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US Peace Corps Celebrates 40th Birthday

March 2, 2001

March 2, 2001,Vilnius--  Have you ever wondered who that American is who is teaching in your high school and why he or she is there in the first place?  Or how about the American working in your regional business development center or with the Non- government organization (NGO) center in your town?  Chances are that these people are Volunteers sent here by the United States Peace Corps to lend a hand in English teaching and small business development during the period of transition from the Soviet period.

The US Peace Corps is an agency of the American Government that has been serving in Lithuania since 1992.  Since its inception 40 years ago, it has been dedicated to helping people in emerging democracies acquire the skills they need to fully take advantage of the new opportunities available to them as their countries take their place in the world’s affairs.

President John F. Kennedy created the Peace Corps 40 years ago on March 1, 1961, less than two months after assuming the Presidency of the United States.  Since that time, the Peace Corps has sent more than 161,000 Volunteers to 134 countries.  In 2001, there are 7300 Volunteers serving in 77 posts around the world.  There are 43 Volunteers serving in Lithuania at the present time, located in 33 towns across the length and breadth of the country.  Since 1992, 216 Volunteers have served in Lithuania in more than 65 towns.  They work as English teachers or as advisers to business development centers and Non-Governmental Organizations.  They teach in secondary schools, train English teachers, and often offer English lessons to adults in their community.  They help new business operators make business plans, create marketing and growth strategies, and learn how to use the Internet to improve their business.  They assist NGOs to develop their organizational management systems, expand their programs, to write project proposals to secure funding, and promote a favorable climate for Lithuanians to volunteer their time and talent to solve local problems.

The Lithuanian Government invited the Peace Corps to send its Volunteers specifically to help with these two areas of development.  The two Governments signed an agreement in February 1992, and by July the first Volunteers arrived to begin their training.

Volunteers typically spend two years working as a teacher or business advisor after completing a 10-week language and technical training course. During their training they learn to speak some Lithuanian, and they become acquainted with the educational and business systems in the country as well as the customs and traditions of the Lithuanian people.  They then go to an agency or school that has requested their services where they work as a member of the faculty or the staff of an enterprise development center or NGO.

“The Peace Corps is different from other US Government programs overseas,” according to Coralie Turbitt, who directs the Peace Corps programs in all three Baltic States.  “It has always been guided by three goals: to provide mid-level technical assistance to host country institutions; to let citizens of other countries learn about Americans, first hand; and to let Americans learn about other countries through the experiences of Volunteers after they return to their homes.  It is this people-to-people aspect of our mission that makes us different from other American Government programs.”