U.S. Ambassador discusses Peace Corps in Mongolia

The following statement was issued by United States Ambassador to Mongolia Jonathan Addleton on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the arrival of the Peace Corps in Mongolia.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of Peace Corps – and the twentieth anniversary of the arrival of Peace Corps in Mongolia.

Both anniversaries are worthy of commemoration. They also help highlight the enduring power of people-to-people relationships in promoting international goodwill and understanding between very different countries.

Currently, more than 130 Peace Corps Volunteers serve across Mongolia, making Peace Corps in Mongolia proportionately one of the largest Peace Corps programs anywhere in the world. Taken together, more than 800 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in Mongolia over the last two decades. …

English language teaching was a major focus area from the very beginning and remains the single largest Peace Corps program in Mongolia to this day. The intent is to improve the skills of qualified Mongolian English language teachers, develop English resource materials and work directly with students to improve their English language skills.

Over the years, other areas of interest and activity have been added, including computer training; health education; community economic development; youth development; and the environment. …

During their time in Mongolia, individual Peace Corps Volunteers have also formed clubs, composed music, organized rock bands, built greenhouses, produced public awareness videos, launched television shows, helped disabled people, equipped libraries, donated bikes and provided helmets for young Mongolian jockeys racing in local Nadaam festivals.

While Peace Corps Volunteers typically work in Mongolia for two years, the experience of life on the steppe lasts a lifetime. When they return back to the United States, they bring with them a wealth of knowledge and personal experience about Mongolia – and are well positioned to pass that knowledge and experience on to friends, families and communities back home. …

The latest group of nearly 70 new Peace Corps Volunteers to Mongolia arrived in June. Last month they completed their training in Darkhan and they have recently taken up their new assignments across the country. As with their colleagues from past years, there is little doubt that this group too will be changed by their experience – and, in turn, leave a lasting and enduring mark on the many Mongolians that they will meet along the way.

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