As Peace Corps commemorated its 60th anniversary, a virtual panel discussion was held on March 3 with returned Volunteers who were personally impacted by President John F. Kennedy, who established the agency in 1961.
When I was younger, I loved hearing my grandparents’ memories of growing up in British Guiana. Those stories always made me nostalgic for a place I had never visited.
I live in a
small country called Guyana in South America, surrounded by Venezuela, Brazil
and Suriname. My village is a Warau community—home to one of nine Amerindian
tribes in Guyana—with about 1,600 people living in three areas.
"There are three dances. The first one lasts about a year and you let the Guyanese lead you and tell you where to go. The second dance is at the one year mark and now you know the music better, you can start to share what you're passionate about. And the last dance is at about the year and half mark, six months before end of service, when you both start dancing together." - Rachel Rose, returned Peace Corps Volunteer
"Being a Peace Corps Volunteer of color serving in Guyana, I tend to blend in. But when they find out a little bit more about me, they realize that there are different faces in America, and I am one of them." - Chiedum (“Chie”) Okei-Nwabuokei