FORUM (Spotlight Weekly)

‘Nepal A Popular Destination For Peace Corps Volunteers’

- MARY LOU SNOWDEN

A former Peace Corps volunteer herself, MARY LOU SNOWDEN recently completed a three-year tenure as country director of US Peace Corps Nepal. Before leaving the country, Snowden spoke to KESHAB POUDEL on various facets of the Peace Corps' involvement in Nepal. Excerpts:

How do you evaluate the role of Peace Corps volunteers?

Peace Corps Nepal has been here since 1962. Next year, the Peace Corps will celebrate its 48th anniversary, and Nepal will celebrate the 39th anniversary of the organization's presence in the country. During this period, over 4,000 volunteers have served in Nepal. In many areas, we feel that we have graduated. Although we no longer do fishery, Peace Corps volunteers first introduced fishery along the terai region. Earlier, there used to be no fish in ponds, only in rivers. In the education sector also, we have changed the priorities. Half of our volunteers are involved in the education sector and they teach along with their Nepali counterparts in the 4th and 5th grades in secondary schools and also in 10+2 grades.

How many Peace Corps volunteers are working in Nepal now?

Right now, we have 120 volunteers. We get two new groups every year and each group stays for two years. Half of them are working in education. The remaining are in natural resources, reproductive health, youth development

and community development.

Which areas are the volunteers are working in?

We have changed our focus a lot. There are 31 districts where we do not place our volunteers because of many reasons, including security and remoteness. We are primarily present in the far-west, far-east and terai. But we are no more in the mid-hills.

What do your volunteers think about the worsening law and order situation in certain parts of the country?

They primarily live with host families and the villagers are the greatest source of safety and security. The villagers take very good care of our volunteers. Last week when schools were closed down for one week, our volunteers did not report even a single incident. We had checked about their situation.

How do you recruit volunteers?

The recruitment process begins in the United States. They go around college campuses to set up recruitment stations in various localities. They recruit some senior citizens and older volunteers. They have a lot of means but a

lot of it is based on word of mouth because Peace Corps volunteers have been around for long. People know about it. First, they recruit and placement is made by the Washington office. The volunteers are placed according to their skill. Different countries require different things. For instance, in the reproductive healths, there is a need to give the volunteer coming to Nepal some orientation. First, the country directors send their requirements and the volunteers are proceeded based on the demand. There are several countries where the demand for Peace Corps volunteers is high.

How many volunteers are interested in coming to Nepal?

Nepal is one of the popular destinations among Peace Corps volunteers. I think it is because Nepal is a beautiful country. Most of the volunteers know about the natural beauty of the country so they like to come here.

As you also meet people from different offices, what is their response toward Peace Corps volunteers?

Request for volunteers come in continuously from different ministries. We have a very good working relationship with many ministries. In my three-year tenure, I have seen different governments and I met a lot of new officials but I did not face any difficulty in maintaining relations with them. We work mostly at the department level, including in the forestry and health sector, and we have very a good working relationship with the officials.

What benefits do countries like Nepal get from volunteers?

Helping the community to learn self-governing and establishing NGOs are some of the major works of the volunteers. Along with these, a country like Nepal also benefits from specific services provided by the volunteers. In rural areas, getting a native English speaker as a teacher in itself is a major achievement. Our volunteers see what the needs of the community are and how they can help.

How was your experience in Nepal as a director of the Peace Corps?

My greatest experience in Nepal has been working with the staff of the Peace Corps. We have outstanding staff and we travel to various parts of the country to meet the volunteers. Nepal is not an easy country for travelling.

As a person from the developed world, how do you observe the social and political transformation in Nepal?

Peace Corps is an apolitical organization, so we try to keep away from politics. As you know, America has its own problem in democracy as shown by the recent elections. I would say that through grass-root development, more local organizations are becoming stronger. The democratic process, I think, continues to grow here.

How do you see the future of Peace Corps volunteers in Nepal?

We hope to place more Peace Corps volunteers in Nepal in the future for rural development along with the NGOs. We have started establishing contacts with the ministries to do that. The other thing I want to mention is information technology because all of our volunteers know how to deal with computers. The Ministry of Education is very much interested in our offer. We are trying to get computers to those communities. In areas where other resources and electricity are available, we hope to become involved more in information technology. It is very interesting to say to you that more than 50 percent of the first batch of the volunteers who came here forty years ago recently came to Nepal. There are also a lot of people who came here as Peace Corps volunteer and are still living in Nepal. Some of them have already established businesses. Even after returning from Nepal, many volunteers continue to maintain contact. They also contribute to strengthen relations between Nepal and the United States.