With all the challenging news lately there was good news! The RPCV Alliance for Ukraine celebrated the close of its Evacuation Mentorship Assistance Program on Saturday, August 22. We were thrilled to be joined by Dr. Jody Olsen, Director of the Peace Corps, Glenn Blumhorst, President of the National Peace Corps Association and Pilar Robelo, Director of Programming and Training for Peace Corps Ukraine.
Evacuation is not new to the Peace Corps Ukraine program. And not new to Alliance members as this would the second evacuation of the program. This did not go unnoticed during the celebration. Tears were shed at the memory.
158 program participants since March had dedicated their time and support to each other through the unexpected evacuation. The Alliance was able to serve our Volunteer community in Ukraine by meeting expressed needs of evacuees. 30% of our Volunteer Mentors were evacuees themselves! 100% of Mentees were matched with a Mentor.
We are excited to transition the Evacuation Mentorship Program to our Connections Program to meet the needs of all Ukraine Peace Corps Volunteers that want to join in a Mentee or Mentor role.