Peace Corps: Time for a Change

Several months ago I posted on my personal blog Campanastan an Op-Ed piece from the New York Times by former Peace Corps volunteer, recruiter, and country director (Cameroon) Robert L. Strauss. His article made a plea for more experienced volunteers - ones who not only had enthusiasm but also more experience than those fresh out of college.

Since the Peace Corps deals in part with water and sanitation, I thought I would post this particular item on WaterWired as well as on Campanastan.

Strauss took a lot of heat for his article - the title alone was provocative: "Too Many Innocents Abroad". I thought he made a lot of sense. In case you're interested: I have never served in the Peace Corps.

Before I continue, Robert sent me a few articles he wrote that you'll find interesting - one from the May-June 2000 issue of the Stanford alumni magazine and one from Foreign Policy. The former is about his experiences in the developing world, and the latter is entitled, "Think Again: the Peace Corps", which nicely complements this post.

Now comes an article by Nicholas Benequista from the 25 April 2008 Christian Science Monitor, "World to Peace Corps: Skilled Volunteers Needed". The article vindicates Strauss; the world has changed since the Peace Corps was founded, and the organization needs to change. Countries with PC missions are requesting more experienced volunteers.

Benequista wrote:

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - If the Peace Corps wishes to help in the fight against HIV/AIDS, it needs to send expertise, not just youthful zeal. That was what Ethiopian officials politely told Peace Corps country director Peter Parr when he approached them last summer with a proposal to send a batch of volunteers to work on the pandemic.

"[HIV/AIDS] is serious business and requires serious people with commitment and capacity," says Meskele Lera, deputy director of the Ethiopian agency overseeing efforts to stop the spread of AIDS, who attended that first meeting with Mr. Parr.

Despite Parr's best efforts, however, about half of his volunteers are straight out of college and still need to be told not to arrive at the office in flip-flops.

But this may be changing. The Peace Corps is no longer just dispatching Americans abroad to teach English or help in the fields. It is tackling more complex issues, like HIV/AIDS and environmental degradation, which creates an impetus for the Peace Corps to professionalize. Now debate is brewing over how the agency can attract greater numbers of older, technically skilled volunteers.

The Peace Corps is already making a concerted effort to recruit older volunteers. One of the major problems is the length of service - 27 months - that mitigates against many older workers who still have jobs.

The article notes that Japan's and the UK's volunteer organizations, originally modeled after the Peace Corps, have changed while the PC has remained static. The UK's VSO even accepts non-nationals.

When I decided about 12 years ago that I wanted to get into volunteer water work, the Peace Corps was not an option because of the time commitment. As a tenured professor eligible for sabbaticals every seventh year I was in a better position than most other professionals, but the best I could do was to take 15 consecutive months off every seventh year.

So what should be done?

• Develop different-length service tracks, maybe as short as several months for experienced workers.
• After their initial tours, allow volunteers to continue to serve for as long as they want and are needed on a "standby" basis.  These standby volunteers would be able to mobilize quickly and head to the field for as short as a few weeks - kind of  "rapid response teams" in the event of disasters, emergencies, or short-term specific requests from countries. They would also be available for consultation by field workers.
• Use experienced volunteers or professionals as mentors for younger volunteers in the field
• Use teams of experienced volunteers assigned to a particular region as  "troubleshooters". They would be able to work on projects in various countries as the need arose.

One danger: changes in the PC might politicize it, or at least require it to align its sails with the prevailing political winds.

The world and the times have changed, and so should the Peace Corps.

"I can't believe how many memories I've forgotten." -- Yogi Berra, upon returning to his St. Louis childhood home.

Comments

[chas]

Thanks for the post and as a former volunteer, I agree. I was young, impressionable and took away far more than I could ever give (though I suspect that's true regardless of age/experience).

I've always been a fan of compulsory service of some kind, and even after having worked at HQ for a short period of time, I think the PC model could benefit greatly from a more skilled division of labor.

I've always liked the VSO model which is similar to PC but with skilled positions.

Chas

[Page Weil]

I am a Peace Corps volunteer currently serving in the Philippines and I wholeheartedly agree with the need for Peace Corps to change its priorities on a global scale.

http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.former.response

Peace Corps Response (formerly Crisis Corps) is a program designed for skilled ex-volunteers to return to the field for short-term, highly specialized assignments. You must be a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) to join, but this is much closer to an actual humanitarian work contract than normal Peace Corps service. PC Response is in its infancy at the moment but, with the 190,000+ RPCVs in the US, there is a large pool to draw from to fill these positions. There are reasons behind Peace Corps' decision (the initial shock and experience of living in a developing country, the ability to learn a second language, cultural sensitivity) to keep this type of service to RPCVs only but, until that changes, the program will remain small and insignificant in the grand scheme of international development.

As far as volunteers staying for as long as they are needed, if you can make a case to your country's PC office, you can stay for up to 5 years at a single post.

In my region of the Philippines, there are a large number of volunteers (20 within 2 hours) and we all advise each other and collaborate on projects. Clustering of volunteers will improve the quality of assistance a single PCV can provide by themself.