The Peace Corps is an independent United States federal agency, established in 1961 (More history can be found here). The mission of the Peace Corps is:

“to promote world peace and friendship through a Peace Corps, which shall make available to interested countries and areas men and women of the United States qualified for service abroad and willing to serve, under conditions of hardship if necessary, to help the peoples of such countries and areas in meeting their needs for trained manpower.”

Since 1960, more than 190,000 people have served as Peace Corps volunteers in 139 countries.

The Peace Corps currently serves in 70 countries, and the volunteers work with governments, schools, non-profit organizations, non-government organizations, and entrepreneurs in the areas of education, health, business, information technology, agriculture, and the environment.

The Peace Corps oficially has three goals:

• To help the people of interested countries and areas in meeting their needs for trained workers
• To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served
• To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans