Middle East peace corps pioneers - The Peace Corps had a program for years in Yemen



Middle East peace corps pioneers - The Peace Corps had a program for years in Yemen.

Middle East peace corps pioneers

While I commend the effort of Scott Peterson in his article "Peace Corps Edges Into Arab World" (Sept. 25) the article is technically inaccurate. While the Jordan program is currently the only one being conducted in the Middle East, it is not by far the first.

The Peace Corps had a program for years in Yemen, The program was pulled, however, and Peace Corps volunteers evacuated, during that country's civil war in the early 1990s.

The Peace Corps has had a very successful and long history working among Arab and Muslim populations. In North Africa, the organization had a mission in Tunisia, which it eventually terminated given that country's successful development program, and continues to have a very popular program in Morocco. I myself studied the local dialect in Tangier through the aid of a Peace Corps manual last summer.

Having friends who were volunteers in the past, I know that the Jordanian program had been anticipated for a long time and that its success is important as a litmus test for the organization to reestablish itself in the region. However, we must not forget the work done by volunteers in the past that have made this program possible.

Jozlyn Kalchthaler

Washington, D.C.