Stony Point Resident Begins Peace Corps Service in Liberia

Andrew Luisi, 22, of Stony Point, N.Y., has been accepted into the Peace Corps and departed for Liberia, Africa on June 4 to begin training as an education volunteer.

During the first three months of his service, Luisi will live with a host family in Liberia to become fully immersed in the country’s language and culture. After acquiring the language and cultural skills necessary to assist his community, Luisi will be sworn into service and be assigned to a community in Liberia, where he will live and work for two years with the local people.

Luisi is the son of Edward Luisi and Rita Cirruzzo and a graduate of Albertus Magnus High School in Bardonia, N.Y. He attended Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., where he earned a bachelor of arts in religion and minored in philosophy and Middle East and South Asia studies in 2013.

Luisi joins the 490 New York residents currently serving in the Peace Corps and more than 12,657 New York residents who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. Nearly 3,980 Peace Corps volunteers have served in Liberia since the program was established in 1962. Currently, 63 volunteers serve in Liberia. Volunteers work in the area of education. Volunteers are trained and work in the following languages: Liberian English, Kpelle, Mano/Gio, Gola, Via and Mano.

Liberia was founded by freed American slaves, first settled in 1817. Its capital is Monrovia, named for the United States president James Monroe who helped establish the first colony there.

Since President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps by executive order on March 1, 1961, more than 210,000 Americans have served in 139 host countries. Today, 8,073 volunteers are working with local communities in 76 host countries in agriculture, community economic development, education, environment, health and youth in development. Peace Corps volunteers must be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years of age. Peace Corps service is a 27-month commitment and the agency’s mission is to promote world peace and friendship and a better understanding between Americans and people of other countries.

Visit www.peacecorps.gov for more information.

  africa, Andrew Luisi, Liberia, Peace Corps Service, Stony Point