Mollie Foladare, a Warrington resident, is among the first Peace Corps volunteers to head overseas since the agency’s global evacuation in response to the pandemic. In March 2020, The Peace Corps suspended global operations and evacuated nearly 7,000 volunteers from more than 60 countries as a result of COVID-19.
The Peace Corps is an international service network of volunteers, community members, host country partners, and staff who are driven by the agency’s mission of world peace and friendship. Since President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps in 1961, more than 240,000 Americans have served in 143 countries worldwide.
Foladare is a graduate of Central Bucks South and the University of Pittsburgh, with a bachelor’s in psychology. She will be serving as a youth-in-development volunteer in Ecuador. She shared that she was inspired to join the Peace Corps because her dad was a volunteer from 1989 to 1991 in Paraguay.
She added, “My childhood was filled with stories and pictures about his service and how it was the best experience of his life. I am most looking forward to learning about and immersing myself in a new culture. I cannot wait to meet so many new and amazing people and become part of a new community.”
Peace Corps CEO Carol Spahn stated, “Peace Corps Response volunteers returning to Ecuador will work alongside community members to support urgent development efforts and build critical connections.”
Peace Corps Response sends experienced professionals to undertake short-term, high-impact service assignments in communities around the world. Volunteers are expected to possess the technical skills needed to fulfill their assigned role with minimal training, and the average position duration is 10 months.
Foladare leaves for Ecuador on May 14 and is currently preparing for her departure. She explained, “I had to complete a lot of medical and legal clearances and now I’m working on some pre-departure training modules. I had a Zoom meeting with the Ecuador staff, where we got to meet them and ask questions and learn more about our pre-service training. Pre-service training is 10 weeks of training when we first get there before we get assigned to a site somewhere else.”
Currently, The Peace Corps is recruiting volunteers to serve in 56 countries around the world at the request of host country governments, and volunteers have already returned to a total of 45 countries around the world. The Peace Corps continues to monitor COVID-19 trends in all of its host countries and will send volunteers to serve as conditions permit.
Americans interested in transformative service and lifelong connections should apply to Peace Corps Response at https://www.peacecorps.gov/volunteer/peace-corps-response/.
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