U.S. Volunteers to teach Moldovan children English

Thirty-five U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers will teach the Moldovan children English during two years and contribute to the promotion of educational culture in Moldova's schools, Info-Prim Neo reports. “This group of Volunteers will have to cross the bridge between the cultures of Moldova and the United States during two years. We hope that owing to them, the children in Moldova will better know English and, respectively, the U.S. culture,” said Margaret Molinari, Peace Corps Programing and Instruction Officer. On August 18, the 35 Volunteers were sworn in. They promised to promote peace and friendship around the world and contribute to establishing intercultural cooperation relations. U.S. Ambassador to Moldova Asif Chaudhry officiated at the swearing-in ceremony for the new Peace Corps Volunteers. He said that while working as teachers, the Volunteers will act as real ambassadors of the U.S. in Moldova as they made commitments that involve sacrifices. These 35 Volunteers arrived in Moldova on June 10 and recently completed a rigorous course of training to become English education and health education teachers throughout Moldova. Additionally, these new Volunteers have begun learning Romanian and Russian. Fifteen of the 35 volunteers will work as teachers of English and promote a healthy lifestyle at health centers in Moldova's districts. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Iurie Leanca said the Moldovan authorities highly appreciate the presence of volunteers in a period of crisis. With the addition of these 35 Volunteers, which is the 25th group of volunteers in Moldova since 1993, Peace Corps now has 119 Volunteers serving in Moldova, working in four projects: Agribusiness and Rural Business Development, Community and Organizational Development, English Education, and Health Education in Schools and Communities. In 2010, Peace Corps will train a total of 66 Volunteers for service in Moldova.