REMARKS AS PREPARED:

Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn: Buenos tardes!

It’s an honor to be back in San Salvador on such a momentous occasion, celebrating the spirit of confianza – or deep trust and mutual respect —that has defined the more than half-a-century relationship between the Peace Corps and the Salvadoran people.

It’s hard to believe that it was just over a year ago that we came together to sign the agreement welcoming Peace Corps Volunteers back to El Salvador. Today, I am thrilled to stand with you as we take the next step in that journey. Ambassador Duncan and Country Director Kuklinski— I am deeply grateful to you and your teams for your remarkable work getting this program up and running in what must be record time.

Though there are some finishing touches still to be made, especially at the Peace Corps office that I had the pleasure of touring earlier today, we mark something far more important—the official return of Peace Corps Volunteers to El Salvador. After eight years away, we are back in business, and I couldn’t be more excited for what lies ahead!

To all of the Volunteers being sworn in today—congratulations and welcome. You have already made incredible contributions in other countries and other regions, but today, you begin a new chapter in your service. You are blazing a trail that will shape the future of the Peace Corps in El Salvador for years to come.

I want to personally thank each of you for taking on this new challenge. And to tell you how impressed I am by all of you. Just a few days ago, I was speaking on a college campus in Nebraska, encouraging the students and others in the audience to step outside their comfort zones because that's where true growth happens. And that’s exactly what each of you has done over these past two years.

Whether tackling gender disparities along the Colombian coast while facing water shortages and contaminated sewage systems, teaching P.E. in under-resourced Bolivian schools, or having to adapt to repeated site changes due to the Ebola outbreak in Uganda, each of you has faced incredible challenges. You’ve been tested and stretched in ways that have made you more resilient, more adaptable, and more connected to the communities you serve. And you have grown from all of it. I have no doubt that the people standing here today are different from the ones who took their first oaths of service two years ago. And throughout your time in El Salvador, I am certain you will continue to grow in ways you can’t even imagine yet.

As you embark on this next chapter, I encourage you to be bold. Take risks. Step into the unknown with confidence, unburdened by the fear of failure and untethered to what has been done before. This moment in history calls for boldness, and I know you have it within you—because if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be here today.

Though more than 2,300 Volunteers have served in El Salvador over the last 60 years, you are the first to return since the global pandemic. The world today is not the world of 2020, let alone 2016—the last time Volunteers had the privilege of calling El Salvador home. But with the strong foundation laid by those who came before you, you have the opportunity to chart your own paths and set the course for all who will come after you.

Congratulations once again, and thank you for taking on this exciting new opportunity. I can’t wait to hear your stories and see all that you achieve as you help strengthen the bonds between our two countries and create opportunities for young Salvadorans across this beautiful nation.

Thank you.