and maybe
              elementary math are a dime a dozen. If you are a Civil Engineer
              or Medical Professional, who may be quite a hot commodity.
              However, that may also mean you can go into a USAID project
              or MSF/DrsWithoutBorders type program. I dunno if a vast
              knowledge of say BGP can be used by the Peace Corps.
              The do have a lot of restrictions, but I assume you have
              discovered some of those in your preliminary research.
        \_ My cousin is currently in the Peace Corps in Latin America.
           He seems to enjoy the actual work he does (I think he has
           been involved in getting farmers access to new markets via
           the internet and other such programs based on micro loans,
           but I'm not 100% sure).
           He has expressed some reservations about the way the Peace
           Corps is administered and the fact that in some places local
           politics can get in the way of providing any real assistance.
           iirc, in one town where my cousin worked, the local mayor
           actively resisted any work done by Peace Corps ppl b/c he
           felt that they didn't really understand the local situation.
           One problem I've seen with the Peace Corps is that they don't
           really train the people with real world skills like building
           homes or paving or farming before sending them out (most of
           the people I know who did Peace Corps weren't engineers) so
           they end up in big or small cities where they can't really
           do anything very too useful.
           For historical reference, my mom used to tell me stories of
           people who did Peace Corps in India. She says they mostly
           acted like tourists, walking around from village to village,
           giving out money and stuff. Mostly she says it was pretty
           lame because in a country like India, a few random english
           majors can't solve inherent problems related to lack of
           education and opportunity.
           the internet and other such programs but I'm not 100% sure).
           I remember he described some problems with the way the PC
           is administered and local government resistance. If you
           want to talk to him, let me know and I'll try to put you
           in contact with him.
           --ranga
           want to talk to him, let me know and I'll try to get you
           some contact info (I don't think he has email access right
           now). --ranga
        \_ primrose got back recently from a tour in the corps in togo
        \_ My girlfriend spent two years in the Peace Corps in Honduras.
           We went to visit her adopted Honduran family a couple years
           ago.  I think her impression is that the Peace Corps does good
           work, but the problems tend to be endemic and difficult to
           overcome.  It's certainly true that the Corps and all NGOs
           have great difficulty effecting change, due to local politics,
           corruption, and poverty.
           It is worth noting that the Peace Corps doesn't sponsor projects;
           Peace Corps volunteers are assigned to a project run by a local
           organization or NGO.  There is also a wide range of types of
           work to do, from health and science education, to business
           development, to engineering.  Apparently taxidermy is one of
           the most sought-after skills due to the huge problems of
           species endangerment and extinction in poor countries.
           It is a truism that Peace Corps volunteers get more out of the
           experience than the countries get out of the programs.  -tom
           \_ Join the Peace Corps: travel to exotic countries, encounter
              interesting and stimulating species of ancient eras.... and
              embalm them.
        \_ If I join the peace corps, will I get to have sex with all
           the local girls???? -what sodans really want to know!
           \_ "get to"?
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7/9     

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www.daytondailynews.com/project/content/project/peacecorps/daily/1104voiceag.html
large Peace Corps hurt by unwise policies Wonderful agency could be improved By Alan E Guskin It's been 42 years since I entered the Peace Corps as a volunteer in Thailand. Over the years, I have continued my love affair with the agency. Because of my involvement with President John F Kennedy in the founding of the Peace Corps, I'm often asked to speak about the Peace Corps. In 1986, I attended the 25th anniversary of the Peace Corps and had the honor of placing a wreath on Kennedy's grave. I was there as a representative of all Peace Corps volunteers. And my tears were as much for me as those being honored; As I read the Dayton Daily News series on the Peace Corps, I was deeply saddened. At the same time, I was pleased that the shadow-side of Peace Corps service and practices was being brought into the light. The articles point out how a wonderful and important program is hurt by unwise policies. Volunteers once called Kennedy's children' In the early 1960s, when I served in Thailand, developing countries where Peace Corps volunteers went were less violent; anti-Americanism did not exist or was much less virulent; and there was great receptivity to young, idealistic Americans. Just as significant, Peace Corps leaders in those early days -- Sargent Shriver, Bill Moyers and Harris Wofford -- were also an idealistic group who told the volunteers that