Peace Corps Volunteers - Helping Connect Youth
Peace Corps volunteers are doers. They move mountains. Maybe not literally but to the villagers in Senegal, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Malawi, Moldova, Philippines, and Tanzania that’s exactly what they do. And WCE knows this first hand. Peace Corp volunteers and staff have been instrumental in connecting the world. We’ve shipped computers to Peace Corps volunteers in 11 countries (see *). And country offices have been great resources as well.
Take Senegal as an example: It reads like the makings of top level diplomacy:
A shipment of computers destined for Senegal is readied by WCE volunteers in Chicago. Arriving safely, the US Ambassador signs for the shipment ensuring a near seamless navigation through customs - a major accomplishment in itself. The Peace Corps country director arranges for the computers to be sorted and distributed from a safe place not too far from customs. Now ready for distribution, one-by one Peace Corps vehicles line up , computers are loaded, and Peace Corp volunteers then drive off to gradually deliver the computers to 16 schools and youth centres as they make their morning rounds. Without hardly a glitch, 9,778 youth now have access to working computers and a chance at a modern education.
Sounds simple. However, this level of coordination takes planning, cooperation and shared vision. And it takes more than one champion along the way who knows how to leverage the goodwill that abounds to help countries like Senegal. It is fortunate for our partners in Senegal that the Peace Corps is at the heart of this goodwill. And Lettie Heer - WCE's volunteer Programme Officer and Peace Corps-Senegal alum is the emissary that made it happen. The Senegal shipment was the first time WCE benefited from such a seamless compliment of international aid programs - from WCE volunteers to a US Ambassador, from Peace Corps country directors to Peace Corps volunteers and alums - who synchronized their efforts to help out. And of course, the generosity of people who funded this project and made this story possible. Read more about our efforts in Senegal.
Our Peace Corps story doesn't end here. Lettie made her third trip to Senegal in February 2010 to meet with Peace Corps representatives to begin planning for WCE's third container of 200 computers to connect more rural schools in Senegal. Good news travels fast. Now the County Director for Peace Corps in El Salvador is willing to do the same three things: be the consignee, store the computers and provide vehicles for the Peace Corps volunteers to distribute the computers.
WCE is exploring several future projects with Peace Corps and recruiting Peace Corps Volunteer participation for our pending shipments to Mali, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic.
