March 1 marked Peace Corps Day when President Kennedy signed a 1961 executive order to establish the Peace Corps. Since 1961, more than 240,000 volunteers have served in 144 countries worldwide sharing skills requested by the host countries and engaging in a transformative cultural exchange. With the recent actions of the Trump administration to freeze foreign aid funding, programs like the Peace Corps may be in jeopardy.
I served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama from 1993-95 and later served on Peace Corps staff as a regional director. I can testify how important this program is to fostering positive relations with peoples in countries of strategic importance to the U.S.
Here are some examples of how our nation’s humanitarian efforts have built good will in Panama, a country of importance because of its canal. When I arrived in Panama, I was warmly greeted by elders who fondly reminisced about a cadre of men from the U.S. Corps of Engineers who spent weeks in the village building its first school. Those men interacted with the villagers, enjoying home-cooked soup and learning the traditional dances. The efforts and generosity of those Americans has not been forgotten. Likewise, the friendships I developed with Panamanians during my two years of service are everlasting. On my return visits, I am not another tourist, I am an honored member of their extended families who spent two years sharing their struggles and working with them to create a better life
Investing in national service programs like the Peace Corps means investing in a stronger, safer and more united world. With the added benefit that returned Peace Corps volunteers spend their lives enriching their communities and workplaces with the skills and understandings they gained from two years of service abroad.
Allene Zanger
Snohomish
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