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Novato residents Madeline and Clint Kellner are among approximately 230 individuals who participated in the Peace Corps’ Virtual Service Pilot (VSP). Launched in October 2020, VSP is a service opportunity where former Peace Corps volunteers donate their services through virtual engagements with community-based partners overseas.
The Kellners completed a six-month engagement from October 2020 to February 2021. The couple supported fundraising and marketing activities for the nonprofit Minga Peru, which has provided food, safety supplies and guidance to isolated communities of the Peruvian Amazon during the pandemic. Madeline also contributed to a leadership program for women health promoters in Peru.
“We enjoyed developing closer relationships with our Peru counterparts through our phone and Zoom video calls,” said the Kellners. “We also gained a valuable perspective on how COVID-19 affected Peru. When the vaccine first came into use, we were humbled by the extent of its availability in the U.S. and its absence in Peru, especially as our counterparts in Peru were losing family members to the disease.”
Returned volunteers from all decades since the ’60s, including those evacuated in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, may express their interest in donating their voluntary services to the Virtual Service Pilot. Participants are matched with host communities according to their skills and the needs of the community. Engaging host country counterparts and stakeholders on virtual platforms, participants have worked in the fields of education, health, financial literacy, agribusiness and environmental protection. In true Peace Corps spirit, Virtual Service Pilot participants demonstrated flexibility and creativity in connecting with their host country counterparts, navigating different time zones and diverse online platforms to complete their tasks. VSP participants donated five to 15 hours weekly to their host communities and collaborated on projects over a 12- to 24-week timeline.
Before participating in VSP, the Kellners served as Peace Corps Volunteers in the highlands of Guatemala from 2016 to 2018. They educated youth in life skills and supported school gardens, nutrition education, and entrepreneurship. In January 2020 the Kellners began serving as Peace Corps Response volunteers assisting the nonprofit Minga Peru. The couple was evacuated in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The dedication and commitment of the Minga Peru staff to the remote communities of the Amazon continues to inspire us to assist them,” said the Kellners. “We have been invited to return to Peru as Peace Corps volunteers in June 2022 in order to continue our work with the organization. We are currently going through the medical screening process and are hopeful that we will be able to go back.”
VSP offers a unique opportunity for returned Peace Corps volunteers to further the agency’s mission in a role distinct from the traditional on-the-ground volunteer experience. The pilot also offers those with family, work and school commitments the opportunity to serve a community abroad while remaining in the U.S. To learn more, visit the VSP webpage.
Madeline Kellner served as a Novato mayor and council member from 2007 to 2015.
The Peace Corps is an international service network of volunteers, community members, host country partners and staff who are driven by the agency’s mission of world peace and friendship.
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