January 22, 1998: Headlines: Speaking Out: Expansion: Christain Science Monitor: More for the Corps
Peace Corps Online:
Peace Corps News:
Library:
Peace Corps: Expansion:
Expansion:
January 22, 1998: Headlines: Speaking Out: Expansion: Christain Science Monitor: More for the Corps
More for the Corps
More for the Corps
More for the Corps
Before political friction waxes too hot in this election year, there's at least one Clinton proposal Republicans and Democrats should agree on. That's the president's request for a relatively modest ($48 million) increase in the Peace Corps budget.
In the interest of full disclosure, we should note that this newspaper was one of the very first backers of the peace corps idea. In 1958, when Wisconsin Congressman Henry Reuss first floated the concept of a "youth corps" to help less fortunate communities overseas, we enthusiastically pushed the idea.
The Peace Corps helps communities in 87 nations - and America's reputation worldwide.
Sens. Hubert Humphrey, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson all ran with the concept in the 1960 presidential race. And, shortly after Kennedy's inauguration in 1961, the Peace Corps was officially born. Some 15,000 young volunteers enlisted to teach school in Africa, dig wells in India, build huts and latrines, explain new hybrid seeds and fertilizers - and, in the process, learn a lot about their hosts and the world.
The corps has had ups and downs since then. It has added skilled older workers, suffered occasional (mistaken) accusations of spying, fluctuated in size and public attention.
Despite its gestation under noted Democrats, the corps has also flourished under Republican patronage - notably its indefatigable Reagan-era director, Loret Ruppe. But why not? Bipartisan support is natural. It's a government program, but one that thrives on private-sector volunteers, shows American enterprise to the world, and runs on a spare budget.
Currently 6,500 volunteers work in 87 countries. Projects range from environment protection to advice on running a small business. In 1997 volunteers went to South Africa at President Mandela's request. This year teams will go to newly added Bangladesh, Mozambique, and Georgia (Shevardnadze's state, not Jimmy Carter's).
Speaking of Carter, it's worth noting that his grandson, Jason Carter, was in a group that current corps director Mark Gearan sent off to South Africa last week. Jason's peppery great grandmother, who was known as "Miss Lillian," served as a Peace Corps nurse in India in the late '60s.
The outfit really works for the communities it serves - and for America's reputation - around the globe. Clinton's expansion plan has won backers from both parties. At about 18 additional cents per capita, it's a bargain.
When this story was posted in October 2004, this was on the front page of PCOL:
| Director Gaddi Vasquez: The PCOL Interview PCOL sits down for an extended interview with Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez. Read the entire interview from start to finish and we promise you will learn something about the Peace Corps you didn't know before.
Plus the debate continues over Safety and Security. |
| Schwarzenegger praises PC at Convention Governor Schwarzenegger praised the Peace Corps at the Republican National Convention: "We're the America that sends out Peace Corps volunteers to teach village children." Schwarzenegger has previously acknowledged his debt to his father-in-law, Peace Corps Founding Director Sargent Shriver, for teaching him "the joy of public service" and Arnold is encouraging volunteerism by creating California Service Corps and tapping his wife, Maria Shriver, to lead it. Leave your comments and who can come up with the best Current Events Funny? |
Read the stories and leave your comments.
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
Story Source: Christain Science Monitor
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Speaking Out; Expansion
PCOL13564
34
.