Sadly this is not a unique story. I was talking to a couple of PC volunteers who had spent their assignments running HIV/AIDS programs in Africa. They estimate that 15% of PC volunteers contract HIV every year during their tour of duty, usually from unprotected sex, and in a few cases from drug use. Both guys I talked to agreed that all these cases needed to be sent back home.

The part that infuriates them (and me) is that these are educated adults, often from families with means. All have been put through extensive counseling before they are sent out to their assignments. Many of them work on HIV programs themselves. How can they or their colleagues go about preaching what is not being practiced in their own ranks?? It is embarrassing, and they are terrible examples. Worse, if they were stupid enough to contract it, they are likely stupid enough to go spreading it to other people. Finally, the PC is responsible for medical expenses. Its not fair that an agency already strained in its budget should be forced to take responsibility for a person's willful stupidity.

Bottom Line: This can be argued many ways, but unless the guy got HIV through a blood transfusion or through other means he had no control over, I'm with the PC policy on this one.

I was a Peace Corps volunteer located on the tropical South Pacific island of Samoa (then called "Western Samoa") from 1995-1997. When I entered the Peace Corps, I was 35 years old and held a B.S. degree in accounting and an M.A. in economics. I taught economics at a local secondary school and assisted a local small business with business development. I was older and more experience than the "typical" volunteer and had more life experience. In my group, we had as many specialists as we did non-specialists. It was evident then (and now) that developing countries need a high-level skill set to meet their developing needs. My group had a computer specialist, a specialist in "special needs education" and even a fund-raising specialist in addition to the non-specialists whose main responsibility was to teach various subjects in local secondary schools. This is to say that the skill level, experience, age and education needs of Peace Corps volunteers are changing to meet the needs of the host country.
Peace Corps volunteers are not just building schools and digging latrines. It is not easy to assess the true impact that volunteers have on the people in the host country. I will sum up this comment with this story. Last year, I was running to catch the bus after work. I didn't run fast enough (old age isn’t kind) and missed the bus. It was an hour wait for the next bus, so I decided to get a bite to eat. I went into a restaurant and was seated. The waitress approached my table and stopped dead in her tracks in wide-eyed bewilderment. She said, "You look like someone I know." I studied her face and exclaimed, "Jackie??!!!" She replied, "You were my economics teachers on Samoa 10 years ago. I came to the United States to work for the Peace Corps because of you." She told her coworkers about me and they came to my table to meet me and thank me for showing the best face of the United States. Jackie and I talked about old times and the future. She explained to me that she was in the employment application process with the Peace Corps office in Washington D.C.

Beverly Carr, Peace Corp Volunteer Western Samoa

First of all, the title of this post seems misplaced. If it's Ukraine's policy to exclude foreigners with HIV, then we shouldn't blame the Peace Corps for it.

But more importantly, the "how did he get it?" attitude is appalling, and contributes in an unfortunate way to a climate of stigma for people with HIV/AIDS. This is bad, not only because people with HIV still deserve to be treated as humans, but also because it discourages people from being tested or from negotiating condom use (since doing so involves accusing your partner of having a stigmatized disease).