Peace Corps Volunteers to hold celebration Exhibition

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the United States Peace Corps, St. Vincent-based Volunteers will hold an exhibition and awards programme on Friday, April 15.{{more}}

Co-sponsored by the Department of Culture, the all-day event will take place at Peace Memorial Hall in Kingstown. The exhibition will be open from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., with the awards programme starting at 5 p.m. The public is cordially invited to attend both events.

Titled “50 Years of Peace Corps: Celebrating Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,” the exhibition will include displays, photos, hands-on activities and profiles of the work of Peace Corps Volunteers in St. Vincent and around the world during the past 50 years. The Awards Ceremony will include performances by Volunteers and local artists and speakers, with special recognition of community partners who have worked closely with Peace Corps in St. Vincent since its inception.

“This milestone event is of particular significance to the Eastern Caribbean,” says Associate Peace Corps Director for St. Vincent and the Grenadines Cuthbert James. “St. Lucia was one of the initial sites selected for a pilot Peace Corps Volunteer programme in 1961. The success of that pilot project resulted in the establishment of other programmes throughout the Eastern Caribbean, with a programme taking hold in St. Vincent in 1967. In other words, Peace Corps Volunteers have been engaged in St. Vincent for 44 of the agency’s 50-year history,” James adds.

“We want students of all ages to join in the celebration of Volunteers who have worked in their schools or participated in community activities. Peace Corps would not be successful without the dedication of host nationals,” says Volunteer Representative Kelly Wagner about the event.

“The Department of Culture is fully supportive of the event and the work of the Peace Corps. We are happy to be a part of this event,” notes the Department of Culture’s Research Officer Michael Peters.

As part of this celebration, St. Vincent Volunteers are working with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to coordinate a planting programme.

“By participating in the programme, students can help restore lands destroyed by last year’s Hurricane Tomas,” notes Peace Corps’ Wagner, adding that information on this project will be available at the Anniversary Celebration.

The U.S. Peace Corps was established in 1961 to promote development, peace and friendship around the world. Today, more than 8,000 Volunteers serve in 77 countries. St. Vincent and the Grenadines currently hosts 34 Volunteers and Trainees who live and work in communities from Chateaubelair to Sandy Bay to Union Island.