Yesterday, Peace Corps Director Ronald A. Tschetter wrapped up a seven day tour of Ukraine, where he met with the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William B. Taylor, toured the country surveying the work of the Peace Corps, and visited over 100 Volunteers. 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 Visits Ukraine
Peace Corps Director Visits Ukraine
Tschetter tours Southern Ukraine, meets with U.S. Ambassador, Volunteers in Peace Corps largest country program
KYIV, UKRAINE, June 19, 2008—Yesterday, Peace Corps Director Ronald A. Tschetter wrapped up a seven day tour of Ukraine, where he met with the U.S.
Ambassador to Ukraine William B. Taylor, toured the country surveying the work of the Peace Corps, and visited over 100 Volunteers.
Ukraine is Peace Corps largest program and hosts 288 Peace Corps Volunteers. Volunteers are serving in the areas of community development, education, and youth development. Since 1992, nearly 2,000 Volunteers have served in Ukraine.
Director Tschetter visited several Volunteer projects and sites in Southern Ukraine. In the city of Sevastopol, Tschetter met Volunteer Jason Gilpin, a community development Volunteer and Masters International student at the University of Denver. Gilpin is working with an NGO, Club Modus, assisting their work with democracy building initiatives, HIV/AIDS prevention, drug abuse programs, and legal advocacy and public trust issues. Lydmilla Litvinenko, Gilpin’s Ukrainian counterpart, praised his working saying, “Jason is simply the best. He doesn’t deny assistance to any organization that needs his expertise or help. We are so thankful of for his contribution to our community.”
Tschetter also had the opportunity to learn about the project of Peace Corps Volunteer Scott Slankard, who is working with the Crimean Tatar Museum of Art to preserve the history and culture of the marginalized Tartar people. Slankard obtained funds to introduce computerized archiving and research tools. With Slankards help, the museum and its mission has been transformed into a project vital to the preservation of the history of the Tartars in the Crimea. Of Slankards projects, Tschetter said, “I am proud of the initiative that Scott has demonstrated and the important preservation work he is doing along with his Ukrainian counterparts. It is a fascinating project.”
