We need more Peace Corps

I'm currently in the US after a visiting gap of 5 years! We all know that the USA clean in an almost clinical nature. Supermarkets are overwelming in terms of the abundance of food and the choice in consumer goods and credit (!) is unbelievable.

The other evening I attended a dinner at a Dr's house. She has been pioneering in the field of public broadcasting, a successful doctor and someone who has developed over 18 years of exceptional content for the Sikh community.

I also met one of her nieces who had just returned from Kenya as part of a Peace Corps assignment. The Peace Corps traces its roots and mission to 1960, when the then Senator John F. Kennedy challenged students at the University of Michigan to serve their country in the cause of peace by living and working in developing countries. From that inspiration grew an agency of the federal government devoted to world peace and friendship. Since that time, more than 182,000 Peace Corps Volunteers have been invited by host countries to work on issues ranging from AIDS education to information technology and environmental preservation. My understanding is that they also celebrate their 45th Anniversary year.

The Peace Corps' mission has three simple goals:

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

The girl that I met had spent a year in the outback. Intrigued I dived in with lots of questions (NB Q & A Paraphrased/summarised)

Q: What did you do there?
A: I worked on an Aids education programme

Q: How did you prepare for the assignment?
A: The Peace Corps trained me which included learning two languages as they could not converse in English at all there.

Q: How bad is the problem of Aids in Africa?
A: It is serious. Children are left to fend for themselves.

Q: What was it like?
A: The village folk have no shoes so when the see your shoes or a watch they are amazed.

Q: What do people live on? Do they rely on local produce alone?
A: Yes, they are far away from any commercial towns/cities so they survive on what they grow.

Q: What is the reason for the spread of Aids?
A: It is the way that women are treated and the casuality of relationships. Education is what is needed.

Q: How did you cope - say with basics like keeping in touch, cleaning and the Internet!
A: Once a week I would head to the city. Over the year that I was there I had to use a bucket bath system.

At the end of the discussion she said she wanted to go back to meet her friends in the village.

It was good to see this selfless act of service, something we can all learn from.

The world is full of inequalities yet the majority of us standby and watch. I really wish there was more funds available from our community to set-up such initiatives.