2007.04.05: April 5, 2007: Headlines: COS - Cambodia: Expansion: China Post: Peace Corps sends first ever mission to Cambodia
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2007.04.05: April 5, 2007: Headlines: COS - Cambodia: Expansion: China Post: Peace Corps sends first ever mission to Cambodia
Peace Corps sends first ever mission to Cambodia
All 400 attendees stood as Sam and Kara Snyder, a couple from Buffalo, New York, and Autumn West, from Greenback, Tennessee, opened the event by singing the national anthem in Khmer. They then sang the U.S. national anthem while their fellow volunteers and American officials stood to attention with their hands on their chests. Conor Cronin, from Scarsdale, New York, delighted the audience by delivering a speech in Cambodian, with Felicidad Garcia, from Miami, Florida, acting as his translator for the American guests. The crowd laughed when Cronin joked that he was chosen to give the speech because he was "the most handsome volunteer." "We, the volunteers, have come to Cambodia from different parts of America, each with a different history. But we are all here ... with the same commitment to serve as best as possible in every way," Cronin said.
Peace Corps sends first ever mission to Cambodia
Peace Corps sends first ever mission to Cambodia
2007/4/5
By Ker Munthit PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, AP
Caption: Peace Corps Cambodia volunteers clap during a swearing-in ceremony at National Institute of Education in Phnom Penh on April 4, 2007. Thirty English teachers, the first group of Peace Corps volunteers will serve in Cambodia teaching English at the upper secondary level and supporting teachers in Cambodian provinces and districts to improve their English language and teaching skills. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)
Three Americans sang the Cambodian national anthem in the Khmer language at a ceremony in Phnom Penh on Wednesday to herald the official start of the U.S. Peace Corps' first volunteer program in this impoverished Southeast Asian nation.
Over the next two years, 28 U.S. volunteers will be stationed across seven Cambodian provinces teaching English to rural schoolchildren.
"I believe that the Peace Corps' program in Cambodia will open new opportunities for future generations of Cambodians," Ron Tschetter, the volunteer group's Washington-based director, said in a speech before swearing in the 15 female and 13 male volunteers.
The volunteers have spent the past eight weeks living with families in Kampong Cham province, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of Phnom Penh, so they could learn to speak Khmer and adjust to the local culture.
The ceremony Wednesday highlighted how well the volunteers mastered the language in just two months.
All 400 attendees stood as Sam and Kara Snyder, a couple from Buffalo, New York, and Autumn West, from Greenback, Tennessee, opened the event by singing the national anthem in Khmer.
They then sang the U.S. national anthem while their fellow volunteers and American officials stood to attention with their hands on their chests.
Conor Cronin, from Scarsdale, New York, delighted the audience by delivering a speech in Cambodian, with Felicidad Garcia, from Miami, Florida, acting as his translator for the American guests.
The crowd laughed when Cronin joked that he was chosen to give the speech because he was "the most handsome volunteer."
"We, the volunteers, have come to Cambodia from different parts of America, each with a different history. But we are all here ... with the same commitment to serve as best as possible in every way," Cronin said.
Cambodia is the 139th country to receive a mission from the Peace Corps in its 46-year history. The group has about 7,500 volunteers in 73 nations.
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Headlines: April, 2007; Peace Corps Cambodia; Directory of Cambodia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Cambodia RPCVs; Expansion
When this story was posted in April 2007, this was on the front page of PCOL:
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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. |
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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. |
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Story Source: China Post
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