Yaoundé, Cameroon— On Tuesday, October 25, Peace Corps Cameroon welcomed back nine volunteers to serve alongside community members across the country.
Volunteers have not served in Cameroon since they were evacuated in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event marked the first time in the agency’s 60-year history that volunteers were evacuated from all global posts. Likewise, until 2020, Cameroon was among the few countries globally that had never had an interruption of Peace Corps service since the arrival of the first volunteers in 1962.
“Since March 2020, our staff have continued to deliver on the agency’s mission through virtual service and several capacity building trainings for partner communities,” said Peace Corps Country Director Kristina Nicole Séne. She added that, “with the arrival of the nine new volunteers, we will continue to partner with communities in Cameroon to address old and new challenges and benefit from the opportunities of our time.”
The incoming group of Peace Corps Volunteers will work in health centers and with farmer groups in three regions of Cameroon. From 1962 to March 2020, over 3,800 Peace Corps Volunteers served in Cameroon, in the areas of education, agriculture and community health.
The Peace Corps is an international service network of volunteers, community members, host country partners and staff who are driven by the agency’s mission of world peace and friendship. At the invitation of governments around the world, Peace Corps Volunteers work alongside community members on locally-prioritized projects. Through service, members of the Peace Corps network develop transferable skills and hone intercultural competencies that position them to be the next generation of global leaders. Since President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps in 1961, more than 240,000 Americans have served in 142 countries worldwide.
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