U.S. Ambassador Scot Marciel congratulated 45 new Peace Corps volunteers

U.S. Ambassador Scot Marciel congratulated 45 new Peace Corps volunteers

U.S. Ambassador Scot Marciel congratulated 45 new Peace Corps volunteers at their swearing-in ceremony in Surabaya. The new volunteers have successfully completed an intensive ten-week training program. During their training, volunteers focused on learning Bahasa Indonesian and experiencing Indonesian culture through home stays with families in villages around Malang and Batu. Peace Corps partnered with the University of Muhammadiyah Malang and Wisma Bahasa, a language institute based in Yogyakarta, in order to draw upon local training resources and expertise.
The volunteers will begin two year English training assignments at schools and madrasahs throughout East Java. Their entry increases the number of Peace Crop volunteers from 18 when the program re-opened in 2010 to the program’s current number of 68.
Ambassador Marciel noted that “We are confident that the more Americans and Indonesians get to know and understand each other, the better our relationship as nations will be.  The bonds that Peace Corps Volunteers develop within their Indonesian communities and take with them back home at the end of the two years are an important element of the mutual understanding we seek to build.”