Press Releases
Latest Group of Peace Corps Volunteers Will Work With Local Organizations and Educational Institutions
Accreditation Procedures
November 10, 2006
The United States Peace Corps is pleased to announce the eighteenth and latest group of 74 American Volunteers who will live in cities and villages throughout Kazakhstan for two years and offer help to a variety of Kazakhstani organizations and educational institutions. An independent agency of the United States government founded by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, the Peace Corps and its Volunteers has worked throughout Kazakhstan since 1993.
U.S. Ambassador John Ordway and Peace Corps Acting Director Linda Schmitz congratulated the latest group of Volunteers at a ceremony on Friday, November 10th, wishing them success in their work and congratulating them on their recent completion of an 11-week-long training program that included Russian and Kazakh languages, technical and cross cultural sessions.
Fifty-three Volunteers will be placed at secondary schools, colleges and universities in the villages and cities around Kazakhstan for two years of service. Students and teachers benefit from daily interaction with a native English speaker and are exposed to new interactive teaching methods. In addition, many Volunteers participate in community projects working hand-in-hand with locals. This cultural and technical exchange is extremely beneficial to both the local community and the Peace Corps Volunteer.
Twenty-one Volunteers will be working with governmental and non-governmental organizations around Kazakhstan representing a variety of sectors and interests: Business Center in Taraz; Society of the Blind in Ushtobe (Taldy); Center of Information Technologies in Petropavlosk; Osvobozhdenie (drug rehabilitation center) in Pavlodar; Disabled Youth Society in Taraz; and Akkem Ridder in Ridder.
Peace Corps Volunteers commit to two years of service. They stay with local host families for the first six months of their work. This close association with local people is important for giving the Americans a better awareness of Kazakhstani culture and practicing speaking either the Russian or Kazakh language. Volunteers also have the opportunity to share their American culture and backgrounds with their host.
Founded by U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1961, the Peace Corps is a non-political and non-religious organization in which Volunteers work to assist the people of interested countries to meet their needs for trained men and women. Through their work, people in the local communities get to know Americans better and when the Volunteers have finished their service, they return to the United States and share information about their host country, thus promoting better international understanding. Over 182,000 Americans of all ages and skills have been Peace Corps Volunteers since its inception.
Kazakhstan is one of 75 countries where Peace Corps Volunteers are serving, and 17 groups of Volunteers have worked in the country since 1993. With the induction of these 74 new Volunteers, there will be 114 Volunteers working across Kazakhstan. This new group joins a tradition of living in a new country, facing new challenges, learning a new language, and coming away enriched by a cultural understanding shared with their Kazakhstani colleagues.