ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 25, 1997 TAG: 9703250042
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CAROL CISSEL
WHEN WE think about the impact of the Peace Corps, we often think only of the influence volunteers have had in the developing country in which they served. By doing so, we are missing a significant piece of the relevance of the Peace Corps - the impact that returned volunteers have had in their local communities upon return to the United States.
According to a recently released 1996 survey of returned Peace Corps volunteers, 59 percent of those surveyed reported that they currently volunteer in their home communities. This is a full 11 percent higher than the national norm, according to a 1993 nationwide survey. Many of those serving today on church councils, the PTA, youth scouting programs, literacy training programs, Habitat for Humanity and the like are returned Peace Corps volunteers.
In addition, they tend to be active in crosscultural activities, public service, and local and national politics, and are involved in other significant domestic and international issues. The ripple effect, both at home and overseas, of Peace Corps service is enormous.
More than 145,000 Americans have served as Peace Corps Volunteers in the 36 years since President Kennedy challenged our nation to stretch beyond our own concerns and reach out to those less fortunate. Some wonder if the Peace Corps has outlived its usefulness, born as it was in the idealism and the youthful enthusiasm of the early days of the Kennedy presidency.
I'm a prime example of the original paradigm of a Peace Corps volunteer. I was accepted into the Peace Corps when I was 21. I turned 22 while training in Korea. I had a B.A. in English/journalistic studies and, based on my college degree, I was trained to teach English. Today's volunteers also are highly educated and are trained to perform a specific job request by the host country. Sixteen percent of today's volunteers possess a graduate degree, and many more have undergraduate degrees in business-related areas.
My first year in the Peace Corps was spent as an English teacher in a Korean middle school. Some of my time was spent conducting workshops for Korean middle and high-school English teachers in the surrounding community. My second year was spent at the Office of Rural Development in Suweon, Korea, where I taught English to agricultural researchers who were being sent to Germany, Canada or the United States to learn new agricultural techniques.
The world has changed since I was part of a cadre of eager, idealistic youth yearning to change the world, but the Peace Corps still has much to offer. While some lament the reported decrease in youthful idealism of the early days of the Peace Corps, others rejoice in today's more mature, job-oriented volunteer.
The average age of its volunteers is now 29, with eight percent of volunteers over the age of 50. Although African countries still command the highest number of volunteers, new countries served since 1990 are primarily in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Today's volunteers are often called upon to be partners in the privatization of former communist or socialist republics.
I was not an active volunteer in my community before my service in the Peace Corps, but I am very active now. This is my sixth year of serving as a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance site coordinator, and I currently run two sites in Roanoke. Most of my volunteers are Roanoke College students and we provide tax assistance to low-income and elderly taxpayers and others with special needs. My goal is to provide volunteers with the experience of using their skills to serve the community.
As a country, we are currently reaping a domestic dividend from Peace Corps service. Returning volunteers strengthen America's understanding to the world and its people, and in turn, serve their own local communities.
CAROL CISSEL,an assistant professor of accounting at Roanoke College, was a Peace Corps volunteer in South Korea from 1974 to 1976.
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