Forty TEFL American Peace Corps Volunteers Complete their Training

PRESS RELEASE
June 27, 2007

Forty Americans will be honored on June 29th, 2007, by U.S. Ambassador John Beyrle and representatives of Ministry of Education and Science in Bulgaria as the twenty-first group of Peace Corps Volunteers to serve the Republic of Bulgaria. This will take place at Sofia Peace Corps Office at 11:00AM.

Peace Corps Volunteers in the TEFL Primary and Secondary Programs serve as teachers of English at Bulgarian schools. They partner with their school colleagues and community members to improve educational opportunities, create and enhance resource centers, encourage collaborative teacher–to teacher exchange and skills transfer and to develop sustainable community outreach projects. Nineteen of these Volunteers will be placed at primary schools while the other twenty one will work with secondary schools.

Prior to swearing in, these Volunteers have received eleven weeks of intensive training in training sites surrounding the city of Dupnitsa. They have been trained in Bulgarian language and culture, lived with Bulgarian families during the training period, and worked on small-scale community projects.  

As of June 29th, when these forty new Volunteers are sworn in, over 170 American Peace Corps Volunteers will be working in Bulgaria.  Since 1991, more then 800 Peace Corps Volunteers have completed their service here and returned to the United States.  Peace Corps Volunteers work for Bulgarian sponsoring organizations and institutions and are supervised by Bulgarians.  They are not paid a salary but they receive allowances, medical care and other support from the Peace Corps.

The Peace Corps began its work in Bulgaria in 1991 through an agreement between the Republic of Bulgaria and the government of the United States.  The Peace Corps was established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy to provide technical assistance to other countries. Its other goals are to acquaint other peoples with Americans and their culture, and to give Americans the opportunity to learn about other countries and cultures.

For more information about the United States Peace Corps and its Programs in Bulgaria, please contact the Peace Corps office in Sofia (8182 100).