Today, March 1, marks the anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 executive order establishing the Peace Corps, sending volunteers to work with welcoming host countries across much of the impoverished world.
The return of Peace Corps volunteers is more urgent today due to global threats we all face, from the pandemic to climate change to the retreat of democracy around the world, which we are seeing first-hand in Ukraine. It is my hope, as a returned Peace Corps volunteer who served in Ukraine from 2010-2012, that Americans will return to serve their country, especially in Ukraine, as Peace Corps volunteers.
For the past two years, the Peace Corps, like much of the world, has been grounded by COVID-19, with no volunteers serving abroad. This is about to change as the Peace Corps gets ready to relaunch and send volunteers overseas in the spring of 2022.
Many potential volunteers are ready to serve in the Peace Corps, but help is needed to encourage our congressional representatives to pass the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act (H.R. 1456).
The state of Hawaii has a special relationship with the Peace Corps. From 1962 to 1971, Hawaii island served as the training ground for new Peace Corps recruits heading to the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, Nepal and Korea. Since 1961, 1,500 volunteers from Hawaii have served around the world, on a wide range of projects: sustainable development goals, health, education, food security, environmental stewardship.
The National Peace Corps Association, a membership organization of more than 240,000 returned Peace Corps volunteers, has worked to ensure that America’s most iconic service agency lives up to President Kennedy’s grand vision of bringing the world together in peace.
For the past two years, Peace Corps headquarters has taken the time to listen to the concerns of the Peace Corps community. Reforms to programs are being adopted. New ideas to incorporate equity and racial justice into agency activities are being advanced.
The first step toward completing an overhaul of Peace Corps operations is the new authorizing legislation. The Peace Corps Reauthorization Act includes provisions to improve in-service and post-service health care; extend the critical mission of a Sexual Assault Advisory Council; enhance several volunteer financial benefits; expedite applications for volunteers wishing to return to service after COVID brought them home; and raise opportunities and respect for Peace Corps service.
As volunteers return to the field, battling COVID will be a significant part of their work. In October 2021 testimony to the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, acting Director Carol Spahn said: “The Peace Corps is committed to playing a critical role in global COVID-19 response and recovery by returning volunteers to work in partnership with underserved communities around the world.”
With bipartisan support for passage, this legislation will deepen our nation’s commitment to service and our nation’s highest ideals. Please join me and the 1,500 returned Peace Corps volunteers across Hawaii in contacting our four congressional representatives, urging them to pass the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act.
Caroline L. Mackenzie, president of the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCV) of Hawaii, served in Ukraine from 2010 to 2012.
