In the special 60th anniversary edition of WorldView, Shaylyn Romney Garrett, co-author with Robert Putnam of The Upswing: How American Came together a Century Ago and How We can Do It Again, posits a policy prescription for the administration “that would help us move to an ‘upswing’ (a return to the ‘we’ of service to others, vs. the ‘I’ of self-service that has prevailed since the 1960s). National Service is my absolute go-to answer.” As a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer and Rotarian for 27 years, I can attest that we already have vibrant national and international service organizations.

There have been many calls for a national service; AmeriCorps, the domestic equivalent of the Peace Corps, has been a partial answer. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a former commander of international forces in Afghanistan and head of the “Serve America. Together.” campaign, called on the president to invest in universal national service for 1 million young Americans annually as “the most important strategy we can implement to ensure the strength and security of our nation.” But the foremost national and international service organization is Rotary International, dedicated to the motto “Service Above Self.”

As of 2006, Rotary had more than 1.4 million members in over 36,000 clubs among 200 countries and geographical areas. I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Turkey and have been able to continue my community development work as a Rotarian; I have been involved in countless local community projects and international projects, such as in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo assisting in its recovery from the various civil wars it suffered. More important, I am a founding board member of Partnering For Peace, an NPCA affiliate that has joined with the Peace Corps to support Peace Corps projects worldwide. That is a natural partnership of like minds and hearts, committed to both national and international service. It is time to acknowledge Rotary International’s role in both foreign and domestic public service for its growth and vitality. It is a testament to how well Rotarians and the Peace Corps Community are already working together. I already see this “upswing” happening for millions worldwide, as well as in the U.S.

Harlan Green
Turkey 1964–66