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---33,000 VOLUNTEERS IN THE SOVIET BLOCK - WHY NOT? G. Steve Lowry1

If one of the fundamental purposes of the PC is to

understand the other peoples and cultures of the world so as to promote the goal of world peace, then one must ask the question as to why Americans are not making more of an effort to

understand the peoples of the country which is touted as being the biggest threat to world peace in the world today - namely the Soviet Union.

This paper will present reasons why such an idea is consistent with the founding ideals of the PC, how the effort might be organized, and what impact might be expected. The

wpro" side only will be given, the "con" can be addressed by the usual respondents.

In the days when the framework of the PC was being formulated, there was a strong feeling among much of the Congress that the US must do more to combat the spread of

Communism. The original stud y of the PC was in fact authorized

under the Mutual Security Act. This Act "sought to maintain the

security of the US and the free world from Communist agression and thereby maintain peace" <Rice, The Bold Experiment). To get the idea of PC thru Congress, the anti-Communist element was stressed, but there was a strong feeling among the supporters of the program that PC should never be used to achieve the short

range goals of US foreign policy. That Volunteers could be

considered in countries where communism was present was quite acceptable to Sargent S hriver as he was willing to send

volunteers to Sekou Tou r e's Guinea in 1961. Warren Wiggins, one of the ideaological founders, hoped that Yugoslavia would take

Volunteers. Sh river himself stated that Volunteers would be

sent to China (at that time "Red China"> and the Soviet Union

if requested <Rice, pg 261). The idea of sending Volunteers

would be to help with development. The meaning of development

in the coni e x t of PC has alway s been subject to question. Most RPCVs would say that the physical development projects, i.e. the schools, the clinics, and the latrines, etc that did get built wer e not as significant as the development of the personal understanding that grew between the host country nationals and

the Volunteers. Thus the idea of sending Volunteers to the

Soviet Union is not new, but has been around since the beginning of PC and would be consistent with the founding ideals.

How man y Volunteers and how would they be organized? If the same ratio was used as in, say Botswana, which has a population

of 1 millio n an d has about 150 Volunteers, then the Soviet Union

with a populaton of 220 million wo u ld have 33 ,000 Volunteers.

The Voluntee r s coul d not be p~omoted as technically o r

educationall y advanced since the S oviets feel the y are our

equals in these ar eas. But this is nol insurmountable, as more

and more of t he developing countries are becoming, or at least perceive themselves as becoming, more self sufficent in trained

may go, will be seen as working alongside host country nationals in a supportive role - which is ce r tainly consistent with the ideals of PC.

The impacts of such a program would take seve r al y ears to be felt. There would be th e usual media hype for the first year

or so and then the prog r am would be left alone to work. The

impacts will not be meas u red in easily quantified terms, but no PC program is. The imp ac t will be in the perception about one another th a t is built up between the Soviet people and the

Volunteers. One can see that by carrying out the third goal of

the PC,namely helping Americans understand other peoples of the world, that there will develop a more accurate picture of how

our •adversar y" lives. I n the best case, the level of fear and

mistrust might be reduced, with a matching reduction in the arms

build up. The cost of 33 ,000 Volunteers at $15,000/year would

be about $500 M per yea r . The defense budget is about $313 Billion dollars per year. Thus the cost of maintaining the Volunteer program would be about 0.16% of the annual budget. Would it be unreasonabl e to expect that such a Volunteer program as proposed cou ld d e cre a se the fear and mistrust by such a

per c e n t a g e?

The impact of sendi ng of such a number of Volunteers could be doubled if one of the other founding ideas of the PC was

implemented, namely rec i procating and having Soviet volunteers

come to the US . I suggest that if the PC is serious about

lessening the igno r ance and resultant distrust that is the fundamental o bstacle to world peace, then this proposal to get to the root of the matter, a radical proposal in the true

meaning of the word , s hou ld b e given serious consideration. Such a program wo ul d indeed be a BOLD EXPERIMENT.

~Peac e Co rps Vo l unteer in Bo tswana 19 7 1 -74 . Cu rrentl y Presi d e n t of the Peace Co r ps/VI S TA Al u mn i a t Colorado and employed as a con su lt in g engin e er .

An International Youth Service Prepared for the National Seminar on Future Directions for the Peace Corps

By Donald

J .

