Peace Corps looking to recruit minority volunteers
Returned Peace Corps volunteers will host a panel tonight to discuss the achievements—but also the challenges—of minorities volunteering overseas.
According to Alethea Parker of the Peace Corps Southeast Regional Office, minorities make up about fourteen percent of the Peace Corps.
Parker says minorities may have negative experiences overseas that non-minorities would not face, such as having their nationality questioned.
“Could be just treated different—the volunteers being treated differently because they may not have blond hair, blue eyes which some people may equate with being American.”
Parker says it’s important to have minorities in the Peace Corps in order to represent America’s diversity abroad.
Parker herself is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.
She left an advertising job to serve two years in Cameroon.
Her experience made her realize that she really wanted to work in community economic development.
She says it’s especially important for minorities to have this kind of learning experience.
The panel will start at 6pm at the Stonecrest Public Library Auditorium in Lithonia.
The event is free and open to the public.
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