Leadership Perspective a Reflectin by Peace Corps Directors of 30 Years of Vo~Nteer Service Wormw2e Preparingpeacecorps for 1990Sand Beyond Paul D
Leadership Perspective A reflectin by Peace Corps directors of 30 years of vo~nteer service worMw2e PreparingPeaceCorps for 1990sand beyond Paul D. Coverdell 1989-Present 11is difficult w mptum in a relatively shon apace what it has kn fike to duect the Peace Corps of the United States dting the revolution~ y- of 1989-1991. Events of this period have ~n au exnodlnmy that the moat appropriate descrip tion cornea not fmm hiscorims, but fmm singer/compuaer Paul Simon in lyrics proclaiming these “days of mimcle md wonder.” Even h stodgy newspapem, the hsadines have&n b~tbting: “me Wdl Tumbles” ... ‘Zenin~d to Again Bwome St. Petcmbwg” “Waleaa Eluted ~,1.~~~~~~,&~~’.l ~esident,,..~Alba.ia-AWso"Nation@"siNGatm"...4`ANewnagMws ::., :...,. Pmudly in Namitia” So mpidly md dwidedly has the world changd, however, tit thimost sting words fail to captwe the dmrrra which hs engulfed nations and their peoples. ,, So w have thew kn yms of dm- matic change for Peace Corps. Just thmc yw ago, no onecmdd have imag ined inching a~- menta with nations, such as Namibia, which were w new that the documents we signed had 10bc written on phin pa- psr &use no Offi- Peace COWSDirector Pauf CoverdeUtith President Bush. cial letterhead ex- isti. Nor could we have envisioned sending volun~m to nations, such aa Hungmy, wheffi change came w rapidly that government officials hurn~y acmrched through pti of tbek nation’s old mme, “the P~ple’s Repubhc,” on stationery left over from the previous regime. As the winds of change have blown across the enrim face of the world, Peace Cops has mspundedentiusiaatimUy to quests foraasisunw.
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