On March 1, 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order establishing the Peace Corps, an American institution that is still in operation. After a two-year evacuation due to COVID-19, the Peace Corps is back to sending volunteers into the field. At this time, more than 900 Americans are serving abroad in 20 countries, with a total of 50 countries ready to receive volunteers. During the pandemic, Peace Corps continued its operation with virtual service programs where volunteers helped partner communities through work over the internet.
The Peace Corps sends volunteers only to countries that request them. Its purpose is to help the people of interested countries meet their need for trained men and women, to help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the people served, and to help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.
In the past 62 years, roughly 1,222 Utahns have volunteered overseas in 142 countries. They include a BYU graduate who went to Zambia to teach English and ended up bringing training to villagers to refurbish and maintain their own wells; a 59-year-old who taught English in Moldova; some BYU graduates who worked with displaced persons in the country of Georgia; and most recently, a young person from Moab who worked on poultry production with villagers in Guatemala. Years later, many of the programs these Peace Corps volunteers started are still in operation.
My husband and I served in Seoul, South Korea, training special education teachers. The Peace Corps provided a modest stipend so we could live at the level of the average citizen, which meant we sat and slept on the floor, shared a toilet with our neighbors and had the luxury of a single water tap into the kitchen — but no refrigerator. We maintained the fire in the charcoal burner that provided our heat in the winter. I washed clothes by hand and hung them to dry. If we needed to make a call, we walked a block to a pay phone. It was important to live the way our co-workers did, and besides, our living allowance didn’t allow for anything more. We had enough. Our Korean neighbors appreciated our humility and saw that most Americans don’t live like movie stars.
Much has changed in South Korea since 1978 when we served there. Now Koreans live in modern houses and apartments with showers, washing machines, central heat and furniture. They shop in supermarkets. Most have cars. There were three university-based special education training programs in Korea in 1978. Now there are 30. Instead of receiving help from the U.S. Peace Corps, Korea now sends its own volunteers to developing countries.
The entire world has changed and continues to do so. This is the reason government programs are reauthorized by Congress every five to seven years. The rules and regulations under which they operate must be updated to reflect current realities.
With its tiny allotment of .01% of the federal budget, the Peace Corps has an outsized positive effect around the world. It hasn’t, however, been reauthorized for several decades. This means volunteers and staff are operating under the rules written for 1999.
In 2022, a Peace Corps Reauthorization bill passed the House and was short one vote in the Senate when the clock ran out. When it is reintroduced this year, the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Utah urge Reps. Chris Stewart, John Curtis and Burgess Owens to co-sponsor and support this bipartisan legislation. Sens. Mitt Romney and Mike Lee, as well as Rep. Blake Moore, have supported this legislation in the past, and we are asking them to do so again. The American people deserve an updated Peace Corps.
When Americans live and work alongside the citizens of nations who are striving to live their best lives, trust is built and understanding follows. The local people learn about us. And we bring back to the U.S. a greater understanding of them. Reauthorization of the Peace Corps will strengthen this ripple effect of positive exchange.
Catherine Sharpsteen served in the Peace Corps in Korea from 1978 to 1980, and lives in Salt Lake City. Now retired, she taught 30 years for the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind in Logan and Kaysville.