Glendale resident Adam Cashman is among the first Peace Corps volunteers to return to overseas service since the agency’s unprecedented global evacuation in March 2020.
The Peace Corps suspended global operations and evacuated nearly 7,000 volunteers from more than 60 countries at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I wanted to travel to a different country and work in a different ecosystem,” Cashman said. “I hope to learn more about agriculture, restoration in subtropical ecosystems, and African culture. I’m looking forward to making friends along the way.”
Cashman is a 2020 graduate of Cal Poly Humboldt with a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and management. He will serve as a volunteer in Zambia in the environment sector.
The volunteer cohorts are made up of both first-time volunteers and volunteers who were evacuated in early 2020. Upon finishing a three-month training, volunteers will collaborate with their host communities on locally prioritized projects in one of Peace Corps’ six sectors — agriculture, community economic development, education, environment, health or youth in development — and all will engage in COVID-19 response and recovery work.
Currently, the agency is recruiting volunteers to serve in 57 countries around the world at the request of host country governments, to connect through the Peace Corps’ grassroots approach across communities and cultures. Volunteers have already returned to a total of 51 countries around the world.
The Peace Corps continues to monitor COVID-19 trends in all of its host countries and will send volunteers to serve as conditions permit.
Americans interested in transformative service and lifelong connections are encouraged to apply to Peace Corps service at peacecorps.gov/apply before April 1 to make a global connection by fall 2023.
