Ocean Beach resident Mary Ellen Seaver is part of the first group of Peace Corps volunteers to return to war-ravaged Liberia for the first time since fighting erupted nearly two decades ago. She and the Peace Corps are united in their goal to help rebuild the West African nation’s shattered education system. The return of the Peace Corps, which pulled out shortly after rebels invaded the country in late 1989, is a supposed sign of confidence in President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Harvard-educated economist and Africa’s first elected female head of state. A total of 12 Peace Corps volunteers were sworn in in Monrovia and will be working primarily on education projects in Liberia. The ceremony was held at the Liberian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was also attended by U.S. ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Peace Corps Liberia country director Lucianne Phillips, Liberian Education Minster Joseph Korto, Liberian Health Minister Walter Gweningale and World Food Program representative Louis Imbleau. After an absence of nearly two decades, experienced volunteers like Seaver, 54, will be serving in Liberia through a program called Peace Corps Response, a unique program that mobilizes returned Peace Corps volunteers for short-term humanitarian service assignments worldwide. The volunteers bring a variety of professional expertise and experience to their service. The 12 Peace Corps Response volunteers arrived in Liberia on Oct. 26. The volunteers, aged 24 to 68, will be assigned to rural teacher training institutes, where they will mentor administrators attempting to revitalize the country’s teacher training infrastructure. They will also work with local libraries, parent-teacher associations, local high schools and health training programs. The first group of volunteers will serve for eight months and will close out their service in June. By the end of 2009, 22 more volunteers are expected to join. The Peace Corps will follow the evolution of the program over the next few years to see if it can be transformed from a Peace Corps Response program into a regular two-year program. “Liberia has faced great challenges and shown the world its strong spirit,” said Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter. “I want to thank President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for welcoming the Peace Corps back to work with the Liberian people. We’re proud to continue the American legacy of providing education volunteers to Liberia and to be able to contribute to the country’s development efforts.” Previous to her visit to Liberia, Seaver spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cote d’Ivoire, West Africa, from 1976 to 1978. “My Peace Corps experience 30 years ago resonated deeply with me and I always planned to return to Africa,” said Seaver. “I always knew I would know when the time was right and now the time is right.” She will train elementary school teachers at Liberia’s Rural Teacher Training Institute and is a graduate of Emmanuel College in Boston, where she earned a degree in French. Immediately following completion of her first Peace Corps assignment, Seaver attended the University of Illinois at Urbana and received an M.A. in international education and a Ph.D. in educational policy studies. She has spent the majority of her career in education and has taken a leave of absence from her current role as a resource teacher at Hilltop Middle School in Chula Vista. Seaver joins 911 California residents currently serving in the Peace Corps. More than 26,000 California residents have served in the Peace Corps since 1961, the highest number from any state. President John F. Kennedy founded the Peace Corps in 1961, challenging college students to serve their country in the cause of peace. Since then, the Peace Corps has sent more than 190,000 volunteers to 139 countries around the world to help people in developing nations and to serve as goodwill ambassadors for America. Applications to serve in the Peace Corps have increased 16 percent this past year, the largest boost in the last five years. Peace Corps volunteers must be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years of age. Peace Corps service is a 27-month commitment. For more information, visit www.peacecorps.gov.