An International Youth Service (IYS) would facilitate the application of youthful talent to human and environmental needs wherever they exist, and do so Qn a scale commensurate with such needs . Much of this talent would be directed at needs in develop-ing countries . Recognizdevelop-ing that disasters strike regardless of . national boundaries and that severe human and environmental prob-lems exist even in the wealthiest countries , all countries would be eligible to apply for IYS participants .

This paper attempts to exp l ore the dimensions of an IYS. It begins with several milestones, describes a few proposals for an

IYS, and concl ude s with several observations about the design of IYS. The reader wil l observe that this paper is not based on deta iled re-search and experimentation . Rather, it is based on my belief that IYS is an impo rt ant idea , my suggestion to the leaders of this Sem -inar that the IYS idea be discussed here, and their invitation to me to lead this panel .

Milestones

Following World War I , Pierre Ceresole of Switzerland organ-ized teams of young people from a number of co untr ies to help rebuild from the war's devastation. Cereso le 's Service Civile Internationale was one of the origins of the {nternational work camp movement in wh ich young people , mostly from Europe and North America , live and work together on projects that usua lly ha ve a high degree of manual labor.

In 1953 , the Int er national Development Placement Association was founded in New York City with a Peace Corps philosophy. It was

2 • directed by Peter Weiss ; Murray Frank and Harris Wofford were among th e founders who were to play important r oles in the early days of the Pea ce Corps .

In 1958, Alec Dickson of Great Brita in c reated Voluntary Service Overseas, in which young Britons serve in developing coun-tries for one -year periods .

In 1959 , Colette Inebnit, a successor to Pierre Ceresole in th e international work camp movement, proposed " A Permanent U. N. Constructive Service" (The Friend, Vol. · 117, No . 3 , London, 1959). Inebnit argued for an international service program as distinct from purely national ones.

On January 14, 1960, Rep . Henry Reuss int roduced H. R. 9638 : A Point Four Youth Corps, calling for a study of a program under which " young citizens will be trained and serve in programs of tech -nical cooperation . " The bill was passed and the study was conducted by Maurice Albertson, Andrew Rice and others .

On June 15, 1960, Sen . Hubert Humphrey introduced S. 3675 : A Peace Corps . Sen . John F . Kennedy began advocating a Peace Corps late in the campaign and , as President, created it by executive order on March 1, 1961.

In 1968, Sen . Mark Hatfield was looking for a way to denatio n-al ize the Peace Corps . He felt the writer's plan for a Nationn-al

Youth Service Foundation (although it applied only to a U.S. program) was a good model and introduced it as S. 1937 on April 22 , 1969 .

On December 7, 1970, the UN General Assembly created the UN Volunteers (UNV) and UNV began operations in 19 71. Its growth has been slow, fro m 40 Volu nt eers in 1972 to 500 in 197 9 to 1,000 in 1983, which is about where it is toda y . Approximately 80% of UNV 's come from Third World countries and about 80% of them serve in Africa. Only 5 % of the UNV ' s serve in Latin America and 15% in As ia .

years.

3 . UN Volunteers serve for two years , renewable for up to five

UNV falls within the UN Development Program, and UNV place-ments are relate d to UN DP or one of the other specialized agencies of the UN . Industrialized countries often pay the travel cost and readjustment allowances of their Volunteers; host countries often pay at least partial in -c ountry costs; other costs are met by the UN.

Theoretically , UNV could be come the kind of IYS envisioned in this paper . The 15 year history of IYS suggests otherwise . There seems to be no interest in creating an emergency relief arm of the UNV . Neither the slow growth rate over the first 15 years nor future plans for UNV offer any prospects of its respond i ng to human or environmental ne eds on the level they exist .

IYS Proposal

Current activity directed at some kind of an IYS see ms to be quite limited . There are occasional exchanges of volunteers among youth service programs, e . g ., between Canada's Katimavik and Great Britain ' s Community Service Volunteers . A trilateral ex-change among Katimavik, the California Conservation Corps, and a Mexican youth conservation group is planned for the summer of 1986. These plans are in jeopardy because the present Canadian government, which appears to view Katimavik more as a youth employment program than one of youth service and development, is in the process of dis-mantling Katimavik .

There is also talk of a World Conservation Corps. Leaders of the United Nations Environment Program reportedly favor it but I cannot say more than that because they have not replied to repeated requests for information. Canada's Ken de laBarre suggests that IYS develop from affiliations among existing youth service programs . In this way the y would build on a solid foundation . "In general, " de la Barre says, "development programs that have been most prac-tical, innovative and successful have been undertaken at a local or

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grassroots level." (Ken de la Barre, "A World Conservation Corps : Katimavik as a Ca se Study" Unpublished paper, March 23, 1986.)

