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Pandemic puts Peace Corps volunteers on pause

Associated Press

   DUMFRIES, VIRGINIA - After two weeks alone in a hotel room in the
   Virginia suburbs, 40 minutes outside Washington, D.C., Kelsea Mensh was
   ready to go home.

   A few weeks earlier, the 22-year-old U.S. Peace Corps volunteer had
   completed a year of service in the Dominican Republic. She loved being
   in her "pueblo" surrounded by families and lively children. She was
   working on a school improvement project and applying for funding to
   install hand-washing stations to help provide running water in her
   community. She was filled with purpose and excited to fulfill her two
   remaining years of service.

   Then an email came, followed by a phone call. The Peace Corps was
   pulling all its volunteers from projects around the world because of
   concerns about the coronavirus. There would be no hand-washing station.
   There would not even be time to say goodbye.

   In a message posted on the Peace Corps website last month, Director
   Jody Olsen said the decision to temporarily suspend operations was
   difficult. "Fortunately, we were able to safely evacuate each of our
   posts, avoiding a situation where volunteers would have been stranded
   overseas as borders and air space were shutting down to prevent the
   spread of COVID-19," she said.

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