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Orientation

Gail Wadsworth THE PEACE CORPS001.tif

Peace Corps Mission

This Peace Corps brochure sells the purpose and strengths of the Peace Corps to potential volunteers.  It emphasizes the export of American culture and values – “commitment to freedom…pride in your country and its best traditions and what it stands for” – as being essential to the development of other countries.  This brochure claims that Peace Corps volunteers, as arbiters of American culture, have the unique ability to bring development to partner nations. 

Debby Prigal 25 July 1981_001.tif

First Impressions

In this letter home, Debby Prigal tells her family of her first impressions of Ghana.  Once on the ground she could begin to compare her surroundings to her preconceived notions.  Ghana was not quite as she expected.  She reports, “Things are not as badly organized as I might have thought; the markets are well stocked (there’s tons of soap, for example) but there’s no telling what things will be like in six months.” 

Orientation