What is the Peace Corps?
In 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy (he wasn't president yet!) challenged a group of college students to go live and work in developing countries. He wanted the students to help these countries advance by sending over peaceful, skilled and intelligent workers to help in the areas of education, farming, health, new technology and community development.
This idea turned into the United States Peace Corps ("Corps" sounds like "core".) Beginning in March 1961, the Peace Corps is a group made up of volunteers who have served in 139 countries around the world. They have three main goals: to help other countries have enough trained men and women, to help other countries better understand the United States of America, and to help the United States of America better understand the people and cultures of other countries.
The Peace Corps is very important today because technology changes so quickly that it's hard for everyone to keep up! The Peace Corps helps to teach about that technology so that the businesses and students in other developing countries have all the tools they need to succeed.
The "Peace" part of the Peace Corps is very important. The better countries can understand each other, the less chance there is of conflict and war.
Exploration
Taste the World
There are lots of ways to experience other cultures, but one of the easiest ways is by eating the food of other cultures! Chinese food, Italian food, and Indian food are very different, but for the most part, people everywhere agree on what's tasty!
You might not love all the different foods because you might not be used to some of the flavors, but it's fun to try new things!
Think about the food you and the people in your life eat and where it comes from. How much have other countries and cultures affected what you eat? Is their any food that you'd like to try from a different culture?