KAMPALA– U.S. Ambassador to Uganda Deborah Malac on Friday presided over the swearing-in ceremony of 47 United States Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) at the U.S. Ambassador’s residence in Kampala.
This newest group of 20 health and 27 agribusiness volunteers will bring the total number of Peace Corps Volunteers currently serving in Uganda to 162. In the health sector, Volunteers will be placed at health centers and work at the grassroots level to train and empower village health teams and community health promoters. They will promote access to health care services with a focus on HIV/AIDS, malaria, hygiene, and nutrition. Community Agribusiness Volunteers will contribute to the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Feed the Future Initiative and focus on farm-to-market value chain development, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and improved child nutrition.
This swearing-in ceremony is the culmination of 10 weeks of training for the 47 Volunteers in the Health and Agribusiness sectors. Both groups underwent cultural immersion training on local language and customs, during which they lived with Ugandan host families. They will use the skills gained from training throughout their two years of service in Uganda.
In her remarks at the ceremony, Ambassador Malac said, “By encouraging communities to identify and drive solutions to their challenges, our Volunteers are helping to unleash the great potential of Uganda.”
The Peace Corps is a U.S. government agency that provides service opportunities for U.S. citizens to immerse themselves in a community abroad, working side by side with local leaders to tackle the most pressing challenges of our generation. The first group of Volunteers arrived in Uganda in 1964, and the program has grown since then. To date, 1,700 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in Uganda. Peace Corps has three goals in Uganda: To help the people of Uganda in meeting their need for trained men and women, to help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the Ugandans served and to help promote a better understanding of Ugandans on the part of Americans.
