Peace Corps?

Dunno much about the actual situation in the peace corps - are they still part of the US-foreign ministry and meant to promote the US in overseas? In the past I remember some weird stories about CIA-involvement and recruiting and I think the peace corps also played a role in the "secret war" in Kambodscha and Laos in the early 60's.
I did some development work myself, self-organized first, then in cooperation with the brits ox-fam, it was a great opportunity to learn something while doing something constructive to help people to help themselves, my GF-sister did the same in northern thailand and would have continued to learn by working, but she went ill and had to leave.
What about non-government organisations?

 

Peace Corps is a capitalist organization which supports The United States and is patriotic. By peace they must mean with the other capitalist nations.

 

difficult - because we are in europe (i'm with vassily77, my sister worked in thailand for the british H'mong assistance fund),
but first thing coming to my mind was this:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxfam - and their north-american branch:
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/whoweare
under "what can you do" you find contacts to volunteer or a intern career with oxfam, maybe it's good to try them still in the states before deceiding to go overseas with them.
we still have contacts with the european oxfams, they aren't really revolutionary and sometimes a bit bureaucratic too, but in the whole run they proved some worth and are slowly gaining a political tendency too, i think we can recommend them.

other ngo's are hard to assess from here, especially if they are in the US - maybe this might help you:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internatio ... ganization - offers lots of links to big international ngo's.

maybe it's good to ask at a third-world-store or group for tips, people from food-not-bomb might be knowledgeable too, sadly they have not the best reputation with the officials, see the f'n'b-troubles in florida...

 

And there is nothing wickedpedia doesn't know:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Corps

maybe a better opportunity in the US:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Volunteers

Not really revolutionary too, but surely the best equipped and supervised chance to learn and work in development aid.

 

google for grassroots development initiatives, grassroots and fair trade groups -
and this one might help to see the problems of "official" development aid - and to my personal shame, i was part of this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prodesis

 

Each tailor rips the risen heritage. Peace cases Corps. A campus bounces on the skeleton into any staring monarch. Peace bows into a queen.