Volunteering in a Globalized World

Weaver realized he had truly made a difference by empowering others to help themselves.

Tony Weaver wanted to help when he joined the Peace Corps, an American agency that sends volunteers to the developing world. But, when he arrived in Tanzania, he quickly realized he first needed to ask Mama Joseph for aid.

Mama Joseph, a respected community member, was one of only a few English-speakers in the East African village where Weaver was based. She heard about the young American struggling to teach HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention in schools and hospitals.

Appreciative of his work in the rural region, she offered her help.

“My Swahili was rusty and she knew I would get really nervous when I was answering people’s questions,” says Weaver.

Mama Joseph soon became an integral part of Weaver’s teaching. She came to every class he taught to help him improve on his language skills, as he taught live-saving medical skills.

By the end of Weaver’s two-year placement, he received the greatest complement any development worker could get. He wasn’t needed anymore. He had taught Mama Joseph to teach HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention herself.

Weaver realized he had truly made a difference by empowering others to help themselves.

Weaver, who at 30-year-old now works as a social worker in New York City, is one of over 200,000 young people who have learned this lesson through the Peace Corps, which celebrates 50 years of service in 2011.

The idea was born in 1961 when U.S. President John F. Kennedy challenged university students to serve their country by spreading democracy overseas in the midst of the Cold War. It offered monthly stipends, health insurance and deferment or cancellation of student debt to attract young people of all backgrounds.

And, while the bulk of today’s volunteers are too young to remember the collapse of the Berlin Wall, their service is just as important in our globalized world.

Building relationships like Weaver did with Mama Joseph and other Tanzanians improves national reputations by showing American citizens in a more positive light, gives Peace Corps participants an added edge in international business, and can leave a lasting impression on the volunteers themselves. Last month, a government-issued study about homegrown terrorism in Canada and Europe recommended similar volunteer-abroad programs be expanded and promoted because they provide alternatives to violence for those at risk of radicalization.

Despite these benefits, Canada has no equivalent to the Peace Corps.

Advancements in air travel and a more globalized economy have made going overseas more accessible than 50 years ago. But, the Peace Corps remains a unique program allowing the American government to invest in its citizens and its reputation.

“We live in a world that’s so uncertain. It’s where poverty and disease and war and our government’s role is creating those problems has led to a lot of animosity,” says Weaver. “You can have diplomats shake hands and say, ‘Our countries are friends.’ But when a village says, ‘I know that American,’ that means something.”

Many aid organizations offer volunteer placements overseas for a period of months. The Peace Corps is a 27-month commitment. It’s intimidating, but Weaver says the lengthy stay enabled him to earn Mama Joseph’s support.

“You can’t build relationship in a substantial way in three months,” he says. “Having people trust you enough to talk to you like you’re their neighbour, that doesn’t happen overnight.”

The Peace Corp’s financial incentives allow young people of all background to gain fluency in foreign languages, cross-cultural understanding, and international experience at the beginning of their careers. The average age of Peace Corps volunteers is 28 as opposed to 42 in CUSO-VSO, a somewhat similar, non-governmental organization that operates in Canada.

“Volunteering shouldn’t be a function of privilege,” says Dianna English, who joined the Peace Corps at 24 and today works for the U.S. State Department. “(The Peace Corps) ensures that people who want to be small town teachers can go and teach in rural China.

“That should be seen as a good thing.”

While the Peace Corps acts as the U.S. government’s investment in its citizens, Canada is missing out by leaving these programs to non-profits that can’t provide the same incentives.

Where is the movement or political will to push for such a program?

By 2017, one in five residents of the country will identify themselves as visible minorities. This diversity of culture and language gives us an advantage in emerging markets across Asia, Africa and South America.

But, without a government program that invests in Canadians improving their cross-cultural knowledge while promoting their country overseas, we are missing out on an opportunity.

We are already home to the world. We need to show we also understand it.