Ambassador Bodde swears in new Peace Corps volunteers

Twenty-four American Peace Corps Volunteers – the second group since the organisation suspended its operations in Nepal in 2004 – were were sworn in by the US ambassador to Nepal Peter W Bodde in a ceremony in Kavre today.

Prior to the swearing-in, the Volunteers completed an eleven-week Nepali language, culture, and technical training programme in Sindhupalchowk District, according to a press release issued by the US Embassy in Kathmandu.

The volunteers join 16 other second-year volunteers working with Nepali counterparts to promote food security through agriculture, sanitation, and health activities with villages in the Western and Mid-Western Region districts of Baglung, Syangja, Parbat, Dang, Pyuthan, and Surkhet districts.

The volunteers join the ranks of more than 4,200 volunteers that have served in Nepal in the past, and the more than 8,000 volunteers currently serving in 76 other countries across the world, the press note read, adding that Peace Corps is an independent US government agency that provides trained volunteers for countries requesting assistance around the world.

The agency traces its roots and mission to 1960, when then-Senator John F Kennedy challenged students at the University of Michigan to serve their country in the cause of peace by living and working in developing countries.

Although times have changed, the Peace Corps continues to promote peace and friendship by remaining true to its mission, established in 1961.