Statement of Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr., Director of the Peace Corps, in Chicago, Illinois, May 17, 1961
Statement by Sargent Shriver following his visit to 8 countries in Africa and Asia. He indicates how the Peace Corps should be established and what will be expected of the volunteers.
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OCR Page 1 of 26a
STATEMENT OF ROBERT SARGENT SHRIVER, JR., DIRECTOR OF THE PEACE CORPS, IN
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, May 17, 1961.
I have just returned from a series of exploratory visits to eight countries
in Africa and Asia, a trip intended to determine more exactly the extent of the need
for Peace Corps activities in these countries and the newly developing nations of
the world.
The members of our Peace Corps group were, in addition to myself, Harris L.
Wofford, a Special Assistant to President Kennedy; Edwin R. Bayley, Peace Corps
Public Information Director; and Franklin H. Williams, Peace Corps Advisor on
co-operation with the United Nations and International Agencies.
In each country we conferred at length leading officials, with ministers
and secretaries directly involved with possible Peace Corps operations, with members
of United States technical assistance missions, with Embassy staffs and with repressenta-
tives of United Nations and voluntary agencies operating in that area. In most cases
we were able to make field trips into areas in which Peace Corps volunteers may work, so
that we could see at first hand the circunstances of need and the conditions under which
volunteers would live and work.
We have been able to reach a number of conclusions.
First, the Peace Corps is wanted and is welcome in every country we visited.
Prime Minister Nehru of India, President Nkrumah of Ghana, and Prime Minister U Nu of
Burma want Peace Corps volunteers and they want them to succeed. So do the leaders of
Pakistan, Thailand, and the Philippines. We learned this not only from prime ministers
and presidents, but from the ordinary people in these countries.
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In India's Punjab, for example, we talked to the headman of a village. He said:
"If someone from the Peace Corps would come here, we would welcome him. Whatever poor
facilities we have, we would share with him."
In another country the governor of a province said: "We have the mind and the
heart to do things. Our people are ready to move. We need your skills to help us start.
Second, the requests for Peace Corps assistance will far exceed the present supply
of qualified volunteers. In nearly every case we shall be able to meet only a small
part of the need. In just the eight countries we visited, requests were made for
volunteers to fill more than 3500 jobs. So there will be no problem in placing the 500
to 1000 volunteers established as a 1961 goal by President Kennedy.
I am convinced that if, in the future, our country is to meet the unparalleled
opportunity to win friends and advance the cause of peace and freedom, thousands of
additional Americans will have to step forward and say, II will serve."