After months of preparation, with dozens of people from around the world reviewing and adding to the project, we finally launched PeaceCorpsMeritBadges.com today as a public service project which combines the famous idea of merit badges with the very unique experiences of Peace Corps Volunteers.
The idea of Peace Corps Merit Badges has been tossed around by people for a long time, but Ridge and I decided to take it a step further and really try to make it happen. We knew that there were talented people in Mongolia who could embroider badges for us, so it came down to us doing all the other work to make it happen (design, communication, leadership, promotion, payment, shipment and so on). It was harder than it looked at first, but we are pretty excited with where we are right now. Our first batch of badges is being made and we hope to unveil them around Thanksgiving here in the capital, right before our newest Volunteers have their IST conference.
Our project's commitments will always be the improvement of our host country, volunteer happiness and sharing experiences. We believe this project can do a lot of good for a lot of people and we are excited to share it with all of our current and past Peace Corps Volunteers here in Mongolia, not to mention those who will be here this summer before we know it! Also as a nifty little bonus, we made a Facebook application to share the badges online before you order them in person. Cool huh?!
