PEACE CORPS: 50TH ANNIVERSARY

The Peace Corps will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2011. To record personal stories from former Peace Corps Volunteers, camp construction workers and camp workers, a group of four representatives of the Peace Corps offices in Washington, DC and Atlanta came to the former training camp in Utuado, Puerto Rico on Saturday, September 19, 2009. Their first task was to walk around the facilities to have a first hand experience of what was this camp back in the 1960 decade. Probably this area will be considered to be part of this coming celebration. Afterward there was a meeting a nearby Community Center. In attendance were RPCVs from many projects and countries of service, former construction and camp workers, the Mayor of the city of Utuado, the Chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico Campus of Utuado. After more than fifteen year of abandonment, this camp will be transformed by a Community Cooperative into an ecological friendly lodge and recreational facility. Depending on the financing of the project they will reconstruct the original wood buildings or build a new ones. ================== The Atlanta Office of the Peace Corps is planning to a 50th anniversary celebration at this site on June 4, 2011 to commemorate its 50th anniversary. All former Peace Corps Volunteer are invited to attend. No other information for this activity is currently available as April 11, 2011.