In 1994, the Peace Corps officially closed its office here in Rwanda. The horrors that followed kept the Peace Corps at a distance until last year when the office was reopened. That return is very welcome, and I'll explain why in a moment.
While the Peace Corps was out-of-sight in Rwanda, it was also scarcely in the spotlight in America over the past eight years. During that time, U.S. presence in the world was defined by two wars and often less-than-collaborative diplomatic relations with other nations. In the din caused by those wars, most of us Americans could be forgiven for having failed to notice that the Peace Corps has quietly continued to perform its important mission of promoting world peace and friendship across the globe. Now, at a time when we are trying to rebuild bridges and heal wounds, that mission couldn't be more important.
The result of stressing defense over true diplomacy or development has been a supreme failure in American prestige abroad. I've seen that clearly in the places I've visited and worked over the last several years and that's why it's heartening to have 35 fresh Peace Corps volunteers here in Rwanda at the commencement of President Obama's administration.
The Peace Corps was founded in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy to meet several goals. Foremost among these are imparting our expertise to people in other nations, working to understand their culture, and helping them to understand ours. These are simple, but revolutionary objectives, as they count knowledge and friendship as their currency. Much of the work my teams are doing here in Rwanda through the Access Project and Rwanda Community Works is in line with a Peace Corps-style approach. I'm very excited now because we have been informed that we will be receiving three Peace Corps volunteers in the next several weeks to work on one of our most ambitious projects: to improve health care management in six districts. We don't yet know who will be sent our way, but we know that their skill sets will compliment the important work we are undertaking to build prosperity and health care infrastructure.
Though the Peace Corps was founded nearly 50 years ago, the program is still extraordinarily vital, and the need for Peace Corps volunteers is greater today than ever before. In my work in Rwanda, my teams have collaborated with corporate fellows, government aid workers, and business partners to build capacity. Adding Peace Corps volunteers to the equation will build expertise among Rwandans and provide the lucky American volunteers with the chance to see why Rwanda is one of the most exciting countries in Africa today.
Not since the election of the Peace Corp's founder John F. Kennedy has the wider world reacted so positively to the election of an American president. President Obama has thus far brought a sense of mission to his presidency as well as an optimism that is reminiscent of Kennedy's. Coupled with the messages of Obama's presidency, I think that the presence of Rwanda's Peace Corps volunteers will go a long way towards reinforcing America's place in the world, person-to-person, one-to-one. I also anticipate that the Rwandan people will confirm for the new American contingent what I have already seen. They don't need America's charity or hand outs, but rather its perennial optimism, its ideas, its expertise, and its friendship.