Ambassador Browning Welcomes 33 Peace Corps Volunteers

Ambassador Steven A. Browning presided over the swearing-in of 33 new Peace Corps volunteers in a formal ceremony at his official residence on Thursday, May 18.  Fifteen of the new volunteers will be posted to serve as primary teacher trainers assigned to Core Primary Teachers Colleges throughout central and western Uganda.  The remaining 18 volunteers will be posted to the same parts of Uganda to serve with various community-based and non-governmental organizations focusing on health and HIV-AIDS issues.  Ambassador Browning commended the volunteers for their commitment to service in local communities, and he thanked local communities in Uganda for the warm welcome that has traditionally been extended to Peace Corps volunteers.

Mr. Sam Onek, Director of Education at the Ugandan Ministry of Education and Sports, accepted the new volunteers into service on behalf of the Government of Uganda.  Peace Corps Uganda Country Director, Ms. McGrath Jean Thomas, also made remarks, acknowledging the new volunteers’ successful completion of training, and wishing them well as they begin their two years of service.

The new volunteers first arrived in Uganda on March 6, 2006; they undertook a ten-week, pre-service training program in Luwero prior to the swearing-in ceremony.  The training included technical information related to the volunteers’ specific assignments, cultural training and intensive language lessons in Luganda, Runyankore, Rukiga, Runyoro, and Rutooro.  Immediately following the swearing-in ceremony and reception, the new volunteers traveled to their official duty stations, predominantly in rural communities.

The Peace Corps – an initiative of President John F. Kennedy’s administration -- celebrates its 45th Anniversary in 2006.  The first Peace Corps volunteers in Uganda, all secondary school teachers, arrived in November 1964.  Among this first group of teachers was Howard Moses, who taught Chemistry to a young Yoweri Museveni.  Initially the major Peace Corps programming area in Uganda was education, but volunteers have also worked in fisheries, agriculture, vocational education and surveying.  The first health program was initiated in 1968.

For further information about the Peace Corps, please visit: http://www.peacecorps.gov/