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Giving peace a chance

By Emery Cowan

On Oct.14, 1960, on the steps of the University of Michigan student union, a young senator named John F. Kennedy made history when he challenged students to spend two years of their lives working for peace in developing countries. In the 50 years since Kennedy’s speech, the Peace Corps has sent hundreds of thousands of volunteers across the globe in its mission to fulfill his grassroots quest for world peace. Serving for two-year stints, volunteers work on everything from AIDS education to information technology and environmental preservation. In the process, they gain the intangible yet invaluable life experience and cultural understanding that come with living and learning from people different from themselves.

John Roberts

By Marty Coffin Evans

John E. Roberts (IntlAf’64) has visited 183 countries and aims to travel to the 23 remaining. While his trips were initially paid for through the Peace Corps and the U.S. State Department, these days they’re on his own dime.