On the rainy morning of March 1, 1961, then Sen. John F. Kennedy challenged students at the University of Michigan to serve their country by living and working abroad in developing countries. From that inspiration grew an agency of the federal government devoted to world peace and friendship. Forty-five years later, countless lives have been touched by tens of thousands volunteers who have answered Kennedy's call and served in the Peace Corps.

One Amador County woman is doing just that. Jessie Mabry is serving in Camroon in the Peace Corps Small Enterprise Development program.

Mabry, a 1996 graduate from Amador High School, left in June 2005 and is scheduled to return August 2007. After three and a half years in community college, Mabry transferred to Sarah Lawrence College, a small coeducational liberal arts school in Bronxville, N.Y., where she received her bachelor's degree. She then attended Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy in New York, N.Y., where she received her masters in urban planning and nonprofit management.

After that, Mabry applied for the Peace Corps. "It fit her inclination to do something in service," said her father, Dick Felberg.

Through the SED program, Mabry helps develop small businesses, such as small farmers to create business plans.

When she is done serving with the Peace Corps, Felberg said Mabry would probably find a job helping people in a decent size city, adding that she doesn't need a high paying job to be happy.

Throughout its history, the Peace Corps has accommodated and responded to issues of the times. In a world that is constantly changing, volunteers meet new challenges with innovation, creativity, determination and compassion. These qualities have allowed the Peace Corps to achieve its mission since 1961.

The Peace Corps mission has three simple goals including: Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their needs for trained men and women, helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served and helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of all Americans.

More than four decades later, the Peace Crops is still growing. Since the beginning, more than 182,000 Peace Corps volunteers have been invited by 138 host countries to work on issues ranging from AIDS education, information technology and environmental preservation.

Peace Corps volunteers work in a wide variety of areas, and no two days are ever the same. They are teachers and mentors to countless children. They have helped farmers grow crops, worked with small businesses to market products and shown women how to care for their babies. More recently, they have helped schools develop computer skills and educated entire communities about the threat of HIV/AIDS.

In celebration of the 45th anniversary of the founding of the Peace Corps, currently serving and former volunteers will share their overseas experiences, participating in commemorative events that begin during Peace Corps Week, Feb. 27 through March 5, and continue through the end of the year.

Peace Corps Week provides an ideal opportunity for past and present volunteers to share how they have helped their host countries.

Today the Peace Corps is more vital than ever, stepping into new countries, working in emerging and essential areas such as information technology and business development, and committing more than 1,000 new volunteers as a part of President George W. Bush's HIV/AIDS Act of 2003. Volunteers in the Peace Corps continue to help countless individuals who want to build a better life for themselves, their children and their communities.

For more information about Peace Corps, visit www.peacecorps.gov. To learn more about Mabry and her work in Cameroon, visit www.jessieincameroon.blogspot.com.