Marketplace

Peace Corps volunteers return home to a dismal job market and a future in limbo Among the millions of Americans whose lives have been upended by COVID-19 are the 7,000 who volunteer abroad through the Peace Corps. A couple of months ago, 34-year-old Adam Greenberg and his partner were developing sustainable fish farms in central Africa. Then, on March 16, they got an email from the Peace Corps telling them to come home. “Quite frankly, after learning about the chaos of airports and how it was accelerating in the United States, and the general unpreparedness that it looks like the United States was facing, we kind of thought we might actually be safer here in this rural village,” Greenberg said. They considered staying in Zambia, which would have meant that they’d be completely on their own — no more per diem pay, no health care, nothing. But that wasn’t the deciding factor for Greenberg to come back to San Diego. “After a very lengthy discussion all day about this, we decided, you know, we wouldn’t want to become a burden on Zambia’s infrastructure,” he said. “So we figured it would be the most responsible thing to return.” Greenberg and his partner can’t wait to get back to Zambia, but the official word from the Peace Corps is it’ll be at least October before anyone can return to their service countries… More from this article including photos at: https://www.marketplace.org/story/2020/04/27/peace-corps-volunteers-return-home-recession-covid19 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit adamgreenberg.substack.com