Aaron Jones to serve as Peace Corps Volunteer in Mozambique - says application process is pretty grueling



Jones points out, you don't just show up at a Peace Corps office and sign up. "The application process is actually pretty grueling," Jones says. In all, it took about eight months for Jones to run the gantlet, which includes lots of paperwork, deep background checks, personal interviews and an extensive medical evaluation, to be as certain as possible that a candidate is physically and mentally fit for an assignment overseas.

Aaron Jones to serve as Peace Corps Volunteer in Mozambique - says application process is pretty grueling

Peace Corps gives chance to change lives

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Aaron Jones likes adventure, and it's a good thing. The 24-year-old Homewood man is leaving Sunday for the southeastern African nation of Mozambique as a Peace Corps volunteer and, other than a first stop in the capital Maputo, Jones doesn't know where he'll eventually wind up.

"That's part of the adventurous aspect of it,"Jones says. "I don't know a whole lot about my living conditions, about what's going to happen there. I know enough to prepare, but not enough to have specific details."

And that's the Peace Corps, the $319 million U.S. government program established in 1961 by President Kennedy to - according to Peace Corps information - "promote world peace and friendship."

A scary world:

With so much turmoil in the world today, and with the United States the focus of so much criticism and anger for events gone wrong, it's important to see a complete picture. Yes, we're sending courageous young men and women to Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere to fight the "war against terror," but we're also sending brave people without guns to 75 other countries around the world to help with education, health care, business development, farming and other challenges.

Jones and thousands of other Peace Corps volunteers have promised to give two years of their lives helping people survive in a difficult world.

It's a group of educated volunteers, too. Jones is a 2005 graduate of Auburn University with a degree in political science; overall, 96 percent of Peace Corps volunteers have at least a bachelor's degree. Jones says he's not ready for a career or graduate school yet - not even certain what he'd go to graduate school for.

The Peace Corps offers Jones a couple of years to delay those life decisions. "I wanted to get out into the world," he says. "I wanted to get some hands-on experience doing something important."

But, as Jones points out, you don't just show up at a Peace Corps office and sign up.

"The application process is actually pretty grueling," Jones says. In all, it took about eight months for Jones to run the gantlet, which includes lots of paperwork, deep background checks, personal interviews and an extensive medical evaluation, to be as certain as possible that a candidate is physically and mentally fit for an assignment overseas.

Jones' tenure begins in January and extends until 2009, but he'll spend the next few months in Maputo studying Portuguese, the official language of Mozambique.

After that, he'll head off into the countryside, living in a town or village as just another resident of that town or village. Exactly where is up in the air.

"That's something I don't know yet," Jones says. "The Peace Corps says you might have a DVD player in your apartment, or you might live in a small room with no electricity or running water. I don't know where I'm going for the two years."


Jones does know he'll spend his time in HIV/AIDS education. He's already certified by the Red Cross to teach about HIV/AIDS.

"The disease is a huge problem in sub-Saharan Africa," Jones says. "It's ripping the continent apart and lowering life expectancy, creating millions of orphans. AIDS is really a terrible thing."

Very much so. Consider, the life expectancy in Mozambique is 38 years while the life expectancy in the United States is around 77 years.

Great example:

It has been inspiring to watch Jones grow through the years, but his decision to volunteer isn't a surprise to those of us who know him. I met Aaron when he was a high school junior as my church, Southside Baptist, called his father, Steve, to be senior pastor. Aaron's mother, Libby, is a special education teacher who now works to train hospice volunteers. Service is a Jones family trait.

"Being in the Peace Corps, especially today when things are so tense in the world, gives me a chance to be an ambassador for America, to show other people that Americans aren't so bad," Aaron says. "That's part of the Peace Corps' goal, to be ambassadors to the world."

As idealistic as that may sound, Aaron also is realistic. "I don't think I'm going to go over there and change the world," he says. "I do think I can have an impact on a few people's lives, and that, in itself, is a good thing."

Yes, it is a good thing, and Aaron, through his example, is already changing lives.

Joey Kennedy, a Pulitzer Prize winner, is an editorial writer and editor of the Sunday Commentary section for The News. E-mail: jkennedy@bhamnews.com.

Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: September, 2006; COS - Mozambique; Application Process

When this story was posted in November 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:




Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

---

Election 2006: Results of RPCV Races Chris Shays claims victory in closely watched race Jim Walsh wins re-election to Congress in close race Tom Petri unopposed for re-election to Congress Sam Farr wins re-election to Congress Mike Honda wins re-election to Congress Jim Doyle wins re-election to Wisconsin Governorship Kinky Friedman loses in long shot bid for Texas Governor John Garamendi elected Lt. Governor of California

---

---

Harris Wofford to speak at "PC History" series Senator Harris Wofford will be the speaker at the 4th Annual "Peace Corps History" series on November 16 sponsored by the University of Maryland at Baltimore County (UMBC) and the Maryland Returned Volunteers. Previous speakers in the series have included Jack Vaughn (Second Director of the Peace Corps), Scott Stossel (Biographer of Sargent Shriver), and C. Payne Lucas (President Emeritus of Africare). Details on the time and location of the event are available here.

