At 60, Peace Corps Plans Return to World after Virus

The Peace Corps¹ is a U.S. government program that places young Americans in under-developed countries around the world to help with small projects. This year, it is turning 60.

Last year, it had 7,000 volunteers in 62 countries when the coronavirus broke out. The volunteers were given little time to leave their countries to go back to the United States.

Since its creation² in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, more than 240,000 Americans have served as Peace Corps volunteers in many countries. The goal is to help countries meet their development needs with programs, from education to health and agriculture. It does this while helping³ to spread a better understanding of Americans.

Cameron Beach was a volunteer living in rural Malawi, a landlocked country in southern Africa. Nine months after the COVID-19 pandemic started, she came back to Malawi. She is living off her savings⁴.

Beach said on an online call, "It was especially painful for me because I was given 24 hours to leave a place that I'd called home for almost two years."

Beach was trained to speak Chichewa. She was teaching at the Mkomera Community Day Secondary School in Dedza, found about 40 kilometers southeast of the Capital, Lilongwe. She is 25 years-old and from Greenville, South Carolina. She said she would "absolutely" rejoin the Peace Corps if it became possible.

It might: the organization hopes to begin returning volunteers to the field late this year or early next year.

Peace Corps volunteers would be required to be vaccinated⁵. And sending them back will depend on the situation in each country.

Acting⁶ Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn told The Associated Press that among the recalled volunteers, about 2,400 said they wanted to go back when it is possible. There are 10,000 people who are interested in joining the Peace Corps now.

How soon they can go back depends on the worldwide fight against the virus, the new delta⁷ variant⁸, and the slow rollout of vaccines⁹ in developing countries.

Spahn believes it will be a few years before the Peace Corps is back to its full strength. While volunteers have been removed from some countries in the past, March 2020 was the first time the Peace Corps brought home all its volunteers at the same time.

Heading back overseas will be difficult. There will be required training and rebuilding of programs. Areas that have few returning volunteers will also lose the organizational, cross-cultural, and knowledge that is passed on.

Service in the Peace Corps is usually two years after a training period. During the pandemic, most Peace Corps workers remained in place, and some kept up some programs. Some former volunteers worked remotely on development projects from the United States, receiving a small payment for their work.

Spahn said a few volunteers refused to leave. Their Peace Corps service was ended. Despite their short service, those volunteers can still receive the benefits given to those who complete two years. They include moving payments, money for school, and better placement in federal jobs.

Spahn said those former volunteers, like Beach, could help bring in a renewed Peace Corps.

Beach is now teaching her English classes and is helping to build part of a school in part with money given from Peace Corps. While she was away, her students found it difficult without her.

"The time when Madam Beach left Malawi, lots of things went wrong especially in our class," said Aness Leman Filimoni, who is in her last year of high school. "Madam Beach was teaching us English but when she left, the school could not find a suitable replacement¹⁰."

Words in This Story

volunteer – n. someone who does something without being forced to do it

absolutely – adv. used in speech as a forceful way of saying "yes" or of expressing agreement

variant – n. something that is different in some way from others of the same kind

suitable – adj. having the qualities that are right, needed, or appropriate for something

replace – v. to put someone or something new in the place or position of (someone or something)

1 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 creation   

n.创造，创造的作品，产物，宇宙，天地万物

参考例句：

• Language is the most important mental creation of man.语言是人类头脑最重要的产物。
• The creation of new playgrounds will benefit the local children.新游戏场的建立将有益于当地的儿童。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

5 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

6 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

7 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

8 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

9 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

10 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。