AARON WILLIAMS: "Everywhere I go, I find the leadership met a Peace Corps volunteer many, many years ago and that had a really positive impact, a transformative experience in their lives -- prime ministers, presidents, cabinet officials, leaders of large companies in the countries where we serve.”

Volunteers in one of the newest programs live and work in rural communities in Indonesia. One of the volunteers, Nisha Skariah, recently completed college. Like other volunteers, she says she wants to contribute to a better world.

Nisha Skariah, a recent college graduate from Texas, has come to Indonesia both to teach and to learn

NISHA SKARIAH: "I mean I am still really young and still trying to make my way in the world and trying to figure out exactly what I want to do, and this gives me a little opportunity to focus what I know and what I have done in my life, even with my little experience, and make a big change out of that."

What separates the Peace Corps from other American assistance programs is that the volunteers become part of the community where they work. Teachers like Nisha Skariah live with local families and make the same wages as other teachers.

Volunteers say they gain at least as much from their experience as they give. Ms. Skariah is teaching Indonesians but also learning about the culture of a country with the world's largest Muslim population.

NISHA SKARIAH: "I expected a lot more conservative, maybe a little more, the people and the culture to be a little more restrictive but everyone has been so open and so welcoming and they really embraced me as one of their own. And I am really grateful for that because it makes me feel like I am at home."