---

October 22, 2006: This Month's Top Stories The crisis over North Korea's nuclear bomb test 14 Oct Hill faced strong opposition for denuclearization agreement 8 Oct John Coyne writes: The first Peace Corps book 20 Oct Thomas Tighe moderates discussion with President Clinton 17 Oct PC announces Community College degree program 18 Oct Donna Shalala expresses dismay over football brawl 16 Oct Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley defends Lebanon policy 16 Oct Jan Guifarro elected Chair of NPCA Board 15 Oct Carl Pope writes: From the pump to the polls 13 Oct Ambassador Gaddi Vasquez Says Africa a Priority 12 Oct Chris Dodd opposes Bush terrorism bill 10 Oct Isaac Edvalson is founder of Africa's Tomorrow 9 Oct The Man who turned down Shriver 8 Oct Mae Jemison tells girls to reach for the stars 6 Oct Loren Finnell receives Shriver Award 4 Oct Matt Sesow paints onstage during opera 2 Oct Film examines anti-malaria drug lariam 29 Sep Blackwill dismisses Musharraf's claims 27 Sep Ron Tschetter sworn in as 17th Peace Corps Director 26 Sep Rape Victim Student Gets $1 Million From City College 26 Sep Ricardo Chavira narrates Public Service Announcements 25 Sep

---

The Peace Corps Library The Peace Corps Library is now available online with over 40,000 index entries in 500 categories. Looking for a Returned Volunteer? Check our RPCV Directory or leave a message on our Bulletin Board. New: Sign up to receive our free Monthly Magazine by email, research the History of the Peace Corps, or sign up for a daily news summary of Peace Corps stories. FAQ: Visit our FAQ for more information about PCOL.

---

Chris Dodd's Vision for the Peace Corps Senator Chris Dodd (RPCV Dominican Republic) spoke at the ceremony for this year's Shriver Award and elaborated on issues he raised at Ron Tschetter's hearings. Dodd plans to introduce legislation that may include: setting aside a portion of Peace Corps' budget as seed money for demonstration projects and third goal activities (after adjusting the annual budget upward to accommodate the added expense), more volunteer input into Peace Corps operations, removing medical, healthcare and tax impediments that discourage older volunteers, providing more transparency in the medical screening and appeals process, a more comprehensive health safety net for recently-returned volunteers, and authorizing volunteers to accept, under certain circumstances, private donations to support their development projects. He plans to circulate draft legislation for review to members of the Peace Corps community and welcomes RPCV comments.

---

He served with honor One year ago, Staff Sgt. Robert J. Paul (RPCV Kenya) carried on an ongoing dialog on this website on the military and the peace corps and his role as a member of a Civil Affairs Team in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have just received a report that Sargeant Paul has been killed by a car bomb in Kabul. Words cannot express our feeling of loss for this tremendous injury to the entire RPCV community. Most of us didn't know him personally but we knew him from his words. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends. He was one of ours and he served with honor.

---

Meet Ron Tschetter - Our Next Director Read our story about Ron Tschetter's confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that was carried on C-Span. It was very different from the Vasquez hearings in 2001, very cut and dried with low attendance by the public. Among the highlights, Tschetter intends to make recruitment of baby boomers a priority, there are 20 countries under consideration for future programs, Senator Dodd intends to re-introduce his third goal Peace Corps legislation this session, Tschetter is a great admirer of Senator Coleman's quest for accountability, Dodd thinks management at PC may not put volunteers first, Dodd wants Tschetter to look into problems in medical selection, and Tschetter is not a blogger and knows little about the internet or guidelines for volunteer blogs. Read our recap of the hearings as well as Senator Coleman's statement and Tschetter's statement.

---

Peace Corps' Screening and Medical Clearance The purpose of Peace Corps' screening and medical clearance process is to ensure safe accommodation for applicants and minimize undue risk exposure for volunteers to allow PCVS to complete their service without compromising their entry health status. To further these goals, PCOL has obtained a copy of the Peace Corps Screening Guidelines Manual through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and has posted it in the "Peace Corps Library." Applicants and Medical Professionals (especially those who have already served as volunteers) are urged to review the guidelines and leave their comments and suggestions. Then read the story of one RPCV's journey through medical screening and his suggestions for changes to the process.

---

The Peace Corps is "fashionable" again The LA Times says that "the Peace Corps is booming again and "It's hard to know exactly what's behind the resurgence." PCOL Comment: Since the founding of the Peace Corps 45 years ago, Americans have answered Kennedy's call: "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." Over 182,000 have served. Another 200,000 have applied and been unable to serve because of lack of Congressional funding. The Peace Corps has never gone out of fashion. It's Congress that hasn't been keeping pace.

---

PCOL readership increases 100% Monthly readership on "Peace Corps Online" has increased in the past twelve months to 350,000 visitors - over eleven thousand every day - a 100% increase since this time last year. Thanks again, RPCVs and Friends of the Peace Corps, for making PCOL your source of information for the Peace Corps community. And thanks for supporting the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come.

---

History of the Peace Corps PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help.

Read the stories and leave your comments.