"The Peace Corps Returns" -- by Josh Ruxin

In 1994, the Peace Corps officially closed its office here in Rwanda. The horrors that followed kept the Peace Corps at a distance until last year when the office was reopened. That return is very welcome, and I'll explain why in a moment.

While the Peace Corps was out-of-sight in Rwanda, it was also scarcely in the spotlight in America over the past eight years. During that time, U.S. presence in the world was defined by two wars and often less-than-collaborative diplomatic relations with other nations. In the din caused by those wars, most of us Americans could be forgiven for having failed to notice that the Peace Corps has quietly continued to perform its important mission of promoting world peace and friendship across the globe. Now, at a time when we are trying to rebuild bridges and heal wounds, that mission couldn't be more important.

The result of stressing defense over true diplomacy or development has been a supreme failure in American prestige abroad. I've seen that clearly in the places I've visited and worked over the last several years and that's why it's heartening to have 35 fresh Peace Corps volunteers here in Rwanda at the commencement of President Obama's administration.

The Peace Corps was founded in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy to meet several goals. Foremost among these are imparting our expertise to people in other nations, working to understand their culture, and helping them to understand ours. These are simple, but revolutionary objectives, as they count knowledge and friendship as their currency. Much of the work my teams are doing here in Rwanda through the Access Project and Rwanda Community Works is in line with a Peace Corps-style approach. I'm very excited now because we have been informed that we will be receiving three Peace Corps volunteers in the next several weeks to work on one of our most ambitious projects: to improve health care management in six districts. We don't yet know who will be sent our way, but we know that their skill sets will compliment the important work we are undertaking to build prosperity and health care infrastructure.

Though the Peace Corps was founded nearly 50 years ago, the program is still extraordinarily vital, and the need for Peace Corps volunteers is greater today than ever before. In my work in Rwanda, my teams have collaborated with corporate fellows, government aid workers, and business partners to build capacity. Adding Peace Corps volunteers to the equation will build expertise among Rwandans and provide the lucky American volunteers with the chance to see why Rwanda is one of the most exciting countries in Africa today.

Not since the election of the Peace Corp's founder John F. Kennedy has the wider world reacted so positively to the election of an American president. President Obama has thus far brought a sense of mission to his presidency as well as an optimism that is reminiscent of Kennedy's. Coupled with the messages of Obama's presidency, I think that the presence of Rwanda's Peace Corps volunteers will go a long way towards reinforcing America's place in the world, person-to-person, one-to-one. I also anticipate that the Rwandan people will confirm for the new American contingent what I have already seen. They don't need America's charity or hand outs, but rather its perennial optimism, its ideas, its expertise, and its friendship.

Dr. Josh Ruxin is a Columbia University expert on public health who has spent the last couple of years living in Rwanda, where he administers the Millennium Villages Project in Mayange. He’s an unusual mix of academic expert and mud-between-the-toes aid worker. His regular posts can be found on the blogroll of Nick Kristof of the New York Times, and he has given his permission to be cross-posted here. This posting if from the Huffington Post

"Tales from the Peace Corps" by Sarah Bush

I recently had the chance to visit a dear friend of mine who is serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Costa Rica. Like me, Heidi Koester is a graduate of Northwestern University, where she studied journalism, and has written for a variety of publications including National Geographic Adventure. Heidi is doing great work in Costa Rica that I thought readers of the blog, especially those considering joining the Peace Corps, might enjoy learning about. So this month, my blog will be a short interview with Heidi.

SB: What is the Peace Corps?

HK: The United States Peace Corps, founded in 1960, provides opportunities for Americans to spend two years working in a developing community in one of 130 countries. Volunteers serve in projects ranging from clean water acquisition to computer center construction. The program has three goals: helping interested countries meet their own needs through trained men and women, promoting a better understanding of Americans abroad, and providing Americans with greater understanding of other cultures. You can read about the application process and specific project details in world regions at www.peacecorps.gov.

SB: What projects are you working on?

HK: I am finishing my two years of service in Cabeceras, Costa Rica, a rural mountain town home to 700 residents. My official assignment is “Rural Community Development,” and I've focused my work in community organization, education and economic opportunity.

Cabeceras is close to a tourist destination, the Monteverde cloud forest, so one of my major projects has been working with a women's group to create a program where tourists can visit our local elementary school, learn about rural education in Costa Rica, and participate in a pen-pal exchange with our students. Tourists try home-made bread and students in our year-old folkloric dance group practice their presentations for visitors. We've created a safe way for tourists to donate to community projects, and a lot of my work has been in modeling donor relation skills and introducing project management/ project design steps to a women's group. The group has managed more than $15,000 in donations and invested in classroom repairs and expansions, the creation of a computer center, construction of a fence for increased school security and the purchase of musical instruments.

Along with the women's group, we created an annual Cabeceras Calendar, using donated disposable cameras. Kids documented their lives, some of them using a camera for the first time, and they wrote small descriptions of their images. We created a bilingual calendar with local and international sponsors, marketing the project in Costa Rica, Canada, England and the United States. In our first year we raised more than $4,000 and the second annual calendar project is almost done. We have cameras ready to go for the third edition, and the test of the project's sustainability comes in next year's project, when I've left the community.

As secondary projects, I work in adult English language instruction, computer education and creative arts workshops for children. This weekend I'm working with a Chilean couple to bring one of Costa Rica's premiere symphony orchestras (La Big Band) to Cabeceras for a free concert. We hope to begin a program of cultural performances in this rural community, introducing music and theater to those who have never experienced the arts.

SB: What is the impact of tourism in your community?

HK: Tourism is the number-one source of income in Costa Rica, and as the most-visited country in Central America, Costa Rica offers valuable travel experiences to its visitors. Almost every child in Cabeceras comes from a family that depends on tourists for income, either directly (through employment in Monteverde hotels or restarutants) or indirectly (selling milk to a factory in Monteverde, where tourists buy ice cream or cheese, or growing coffee that many tourists purchase). Tourists leave tremendous financial donations and build memories and relationships with community members through pen-pal programs and continued communication. One eight-year-old boy who lives near the school has covered the walls of his tin-roofed house with postcards and drawings from tourists, or stories he wrote with visitors. He's taken on the role of “tour guide” for groups visiting the school and is learning more and more English each day, a testament to the way tourism is changing perspectives for kids in Cabeceras.

However, in Cabeceras I have seen tourists leave behind negative side effects - giving large amounts of money to a handful of children (causing problems among families and other students) or simply arriving, taking photographs and leaving. The latter treatment makes the Cabeceras community (and my work) out to be a zoo or an exhibit. My goal has been to help create a positive experience for both the tourist visiting Cabeceras and the community members who call the town home.

SB: How can we make sure that we are respectful and responsible tourists?

HK: Many people have great intentions to help a community or group of people that they met during their trip. From my experiences in Cabeceras, I see that it is important to remember a few things to be a responsible and respectful tourist.

1. Say something in the native language. Even if it is just hello or goodbye.

2. If you want to help with community cause or an individual, try to understand the donation protocol or think through methods of donation in order to do everything possible to make sure your funds are well-managed.

3. Promise what you can deliver, but not more. And don’t let your desire to contribute fade when you return to your “real” life.

Sarah Bush is a PhD candidate in International Relations in the Department of Politics at Princeton University. Sarah has worked with Americans for Informed Democracy, an organization on 1,000 colleges that works to raise global awareness among students, as its Co-Executive Director during the 2005-2006 academic year. Her previous experience also includes work for the U.S. State Department, the St. Louis City Mayor's Office and Teach for America.