Voices
40 Years Of Cooperation
Peace Corps Marks Anniversary In FSM, Palau
For 40 years, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau have partnered with Peace Corps to support their regional, national and state development agendas and strengthen international collaboration per John F. Kennedy’s vision of fostering peace and friendship.
The first volunteers to arrive in 1966 partnered with schools to teach English at all levels and were soon followed by a group of legal advisors. Since then they have worked in agriculture, health, community development, cooperative management projects, journalism, water/sanitation, forestry and fisheries, youth development, health, marine resource conservation, terrestrial resource conservation and library development.
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Peace Corps Volunteer Mike McCoy in Yap State during the 1960s.
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Here are the voices of some current Peace Corps volunteers.
Adam Leff, Small Business Development Center, Kosrae, FSM As a volunteer with the Kosrae Small Business Development Center, I am constantly challenged by the multitude and variety of tasks that are part of supporting local businesses and I am fortunate to work with a very skilled counterpart, Stanley Raffilman. As a business advisor I work hands on with local farmers, fishermen, and merchants to help them better manage their businesses, but a good part of my time in the last nine months has been spent working with the Kosrae Chamber of Commerce.
On any given day, I may draft notes about changes in National Tax Law, meet with leaders from the State Administration, or simply address envelopes for upcoming Chamber of Commerce events.
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One memorable experience was taking my seventh grade class on a field trip to the Marine Protected Area.
Students, teachers, parents and local fishermen accompanied us to go snorkeling and see things we had been studying in Marine Science class. We had underwater identification cards along with underwater paper and clipboards so that students could identify fish and invertebrates.
It was rewarding to see the knowledge from the classroom come out during our field trip as student¹s picked up sea cucumbers, starfish and shells to talk about their anatomy. We also went to a giant clam farm where students adopted a giant clam to name and take care of. Local fishermen also spoke with the students about traditional bamboo traps that none of the students had seen in their lifetime.
I am grateful to the school and to Peace Corps for what I feel is a perfect assignment that incorporates teaching and conservation.
Sarah Kassel, Ngeremlengui Elementary School, Palau The more time I spent with the eighth graders before, during and after class, the more I realized that their working knowledge of the nuts and bolts of the English language was primarily in the memorization of correct responses to the corresponding questions from the teacher¹s text book.
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| Peace Corps Volunteer Sarah |
To incorporate critical thought and improve the student¹s English, I worked with the school to create a ³Writer¹s Workshop.² The students composed essays about their lives, participated in the editing process and compiled the essays into a large book that they kept after graduation as a memento of elementary school. Through this project, the eighth graders learned about the practical application of English lessons, responsibility, leadership, American culture, sharing with peers and honesty. It is also important to note how much I learned about my students and Palauan culture. I took great joy in seeing a group of students relish the pride they felt in accomplishing this task.
David Reside is the Peace Corp's Country Director for Micronesia.
