More than 7,300 Peace Corps volunteers worldwide were evacuated because of the coronavirus — and many fear they'll never return

• The Peace Corps evacuated more than 7,300 volunteers worldwide over fears of the coronavirus pandemic.
• Now, volunteers are having trouble restarting their lives in the US earlier than expected.
• Many volunteers are still holding out hope their service will be resumed.
• View more episodes of Business Insider Today on Facebook.

Peace Corps volunteers spend 27 months serving abroad in a developing community.

Returning to the US is always an adjustment, but even more so now, after over 7,300 volunteers were evacuated from their host countries in March because of the coronavirus outbreak.

"We were very afraid to go back to the US because we didn't know what it would be like there," said Elena Kalahar, a volunteer in Panama. "We didn't really know what kind of country we would be coming back to."

Business Insider Today spoke to eight Peace Corps volunteers around the world about the projects they left behind in education, environment, and community economic development, among others.

"We were just beginning our service," said Michael Osorio, a volunteer who was pulled out of the Philippines. "We were just beginning to make connections with our families and our community and starting to understand the local language."

As they settle back into their lives back home in the US, many volunteers have found support in organizations like the National Peace Corps Association. Most are holding out hope that they'll eventually be able to resume their service.

"I hope they would be able to tell how sad I am that I've had to abandon all the work that we've done," volunteer Caitlin Books, who lived in Costa Rica, said of her host community. "And how eager I am to come back to them and be able to pick up where we left off."

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