Peace Corps
Story by Zack Walters
Public domain photos accredited to the Peace Corps
The power of human connection is an intercultural approach that shapes and guides the Peace Corps. They connect skilled, committed volunteers to work in partnership with welcoming host communities. Peace Corps service brings people together to make a lasting impact. Founded in 1961, the Peace Corps is a U.S. volunteer program dedicated to promoting world peace and friendship. Volunteers serve in communities around the world, supporting education, health, the environment, agriculture and youth development while building meaningful cross-cultural understanding.
Stories from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo highlight the human side of the mission including why people serve, what they learn and how the experience shapes their lives long after their service ends. Learn what Peace Corps service is really like, and hear powerful human stories from around the world. It is a celebration of service, community and the many paths that lead people to make a difference. If these stories spark your curiosity, consider whether Peace Corps service might be part of your own journey.
Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, through short audio stories and written stories, share deep testimony of the transformational process of experiencing other cultures. The multicultural experience seems to create a type of metamorphosis for those who volunteer. “For Bill Sakovich, Peace Corps service was never a chapter with a clear beginning and end; it was the start of a lifelong trajectory. Decades after his initial assignments in Indonesia and Morocco, he still coaches swimmers in Hilo, and the students he once taught are now the ones leading the way.” For Sakovich, his lifelong trajectory allowed him to take what he learned with the Peace Corps and use it to teach students volleyball at University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo.
We find more reported by UH stories, “As a Peace Corps trainer, Arthur Mersereau learned that most of what we think we know is provisional, open to challenge, and that the most effective leaders are those who listen before they decide.” A lot like a parent who realizes the role of the parent isn’t to change the kid, but rather to learn from children, “Craig Severance came to the realization fairly early on in his Peace Corps volunteer work: His role wasn’t to change the island, but to learn from it.” The shifting perspective from our own culture is what allows for unity as Globalization accelerates, “The Hawaiʻi Island environment of ethnic and cultural diversity was precisely why Hilo had been chosen as a Peace Corps training site for Southeast Asia volunteers, and it was here that Stu Kearns’s perspective began to shift.” The diversity at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo is already far beyond many Universities in America.
“Every Peace Corps volunteer I’ve spoken to agrees that we took away more than we contributed. Not by choice, but because of the immense love and support we experienced,” spoken by Artem Sergeyev.
Volunteers live and work side by side with community members to partner on locally prioritized projects. Together, they build relationships, share cultures, knowledge and help transform lives for generations. The Peace Corps asks a lot of its volunteers, so they offer support and benefits to volunteers to help them succeed during and after service. They take home a $10,000 award after service, receive housing, a monthly living allowance and full coverage of necessary and appropriate medical and dental needs during service. They also get a leg up on federal hiring and save on a graduate degree after service.
Ready for something bigger? Check out https://www.peacecorps.gov/ to find out more. The Peace Corps is a world of opportunities. Their intercultural approach empowers human connection and they offer support before, during and after service.
