The year 2011 marks the 50th Anniversary of the United States Peace Corps, an organization established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy to promote world peace and friendship. This Saturday, October 15, will mark the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the first United States Peace Corps volunteers to St. Lucia.
Since 2011, over 800 U.S. men and women have lived and worked in St. Lucia to help improve the lives of men, women and children. They have worked in agriculture, education, health and human services. They have served in government ministries and assisted non-government organizations (NGOs). St. Lucia was the second country in the world to receive volunteers, and today it is recognized as the longest continual Peace Corps operation in the organization’s history.
To celebrate its 50th Anniversary, the Peace Corps is partnering with local community groups and national organizations on three community projects in St. Lucia, including the repainting of the Soufriere Public Library, and a beach clean-up project of Sandy Beach in Vieux Fort in collaboration with the National Trust.
On Thursday, September 22, a reception will be held at Government House in Castries for representatives of organizations that have worked with the Peace Corps over the past 50 years.
Background and History
St. Lucia is one of six island nation that are served by the U.S. Peace Corps’ Eastern Caribbean headquarters located in Castries. The other islands are: Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis and Antigua and Barbuda. Collectively, over 3,716 volunteers have served in the eastern Caribbean since 1961.
When he established the U.S. Peace Corps in 1961, President Kennedy challenged America’s young adults to serve their country by sharing their knowledge and skills with people of developing nations. Their mission was to help host countries train men and women to learn new skills, to work with youth and to serve in local communities in which they lived. Their second goal was to learn about local cultures and share that knowledge with Americans back home while educating community members about life in America. Since 1961, over 200,000 Peace Corps volunteers have served in 139 countries. Currently there are 8,655 serving in 76 countries.
In St. Lucia, the first 15 volunteers included eight men and seven were women. Seven volunteers worked in agriculture and forestry, two were nurses and worked in health services, and six in education (five women and one man). Eight volunteers lived in Castries, two in Vieux Fort, and one each in Fond St. Jacques, Micoud, Desruisseaux, Delcer and Babonneau.
Today, the 22 Peace Corps volunteers in St. Lucia work in Youth Development teaching life skills, literacy and numeracy tutoring, art, coaching sports, conducting after school activities, HIV/AIDS education, establishing and improving libraries and teaching IT skills. They also work in strengthening NGOs, Community Based Organizations and cooperatives by helping build organizational capacity.
For more information on the United States Peace Corps, please visit: http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=learn.wherepc.caribbean&cntry=easterncaribbean
Ron Green served in the US Peace Corps.
Haaaaaaaaa,……….50 years of preparing classified and confidencial reports for Washington. Some of them are lucky they came to our peaceful island, should have gone to Indonesia or east.
50 years of spying!!