that's something we saw firsthand while reporting on the peace corps' return to war-torn sierra leon. ♪ the lord, lord, lord is surely good to me ♪ >> reporter: a local man who remembered a peace corps teacher from 40 years ago. >> ms. watson. >> reporter: ms. watson? >> yes. i remember her. >> reporter: we had to pass that message along. ms. watson is marilyn scott, a retired social worker who still volunteers teaching english. >> isn't that nice? i got as much from them as they got from me. >> reporter: many from colombia one stayed with the peace corps, training new recruits. directing programs around the world. what do you guys share? >> it was an adventure that also maybe helped some other people and i was part of something bigger for my country. >> reporter: would you do it again? >> in a heart beat. well, if i were younger. >> reporter: a brotherhood then and now, that came together to try to lend a hand. ron allen, nbc news, new brunswick, new jersey. >> great story. that's our broadcast for this friday night and for this week. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian willi

peace corps volunteers in sierra leone. a desperately poor nation, devastated by civil war, that so dangerous even the peace corps pulled out. 15 years later, the first american trainees are back, learning a local language, preparing to be teachers in schools so ravaged students often do not even have books or pencils. scotts order was a firefighter in northern california. >> when things are hard, they are good, and that is what the peace corps is about. >> the most important step is learning to live like the people they are here to serve. >> i wanted to be in a situation where i could when my skills to people who need it. there is no better place than here. >> he has his positions in missing quote -- his possessions in a single room. no running water, just a few comforts of home. >> this is a basic. bare minimum. >> they first came together in washington this summer. mcchrystal a program as a civilian embassadors launched bike -- recruits to a program as civilian embassadors launched by president kennedy. leaders here hope

he has provided valuable guidance and support in sierra leone and other parts of africa.es that it is this serious sustained involvement of ordinary citizens that makes the difference between poverty and promise, between despair and democracy. and between hopelessness and hope. without the diague between the people of northern ireland and the u.k., an exercise in civic responsibility, peace would have remained only a dream. welcome, mr. blair. tonight, we honor you for summoning so many to the recall of civic engagement and securing and extending the blessings of liberty around the world. thank you. [applause] >> and these words from the good friday agreement. with the participants in the multi-party negotiations believes the agreement we have negotiated offers a historic opportunity for a new beginning. the tragedies of the past have left a deep and profound the regrettable legacy of suffering. we must never forget those who have died or have been injured and their families. we can best honor them three fresh start in which we dedicate ourselves to the achievement of rec

listening to a family from sierra leone, i can hear the voices of my grandparents in their story. i can hear the lessons we were taught and that we tried to pass on to the next generation. when we meet someone who is very new to this country and they are having trouble with the language, not counting things the way we might, what would you have us take into that encounter? >> well, i think one thing this respect. i have three muslim sisters in this book who wear a head scarf. i wanted to see what life was like for young muslim women in america that where the garment every day. the story that made me cringe was when people did not respect them as americans. they were americans. one woman told me the story of being in a store where she wanted to smell the aroma of some saffron that she was buying. somebody attacked her saying that -- we do not do that in this country. she started to cry, saying she was doing -- doing nothing wrong. we need to respect those differences. it is totally possible for people to be completely committed, loyal, patriotic americans, and still love for get wh

peace corps volunteers in sierra leone. a desperately poor nation, devastated by civil war, that so dangerous even the peace corps pulled out. 15 years later, the first american trainees are back, learning a local language, preparing to be teachers in schools so ravaged students often do not even have books or pencils. scotts order was a firefighter in northern california. >> when things are hard, they are good, and that is what the peace corps is about. >> the most important step arning to live like the people they are here to serve. >> i wanted to be in a situation where i could when my skills to people who need it. there is no better place than here. >> he has his positions in missing quote -- his possessions in a single room. no running water, just a few comforts of home. >> this is a basic. bare minimum. >> they first came together in washington this summer. mcchrystal a programs a civilian embassadors launched bike -- recruits to a program as civilian embassadors launched by president kennedy. leaders here hope the ar

