The Peace Corps.
How many of you would be willing to serve your country and the cause of peace by living in and workin g in developing countries? President Kennedy asked that very question to 10,000 students at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor on October 14, 1960. With asking that, President Kennedy had no idea what would be in store for the future when he asked that question. The reaction that he got from the crowd was a quick and enthusiastic response. For the past 40 years, more than 165,000 Americans have responded to this challenge given to them by President Kennedy on that fateful day. And since then, the Peace Corps has demonstrated how the power of an idea can capture the imagination of an entire nation. In President Kennedy's inaugural speed made January 20, 1961, he challenged a new generation of Americans to join, "...a grand and global alliance...to fight tyranny, poverty, disease, and war..."(Kennedy peacecorps.gov) "To those people in the huts and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves."(Kennedy peacecorps.gov) As of March 1, 1961 the Peace Corps has been here ever since and will not be going away any time soon. In the first year of
Currently, the Peace Corps is made up of 7,000 volunteers; 91% female and 9% male. The average age is 28, but there is an 82-year-old volunteer. 15% of the Peace Corps is made up of minorities. And 82% of the volunteers have undergraduate degrees while 13% have graduate degrees. Currently the Peace Corps is addressing the environmental protection agency in which they are trying to gather more diversity in their division. "The image that many people all over the world have of America is gained through meeting Peace Corps volunteers. Therefore, it is one of Peace Corps goals to show the world that Americans are of all colors, of all faiths, of all backgrounds and origins," said the director of Peace Corps, Gaddi Vasquez. Those who really don't think about the Peace Corps that much shows that they may be self centered or not really in tune with everything else that is going on in the world. "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." (Kennedy peacecorps.gov) By the 1980's, Congress passed legislation that made the Peace Corps an independent federal agency. By the 1980's there have been 98,000 volunteers who have served in 88 countries but by 1982 there is an all time low of the number of volunteers which dropped to 5,380. "In 1985, Congress establishes a goal of having 10,000 Peace Corps Volunteers serving in the field by the year by 1992." (US embassy) Between 1985 and 1989 different programs are established to help people get back on their feet when they get back to the states and to get students from schools in America to correspond with those overseas to promote international awareness. By 1990, this is the decade of many firsts for the Peace Corps. In 1990, President George Bush praises the first Volunteers to serve in Eastern Europe. In 1992, the first group of Volunteers to serve in the former Soviet Union leaves to work in small business activity projects in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. In 1993, the first group
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Approximate Word count = 1442
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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