Peace Corps Plans Return to St. Kitts

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (AP) - The U.S. Peace Corps is resuming service in St. Kitts before the end of the year following a five-year interruption, officials said Thursday.

Three Peace Corps officials traveled to the twin-island Caribbean federation to discuss new education, health, computer and business development projects.

On Wednesday, discussion with government officials focused on where volunteers could be placed to help St. Kitts and Nevis the most, said Peace Corps official Andrew Tonks.

Peace Corps volunteers had served in the country from 1964 until 1998, when the agency left because an arts education program had ended there.

More than 70 volunteers are currently serving in the eastern Caribbean countries of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Carriacou, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, according to the agency's Web site.

Since 1961, more than 170,000 volunteers have served in the Washington, D.C.-based Peace Corps, working in fields including education, health, the environment and agriculture.

St. Kitts is a former British colony with 38,000 residents, which has overcome five hurricanes in six years, a major flood, and low world prices for its banana crop.