Observations

Many of the issues fo und in discussions of national service apply as well to a consideration of IYS. Examples include:

What is the primary goal -- experiential education, cultural integration, work experience, career e~plor­

ation, or acc omp lishment of needed services?

What design and funding pattern is appropriate for the mix of goals and objectives?

Should it be for all adults or confined to young people? Should it be voluntary or compulsory?

Should it be a substitute for military service? The nature of IYS creates additional issues. For example , which decisions should be made by the international executive body of IYS and which by the sending and receiving countries? To what extent, if any, should IYS teams be balanced according to such factors as politics and geography?

I am firmly convinced that the primary goal should be the accomplishment of needed services . Having said this, I also predict that a comprehensive evaluation would show that the sum of the pe r-sonal values (work experience, cultural integration, etc . ) - would excee d the value of the services performed . This prediction is no t inconsistent with the primary goal. The several attributes of yo ut h development cannot be achieved in the absence of external objectiv e s . I have seen programs focusing

and not accomplish anyt h ing .

on youth development turn narcissistic By contrast, the Peace Co r ps and

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Ou twa rd Bound have goals o f service and physical cha ll enge that re-qu ire the participant to find or d evelop talent s and resources not pr ev iously utili ze d. Thus co me s matu rati on .

I agree with Ken de la Barre that IYS should grow out of e xis tin g programs. If IYS is to be a significant enterp ri se , how-ever, su bsta n ti ally more money and imagination will have to be applied to it . With these ingredients , the IYS ideal can take a qu an tum jump forwa rd.

For example , every yo uth service program belonging t o IYS might agree to have an emergency relief unit. Members wo uld be trained, partly by an international team, to f ight dis aste r s most li ke ly to occur in th e ir countries or re gions . Mos t of the i r activ-ities would be domestic . However , whe n a lar ge dis aste r for which th ey are trained s tr ikes elsewhere they would be ava il ab le to serve an ywhere in the wor ld. I f the Soviet Union can call on hel p from an American and Israeli e xpe rt to pr ovi d e rel ie f from the Chernobyl disaster, there should be few barriers to the movement of IYS relief units.

In other examples, IYS members could h a ve groups of young pe op le specializing in litera cy , pollution control, geriatric care, and da y care for i nfa n ts. Certain gro ups could be selected (per-haps as a reward for superior service) foran ov erseas stint of six months or s o . The emphasis would be on the service -le arning nature of experiences. The yo uthful parti ci pants could not help to per-ceive different customs and ways of doin g things. With occasional seminars, the volunteers would refle c t on these experiences and compare them with their home situati o ns.

How should such a ctivities be organized and coordinated? I think Sen. Hatfield had the right answer. An international foundation could avoid mu ch of the bureaucracy and politics that would likely be found in an agency of the U.N. or one sponsored by a single country.

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If IYS is to be based on existing programs, it makes sense for IYS to accommodate its rules to theirs. Some programs are for young people only and others are for persons 18 and over . Some qual-ify as a substitute for military service and others do not . The duration of service is generally between six months and two years . Different policies would limit, to some extent , the amount of coop -eration amon g programs . However, some accommodation is essential if IYS is to be launched .

A sensible next step would be to convene a meeting of the youth service programs , both domestic and international , for the purpose of fostering exchanges as well as exploring something like an IYS . The International Secretariat for Volunteer Service , which lasted from about 1962 (as the Peace Co rps Secretariat) to 1975 , would have been the right kind of convening body had it continued in existence . In its absence , it is up to one or more people and organizations with the necessary vision , commitme nt and resources.

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Coordinated by lhC' Charles r. K c l l C' rit~g rou:1dalion

PROJECT OF FICE: 1665 32ND STREET, N.v\'./WASHINGTON , D.C./2CXXJ7

January 25, 1979

m-0112 DRAFT OUTLINE

VOLUNTEER SERVICE PARTNERSHIPS PRECIS

This OUtline focuses attention on some novel approaches to co-operation between volunteers from industrialized and develop-ing countries, and the development education of their project communities. It is based on findings of the multi-national

eva-luation "Service for Developm~nt"* and suggests the application

of existing resources to new ways.

