The second lot of United States Peace Corps volunteers were welcomed by the Ministry of Education Sports and Culture (M.E.S.C.) on Tuesday with the hopes that they would help improve Samoa's literacy.

The U.S. Peace Corps Country Director, Gini Wilderson and the 11 new volunteers were accorded a traditional ava ceremony. Ms. Wilderson said they were here to serve together with the teachers and assist in building English capacity both speaking and writing, of the primary school students.

The first lot arrived into the country in February, marking the return of the volunteers who had halted their program as a result of the pandemic.

Of the 11 volunteers from across the United States of America, three of them have Samoan ancestral links and they are not only in Samoa to teach English but also to connect more with their culture.

One of them is Leilua from Alaska who has already learnt to speak Samoan fluently and believes her time in Samoa will not be difficult with her special connection with Samoa.

"I was here about six years ago and coming back feels absolutely amazing and I'm so glad that the pandemic is over and things will be more stable and we're able to return safely," she told this newspaper in an interview.

"I absolutely love it. My mother is from Tutuila. I will help with anything that they need. Promoting English, literacy, bilingualism, helping youth get to a place where they can feel confident continuing the educational tracks."

This is Leilua's second time in Samoa and together with her 10 other colleagues, they will be teaching English in primary schools after two months of training. They'll be living with families during their work.

Ms. Wilderson expressed great excitement to see their promises put into action after the pandemic.

"We're very excited to welcome these 11 new trainees, they come from all parts of the U.S, we have three other of these new volunteers who are of Samoan descent which is wonderful and very exciting," she told Samoa Observer.

"They'll be working in primary schools teaching in years 3,4 and 5 and it's an opportunity for those students to learn from native English speakers which will open doors for them in their careers going forward, building the future of leaders here in Samoa, so we're really excited that they're here.

"Since the pandemic, we had a group that arrived on February 7th and now with these new 11, we'll have 18 spread across 18 schools in Samoa both in Upolu and Savaii.

"They got here yesterday for 2 years and the other group that arrived in February, they've been at their assignments since the end of April they've been in the schools teaching since April."

According to the Director, more volunteers will be coming as a result of the international borders' reopening.

Minister of Education, Seuula Ioane Tuuau during the ava ceremony thanked the Peace Corps volunteers and the U.S. representatives as well as the U.S. Charge d'Affaires, Noriko Horiuchi for the continuation of the program.

"Thank you to those who sacrificed their lives individually leaving your comfort zones, you parents, your families and you chose Samoa to come to serve," he said.

"The ava ceremony is a traditional Samoa way of welcoming guests not only to share our beliefs, customs and culture, and share whatever we have so as the Minister of Education, I want to say welcome to the Ministry."