62 New Peace Corps Volunteers Sworn in at U.S. Embassy
Addis Ababa, September 18, 2015 – Ambassador Patricia M. Haslach administered the oath of service to 62 new Peace Corps Volunteers at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa today. These Volunteers will be working as English Teachers throughout Ethiopia. With this new group there are now 239 Peace Corps Volunteers in Ethiopia.
This group will be the second group of Volunteers to serve under the PELLE project in Ethiopia. PELLE stands for Promoting English Language Learning in Ethiopia. Each of these Volunteers will begin teaching at least 3 sections of English class in local high schools to grade 9 or 11 students in the four administrative regions of Tigray, Oromiya, Amhara and SNNP.
Peace Corps Volunteers live and work within small communities around Ethiopia. They collaborate with local Ethiopian counterparts including teachers, administrators, and advocates to implement a variety of projects. These projects are identified by the community and the Volunteer together, thus ensuring community support and investment in grassroots projects. Some projects include extracurricular activities focused on promoting gender equality, literacy, youth leadership, and ICT use among youth. Volunteers also work with local teachers to improve teaching by offering feedback, workshops, and training events for high school teachers.
All 62 of these Volunteers recently finished 3 months of pre-service training before taking the oath of service today. This training covers teaching methodology, pedagogy, and includes 4 weeks of practicum English classroom teaching. Pre-service training was hosted in and around Holeta, Oromia and reached over 1,000 local students through the Peace Corps Summer English Program. Additionally, pre-service training includes a large amount of local language training. Volunteers receive around 125 hours of training in Amharic, Afan Oromo, or Tigrigna so that they can begin living and working in their communities after swearing in as Volunteers today.
About Peace Corps Ethiopia: While first established in 1962, Peace Corps returned to Ethiopia in 2007. Today our post is among the largest in the world, with 239 Volunteers working in the three sectors of Health, Environment and Education. The 62 Volunteers of Group 13 accepting the oath of service today will represent their fellow Americans in high schools across the four administrative regions of Tigray, Oromiya, Amhara and SNNP.
About the Peace Corps: As the preeminent international service organization of the United States, the Peace Corps sends Americans abroad to tackle the most pressing needs of people around the world. Peace Corps Volunteers work at the grassroots level with local governments, schools, communities, small businesses and entrepreneurs to develop sustainable solutions that address challenges in education, health, economic development, agriculture, environment and youth development.
Source: Embassy of the United States, Addis Ababa
