By Julie Stavarski, Returned Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic and partner on a TRF Global Grant

My journey working with Rotary clubs began while I was serving as a health volunteer with Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic. Peace Corps Dominican Republic (PCDR) previously placed volunteers to work in the water sector up until 2014, when it was discontinued....

By Rotary Service 

Until the 1950s, cervical cancer killed more women in the U.S. than any other type of cancer. Widespread screening, early detection, timely access to treatment, and interventions have drastically decreased the number of cervical cancer-related deaths in the United States, but the disease....

Posted on July 24, 2017

By Dakota Bishop

It all started with a simple message on Facebook back in December 2015, a few months before I arrived in Costa Rica for my Peace Corps service.

I hadn’t heard the name Carl Dickerson in many, many years, but when I saw it pop up in my notifications, it rang a distant bell. Carl, the founder and head of the Give A Book Foundation and a member of Rotary International, had contacted me in the hopes of sparking interest in....

By Cecilia Kern, former Rotary Global Grant Scholar and Returned Peace Corps Volunteer

Community service has always been a big part of my life. When I was 11-years-old, I joined the youth leadership organization, Job’s Daughters. This group of adult and peer mentors instilled in me the principles of leadership, compassion, empathy and selfless service. Guided by these values, I spent much of my free time in high school and college volunteering and fundraising for various charities.

These activities however, remained fairly separate from my studies and....

By Katie Northcott, Rotary Global Grants Scholar and Returned Peace Corps Volunteer

“Je ne sais pas quoi faire”. I don’t know what to do. Six words that can define any experience with an unintended pregnancy, especially for a teenager. In this case, I was standing in front of a 16-year-old Burkinabe girl who had participated in a youth sexual health education camp I had organised just a few weeks earlier. During the camp, she learned about sexual and reproductive health issues including contraception, gender-based violence, sexually transmitted infections and HIV, and the importance of planning for the future. During the session on pregnancy, the young woman realised that perhaps the symptoms she was experiencing were more than just general illness. A pregnancy test at the health clinic the following week confirmed her fears.

My Peace Corps service in Burkina Faso, where this experience took place, guided my current career path and life focus. I wanted my work to ensure that other young people would not....

Posted on March 28, 2017

By Jasmine Segall, former Rotary global grant scholar

I have heard a variety of interesting stories about why the rural Costa Rican town I live in as a Peace Corps volunteer is called Monterrey. My favorite is the literal translation: “King of the Grass,” explained by a wizened elderly gentleman as the place his family settled to farm cattle because of its nutritious vegetation. On a good day, I can get a clear view of the Arenal Volcano and see the lush farmland that stretches endlessly below. The view is breathtaking. It truly is a green kingdom.

My path to becoming a “loyal subject” of Monterrey was influenced by....

Posted on January 27, 2017 By Peace Corps Tonga

At a time when changing weather patterns have brought drought conditions to island nation Tonga, a growing number of Peace Corps Volunteers are doing special projects to upgrade the water catchment systems their schools and communities rely on.

These systems consist of gutters, downspouts, and water tanks that catch and store rain water that falls on the roofs of schools, homes, and other buildings. Our post now has....

By District Governor-elect Abbas Rajabi, District 5450 USA

Peace Corps sends U.S. volunteers, usually recent university graduates, to live and work abroad for two years. Their goal is to help host countries meet local needs and promote mutual cultural understanding. While abroad, volunteers learn the local language and work with professionals in education, health, community economic development, environment, youth in development, and agriculture.

My first encounter with Peace Corps was in high school....

Posted on January 29, 2016

By Estevan Astorga

As a Hispanic American Volunteer in Peace Corps Senegal, my experience is different than many of my white American peers.

To the Senegalese, I am a foreigner sometimes referred to as a Toubab, which is the West African version of gringo. However, the color of my skin, my thick, black hair and dark brown eyes confuse many Senegalese that have only had a small interaction with foreigners. Unless somebody knows that I am an American Peace Corps Volunteer, they try to guess my nationality. So far I have been called....

Engineers Without Borders - El Salvador

Posted June 2015

Cantón Santa Clara, El Salvador, is a rural community comprised of approximately 400 households. The majority of community members live in poverty, engaging primarily in subsistence farming, growing corn, beans, and some livestock.

EWB-DC began engaging this community in 2004 to install an improved drinking water supply system. At the time, most residents relied on shallow wells to supply water for their households. These wells were vulnerable to contamination, which resulted in a high incidence of waterborne diseases and parasites in the community. Over the following years....

Posted on August 20, 1999 by Peace Corps Press Office

Washington, D.C., August 20, 1999—Luke Schulte, a 33-year old Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya from Louisville, Ky., is overseeing construction of a series of devices to protect water sources in Kenya with help from a grant from the Buechel Rotary Club of Louisville. Schulte, who has a master's degree in environmental engineering....