2006.11.30: November 30, 2006: The Plainsman: Ron Tschetter, back from Jordan, talks about Peace Corps

Peace Corps Online: Peace Corps News: Directors of the Peace Corps: Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter: Ron Tschetter: Newest Stories: 2006.11.15: November 15, 2006: Headlines: Directors - Tschetter: COS - India: COS - Jordan: Peace Corps Press Release: Peace Corps Director Visits Jordan and Meets King Abdullah II : 2006.11.30: November 30, 2006: The Plainsman: Ron Tschetter, back from Jordan, talks about Peace Corps

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Ron Tschetter, back from Jordan, talks about Peace Corps

Ron Tschetter, back from Jordan, talks about Peace Corps

Tschetter is just back from a trip to Morocco and Jordan. In Jordan, he had an audience with the king and queen. “Basically, he wanted to say thank you,” Tschetter said.

The Peace Corps is a fully independent agency of the U.S. government. The director reports directly to the president. “We protect that independence and autonomy with a passion and it does become an issue from time to time,” he said.

Tschetter wants to find ways to have quantifiable results, and has a team on accountability working on that. “It’s real hard to articulate the measurement of success and we’re working on that right now,” he said. “I think we’ve got some things that are going to be kind of interesting coming out.”

One eastern European study he points to compared the attitude villagers have about America where volunteers had been placed with villagers elsewhere who had no such experience. “It was a night and day difference in attitude,” Tschetter said. “To me, that’s a measurement of success. We have made a difference.”


Ron Tschetter, back from Jordan, talks about Peace Corps

Thousands of Peace Corps volunteers making a difference

BY ROGER LARSEN

Caption: Director Tschetter discusses the Peace Corps program in Jordan with His Majesty King Abdullah II and Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah.

John F. Kennedy was campaigning for president when he stayed up late one night talking with students at the University of Michigan.

The Massachusetts senator was a young man himself, and he valued those sessions on college campuses.

But something special was born on this particular night in Ann Arbor. It was reaffirmed just a month ago for Ron Tschetter, when a woman introduced herself and told him she had attended that informal brainstorming session with Kennedy nearly half a century ago.

It was the night the concept of the Peace Corps was developed.

“That’s where the idea germinated from,” Tschetter said. “That’s where the seed was planted.”

After taking office, Kennedy turned to Sen. Hubert Humphrey to work behind the scenes to set up the agency and to his brother-in-law, Sargent Shriver, to serve as its first director. Five years later, in 1966, Tschetter and his wife, Nancy, were starting their own careers after graduating from college when they joined the Peace Corps.

They served villagers in India as community health workers.

Two months ago — after staying close to the agency and, most recently serving three years as chairman of the National Peace Corps Association — Tschetter was confirmed by the Senate as the 17th director of the Peace Corps.

Four decades after the Huron native volunteered his skills to help others, he says the directorship was never a goal.

“But the Peace Corps experience was really positive for us,” he said in an interview Monday.

Americans volunteer to serve in often-primitive surroundings because they want to make a difference in the lives of others.

In September 1961, the first Peace Corps volunteers were sent to Ghana. Today, there are 7,810 volunteers in about 74 countries. The average age is 28, although about 6 percent are over 50.

Tschetter wants to tap into the baby boomer population — estimated at 75 million — who are starting to retire yet are healthy, well educated and looking for something to do.

“They’re looking for meaning, they’re looking for something to do,” he said. “They’re looking for ways to give, to contribute.”

Closer to home, the Peace Corps has always been supported well by South Dakotans. In its 45-year history, 525 men and women from the state have served.

As of September 2005, the latest fiscal year for which figures are available, there were 27 volunteers who recorded their home as South Dakota.

Not only were the Tschetters interested in helping their fellow man, “we also were intrigued with seeing the world,” he said.

As Peace Corps director, he expects to spend half of his time traveling overseas to meet with volunteers and with the government leaders of host nations.

Tschetter is just back from a trip to Morocco and Jordan. In Jordan, he had an audience with the king and queen.

“Basically, he wanted to say thank you,” Tschetter said.

He is constantly impressed by the dedication of those who serve as Peace Corps volunteers.

“These people are so committed to making a difference and to helping and that’s what it’s all about,” he said.

In the host countries, volunteers fulfill half a dozen major initiatives ranging from teaching to HIV/AIDS awareness, from community health education to youth work. Agriculture is not as much in demand as it once was, but the emerging area of Peace Corps work is with small business development.

One out of four applicants is accepted. Potential volunteers undergo a thorough background check before they are matched to a position and country based on their skills.

Peace Corps’ main goals haven’t changed since its inception. It strives to take demonstrable skills abroad, take an understanding of America to impart with villagers and bring back an understanding of the people they serve around the world.

Volunteers live in the same conditions as the people they help.

“That’s the unique characteristic of the Peace Corps that no other agency has,” Tschetter said. “You literally live at their level.”

Unlike the early days, safety and security are now major issues. Volunteers will be pulled out if the government becomes unstable.

“In this last year, we left East Timor because of political and internal strife, we left Nepal because of the same reason, we left Bangladesh for the same reason,” Tschetter said.

The Peace Corps is a fully independent agency of the U.S. government. The director reports directly to the president.

“We protect that independence and autonomy with a passion and it does become an issue from time to time,” he said.

Volunteers come home with story after story and frequently share them by writing books.

But Tschetter wants to find ways to have quantifiable results, and has a team on accountability working on that.

“It’s real hard to articulate the measurement of success and we’re working on that right now,” he said. “I think we’ve got some things that are going to be kind of interesting coming out.”

One eastern European study he points to compared the attitude villagers have about America where volunteers had been placed with villagers elsewhere who had no such experience.

“It was a night and day difference in attitude,” Tschetter said. “To me, that’s a measurement of success. We have made a difference.”

The Tschetters have returned to India five times to visit friends they met as Peace Corps volunteers in 1966.

“We still have stories to tell,” he said. “It’s two years of your life, and it leaves a tremendous impression.”




Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: November, 2006; Ron Tschetter; Ron Tschetter (Director 2006 - ); COS - India; Directory of India RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for India RPCVs; COS - Jordan; Directory of Jordan RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Jordan RPCVs; Accountability





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


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Story Source: The Plainsman

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Directors - Tschetter; COS - India; COS - Jordan; Accountability

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