2010.10.04: Peace Corps volunteer total hits a 40-year high

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By Admin1 (admin) (98.188.147.225) on Saturday, November 06, 2010 - 1:24 pm: Edit Post

Peace Corps volunteer total hits a 40-year high

Peace Corps volunteer total hits a 40-year high

As of Sept. 30, there were 8,655 Peace Corps volunteers working in 77 host countries, up almost 1,000 volunteers from 2009, the agency said. The new total falls short of the 9,000 volunteers who worked with Peace Corps in 59 countries in 1970.

Peace Corps volunteer total hits a 40-year high

Peace Corps volunteer total hits a 40-year high

By Ed O'Keefe
Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, October 28, 2010; 10:08 PM

More people are volunteering with the Peace Corps than at any point since 1970, the agency said Thursday as it touted a 13 percent year-to-year increase in head count.

As of Sept. 30, there were 8,655 Peace Corps volunteers working in 77 host countries, up almost 1,000 volunteers from 2009, the agency said. The new total falls short of the 9,000 volunteers who worked with Peace Corps in 59 countries in 1970.

New host countries, extended volunteer stays and the agency's $400 million operating budget - its largest ever- contributed to the jump. The Peace Corps reopened programs in Colombia, Indonesia and Sierra Leone and reopened its suspended program in Madagascar, it said.

The agency's volunteer head count fell to a low of 5,380 in 1982 but climbed steadily through the 1980s. In 1985, Congress set a goal of having 10,000 volunteers in the field by 1992, a mark not yet reached.

The average age of Peace Corps volunteers is 28, but 7 percent are over age 50 (the oldest is 86). Nineteen percent of volunteers are minorities, 60 percent are women and 90 percent hold at least a bachelor's degree.

Education remains the most popular sector of service for volunteers, but others have worked on health and HIV/AIDS prevention, business development, youth development, and environmental and agricultural projects. Volunteers are almost evenly divided across Latin America, Africa and Europe/Asia, the agency said.
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"Every day, Peace Corps volunteers strive to make a difference and have improved the lives of millions of people - not just in communities around the world, but also in their local communities in the United States once they return home," said Peace Corps Director Aaron S. Williams. "This is the legacy of [President John F. Kennedy's] concept of international service, an idea that continues to capture the imagination of thousands of service-minded Americans today."

More than 200,000 Americans have served in 139 countries since Kennedy established the Peace Corps in 1961. It became an independent federal agency in 1981.




PollyWog wrote:
19% Of the volunteers are minorities. That's just a shame. My son and his wife lived in Africa for 18 months. The PCVs would check in with him at the embassy, she volunteered as a medic at an TB/AIDS hospice. Lots of foreign volunteers coming through to work, NO minorities. What gives?
10/29/2010 5:16:18 PM
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dcharlson wrote:
I suspect that many have volunteered because of the poor economy. When improvement comes, the numbers will drop.
10/29/2010 12:29:11 PM
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Pilot1 wrote:
Decent program but is it something we can afford these days? Expending $47,000 per individual but they get paid nothing. Where is the money going?
10/29/2010 11:06:00 AM
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pcieslik wrote:
Tea party wants to terminate this program. Could this even be possible?
10/29/2010 10:11:33 AM
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DCB23 wrote:
Hoorah! PCVs represent the best of America to the world. The more we learn about others, and the more they learn about us...the better for all. --ReturnedPC Volunteer


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Story Source: Washington Post

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Expansion; Headquarters; Census

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