peace corps volunteers in sierra leone. a desperately poor nation, devastated by civil war, that so dangerous even the peace corps pulled out. 15 years later, the first american trainees are back, learning a local language, preparing to be teachers in schools so ravaged students often do not even have books or pencils. scotts order was a firefighter in northern california. >> when things areard, they are good, and that is what the peace corps is about. >> the most important step is learning to live like the people they are here to serve. >> i wanted to be in a situation where i could when my skills to people who need it. there is no better place than here. >> he has his positions in missing quote -- his possessions in a single room. no running water, just a few comforts of home. >> this is a basic. bare minimum. >> they first came together in washington this summer. mcchrystal a program as a civilian embassadors launched bike -- recruits to a program as civilian embassadors launched by president kennedy. leaders here hope t

this year, we moved into indonesia, sierra leone, and columbia -- colombia, three countries that were part of the kennedy-shriver legacy. will continue to expand. the peace corps on the 50th anniversary gives us a tremendous mandate from the american people. i always told my staff and the people i talked to about the 50th anniversary. it is not so much an opportunity for us to pat ourselves on the back and say look how much we gave and how much we received. it is too late to let america celebrate the singular opportunity, this wonderful idea that president kennedy launched 50 years ago, october 15. look at what it has wrought. it is a truly major performance that has affected many. >> i want to ask a couple of questions about the effect of the peace corps, and then i want to pick up on mark's question about the future. let me ask you this question. many of you have spoken, as i did, about the effect of the peace corps on the peace corps volunteers, and on training a country -- trimming a cadre of people who make contributions in other ways. let me ask you to speak more specifically. i

he's accused of backing rbles in sierra leone. >> the smument in south korea has come to a close.sions have been high as the united states accused chien of keeping the curbcy low to make the exports cheap. they have new guidelines on gurncy -- currency and global trade. step stephanie understanders. >> not so long ago there would have been eight leaders in the photo, seven from north america or europe. the financial crisis changed all of that. just as it changed the global chi. one big change, america can't always get its way. >> president obama wants other countries especially china to play their part in more balanced global growth. by letting the currency strengthen against the dollar and buying more u.s. goods. the chinese move further in that direction at the meeting. they're doing it on their own terms. as david cameron emphasized, they're doing it at their own pace. >> slowly china is moving in a position of actually increasing domestic consumption and rebalancing the economy. the g-20 is a helpful markener that progress. i always said it wouldn't be heroic but it is good an

citizens americans also believe he had stoked violence in some war torn regions by selling weapons to sierra leone afghanistan sudan and so on if convicted he may face life in prison denies any wrongdoing he says he has only engaged in perfectly legal aircraft sales to boot was detained in thailand as a result of a sting operation carried out by american agents two years ago moscow believes the us managed to get good extradited by putting unprecedented political pressure on the government and judicial authorities of thailand. despite two rulings in thailand's criminal court saying victor boot guilt was not proven to be the government has still decided to hand him over to the us i consider this unprecedented political pressure on the legal process and on thailand's government this is an example of striking injustice we as a state will continue to give all necessary support to boot as a russian citizen while russian diplomats say they need an immediate access to victor boot they hope his rights will be honored here in the united states we have to keep in mind for two years far from the u.s. i've bee

stock violence by selling arms to war as a war regional war torn region regions like liberia's sierra leone afghanistan sudan and so on russia says because of a lot of accusations that the u.s. is hung up on victor bush there are doubts that he will have the chance to stand a fair trial in the united states russians also believe the u.s. managed to get boat extradited from thailand by putting unprecedented political pressure on the government and judicial authorities of the country and here is what foreign minister sergei lavrov had to say. despite two rulings in thailand's criminal court saying viktor boots guilt was not proven the thai government has still decided to hand him over to the us i consider this unprecedented political pressure on the legal process and on thailand's government this is an example of striking injustice we as a state will continue to give all necessary support to boot as a russian citizen. now you said guy i know that there has been an air of secrecy and urgency around victory it's a tradition tell us why is that. well worry as you know there has been an amazing h

