Friday, May 15, 1998
Generation Xers can prove America’s future still bright
PEACECORPS: Volunteers follow in footsteps of older generation
to aid rest of world community
By Mark D. Gearan
Graduation season is here and newspaper columnists, television
reporters and MTV VJs will all turn their attention to defining
college students – the so-called Generation Xers. Some will observe
that you lack ideals and others will opine that you are slackers
with little sense of responsibility or maturity.
Well, after two-and-a-half years as the director of the Peace
Corps and traveling to campuses across the country, I can report
that the whole pessimistic theory of Generation X should sign-off
with "Seinfeld" in the next few weeks. What I see is a resurgent
interest in volunteer service, and in particular the Peace
Corps.
Thirty-seven years after President Kennedy set fire to the
imagination and idealism of a generation by proposing the Peace
Corps, interest is up. In fact, with increased attention to
overseas service, there are expanding opportunities for those who
want to experience "the toughest job you’ll ever love." UCLA has
had a proud association with the Peace Corps, with more than 1,460
alumni having served since 1961.
Last year, more than 150,000 individuals contacted the Peace
Corps to get information about serving as a volunteer, an increase
of more than 40 percent since 1994. It seems that college students
today feel the same about the Peace Corps as many of their parents,
and in some cases grandparents, did in the 1960s.
With interest growing, President Clinton has proposed a new
initiative to expand the number of Peace Corps volunteers around
the world. This would put the Peace Corps on a path to 10,000
volunteers serving overseas by the year 2000, a 50 percent increase
over the current volunteers corps of 6,500. That could mean
thousands more slots for college graduates to join the Peace
Corps.
With more volunteers, the Peace Corps can help address some of
the world’s most pressing problems. Volunteers are helping
communities gain access to clean water and prevent the spread of
AIDS. They are teaching and working with entrepreneurs who want to
learn more about free markets. And they are making important
contributions to environmental protection efforts.
Today, Peace Corps volunteers are serving in countries that few
could have imagined just a few years ago. Volunteers are making a
difference in the lives of people in South Africa, Russia, China,
Jordon, Eastern Europe and the new republics of Central Asia. We
also have launched the Crisis Corps, a new Peace Corps effort that
allows experienced Peace Corps volunteers to contribute to
short-term assistance projects in the aftermath of natural
disasters or during humanitarian crises overseas.
Peace Corps volunteers also bring a "domestic dividend" to our
own country. Volunteers return home with an extraordinary
understanding of other peoples, languages and cultures, which
strengthens our country’s engagement in the world beyond our
borders. Peace Corps volunteers bring this experience to bear in
careers that touch every aspect of our society – as teachers,
journalists, social workers, business men and women, health
professionals and public servants.
Robert Kreuger, the U.S. ambassador to Botswana, recently had
this to say about Peace Corps volunteers: "In my judgement, the
contributions made by Peace Corps volunteers during the past 30
years to Botswana constitute as fine a gift as our nation has
given. Peace Corps volunteers generally are our most selfless, and
therefore our best, ambassadors. And Americans have returned home
finding that, for what they gave, they have received much in
exchange."
Peace Corps volunteers learn a great deal about people and
cultures from the other side of the world. They also have begun
building the bridges of friendship and understanding that are the
foundation of true peace among nations.
From where I sit, America’s future is in good hands.