Happiness resonates during Peace Corps Week
USF’s Peace Corps Master’s International Program ranks 1st in the Southeast.
Peace Corps Week celebrates President Kennedy’s establishment of the Peace Corps on March 1, 1961. During this annual event, Peace Corps communities, institutions and volunteers around the world celebrate how the Peace Corps continues to make a difference at home and abroad.
Peace Corps recruiter and interns displaying the Tree of Happiness. (Photo by Ellen Kent)
This year’s Peace Corps Week theme— “Highlighting Happiness: What does Joy Look Like in My Peace Corps Country?”—was celebrated the first week of March, coinciding with the 55th birthday celebration of the Peace Corps.
The College of Public Health Master’s International Program concluded the week-long celebration with a Peace Corps Festival, which included COPH students, faculty and returned Peace Corps volunteers (RPCVs) from USF and the Tampa Bay community.
Artifacts were displayed from different regions. (Photo by Ellen Kent)
The festival highlighted the four main regions of the Peace Corps: Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Pacific Islands. COPH students were engaged in the event and learned more about the regions and what USF Peace Corps Master’s International students are doing internationally.
COPH master’s student Jacqueline Demko is one of several attendees who found the event helpful, “The festival was great because the returned volunteer participants represented how diverse the Peace Corps program is. As the returned volunteers engaged students one-on-one, showing priceless trinkets and telling stories, I was reminded how truly unique every Peace Corps experience is. The possibilities really are endless!”
Display boards showcased around the COPH atrium to illustrate how happiness to PCMI students can mean being with family, learning something new and making a difference in their community.
RPCVs also brought in their favorite dishes from the countries in which they volunteered and artifacts to share with the COPH community.
Cauchavius Watts (left), a RPCV and current master’s student, shared his insight about being a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia. (Photo by Ellen Kent)
Returned Peace Corps volunteers spent the evening talking with COPH students about their experiences abroad. (Photo by Ellen Kent)
Peace Corps volunteers are away from their home for 27 months, making a difference in the world and simultaneously learning what joy looks like in their Peace Corps country.
For students, happiness was commonly experienced during their time as volunteers:
“I’m happy to have helped organize Camp ScientiFille, a camp to promote science education and confidence among Togolese girls.” –COPH PCMI Student Anthony Nguyen, Togo
“Happiness is Family!” – COPH PCMI Student Rachel Orlowski, Peru
“My Peonga family keeps me laughing constantly, seem to know exactly what to do when I’m close to tears, and have made this tiny little corner of the world truly feel like home.” – COPH PCMI Student Sierra Petrosky, Benin
Relate media:
Festival celebration photo gallery on Facebook.
Story by Tabassum Tasnim, USF College of Public Health