citizens americans also believe he had stalked violence in some war torn region by selling weapons to sierra leone i have ghana's there is sudan and so on if convicted he may face life in prison any wrongdoing he says he has only engaged in perfectly legal aircraft sales but before he had arrived he arrived here in the united states went through a very contentious extradition put procedure in thailand his lawyers family members and the russian embassy in thailand said they were saved no proper notification whatsoever on this snap extradition play here is what the mr boots wife had to say yes it's hard for me to talk about but what happened was totally unexpected for both myself and victor's lawyer the thai cabinet held a closed meeting where a political decision was taken to extradite my husband to the us the extradition took place within four hours of the meeting against all the rights and laws of the country the only law that exists in thailand is u.s. influence i guess this decision was paid for. well let me remind you victor book was the tainting thailand two years ago as a result of a sting o

citizens americans also believe he had stoked violence in some war torn regions by selling weapons to sierra leone afghanistan sudan and so on if convicted he may face life in prison denies any wrongdoing he says he has only engaged in perfectly legal aircraft sales we contacted the f.b.i. for more comments on the upcoming trial here in the us they did not comment but tomorrow they are holding a news conference we'll have more information then let me remind you of it to boot was detained in thailand as a result of a sting operation carried out by american agents two years ago back in august when would target thai court decision on who to extradite him he said he would face the trial in the u.s. and when it. russia is highly critical of this decision by thailand what exactly did moscow have to say about this well the moscow police the u.s. managed to get good extradited by putting unprecedented political pressure on the government and judicial authorities of thailand here's what foreign minister sergei lavrov said. despite two rulings in thailand's criminal court saying viktor boots guilt was not p

peace corps volunteers in sierra leone. a desperately poor nation, devastated by civil war, that so dangerous even the peace corps pulled out. 15 years later, the first american trainees are back, learning a local language, preparing to be teachers in schools so ravaged students often do not even have books or pencils. scotts order was a firefighter in northern california. >> when things are hard, they are good, and that is what the peace corps is about. >> the most important step is learning to live like the people they are here to serve. >> i wanted to be in a situation where i could when my skills to people who need it. there is no better place than here. >> he has his positions in missing quote -- his possessions in a single room. no running water, just a few comforts of home. >> this is a basic. bare minimum. >> they first came together in washington this smer. mcchrystal a program as a civilian embassadors launched bike -- recruits to a program as civilian embassadors launched by president kennedy. leaders here hope t

peace corps volunteers in sierra leone.desperately poor nation, devastated by civil war, that so dangerous even the peace corps pulled out. 15 years later, the first american trainees are back, learning a local language, preparing to be teachers in schools so ravaged students often do not even have books or pencils. scotts order was a firefighter in northern california. >> when things are hard, they are good, and that is what the peace corps is about. >> the most important step is learning to live like the people they are here to serve. >> i wanted to be in a situation where i could when my skills to people who need it. there is no better place than here. >> he has his positions in missing quote -- his possessions in a single room. no running water, just a few comforts of home. >> this is a basic. bare minimum. >> they first came together in washington this summer. mcchrystal a program as a civilian embassadors launched bike -- recruits to a program as civilian embassadors launched by president kennedy. leaders here hope th

. >>> now for the pea corps work to war torn sierra leone. we talked to those who served in the corps as it celebrates a milestone. ron allen has more. >> reporter: they've come together to celebrate. back to rutgers university in new jersey where they trained for what was a new volunteer program almost 50 years ago. a group of 62 young men without a real good idea of what they were getting themselves into. >> it's decision time and you're invited to go to colombia. well, yeah, let's go! when's the plane leaving? >> reporter: they all say they signed up after hearing a young president's call to action. >> we'll send americans abroad who are qualified to do a job. >> reporter: what do you think those two years meant to your life? >> for me, there's no question. it was life changing. at 19, 20, 21, i had no direction. i didn't think about what i wanted to be when i grew up. >> i got to live in different places and meet different people. i loved every minute. >> reporter: they served in colombia, south america, where nbc news first met mike wils

