By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-35-236.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.35.236) on Sunday, January 25, 2004 - 3:53 pm: Edit Post |
RPCVs discuss the role of the Peace Corps in today's terrorism-ridden world
"Volunteers (are) not trained for that," said RPCV Craig Clouet. "Most of the volunteers — at least the ones I've met — are not in that caliber to be in military hot spots. It makes the Peace Corps look, as people often accuse us of being, (like) a CIA- or military-type operation that's at the front line to gather information to take back to the U.S. embassies or the CIA."Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez says the Peace Corps is as vital as ever, noting President Bush's State of the Union promise, made after the 2001 terrorist attacks, to double the number of Peace Corps volunteers over the next five years. But as for the Peace Corps having any role in the war against terrorism, Vasquez stresses that the organization "does not play an active role in foreign policy." Rather, he said, the Peace Corps works at the grass-roots and community levels to build positive relationships that serve as a crucial foundation for international peace and understanding. Read the story by Mali RPCV Moon Yun Choi at:
The proper role of the Peace Corps is to bring Americans to other parts of the world, Clouet says. "They can see that we're not all CIA agents, military or bad people," he said. "We can bring our knowledge of other countries back to the U.S. For example, I now know a lot about Islam. ... "