JAMAICA'S 105 PEACE Corps volunteers and nine Crisis Corps volunteers will celebrate Peace Corps Week through participation in special projects and public outreach.
'Reflections on Diversity, Understanding, and Peace' is the theme of this year, which takes place February 28 March 4, 2005 world-wide.
"This week we celebrate the volunteers and their communities for the hard work they do every day," said Peace Corps country director Dr. Suchet L. Loois in a press statement.
On March 1, Peace Corps volunteers will refurbish the Allman Town Primary School's library in Kingston, and the following day they will upgrade computers at Cassava River Primary School in St. Catherine.
TELEPHONE LINK UP
Jamaican and American students will chat via a special telephone link-up through the "World Wise School International Phone Calls" programme on March 2. Students in Albert Town, Trelawny and Sligoville, St. Catherine will share experiences with their counterparts in Nebraska and Illinois in the United States on the same day.
On March 3, Peace Corps
volunteers will partner with Habitat for Humanity volunteers to participate in a home construction project for a Jamaican family in Polly Ground, St. Catherine.
"Peace Corps volunteers enter their assignments with the benefit of a broad perspective and specialised training," Dr. Loois said, "but the challenges they face become very real and personal as they spend two years living and working in the communities they assist."
Since 1962, more than 3,500 peace corps volunteers have served in Jamaica.
