The Peace Corps

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps to promote world peace and friendship.1
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The Peace Corps’ mission has three simple goals:

  1. Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
  2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
  3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

And 10 Core Expectations 1:

  1. Prepare your personal and professional life to make a commitment to serve abroad for a full term of 27 months
  2.  Commit to improving the quality of life of the people with whom you live and work; and, in doing so, share your skills, adapt them, and learn new skills as needed
  3. Serve where the Peace Corps asks you to go, under conditions of hardship, if necessary, and with the flexibility needed for effective service
  4.  Recognize that your successful and sustainable development work is based on the local trust and confidence you build by living in, and respectfully integrating yourself into, your host community and culture
  5. Recognize that you are responsible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for your personal conduct and professional performance
  6. Engage with host country partners in a spirit of cooperation, mutual learning, and respect
  7. Work within the rules and regulations of the Peace Corps and the local and national laws of the country where you serve
  8. Exercise judgment and personal responsibility to protect your health, safety, and well-being and that of others
  9. Recognize that you will be perceived, in your host country and community, as a representative of the people, culture, values, and traditions of the United States of America
  10. Represent responsibly the people, cultures, values, and traditions of your host country and community to people in the United States both during and following your service 

Peace Corps/Ecuador defines it’s mission as:
              Peace Corps/Ecuador promotes sustainable development that will improve the quality of life of the populations with whom we collaborate. Through activities focused on income generation, nonformal education, strengthening local organizations, and protecting the environment, our four programs—natural resource conservation, community health, youth and families, and teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL)—are our tools to achieve our goals. 1


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For more information, check out the Peace Corps Website and this handy-dandy fact sheet.

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