Title:
In Class With Peace Corps Volunteers in Africa, Asia
Description: This is
a VOA Special English Education Report.
See text below
Text:
March first was the fiftieth anniversary of the
Peace Corps. President John Kennedy began the
program in nineteen sixty-one. The Peace Corps sends
American volunteers to provide technical assistance
in education and other areas in developing
countries. Amanda Pease is one of almost forty
volunteers serving in rural schools in Sierra
Leone.Ms. Pease teaches science at Saint Joseph's, a
high school in eastern Sierra Leone. She studied
chemical engineering at the University of
California, Los Angeles. She decided to serve for
two years in the Peace Corps after she finished her
degree. Peace Corps volunteers left Sierra Leone in
nineteen ninety-four because of civil war. But now
they are back. Science teachers are in especially
short supply. Efforts in Sierra Leone to get more
children through primary school have led to crowded
high schools. Amanda Pease is the only chemistry and
physics teacher at her school. She says she has to
work hard to get students more interested in
learning. She says what she loves best about her
experience is the magical moment when students
understand a chemical process or ask her for more
exercises. More than eight thousand Peace Corps
volunteers are currently serving around the world.
Volunteers become part of the community where they
work and live. Travis Bluemling from Pennsylvania
teaches English in a rural Indonesian community. He
says learning English and at least having some
knowledge of the language can help people when they
look for a job or meet people. Mr. Bluemling's
family expressed concern for his safety in a country
where Islamic militants have sometimes attacked
Westerners. But what concerned him, he says, was the
thought that leaders in his village might not
welcome him. But,he says, he could not have been
more wrong. They have permitted him to enter their
homes. He joined them in their Muslim meetings. He
joined them while fasting and he has even entered
the mosque.In addition to Indonesia, Peace Corps
volunteers in East Asia serve in China, Thailand,
Cambodia, Mongolia and the Philippines. For VOA
Special English, I'm Carolyn Presutti. If you have a
Peace Corps story to share, go to
voaspecialenglish.com. Or you can post a comment on
our Facebook page at VOA Learning English.
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Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
