The commemorative tree planting in Choiseul. (Photo credit: Courtesy US Embassy)
Did you know that Saint Lucia was one of the first three countries to receive Peace Corps Volunteers when the programme began in 1961? Since then, more than 4 372 volunteers have served across the Eastern Caribbean.
Today, the United States sponsors 44 Americans serving communities in Saint Lucia, Dominica, Grenada, and St Vincent and the Grenadines, where they are working in partnership with the Ministry of Education to advance English literacy at the primary level and cultural exchange.
Last week, the Peace Corps Eastern Caribbean celebrated its 65th anniversary in partnership with Saint Lucia, during a commemorative event at the Delcer Combined School in Choiseul.
Chargé d’Affaires Karin Sullivan helped launch the anniversary celebrations, honouring one of Saint Lucia’s first Peace Corps Volunteer projects in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture – the historic JFK Canal in the early 1960s – and its contribution to agricultural development in the southern region of the island.
(From Left) Peace Corps Country Director, Kimberly Will; Minister for Education, Youth Development, Sports, and Digital Transformation, Kenson Casimir; Peace Corps Chief of Staff, Richard Swarttz; Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy to Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean and the OECS, Karin Sullivan; and Acting Governor General, His Excellency Felix Finisterre. (Photo credit: Courtesy US Embassy)
Under the theme “Honouring the Past, Marching into the Future”, the celebration highlighted the JFK Canal’s importance to the Choiseul community.
As part of the commemoration, fruit trees were planted on the school grounds as living tributes to Peace Corps’ legacy.
A US Embassy statement said the trees, supported by the same watershed that once fed the JFK Canal, symbolised partnership, sustainability, and the long-lasting impact of Peace Corps’ collaboration with communities across the region.
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