Peace Corps: A Model Worth Emulating
By: Ndumba J KamwanyahTHOSE searching for answers on how to prepare and engage Namibian youth productively may find a few in the Peace Corps model.
Chances are, unless you are from another planet, that you have come across an American Peace Corps volunteer serving in the furthest and remotest spots of the world. He or she is part of an army of volunteers who are fulfilling a more than 50-year-old vision of President John F Kennedy to send young Americans (and old ones too) out into the developing world. The mission: To sell the United States of America’s humane and friendly face to the world.
In the years since independence in 1990, according to the Peace Corps website, more than 1,345 Peace Corps volunteers have served in Namibia, working in education, community health, youth development, HIV/AIDS, and small business development. They work both in urban and rural settings, living with host families/counterparts, eating the same food, learning local languages and cultures.
The volunteers earn no salary. Instead they get a modest monthly stipend to cover some basic essentials such as accommodation and food. But what they gain in return (in terms of skills, experience and life-long learning) is priceless.
In foreign policy lexicon, the Peace Corps model of service is sometimes referred to as ‘cultural diplomacy’, a means a government uses to inform other countries about its cultural and political values.
Another association is Professor Joseph Nye’s ‘soft power’ concept, referring to a process of influencing other people through non-coercive measures as opposed to ‘hard power’ such as military intervention.
But the Peace Corps approach is also an experiential and service-learning model which allows participants to learn through direct participation, whether abroad or within the US borders, about the reality on the ground. The gist of it is learning by doing.
That is where Namibia should pay greater attention to learn from what the US has been doing to mould, develop and prepare young Americans for their career futures. The University of Namibia (Unam), Polytechnic, and the International University of Management (IUM) should pay attention too because ‘experiential learning’ is the latest academic buzzword – at least it is in USA universities and colleges!
The opportunity to serve abroad enables volunteers to hone and develop problem-solving and innovation skills. They also learn how to deal with challenges and complex situations. And most importantly they develop a sense of cultural humility as they learn from their host country’s cultures.
A Peace Corps domestic counterpart programme is a US federal government programme called AmeriCorps which engages Americans ‘in intensive community service work’ through non-profit, public agencies, faith-based and other community organisations.
Of course, Peace Corps has its own problems. And it has plenty of critics too. But to date, this American institution has become an embodiment of selflessness and doing good in the world, with more than 200 000 Americans already to have served as volunteers throughout the globe. The agency has a three-pronged goal to achieve its mission.
But Peace Corps service does not end when a volunteer completes his/her service abroad. Peace Corps’ third goal is to help Americans understand the people and cultures of other countries through returned volunteers’ personal sharing, formal and informal presentation/talks at schools, workplaces, and community talks. Part of this third goal is not only about bringing the world back home to the USA, but also in terms of applying skills and experiences acquired during the volunteers’ services to the USA economy. That too is where Namibia should pay attention!
What I am advocating here is not for Namibia to send volunteers abroad. But I am merely stating that we can learn from a model that appears to be working in engaging and preparing the young minds successfully. Therefore, there is nothing wrong for Namibia to modify the Peace Corps model, we may as well call it NamCorps, to fit Namibia’s situation.
Through this model we can engage our youth productively, and put them to work for Namibia by devoting (6 to12 months) of their times and energies to community-based service in the fields of education, health, public safety, youth development, conservancy, community development, business, disaster relief, and the environment. Doing so can only present a win-win formula for the youth and country.
The experience could also be used as credits for further education. Most importantly, this approach moves us away from seeing the youth as clients needing services to an approach that utilises and maximises their potential in contributing to Namibia’s development needs. Indeed, doing so is in line with Vision 2030.
*Ndumba J Kamwanyah is a public policy consultant and an Africa blogger for the Foreign Policy Association. ndumba.kamwanyah@umb.edu; Twitter@ndumbakamwanyah