By Christiana Afua Nyarko
Accra April 4, GNA – Madam Virginia Palmer, the United States (US) Ambassador to Ghana, Thursday sworn-in new Peace Corps Volunteers and tasked them to help fix challenges in communities.
The twenty volunteers, who received eleven weeks of intensive training in language and cultural awareness, would work side-by-side with local communities to address critical needs, foster sustainable development and build bridges of understanding across borders.
The volunteers are experts in the fields of Health and Agriculture and would be sent to serve in various capacities in communities nationwide, particularly in Abonse within the Akuapim North Municipal area, Eastern Region, and Agormeda in the Dangme West District of the Greater Accra Region.
“As Peace Corps Volunteers, you represent the answer to Ghanaian communities’ requests. We expect you to contribute to your community’s needs through each farmland and each clinic”, she said.
Since 1961 when the first batch of Peace Corps arrived, more than 5000 such volunteers have served in different sectors of the country in various capacities.
The Peace Corps, a brainchild of the Late American President, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, since its inception, has maintained a successful model that fosters a cross-cultural adaptation in all its activities.
Tamu Daniel, Country Director of Peace Corps Ghana, in an address to the volunteers, urged them to represent the US in a way that would leave a lasting impact in the communities they served.
Some of the volunteers like Vanessa Jones, who has served for a year and four months at Techiman in the Bono-East Region as a Community Health Agent, narrated her experience.
“My experience of integrating in Ghana has been amazing, everyone is so welcoming, they are very accepting and interested in trying new things…I had a really good time”, she said.
Victoria Bajek, one of the new volunteers, who came from Pennsylvania is excited to be posted to serve in Ghana.
Currently, thirty-five volunteers from the Peace Corps are serving in six regions across the country namely Bono East, Greater-Accra, Eastern, Northern, Oti and Volta Regions.
GNA