Peace Corps National Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet visited Dallas this week to promote the “Let Girls Learn” Initiative, a joint effort between the Peace Corps and the White House, at the two-day Global Women’s Initiative summit at the Bush Center.
“Let Girls Learn” aims to help educate the 62 million girls worldwide who are not currently in school to go to and stay in school. The initiative is part of the First Ladies Initiative, spearheaded by former First Lady Laura Bush and First Lady Michelle Obama.
Hessler-Radelet said the White House reached out to the Peace Corps to join the initiative. The Peace Corps gratefully accepted and began efforts with the program in 11 countries nationwide.
“The Peace Corps plays a unique role because volunteers are already deeply integrated into the community during their two years there and can be very influential in the community,” said Hessler-Radelet.
Hessler-Radelet said the initiative is important because studies prove that educated women are more likely to put money back into their family and benefit their community more than men would.
“It is a cost effective investment is to educate girls,” Hessler-Radelet said. “She will be healthier, her children will be healthier and she will give back to improve her community.”
The Let Girls Learn initiative aims to challenge local leaders and enact change through three pillars: empowering leaders, working hand in hand with communities and increasing the impact of Peace Corps volunteers.
Hessler-Radelet has seen the positive influence of girls’ education and Peace Corps work after her own volunteer experience teaching high school and living with a host family in Western Samos from 1981 to 1983.
Her host family’s father placed a high importance on his children’s education.
“He was progressive,” she said. “He believed they needed to be educated to have a better life. All nine children.”
When she returned to Samoa more than 30 years later, one of her host sisters was one of the top lawyers in the country.
Hessler-Radelet said that her volunteer work with the Peace Corps has had as much of an impact on her own life as those in the community she served.
“My whole life changed with my Peace Corps experience,” she said. “While I was a volunteer that I found my passion for women’s health.”
A field she has served in for the majority of her life.
Hessler-Radelet encourages others to join the Peace Corps efforts if they want to make a difference and participate in important work.
Over the years, 120 SMU alumni have served as Peace Corps volunteers, and there are currently five SMU alumni serving in countries around the world.