they represented the best in American society and were an alternative to a foreign policy built around the Cold War. Maybe naively, the volunteers and staff believed that the Peace Corps had the potential to redirect American foreign policy rather than be subsumed under it. The countries in which we served seemed to be chosen for idealistic as well as practical reasons. Mainly we went to the newly independent nations of Africa and Asia and the developing nations of Asia and Latin America. Volunteers were not placed in countries to further narrow foreign policy objectives, but were there to help. While the glamour was and is deserved, there has always been a dark side that the Peace Corps and the media have not shared. I remember in the early 1960s in Thailand, I spoke with a reporter from a national news magazine and asked him why he and his colleagues didn't report the negative stuff that volunteers did. His answer was direct -- the Peace Corps is such a positive venture so we're not going to tear it down. I also remember a group of volunteers, meeting with Shriver -- the Peace Corps' founding director -- in the American ambassador's home in Bangkok, demanding to know why the Peace Corps didn't tell the truth -- the bad and the good about the agency. Shriver was almost speechless and could only say how good we were. These days the Peace Corps seems to have become more political in its choice of countries, and it reacts to criticism like a typical government agency. Its defensiveness about the negative seems to be even more intense. Some practices exacerbate problems Still today, there are aspects of the shadow-side of the Peace Corps that remain, and many exacerbate the problems of the volunteers in an increasingly violent world. First, the Peace Corps has always had trouble facing the reality of its real mission. Most, if not all, volunteers will assert that the Peace Corps was not really a force for economic and social development, but rather was and is the most successful government-sponsored people-to-people program ever conceived. Accepting -- not denying -- this real mission of a people-to-people program has serious implications for the nature of Peace Corps assignments. Second, the Peace Corps in the early 1960s, and to this day, continues to send volunteers alone to extremely remote rural areas, often without significant local language capability, usable skills or meaningful support. I have never understood the rationale behind these assignments; Third, the Peace Corps has always had a problem assuring volunteers and itself that the job assignments overseas were real and meaningful. Too often Peace Corps assignments have been marginal and sometimes nearly nonexistent -- with ill-equipped young people having to fashion a job on the spot under the watchful eyes of local people. At other times, the Peace Corps has sent "experts" to "help" local people who were more experienced and more expert than they. I can understand how this can happen in the first few years of the Peace Corps; Fourth, most Peace Corps volunteers experience serious illnesses, something not understood by the public. The Peace Corps may well be one of the most important experiences of an individual's life, but it exacts a price that the Peace Corps rarely acknowledges. And rarely, if ever, does the Peace Corps follow up with the huge number of volunteers to check on their health. Fifth, the Peace Corps seems to remain oblivious to the difficulty many volunteers have in returning home. They receive little preparation and little Peace Corps support once they do. One of the most paradoxical aspects of Peace Corps service is that the more successful a volunteer is overseas, the more difficult is the adjustment returning home. Important reforms should be made There are important reforms to be made: The Peace Corps needs to face the societal realities of the 21st century and stop sending volunteers into areas that are potentially politically volatile or violent. It needs to plan assignments with the same knowledge, care and seriousness that any organization would do when making a job assignment. The Peace Corps needs to stop sending volunteers into remote rural areas. They're unlikely to be successful, and they're being endangered physically and psychologically. The Peace Corps needs to utilize new communications technology to stay in touch with volunteers. This may mean not assigning individuals in settings that are outside the range of communication. The Peace Corps needs to resist the temptation to send volunteers into countries to enhance United States foreign policy interests. The Peace Corps needs to utilize the considerable skills of young (and not-so-young) idealistic Americans by placing them in jobs that are consistent with their abilities. Similarly, the Peace Corps should be restrained in overstating the capabilities of nonexperts. The Peace Corps needs to respect the volunteers during and after their service by maintaining contact with them and helping those who need help, especially those who have suffered serious physical or psychological ailments. Finally, the Peace Corps needs to be absolutely clear about its mission as a people-to-people program and align all its activities around that mission. I remain convinced that the Peace Corps is a wonderful concept and program. It is also a boon to American society, as each year thousands of people return to this country with important insights into the realities of the world and with a sense of cultural humility that is so critical to the future success of our nation. Alan E Guskin is the former president of Antioch University and Antioch College.