This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps. 
本周是和平队成立50周年。

President John Kennedy began the program in 1961. 
约翰·肯尼迪总统于1961年创办和平队项目。

The Peace Corps sends American volunteers to provide technical assistance in education and other areas in developing countries.
该项目将美国志愿者派往发展中国家，为当地提供教育等领域的技术援助。

Amanda Pease is one of almost 40 volunteers serving in rural schools in Sierra Leone.
塞拉利昂的乡村学校有近40名和平队志愿者，阿曼达·皮斯就是其中之一。

Ms. Pease teaches science at Saint Joseph's, a high school in eastern Sierra Leone. 
皮斯在塞拉利昂东部的圣约瑟夫中学教自然科学。

She studied chemical engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles. 
她自己在加州大学洛杉矶分校学过化工。

She decided to serve for two years in the Peace Corps after she finished her degree.
拿到学位后她决定到和平队服务两年。

I was trying to decide between going the academic route and doing a postdoctoral degree and go into industry, and then I had been doing some volunteer work and the idea was kind of always of floating around.
我曾试着决定到底是走学术路线攻读博士后还是进入社会工作，然后我就一直做着志愿工作，因为这种想法总是在我的大脑里盘旋。

Peace Corps volunteers left Sierra Leone in 1994 because of civil war. 
1994年和平队志愿者因塞拉利昂爆发内战而离开，

But now they are back.
如今他们重新回到塞拉利昂。

Science teachers are in especially short supply. 
那里尤其缺少科学老师。

Efforts in Sierra Leone to get more children through primary school have led to crowded high schools.
塞拉利昂为使更多儿童小学毕业而做了许多努力，而中学就因此人满为患。

Amanda Pease is the only chemistry and physics teacher at her school. 
阿曼达·皮斯是这所学校唯一一个化学和物理老师。

She says she has to work hard to get students more interested in learning, as she thought they would be.
她表示她必须努力让学生们对学习更加感兴趣，她也认为他们会感兴趣的。

I kind of had sort of a romantic idea coming to a developing country where everyone is super motivated but just does not have opportunities, and that is not exactly how it is. 
来发展中国家时，我的想法稍微有那么点浪漫，觉得这里每个人都非常积极，他们只是缺少机会，但事实却并非如此。

Not that I am saying the opportunities are so great, because of course there [are] limited opportunities if you compare it to America, but I think one of the biggest things is literally just motivation.
我不是说这里机会很多，因为当然了跟美国相比这里的机会比较有限，但我实际上就是指积极性问题，这是最重要的问题之一。

What she loves best about her experience, she says, is the magical moment when students understand a chemical process or ask her for more exercises.
她最喜欢的经历是当学生们理解了一个化学过程或要求做更多的习题时，这些时刻特别美好神奇。

More than 8,000 Peace Corps volunteers are currently serving around the world. 
目前有超过8000名和平队志愿者在世界各地提供服务。

Volunteers become part of the community where they work and live. 
这些志愿者成为了他们工作生活的当地社区的一份子。

Travis Bluemling from Pennsylvania teaches English in a rural Indonesian community.
来自宾夕法尼亚州的特拉维斯·布鲁林在印尼的一个乡村社区教英语。

Even if some of these kids can't get to college, learning English and at least having some knowledge of the language can separate themselves from the people next to them when they are looking for a job or meeting people.
即便其中一些孩子进不了大学，学习英语、至少对英语有一些了解也会让他们在找工作或跟人会见时使他们跟旁人区分开来。

Mr. Bluemling's family expressed concern for his safety in a country where Islamic militants have sometimes attacked Westerners. 
布鲁林的家人对他的安全感到担忧，因为在印尼，曾有伊斯兰激进分子袭击西方人。

But what concerned him, he says, was the thought that leaders in his village might not welcome him.
但布鲁林称他担心的却是他觉得他所在村子的村领导恐怕不大欢迎他。

However, I could not have been more wrong. 
但我大错特错了。

They have allowed me to enter their house. 
他们允许我到他们家里去。

I joined them in their Muslim meetings. 
我参加过他们的穆斯林集会，

I joined them with fasting and I have even entered the mosque.
我跟他们一起斋戒，我还去过清真寺。

In addition to Indonesia, Peace Corps volunteers in East Asia serve in China, Thailand, Cambodia, Mongolia and the Philippines.
除了印尼，和平队志愿者还在东亚的中国、泰国、柬埔寨、蒙古和菲律宾提供志愿服务。