The new cohort will serve as Literacy Resource Volunteers in primary schools across Saint Lucia, Dominica, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, supporting education and boosting literacy over the next two years.

According to Angelique Codd, Deputy Director of the Peace Corps Eastern Caribbean, the event was part of a coordinated effort across the region.

“Today was a simultaneous swearing-in ceremony across the three islands, St. Vincent, Dominica, and St. Lucia. So we have three volunteers that were sworn in in both Dominica and in St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” she explained.

Four of the volunteers will be based in Saint Lucia, while three each will serve in Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Their work will focus primarily on strengthening literacy skills among children at the primary level, but some volunteers also hope to contribute in other areas of national development.

Cheryl Joyner, one of the incoming volunteers, shared her eagerness to bring her professional background to the role.

“I think in addition to having a passion about reading literacy, because I have that banking background, I have a passion about financial literacy as well,” Joyner said. “When we were meeting with the ministry, I asked if that was a need in the country, and they said it was something that had been identified. So I’m hoping that maybe in addition to our primary focus, which is literacy, I’ll have an opportunity to contribute in that area as well, to help think through what a curriculum might look like at the different grade levels.”

The Peace Corps, which has a long history in the Eastern Caribbean, continues to partner with local ministries of education to support classroom learning and enhance community development.