Peace Corps photos and logos. Shriver in Ghana, the first PC post.
I was in college in Massachusetts when the Peace Corps idea was born in 1961 and President John F. Kennedy appointed Sargent Shriver as the first director. I was in graduate school in Madison when Lillian Carter became a PCV in India at age 68. I remember thinking “how neat!” I’d like to do that some day. And so the Peace Corps idea simmered in the back of my mind for many years as I raised a family, did some teaching, 
made life changes, had different jobs, moved around the country.
By the time I retired, in 2004, the idea came into focus again. It began to take definite shape. I decided it was time to make the dream a reality, and in 2009, after a lengthy application process, I was accepted into the Peace Corps and sent to Ukraine. I turned 70 last year, during my Peace Corps service in Starobelsk. Maybe I'm channeling Lillian Carter!
made life changes, had different jobs, moved around the country.By the time I retired, in 2004, the idea came into focus again. It began to take definite shape. I decided it was time to make the dream a reality, and in 2009, after a lengthy application process, I was accepted into the Peace Corps and sent to Ukraine. I turned 70 last year, during my Peace Corps service in Starobelsk. Maybe I'm channeling Lillian Carter!
The road from Peace Corps idea to realty has had many twists and turns but the Peace Corps experience has been transforming. Serving in Ukraine has been an incredible adventure.
In this spirit I remember Sargent Shriver, who died on 11 January 2011 at the age of 95 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. Shriver was the 
pioneering director of the Peace Corps, a new government agency with idealistic goals: to share American expertise with other countries; to learn about their needs, cultures and dreams; and to have them learn about America through our service. It began in Ghana: changing lives from the bottom up.
The Peace Corps embodied exuberant hopes for a peaceful world and positive change. It still does.
More than 200,000 PCVs have served in 138 countries since the PC’s founding 50 years ago this year. It remains a noble enterprise, bearing fruit slowly but surely, one volunteer at a time.
President Obama called Shriver “One of the brightest lights of the greatest generation.” What a wonderful tribute! Shriver’s legacy will live on as long as the Peace Corps remains relevant and the volunteers serve in the spirit of Shriver’s dream.
pioneering director of the Peace Corps, a new government agency with idealistic goals: to share American expertise with other countries; to learn about their needs, cultures and dreams; and to have them learn about America through our service. It began in Ghana: changing lives from the bottom up.The Peace Corps embodied exuberant hopes for a peaceful world and positive change. It still does.
More than 200,000 PCVs have served in 138 countries since the PC’s founding 50 years ago this year. It remains a noble enterprise, bearing fruit slowly but surely, one volunteer at a time.
President Obama called Shriver “One of the brightest lights of the greatest generation.” What a wonderful tribute! Shriver’s legacy will live on as long as the Peace Corps remains relevant and the volunteers serve in the spirit of Shriver’s dream.
Hi Fran,
ReplyDeleteI've read through a number of your recent posts and they are wonderful. Your gift with words and the ability you have of merging historical information with cultural observations and philosophical musings, as well as everyday happenings, is/are marvelous. I really think these blog entries could form the basis for a book to put together in your spare time (ha!) once you return to the States. And the photos! They are great.
All the best,
Lorin