What is the Peace Corps?

Peace Corps gives Americans the chance to volunteer overseas by immersing themselves, working side-by-side with community members to improve challenges in areas such as education, agriculture, and health.

The Three Goals

The Peace Corps is an independent agency and volunteer program run by the US Government established by President John F. Kennedy in March 1961 to promote world peace and friendship with three goals:

To help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the people served.
To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

What better way to understand what is Peace Corps is than to look more closely at the goals that have guided the agency in the 60+ years since its inception.

Peace Corps Goal 1

Goal 1. To help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.

Peace Corps only sends people to those countries that have requested volunteers to work in certain service areas. Peace Corps has six areas: education, health, agriculture, community economic development, environment, and youth-in-development. Most host countries only request one or two service areas to be the volunteers’ main focus. For example, in Nepal, volunteers serve in the Education and Agriculture sectors, while in Mongolia it was Education and Health.

As of 2020 (before the global pandemic), Peace Corps had about 7000 volunteers serving in 61 countries. Agreements between Peace Corps and host countries to supply volunteers are reviewed every 5 years to either be adapted, changed, or in some cases closed. Again, host country interest is what propels the Peace Corps in its mission.

Volunteers are all American citizens, most of whom have university degrees. Because of the competitive nature of the application process, those who are invited to serve also have more experience in their service area back in the US including things like volunteering in their communities and leadership roles in their schools. I believe one of the biggest assets volunteers bring to their host countries are their critical thinking and planning-organizational skills which are not as strong in the countries requesting volunteers. So, even though they might not have years of experience in their service area, they do bring much-needed skills.

Volunteers live and work in host country communities for 24-months (after a 2-3 month training period in-country). Peace Corps volunteers are assigned to specific projects based on their skills, education, and experience. Volunteers are expected to be “a good neighbor” in the host country, to learn to speak the local language, and to live on a level comparable to that of the volunteer’s counterparts there. Meaning you will not get rich on a Peace Corps stipend.

One big difference that separates Peace Corps from other US government agencies is that it is people-community driven. It does not supply money or materials to communities, just volunteers. Volunteers try to act as facilitators to help communities improve themselves. For example, as an Education volunteer, I work with other Nepali teachers to improve their teaching skills. Volunteers generally don’t replace a host country national in a job, but instead, work alongside them.

Peace Corps Goal 2

2. To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the people served.

Most of the people who live in the community served by a Peace Corps volunteer have never met an American. And for various reasons, people in these host country communities might not have an accurate idea of what it means to be an American. For example, some believe that all Americans are white and rich, live and work the easy life, all without a care in the world. Peace Corps volunteers try to put a face to what a real American is, and all that goes along with that – our struggles and shortcomings as well as our successes.

That is the genius of the Peace Corps program because this kind of exposure can’t happen quickly, so the 2-years of service help solidify the reality of what it means to be an “American” in the hearts and minds of the community members.

Peace Corps Goal 3

3. To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

With the internet and social media, this goal has a lot more immediate impact now than it has had in the past. In the early days, “returned” Peace Corps volunteers (RPCV) would educate their American family, friends, and community about what they learned and experienced abroad. People are people, and many Americans have inaccurate understandings about foreign people and communities, especially in developing countries.

So, an RPCV usually continues this Third Goal throughout their lives. But through blogs, social media, and video, volunteers can bring their service right into the homes of their family and friends almost immediately. This is important because the more informed Americans are about the realities abroad, the better they can influence politicians and the government about foreign policy.

What is Peace Corps to me?

I can’t speak for every volunteer, but I can give you some insights I have learned about Peace Corps after serving in 3 countries; Thailand, Mongolia, and Nepal, as an Education volunteer.

What separates the Peace Corps, in my mind from other organizations is that it puts in the time (24-months of service) in places that need it. Here in Nepal, over 75% of the foreign aid organizations work primarily in the largest urban centers like Kathmandu, leaving the largely rural areas where help is desperately needed untouched. The fact that Peace Corps only works in rural or semi-rural areas is a big plus for me. It gets volunteers where they are needed.

And what has convinced me to serve and serve again with the Peace Corps is that I really believe in the work it does – the one-to-one exchange of living in a community as the community does, and working shoulder-to-shoulder. Is Peace Corps perfect – Heaven no! Can it improve – always. But it is the mission that helps me when things get tough, it is what drives me to keep going.

I will leave you with the inspiring words of President John F. Kennedy about the Peace Corps.

Presidential Order Establishing the Peace Corps on March 1, 1961

I have today signed an Executive Order providing for the establishment of a Peace Corps. This Corps will be a pool of trained American men and women sent overseas by the U.S. Government to help foreign countries meet their urgent needs for skilled manpower.
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The initial reactions to the Peace Corps proposal are convincing proof that we have, in this country, an immense reservoir of such men and women – anxious to sacrifice their energies and time and toil to the cause of world peace and human progress.
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We will only send abroad Americans who are wanted by the host country – who have a real job to do – and who are qualified to do that job. Programs will be developed with care, and after full negotiation, in order to make sure that the Peace Corps is wanted and will contribute to the welfare of other people. Our Peace Corps is not designed as an instrument of diplomacy or propaganda or ideological conflict. It is designed to permit our people to exercise more fully their responsibilities in the great common cause of world development.
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Life in the Peace Corps will not be easy. There will be no salary and allowances will be at a level sufficient only to maintain health and meet basic needs. Men and women will be expected to work and live alongside the nationals of the country in which they are stationed – doing the same work, eating the same food, talking the same language.
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But if the life will not be easy, it will be rich and satisfying. For every young American who participates in the Peace Corps – who works in a foreign land – will know that he or she is sharing in the great common task of bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace.
President John F. Kennedy

Are you interested in the Peace Corps? Have you applied? Do you know any returned Peace Corps volunteers? What other questions do you have about the Peace Corps? Leave us a comment here.