Third Goal is Born
February 24th, 2005 by Jason Pearce.When President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps in 1961, he created three simple goals for the organization. The third goal was (and still is) to “Help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of all Americans.”
And so Third Goal was born.
Third Goal was created out of a desire to provide Peace Corps volunteers a free, easy, and independent way to share their stories with the rest of the world, not just Americans.
By offering a consolidated venue for all Peace Corps volunteers, the public receives a concentrated resource of first-person experiences from worlds very different than their own.
If you are a Peace Corps volunteer and would like to share your stories with others, you are invited to create an account. Third Goal will offer you a free place to log your experiences for others to read in real time. More so, your real-life stories will help shape Americans’ understanding of other peoples.
Your free blog awaits you. Register today to begin.
February 25th, 2005 at 1:16 pm
Great!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By the way, what’s the difference (advantage/disadvantage) of doing the same thing on/at a traditional Web page/Web site as opposed to these Web logs/blogging feature? Am I making sense/asking an intelligent question?
February 25th, 2005 at 4:19 pm
Clem, using Third Goal as your blog has many advantages and disadvantages. Since this is a new project that I have opened to the Peace Corps volunteer community, there are unknowns. But here is my two cents.
Advantages:
1. It is free (as in cost and in freedom)
2. You can remain anonymous (just a username and region of the world) or as transparent as you’d like
3. Your blog will is among friends; other Peace Corps volunteers who are sharing similar stories and challenges
4. Likewise, readers of your blog will likely read the stories of others in your area of the world, and vice versa. By aggreating several Peace Corps blogs to a single site, you’ll share your story with more people (e.g. the Peace Corps’ third goal).
Disadvantages:
1. It’s not your very own website, so you should abide by the rules of this site’s community of users
2. Because it not your website, you are also stuck with this site’s design
3. I’m a returned Peace Corps volunteer who has created Third Goal and pays for Third Goal out of the kindness of my heart. I’m not a big company with a big support department.
With that said, I wouldn’t have created Third Goal if I didn’t care about its sustainability. I created my blog as a volunteer back in 2002, and it still is one of the most visited sections of my personal website. So I hope you will use Third Goal to create your blog, and enjoy it for years to come.