Kevin Messner, a resident of Sun Lakes in Chandler, is among the first Peace Corps volunteers to return to overseas service since the agency’s unprecedented global evacuation in March 2020.

The Peace Corps suspended global operations and evacuated nearly 7,000 volunteers from more than 60 countries at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Messner is a 2022 graduate of Arizona State University with a bachelor’s degree in business management. He will serve as a volunteer in Colombia in the community economic development sector.

“I always had aspirations to work abroad and find meaningful work to carry out. The Peace Corps was the agency that could check off both boxes,” Messner said. “I don’t know yet exactly what I’ll be doing, and that’s what excites me.
“I’m interested in introducing an awareness program for amputee advocates if one does not already exist, or further develop it. I was born an amputee and my growth and development were heavily influenced by organizations and groups that supported people with physical disabilities. The help from those groups boosted my confidence and provided me with countless tools for my success and I hope to start something like that in my local community. The disability community is so often marginalized so I hope to spread awareness and shed light on it.”

The volunteer cohorts are made up of both first-time volunteers and volunteers who were evacuated in early 2020.

Upon finishing a three-month training, volunteers will collaborate with their host communities on locally prioritized projects in one of Peace Corps’ six sectors — agriculture, community economic development, education, environment, health and youth in development — and all will engage in COVID-19 response and recovery work.

The Peace Corps is recruiting volunteers to serve in 58 countries around the world at the request of host country governments, to connect through the Peace Corps’ grassroots approach across communities and cultures.
Volunteers have already returned to a total of 53 countries around the world.

The Peace Corps continues to monitor COVID-19 trends in all of its host countries and will send volunteers to serve as conditions permit.
Americans interested in transformative service and lifelong connections should apply to Peace Corps service at peacecorps.gov/apply

We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.