US peace corps to concentrate on community based youth development

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 – The United States Peace Corps is accelerating its initiatives to sensitize Saint Lucians on their role in the community.

In observance of US Peace Day, celebrated each year on March 9, the organisation convened a national awareness exercise to foster deeper appreciation and insight into the work of Peace Corps volunteers among the populace.

The US Peace Corps director in the OECS, Margo Jeanchild, says the interactive session encouraged mutual sharing of experiences and deepened relations between Saint Lucians and Peace Corps volunteers.

“We just want to have a rich exchange between Saint Lucians and Americans which is what the Peace Corps is all about. Our goals here are to provide technical assistance to countries that invite us in and more so for you to learn about Americans beyond what you see on the television and in the movies. Conversely, we are here to learn about Saint Lucia and not what the tourist brochures say. We know what goes on in the community is a lot different from that.”

Associate Director of the US Peace Corps in Saint Lucia, Sharmon Jules says, the organisation will continue to work in communities island wide in order to further implement social development projects.

“We have recently completed and revised our project plan which focuses on community development. Now in this area, we are able to address a wide range of development issues, so we will continue over the next 2-3 years to focus on youth development as well as institutional/NGO strengthening, and possibly under this umbrella, we will move to some work in early childhood education.”

Currently, Peace Corps volunteers are deployed to local social and human services organisations to modify and create programmes to address HIV/AIDS, remedial education and sports, among other areas.

The US Peace Corps was created by the late US President John F Kennedy in 1961.

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