. >> then 100 rich men and gave us $400,000 to build a maternity ward in sierra leone.actually took from it, too, is that how much you really are into yoga and look at the -- this is the -- the one, look at you standing on your head there. that's just you hanging out. >> those girls have been -- simone been with me 27 years. the girl in the front, before def jam and looks like she's 15. she's a vegan. can you see that? can you see her? she's beautiful, right? >> jimmy: yeah, she's a vegan. you're also vegan too? >> i'm a vegan. i don't eat animals. >> jimmy: how many years now you've been a vegan? >> about ten years. >> jimmy: ten years. how long did it take you to learn that hand stand -- head stand? >> i don't know. i've been practicing a long time. i probably learned that -- >> jimmy: can you show me how to do that? [ applause ] how do i do that? >> if i do it will you do it. >> jimmy: yeah, uh-huh. >> we'll do it. [ applause ] >> jimmy: i got to -- >> we don't need the mat. get on your knees. >> jimmy: okay. yep. [ laughter ] >> i'm just playing. [ laughter ] [ chee

>> this lady comes to us, she works for shine on sierra leone, a charity, they were worried about the women there, and the support system they don't have, child birth, child mortality. so she comes to me. she has this idea she wants to raise money. i said let's do angels for africa. we have 200 victoria secret models come to my house. 100 men. they give us $400,000. that was the big story. that happens every episode. something like that. >> that's making charity fun. >> yeah. >> well my life is fun. >> russell simmons, thank you for being with us. we will be right back. >> we are going to take on the obama health care plan. make sure the issue stays in front of the american people. we think it is terrible legislation. american people don't want it. we will insist this congress continue to revisit the issue. it is crucial to our prosperity and individual health care choices. >>> our "headliner" tim phillips president of americans for pros a right-wing group, barack obama claims was at the center of questionable republican campaign spending. he called out the group 19 times in campaign

he has provided valuable guidance and support in sierra leone and other parts of africa.es that it is this serious sustained involvement of ordinary citizens that makes the difference between poverty and promise, between despair and democracy. and between hopelessness and hope. without the dialogue between the people of northern ireland and the u.k., an exercise in civi responsibility, peace would have remained only a dream. welcome, mr. blair. tonight, we honor you for summoning so many to the recl of civic engagement and securing and extending the blessings of liberty around the world. thank you. [applause] >> and these words from the good friday agreement. with the participants in the lti-party negotiations believes the agreement we have negotiated offers a historic opportunity for a new beginning. the tragedies of the past have left a deep and profound the regrettable legacy of suffering. we must never forget those who have died or have been injured and their families. we can best honor them three fresh start in which we dedicate ourselves to the achievement of reconc

with life and death decisions i had to take over war and peace in iraq and afghanistan, kosovo, sierra leone and so on, but just the day-to-day business of it, it's tough. and sometimes, you know, you're like anybody else, you want to get the job done and everything, but you're a human being. and i always think, you know, i was very lucky, actually, having a young family growing up in downing street because my kids were teenagers, really, when i first came into downing street which had its challenges. [laughter] but also had its tremendous advantage of keeping my feet on the ground when, you know, i shut the flat door on downing street at the end of the day, it actually was a tremendous relief to go back into the family and talk about things that were incredibly important within the family but, you know, weren't really important outside of that. but i think it's, you know, sometimes -- and particularly today where the political debate can get very harsh nowadayses -- i mean, you see some of the things over here today in your political discourse and, it's pretty tough language being kicked ar

