A Bolder Peace Corps

I feel the most important challenge facing the Peace Corps today is to place volunteers in organizations where they are needed most- as opposed to replacing old volunteers with new ones in the same exact host organizations. The practice of placing volunteers in the same organizations year after year lessens the effectiveness of the volunteer and the host organization as well.

Allow servicemen/women (such as myself) who have incurred a debt of service to the military because the military has paid for college or medical/law school to be paid by service in the Peace Corps. (I was a Peace Corps Volunteer before I went to Medical school. I married an Ecuadorian while in the Peace Corps who spoke not a word of English & we moved back to the US, so I had no choice but to join the military to have them pay for medical school. I've finally finished my residency, nine years after beginning medical school, and now still owe six years of active duty service to the military. I would much rather be serving in the Peace Corps even if I were paid less! — Julie Reid

Some of us ex PCVs and Staff live outside the USA... and many continue to be involved many years later in the countries they served in! (In my case, both Chile and Central America). It would be good if we could be connected with past PCVs who served in our country of service also...Is there anyway you can post a list of members still keen, on a country by country basis? All for a larger Peace Corps! A much wiser way to make a difference in the world than the ridiculous amount of $$ and effort focused on the military approach! Go For It! — Norm Moe

I think this is a great idea and I support your efforts 100%. I found my Peace Corps experience to be life changing and I would encourage others to join and have their lives changed for the better.

The biggest challenge in my country of service was lack of site development. I would love to put more volunteers in the field - there is so much need - but only if PC Washington and at post have the capacity and commitment to manage that growth effectively.

I propose that we work towards requiring EVERYONE in the USA to serve 1-2 years in the Peace Corps, the military or some sort of community service as a requirement for citizenship. Switzerland has the largest military per capita of any country but never goes to war. So what are they doing with their time? Helping each other to have a higher standard of living. We could do the same thing. We could also change the image of the Peace Corps from elitist group of college grads only (95% of all people joining the peace corps are college grads) by allowing 10 high school grads/dropouts for each college grad to join.

Along with increasing simply the number of volunteers, we must focus on the numbers that matter to potential and current volunteers - financial. We have created a situation where only the most privileged Americans can afford to join the Peace Corps. As a result, the Peace Corps does not reflect America today. This is an issues of not only loan forgiveness and in-service financial concerns, but also the readjustment allowance and post-service benefits.