Twenty-nine Peace Corps Volunteers were sworn in by Ambassador Peter W. Bodde and Peace Corps/Nepal Country Director Nelson Chase to begin their two-year service in Nepal.

According to Public Affairs Section Embassy of The United States, the new Volunteers join the ranks of more than 4,200 Volunteers who have served in Nepal since 1961, and the more than 6,800 other Peace Corps Volunteers now serving in 64 other countries.  Nepal’s latest group of Volunteers is the fourth to arrive in the country since the Peace Corps program re-opened in 2012.

The twenty-nine Peace Corps Volunteers arrived in March 2015 for intensive language and technical training in both Kavre District and Kathmandu to prepare for their service.

The Volunteers were in Kathmandu on April 25, the day of the Gorkha Earthquake.  For over a week they lived and worked at the U.S. Embassy until the Peace Corps sent them to their homes in the United States for a short time. 

Once their housing in Nepal was assessed for earthquake safety, the Volunteers returned on June 19, demonstrating their commitment to help their communities and the country to rebuild. The Volunteers have been assigned to districts in the Western and Mid-Western regions to work on food security, sanitation, and health projects.