Volunteers for Prosperity: Ambassadors of compassion
Volunteers for Prosperity: Ambassadors of compassion
Dec 28, 2003
Tulsa World
John M. Bridgeland And Andrew Natsios
American businesswoman Betty Herriman teaches basic business skills to women in remote areas of Zambia so they can successfully sell their wares. American physician Tom Catena is treating AIDS patients in a slum in the Langata area of Nairobi, Kenya.
Volunteers for Prosperity, an initiative of President Bush and his USA Freedom Corps, is deploying Herriman, Catena and thousands of other skilled American professionals who are volunteering their time to bring hope and prosperity to many corners of the globe.
Financial advisers and computer specialists, doctors and nurses, and teachers and engineers can spend a few weeks or months helping people in developing countries through Volunteers for Prosperity. Increasing numbers of Americans want to serve abroad.
Since the president's call to service, there have been more than 215,000 inquiries for the 7,533 Peace Corps slots. While the administration is working to double the number of Peace Corps volunteers over five years, Volunteers for Prosperity provides service opportunities for those American professionals who may not be able to commit two years to the Peace Corps.
Coordinated by the U.S. Agency for International Development, Volunteers for Prosperity enlists private voluntary organizations that use American volunteers to help meet health and prosperity objectives abroad. Those organizations that can demonstrate an increased capacity to use skilled American volunteers will be more competitive in seeking federal support.
Volunteers work through private voluntary organizations on projects that advance the goals of specific federally supported programs, where more resources are becoming available. These initiatives are providing new resources and skilled volunteers to help treat HIV/AIDS patients, bring computer technology to small businesses, teach business skills to entrepreneurs in the Middle East and Africa, and provide access to clean drinking water for people around the world.
Since the president's announcement on May 21, 2003, Volunteers for Prosperity has enrolled more than 100 private voluntary organizations with tens of thousands of volunteers who can serve in developing countries.
More organizations are enlisting in Volunteers for Prosperity every week. The International Executive Services Corps, which deploys retired American business executives to developing countries, has more than 11,000 volunteers who are willing to serve. The Financial Services Volunteer Corps recruits practicing financial specialists to engage in the development of financial markets around the world. A Wall Street financial analyst, for example, may be asked to help train fledgling stockbrokers in Ghana, or a banker may be asked to provide advice to a micro-credit bank in Bangladesh that is offering loans to women.
Many organizations, such as Agricultural Cooperative Development International and Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance (ACDI/VOCA), support volunteers to help farmers in poor nations. A farmer from Nebraska might be asked to help a farmer in Bangladesh to improve his harvest production or to teach a new technology.
One volunteer, Jack Moulton, said, "I found that no matter where I have been on ACDI/VOCA assignments, all farmers in the world speak the same unspoken language, and you don't need a translator to understand that language. ...We can help supply hope for their future and the future of their families."
Other organizations are providing medical assistance, such as the Catholic Medical Mission Board and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. These organizations could help recruit an American physician specializing in HIV/AIDS treatment to train patient care providers in Botswana or work in an AIDS clinic in Zimbabwe.
The possibilities for service are endless. The impact is direct and lasting.
Through Volunteers for Prosperity, more American professionals are able to serve overseas. American volunteers project the very best of America's character. They present a human face -- a face of compassion and hope -- to the people they serve. By doing so, they represent the values of America to the world.
John M. Bridgeland is assistant to the president and director of USA Freedom Corps. Andrew Natsios is administrator of USAID. Readers may write to Bridgeland at: USA Freedom Corps, The White House, Washington, D.C. 20502. Readers may write to Natsios at: U.S. Agency for International Development, Ronald Reagan Building, Washington, D.C. 20523. For more information on how to volunteer, visit www.USAFreedomCorps.gov.
