PHNOM PENH: After a two-year hiatus following the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Peace Corps Cambodia has welcomed back 35 American Peace Corps volunteers to serve across the Kingdom. Through Peace Corps’ English Teaching and Teacher Training (ETTT) project, volunteers will co-teach English education with a Cambodian national teacher in primary schools, high schools, and teaching institutions.
“We are thrilled to have Peace Corps volunteers return to Cambodia,” U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia W. Patrick Murphy said.
He added, “The global Peace Corps mission is ‘World Peace and Friendship,’ and volunteers pursue this mission through service. As a former Peace Corps volunteer myself, I know the value these volunteers have in strengthening U.S.-Cambodia people-to-people ties and contributing to the Kingdom’s development.”
“We are excited to be a part of the historic reentry of volunteers in Cambodia,” Peace Corps Cambodia Country Director, Mikel Herrington said.
Mikel added, “Since March 2020, Peace Corps staff around the world have worked to strengthen the foundation of the agency. We are now ready to relaunch volunteer service and meet this historic moment with our community partners in Cambodia and post-staff.”
The ETTT Project works closely with the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport in order to advance Cambodia’s educational priorities. The project develops the English language and thinking skills of Cambodian students, teachers, and community members to help them gain access to personal, professional, and academic opportunities. In 2019, during the project’s last reiteration, 48% of Cambodian co-teachers improved their English teaching methodology and 3,317 students demonstrated improved English proficiency on informal and formal assessments.
Peace Corps welcomed its first group of volunteers to Cambodia in 2007. Since then, 714 Peace Corps volunteers have served in Cambodia, working on projects in English education. A health education program ran from 2011 to 2018.
The Peace Corps is an international service network of volunteers, community members, host country partners, and staff who are driven by the agency’s mission of world peace and friendship. At the invitation of governments around the world, Peace Corps volunteers work alongside community members on locally-prioritized projects in the areas of education, health, the environment, agriculture, community economic development, and youth development. Through service, members of the Peace Corps network develop transferable skills and hone intercultural competencies that position them to be the next generation of global leaders. Since President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps in 1961, more than 240,000 Americans have served in 142 countries worldwide. For more information, visit peacecorps.gov and follow us on Facebook, Instagram , and Twitter.
Photo by: Supplied