Partnership implies equal term conditions of service for volun-teers from the North and the South, reciprocity of service op-portunity and mutuality of learning and helping in joint work assignments. Volunteer Service Partnerships are based in local communities and aim at the mobilization of citizen to

partici-pate not only in their own development but also in their society's.

Volunteer Servic~ Partnerships bring the larger problems of

glo-bal interdependence to the local community, cut them down to

comprehensible size and involve ordinary citizen in a development learning process.

There are a variety of possible models to realize Volunteer Service Partnerships.

This OUtline aims at involving the many foreign students in the United States and especially those from developing countries -in jo-int service with Americans. The numerous foreign students in the US are an existing human resource for which no further outlay is required. The opportunity for foreigners to work side by side with Americans in local communities within the framework of existing volunteer services represents an example of recipro-city of service. Linked to their curriculum it opens higher edu-cation to experience based work and social learning.

Second, this Outline aims at expanded service opportunities for young Americans to work and learn abroad as part of their global education. Their service should be integrated with a Dome stic

Pinkau, Irene:"Service for Development", Vols. I-III, distri-buted by Society for International Development, 1346 Connecti-cut Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C., 20036, 1978.

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-Development Service (DDS) of a developing country and allow mutuality of learning and helping with national volunteers. It demonstrates two-way volunteer service from the South to the North and vice versa, it maintains partnership conditions and avoids the dominance of Foreign Volunteer Services in a host country. It also opens higher education to a learning process in developing societies.

Third, this Outline aims at taking advantage of the presence of the foreign student-volunteer and his/her American counterpart to initiate a development education proce ss in local communities. Fourth, this Outline aims at the participation of foreign study scholarship programs to open their curriculum to work-service-learning and to development education in communities of other countries. The linkage between foreign study and volunteer ser-vice is an unexplored area of existing r e sources which have not yet been mobilized to the advantage of students, communities and

the society at large. Two Models are outlined:

MODEL A: Joint volunteer service betwe en foreign stude nts and Americans in the United States, working in local communities as part of their academic cur-riculum (reciprocity of service opportunity). MODEL B: Joint volunteer service betwee n US students and

national volunteers in developing countries, working in local community d e velopment projects

for credit to their education program.

Both Models adhere to equal service c o nditions f or p a rtici-pating volunteers and staff and are c a rried out withi n existing volunteer services.

rn-0112 3 -REASONS

1. Global interdepence has changed relationships and dependencies between peoples and nations. Yet, we live and educate as if nothing has changed.

While, in the past, it was a privilege of the rich to cooperate internationally, it is now a national interest of the rich

a n d the poor nations to learn to cope with each other. To exist in peace in an interdependent world requires the forming of new consensus and value preferences among ordinary citizens and nations. Peace relations are established and maintained

when equal term conditions in the relationships between partners prevail. To develop this consensus and new values and strengthen peace requires the inter-action between culturally different people in work assignments under equal conditions. Joint service between volunteers from industrialized and developing countries would provide such inter-action.

2. Higher education is largely isolated from community needs - the dimension of social and experiential learning is often non-ex-istent. Yet, todays students are tomorrows policy makers and managers in a world where the life in local communities is largely determined by decisions beyond national control.

Higher education is a privilege for a few which places a special obligation on those who can take advantage of it toward those who cannot. Today, higher education reflects neither this

privi-leg~ nor tl)e obliga.tion • . Students are sel?ol!l challt;mg~d. in their

soc~al att~tudes by cornrnun~ty needs and c~t~zen pr~or~t~es. They

have few chances, by way of experience, to sort out their pre-ferences of study and career choices.

3. Foreigners, studying in the US, experience the same shortcomings as US students.. They have the addi tiona! problem to obey and perform in a different culture and educational environment. They leave for horne with two essential dimensions absent from their study abroad:

• a practical encounter with ordinarv citizen and communi-ties, their social and economic problems, which are typical of an industrialized society, and

a participation in voluntary action in a community -a key experience to underst-and Americ-an society -and democracy.

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-OBJECTIVES

1. To develop Volunteer Service Partnership pilot projects for foreign and US student-volunteers for full-time work-service-learning in local communities as part of their curriculum. 2. To conduct such pilot projects in cooperation between

volun-teer services and universities/colleges and assign students for volunteer work under the leadership of local community organizations.

3. To demonstrate to other services, educational institutions and the public at large the possibilities for reciprocity of volunteer service between industrialized and developing count-ries, for work-service-learning in the US and abroad, and for development education in local communities, and

to evaluate the experience. PILOT PROJECT COMPONENTS

For both Models, volunteers from all fields of study should par-ticipate in service to local community organizations. The job need not to be related to the study area, but must carry a heavy work load and sufficient responsibility. "Make-do" assignments should be avoided and only real needs of local people should be served.