so, it was previously in sierra leone and burundi, angola and also are wanda and siberia. thousands of children are forced at a very young age to become child soldiers. they are taught to do very horrific rings. if you teach a child how to kill before they mature, their conscience doesn't understand the difference between death and life. the next time you pick up a soccer ball or a football, look at it and it will probably say made in pakistan. if you look at it very closely, you will see a small leather patch sewn together by tiny stitches. guess who makes most of the soccer? of his children. there's an area of pakistan. there are tens of thousands of children who are forced to work all day using tiny stitches to make soccer. harvesting rice is very difficult. they are working 10 or 12 hours a day and workers don't want to buy them a 4-dollar pair of boots so they get foot rot and fund this. perhaps, i don't even know the word for it, the most tragic thing is more than anytime in history, there are more modern day slaves and especially children, child slaves. so i would l

we have been able to go back into sierra leone and c olombia because we have peace corps response. we had returned peace corps respondents ready to go back into haiti 48 hours after the earthquake. this demonstrates the resilience and interest of the returned peace corps volunteer community. it is important. i applaud mark for doing that. it has really been important. when we see an opportunity to go into the country, whether we have been there for a while and want to go in in terms of a new program, we have a tool we can use to provide experience up from talented volunteers with the language skills of the country. i also want to answer the question the gentleman asked me from the coast guard. had we find change agents in countries where we work, where they can make a difference and have an impact in their country? that is one of the things to constantly search for in the countries where we serve. we are trying to identify the best organizations and the best leaders of those organizations so we can get peace corps volunteers to assist them in their role of making a difference in th

there is blood and violence in sierra leone and others to protect the lives of the oppressed.why shouldn't be any different now? afghanistan is not iraq. some appeal for the u.n. for troops. because some were committing the most heinous of atrocities. and're torturing members having women as second-class members of society. the taliban has killed over 10,000 innocent afghans since 2001 who have done nothing wrong. the afghan people deserve better. they deserve better than tierney and corruption. they deserve to live as free people. we should provide that liberty while we are there. i cannot agree with the notion that we should withdraw soon. we need to change how we talk about the war immediately. we need to declare decisively what we mean by victory. victory would be honoring the innocent victims in afghans and the soldiers that have died so far. victory would be a step forward to afghanistan into an age of self-reliance and honest governance. leaving now would put in a risk the nine years that our brave troops have spent trying to heal this wounded nation. this conflict bega

so we are producing also in sierra leone and also prolonged and liberia.of thousands of children are forced at a very young age to become child soldiers. their top to do very horrific things. if you teach a child how to kill before they are conscious, before they mature, their conscious doesn't understand the difference between death and life. the next time you pick up a soccer ball or a football, look at it will probably say made in pakistan. if you look at it very closely, you'll see small leather felt patches shown together by very small stitches. to guess who makes most of the soccer balls? its children there's an area in pakistan just south where tens of thousands of children are forced to work all day for these very tiny stitches to make football the soccer balls. and kids had to harvest rice. harvesting rice is very difficult. your feet are in 12 to 15 inches underwater. they work 10 to 12 hours a day, and their workers don't want to buy them a $4 pair of rubber boots so they get foot rot and fungus. so what happened, about, i don't even know the wo

morality of all this got really complicated when instead of reporting on african civil war like sierra leone which was stopped instantly by the british paratroopers, stopped and that civil war, but now we are talking american soldiers who are in the country for a decade and i could not reconcile all those different questions and issues in my mind so what i decided to do was simply write about the experience of the soldiers and that experience in some ways became my experience and i experienced fear and all those things and that is what i end up writing about. in answer to your question -- i was profoundly changed by this. i came back with a little posttraumatic stress disorder but i was tremendously open up and a lot of the guys in the platoon reported the same faint. they became emotional at the darndest things and i did too and they were puzzled. these are 20-year-old guys. they don't like to cry. they don't watch a movie and start tearing up. they are not used to that. is uncomfortable. what many of them said, fall trauma and the unpleasantness and they wish, they were moved by things jus