KATHMANDU, MAY 15
Peace Corps Deputy Director, David E. White Jr. has arrived in Kathmandu for a five-day trip to Nepal, today.
While in Nepal, Deputy Director White will be meeting with government and civil society representatives to thank them for their long-standing support of the Peace Corps program since its founding and discuss plans to expand Peace Corps programming in Nepal. Deputy Director White will also participate in the swearing-in of ten newly arrived Peace Corps Response Volunteers. This is the first ever group of Response Volunteers to serve in Nepal. The Peace Corps Response Program brings U.S. citizen Volunteers with experience targeted to complete short-term (e.g., nine-twelve months), high-impact service assignments in countries that request them, according to the press statement issued by the US Embassy in Kathmandu.
"During his visit, Deputy Director White will also meet currently serving Volunteers and their counterparts across Nepal. Volunteers in Nepal work on locally prioritized projects in agriculture, education, and health sectors, learning the Nepali language and other local languages to effectively communicate and engage with communities."
Currently, there are forty Peace Corps Volunteers serving in seven districts of Nepal teaching English in government schools and working on food and nutrition security in rural communities. The new group being sworn in will now bring the total to fifty Peace Corps Volunteers serving in eight districts of Nepal, the Embassy added.
Peace Corps first established operations in Nepal in September 1962 and, since that time, nearly 4,000 Americans have served in Nepal working in multiple sectors and across the country.