Volunteers should work in small multi-cultural teams, be treated equally in assignments and pay, and receive a small allowance to cover their living expenses.

Among others, these are important components:

1. Student-volunteers should be recruited by participating uni-versities/colleges and pass through the selection process of cooperating volunteer servcices. Foreign students should corn-mit themselves to volunteer service· as part of their foreign studies program while still at home during the process of admission to scholarships. This procedure has two aims:

• to locate the voluntary commitment for service to the poor at home - even though executed abroad - and involve a home country's university service in this process, and • to open the academic curriculum of foreign study

scholar-ships to volunteer service.

Both would represent a change in current social conditions which, in the past, have isolated higher education from the community.

m-0112 5

-2. The pre-service ~reparation of student-volunteers should

in-volve them in arief survey of their future project communi-ty and to identify and negotiate their future work assignment with community organizations. Assessment of the survey and

job assignment, including necessary skill training, should com-plete to pre-service preparation.

In-service training should be offered to obtain necessary skills as the need arises on the job.

3. A "client training" should be provided to those in the local

community who will supervise the volunteers on the job.

4.

and training part of the service, but especially in work assign-ments. This can be arranged under various schedules and condi-tions to accommodate other commitments.

5. Work assignments for student-volunteers can include: Education Law Community/ Social Service Health Housing/ Architecture Economic/ Business/ Agriculture Environment

teacher, tutor, teacher's aid, special education for handicapped, adult edu-cation, senior programs;

legal services to minorities and poor, consumer affairs, welfare, legal defense probation aid, prison projects, work re-lease programs, prisoner representation;

community orga~ng of self-help, social

workers, caseworkers for welfare programs, aid to handicapped, consumer affairs,

community surveys;

health education in schools, health servi-ces to Kindergardens, schools, hospital and nursing home volunteer service, special therapy assistance (blind, speech, hearing); low cost housing, community center design, post-disaster housing, urban spaces for people designs;

assistance to small business , appropriate and low capital technology application, planning, accounting, managers or admini-strative assistants, agricultural extension service;

work with national park service, forrest ser-vice, pollution control, environmental groups.

6. Schedule: Service is best integrated into academic

learn-1ng when it is interwoven with the curriculum after the student had some classroom experience. The service should be full-time,

with short seminars scheduled at intervals to discuss and

ex-tend experience, resolve work problems and support the cross-cultural coping process.

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-7. Credit for work-service should be developed not only for the "academic part" of the service, i.e. training, corrununity sur-veys, work reports, but also for the actual performance on the job. This implies that the academic learning conce pt will be under review to include dimensions of practical skill em-ployment and corrununity satisfaction.

8. The inter-action between foreign and US volunteers with their

serv~ce commun~ties should be observed in both Models to learn

more about value differences and how the forming of consensus can be supported.

9. In order to bring the global learning process to the community foreign and US volunteers should participate in local develop-ment education programs which involves students, parents, the busines community and local officials.

10. The university/college should be encouraged to oeen its

faci-lities to the community when they are not otherw~se in use.

Classrooms, instruction materials, computer time are examples of facilities which can be placed at community use.

ANTICIPATED RESULTS

Volunteer Service Partnerships should be recorded, reported and evaluated with respect to:

1. effectiveness of mutuality of service to enhance participants and project communities and to alter higher education;

2. criteria which enhance global learning, forming of consensus and new value preferences through volunteer service;

3. development of an academic learning concept which includes work and service components;

4. refrences which improve problem solving skills in volunteers and lead to satisfactory employment and careers;

5. determination whether brain-drain of foreign students is re-duced and career choices in areas of social needs are en-couraged.

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-ORGANIZATION

Volunteer Service Partnership projects involving both foreign and US students are suggested to volunteer services, universities and colleges, foreign study scholarship programs, governmental agen-cies and foundations.

Universities/colleges should set up a service unit to ensure integration of work-service-learning into higher education. Volunteer services, such as ACTION, should provide the service opportunities for student-volunteers through their programs such as VISTA, University Year for ACTION (UYA) and Peace Corps.

Community orfhnizations should direct the volunteer work

assign-ments under

eir

The participating institutions should form a Project Council which would guide and supervise pilot projects.