Fifty-three years ago tomorrow, President John F. Kennedy officially created the Peace Corps by way of executive order, which was later ratified by Congress.
Throughout the 1950’s several members of Congress proposed the creation of a volunteer organization in developing countries and as early as 1951, then Congressman Kennedy suggested a group for young college graduates. In fact, in 1957, Senator Hubert H. Humphrey Jr. introduced a bill to create the Peace Corps, but it was “not met with enthusiasm” according to Humphrey’s autobiography.
On a campaign stop at the University of Michigan in 1960, which he was late for, Kennedy announced and detailed his plan for what he then called the Peace Corps. Once elected, he continued his commitment to the idea and created the organization within his first 100 days in office and appointed Sargent Shriver as the programs first director. The first groups went to Ghana and Tanzania. Since 1961, over 210,000 people have served as Peace Corps Volunteers. Peace Corps Thailand opened in 1962 and has been open ever since, with over 5,200 people serving here.
Before I left the States, I told the guy that ran the pub trivia that I would be leaving for a while because I was joining the Peace Corps. He’s quite a character and went on about how it was a good thing that I was doing and about how the American public rarely hears anything about Peace Corps volunteers, that unlike military members we are out there on our own and that a lot of people forget about that. So as this Peace Corps week comes to a close, I would just like to ask you all to take a moment to think about all the Peace Corps volunteers out there, around the globe. Do a search for other Peace Corps blogs and read about their experiences and look through their window into another part of the world, because I like to think that peace does come through understanding.
