Peace Corps Essay Research Paper 1 Introduction

Peace Corps Essay, Research Paper

1. Introduction

"Abundant Rewards." This is the

title of an essay that was written

by a Peace Corps volunteer, Laura

Stedman, on her reflections of her

work in Swaziland, serving as a

science teacher. The essay

discusses her students and what

turned out to be her most important

accomplishment, to give the

children confidence in themselves.

In this way she opened the door for

them to learn on their own, and to

feel that their opinions were

important. Once the children began

to share their own opinions, she

learned a large amount from them

also.

The essay I described above sums up

my interests in the Peace Corps. To

be able to help those less

fortunate than you, and in a very

concrete way. Unlike sending "two

dollars a month, to help a child,"

to some informercial, were you

never really see the results, or

are to involved with them either.

You also don?t get the amazing

experience of learning about a

country?s culture and customs. Most

importantly, through the Peace

Corps you are able to go through

the enriching experience of

interacting with people, in which

case you both learn from each other

a great deal, and help each other

along the path of life. On a side

note, through the Peace Corps we

also show that the US is not the

"bully of the world" (as Saddam

would like to claim). That some of

us Americans, if not most, do care

about all people, not just

ourselves.

2. Background and Support

Peace Corps is a volunteer service,

in which Americans are sent to help

undeveloped and poverty-stricken

countries. The volunteers stay in

these host countries for two years.

They live with the people, in many

times poor conditions, and serve

and interact with the people of the

country. In doing this, the Peace

Corps have three major goals: "1)

To provide volunteers who

contribute to the social and

economic development of interested

countries; 2) To promote a better

understanding of Americans among

the people whom volunteers serve;

3) To strengthen Americans?

understanding about the world and

its people." Most of all, the

organization promotes world peace,

and understanding between America

and all the other nations and

people of the world. It is a United

States government agency, and is

funded by our tax dollars. Which is

a place where I don?t mind my money

going to.

How did the Peace Corps come to be?

It is a very complicated political

web of incidents, but can be summed

together quite easily. In the early

1960?s the youths of the nation had

grown tired of being idle, and they

believed America was becoming

pompous and arrogant. They wanted

change. They wanted to change the

world. Then the first glimpse of

that chance came. President Kennedy

went to the University of Michigan

on October 14, 1960. In his speech

that day, he asked the group of ten

thousand students present: "How

many of you are willing to spend

ten years in Africa or Latin

America or Asia working for the US

and working for freedom?" This

idea, the idea that later became

the Peace Corps, gave the chance to

quench this thirst for change, and

more importantly action.

3. Development and Recognition

The plan behind the Peace Corps was

mainly masterminded by Senator

Hubert Humphrey and Congressman

Henry S. Reuss. However, Kennedy

was the person who articulated it.

He did so at his speech at the

University of Michigan, and many

other speeches, including his

inaugural address. Especially with

his famous line: "Ask not what your

country can do for you, ask what

you can do for your country" (today

this line is somewhat of a motto

for the Peace Corps). Also, in

March of 1961, after being elected

president, Kennedy did as he

promised, and gave the executive

order creating the Peace Corps.

Less than half a year later,

volunteers were already being sent

to Ghana. By the end of 1961, the

Peace Corps expanded to serve a

dozen countries, and had close to a

thousand volunteers. Within the

next few years, the number of

countries with programs ore than

doubled, and in 1966 the number of

volunteers reached the highest in

history of over 15,000. In 1981, it

celebrated it?s 20th anniversary,

and received congratulations from

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