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Group photo of 73 Peace Corp Volunteers

Peace Corps Volunteers Swearing In

 Mme. Mary Beth Leonard, Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. of the United States Embassy in Bamako, Mali, Swears In 73 New Peace Corps Volunteers 

On the morning of September 12, 2008, the Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. of the United States Embassy in Bamako, Mali, Mme. Mary Beth Leonard swore in seventy-three new American Peace Corps Volunteers.  These seventy-three American volunteers recently completed nine weeks of linguistic, cultural, and technical training and will be assigned to villages throughout Mali.

The Peace Corps program in Mali was established in 1971 and celebrated its 35th anniversary in May of 2006.  The Peace Corps in Mali has evolved dramatically over those years.  From a program with 25 volunteers in-country in 1971 to 165 volunteers today, nearly 3000 volunteers have served in Mali since the program’s inception here.   Today, Peace Corps in Mali is one of the largest programs in Africa.

The mission of Peace Corps-Mali is to assist the Malian government in its efforts to promote socio-economic development.  This is achieved by building individual and institutional capacities through technical exchange and cultural integration.  Peace Corps Volunteers assist the government of Mali in an effort to address multiple development challenges.  Volunteers work to transfer knowledge and skills to their host communities and assist in the development of local institutions that respond to the development needs of the population.  An important element of their work is also the institutional development of national and regional organizations, governmental and non-governmental, with which Volunteers collaborate.

Currently, the Peace Corps places its emphasis in Mali on sustainable capacity-building projects in five technical areas: food security and environmental sustainability, access to potable water, micro-enterprise development, preventive health care, and non-formal and formal education.  Volunteers are also engaged in secondary activities related to four agency-wide initiatives: HIV/AIDS education, Information Technology, Youth Development, and Women in Development.

 The Peace Corps is a U.S. Government institution whose mission is to promote peace around the world by sharing one of America’s greatest assets – volunteers.  The Peace Corps traces its roots and mission to 1960, when then Senator John F. Kennedy challenged students at the University of Michigan to serve their country in the cause of peace by living and working in developing countries. From that inspiration grew this federal government organization devoted to world peace and friendship.