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US Peace Corps Program Closure in Lithuania

June 21, 2002

Vilnius, 21 June 2002, - The US Peace Corps is officially closing their activity in Lithuania. On 21 June 2002 the US Ambassador John F. Tefft will host a reception for present and former Peace Corps Volunteers, program coordinators, many distinguished guests.

US Peace Corps will bring its program of technical assistance to Lithuania to a close as of September 30, 2002. This American Government agency 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 over 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 currently serving in Lithuania 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, advisers to business development centers and Non-Governmental Organizations. They teach in secondary schools, train English teachers, 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 two areas of development: English language education and the acquisition of small enterprise management. The Governments signed an agreement in February 1992, and by July the first Volunteers arrived to begin their training.

There were many English teachers in Lithuania in 1992, but the demands of the private sector for English-speakers was so great, that many teachers were leaving schools for other jobs in business. Thus 111 teachers supplied by the Peace Corps over 10 years were needed and greatly appreciated, especially by school in rural areas.

The Peace Corps goal in business was to serve 11,700 private entrepreneurs assisting them gain basic skills in business practices. As of 2001, almost 11,000 individuals have been served by 65 Volunteers who worked in this program. In 1997, the Non Governmental Organizations (NGO) program was introduced. A total of 18 Volunteers have worked with these organizations providing advice and training to almost 7,000 people. Peace Corps Volunteers and their Lithuanian counterparts have together raised more than a million dollars for small community projects organized by NGOs and municipalities. From two American Government sources alone, augmented by matching local contributions, almost $740,000 was raised to help solve problems at a local level

"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."

The ten years of Peace Corps involvement here has seen a remarkable transition in Lithuania, which is now on the verge of taking its place in the community of democratic European nations.

Peace Corps program reports for Lithuania and the Baltic countries are available at the Peace Corps office in Lithuania tel. (370 2) 62 76 14.