During his visit to St Lucia, Director Tschetter met with the Governor General, Dame Pearlette Louisy. Dame Pearlette was very appreciative of the work being done by the Peace Corps and took time to commend the director for the agency’s contribution and was even able to recall the names of Volunteers who served in St Lucia during the 1960s. Ron Tschetter is the seventeenth Director of the Peace Corps. He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in India in the 1960's.
Peace Corps director Ron Tschetter visits St Lucia
Peace Corps director has good visit to St Lucia
Students of the Anse La Raye primary school showed off their outstanding talent during the visit here earlier this month of the global Director for Peace Corps, Ronald Tschetter. The director and his entourage, which included staff from both Peace Corps Washington and the Eastern Caribbean visited the school as part of a four-day visit to the Eastern Caribbean which included stops on the islands of Grenada and St Lucia. Anse La Raye was one of the three sites visited by the director where Peace Corps volunteers are providing service.
The visit to the Anse La Raye primary school gave the director the opportunity to meet with Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) Nicholas Klinger and Lilly Bertz. The delegation was treated to a musical rendition by the school choir and met with the board members of the School Cooperative Program which was reestablished by PCV Nicholas Klinger to encourage students to save regularly. The program has successfully assisted students to save over EC$10, 000 since May 2007. A student violin group later played for the Director and the delegation under the instruction of PCV Lilly Bertz.
The students and staff of the Banse La Grace Combined School as well as Peace Corps Volunteer Samuel Shopinski were also visited by Director Tschetter. The delegation got an opportunity to tour a newly established library and learn about the program from the principal and students of the library club who have been trained to assist with the library duties and to promote reading among their peers. The delegation also played a game of chess with some of the students who have been exposed to the game through an after-school program initiated by the Volunteer and the school staff.
The third site to be visited was the Dennery primary School where Peace Corps volunteers Dallase Scott and Gregory Meves are currently serving. The delegation interacted with community partners including the Community Development Officer and members of the various groups that the PCVs are working with. The groups included: the Dennery Primary School Environment Lorax Program, the Cleaners In Action Group made up of secondary school students, the Dennery Youth Ambassadors, the Young Leaders Club and the Dennery Athletics Club. Group members shared information about their programs and the experience working with the Volunteers.
During his visit to St Lucia, Director Tschetter met with the Governor General, Dame Pearlette Louisy. Dame Pearlette was very appreciative of the work being done by the Peace Corps and took time to commend the director for the agency’s contribution and was even able to recall the names of Volunteers who served in St Lucia during the 1960s.
St Lucia has been credited as being one of the first three countries to accept Peace Corps Volunteers when the program commenced in 1961. Since then over 3,555 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in the Eastern Caribbean. Currently, 124 Volunteers serve on the islands of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada and Cariacou, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines. These volunteers work in the areas of education, youth development, and health services. Volunteers also assist local governments and communities in developing information technology and disaster preparedness programs.
