Peace Corps Polyglot

Celebrating 30 Years of Women's Rights

December 18th marks the 30th anniversary of global adoption of CEDAW – the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

Rosemary Straley (RPCV Ghana 62-64; Country Director Cameroon 78-79) has been active in CEDAW advocacy ever since attending the 4th UN World Conference on Women in 1995 where she learned that the U.S. had not ratified the treaty.  Unfortunately, Straley and other women’s advocates are still waiting.  While 96% of the world’s nations have now ratified the treaty, the U.S. remains among a handful of nations that have yet to take action.

According to Straley, “CEDAW provisions guarantee that women, who hold up ‘half the sky’, will have access to basic human rights by exposing discriminatory practices.”  She says experience demonstrates that empowering women by increasing their opportunities leads to greater investments in families, education and economic security.

Follow this link to learn more about CEDAW and its 30 years of advancement and success.

Ratification of international treaties requires a two-thirds vote of the United States Senate, so Straley urges supporters to contact their Senators to urge ratification.  And, she notes, a CEDAW National Day of Action is already in the works for next March 8th – International Women’s Day.

RPCV Visionary Brings Innovative Eyewear to Liberia

This photo may bring back nightmarish memories of those Peace Corps replacement glasses volunteers used to receive!  But in fact, it represents a potential dream come true for up to a billion people.

One billion is the estimated number of people with poor vision in rural communities around the world who don't have access to eyecare services.  But RPCV Nancy Wallace of Annapolis, Maryland is involved in an innovative enterprise to address the challenge.

It all began in Liberia, where Nancy served as a Peace Corps Response volunteer from 2008 - 2009.  A friend connected her with Kevin White, the Executive Director of Global Vision 2020, an international organization working to prevent avoidable blindness.  One of the organization's projects involves the distribution of self-adjusting eyeglasses.  The glasses are designed to allow users to turn a dial on the side of each lens to correct their own vision in regions that do not have access to eye care professionals.

With the hope that glasses could be distributed through existing local networks, Nancy jumped at the invitation when White asked her if a pilot project could be launched at the Kakata Rural Teacher Training Institute.  In September, a training was held for 40 volunteers to distribute glasses.  An initial scanning of 1,200 teachers, students and market women revealed that 700 were in need of (and received) glasses to correct their vision.

Featured above with NPCA Advocacy Coordinator Jonathan Pearson (l) and Tom Jacobs (r), host of the annual Maryland RPCV summer picnic, Nancy attended the gathering to share the experience of trying on the spectacles and urge fellow RPCVs to help with the initiative.  "It's incredible to watch", she says.  "For people in other countries who don't even know they need glasses, and to see their reaction when the world around them comes into focus.  It's exciting!"

Oprah's Call to Action to Feature RPCV Group Project

Don't miss The Oprah Winfrey Show this Thursday, October 1, as Oprah delivers a call to action for all women--with a Peace Corps twist! 

Inspired by the New York Times best-selling book Half the Sky by Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas Kristof and his wife, Sheryl Wudunn, this eye-opening hour will reveal powerful stories of women overcoming adversity to realize a better life for themselves.  Oprah herself calls one of the stories "the most incredible story of manifesting a dream I have ever heard." 

In conjunction with the show, Oprah will launch a new registry online at www.oprah.com/forallwomen, where the Noon Meal for Girls Project (supported by Friends of Burkina Faso) will be featured.  Tune-in to the "Oprah" show this Thursday to hear Oprah's call to action.  (Check local listings for time and channel.)

New Mexico Peace Corps Association Camps Out and Cleans Up

Earlier this month, 21 members of the New Mexico Peace Corps Association--plus four youngsters and five dogs-- participated in camp-out and public service effort in the Santa Fe National Forest.  Writes organizer John Turnbull,

"Many people, including some who could not attend, commented on the attractiveness of the public service dimension. It was an impressive pile of trash we carried out of there. And while doing it, it provided us a hike through some really marvelous canyon scenery, where the native cutthroat trout have been reintroduced. Sunday was another hike, to the Jemez Falls and hot springs.  RPCVs rose to the food challenge, and everything tasted twice as good out in the woods."  

Forest Ranger Kristin Sanderson, one of the participants, is the Education Coordinator for the Respect the Rio program, a part of a larger national program aimed at educating people about the ecology of rivers in the national forests.  Besides hosting groups, she also talks to school classes.  RPCV teachers are encouraged to contact her about a program in their schools. (Ph. 575 829-3535, in Jemez Springs).

Ms. Sanderson wrote to group:

"Dear RPCVs and Friends of PC,

On behalf of the Santa Fe National Forest, the Jemez Ranger District, and the Respect the Rio program, I would like to thank you for sharing your time and energy to help make our forest a cleaner, more beautiful, and more enjoyable place to visit.  Your work along the East Fork of the Jemez River is very much appreciated and will hopefully encourage visitors to take pride in and responsibility for their public lands. It was such a joy meeting and working with each and every one of you, and I look forward to future projects and outings both here in the Santa Fe National Forest and in your neighborhoods. 

Thank you!”

RPCV Voice at Global Climate Talks

As world leaders and global advocates consider how to effectively combat climate change, it's not surprising that some of the voices at the table have Peace Corps in their background.  That was the case during the most recent round of climate change negotiations in Poznan, Poland.

A recent Washington Post article quoted two prominent advocates who are RPCVs.  Keya Chaterjee, Deputy Director of Climate Change Programs for the World Wildlife Fund-US, served as a Morocco volunteer from 1998-2000.  The article also quoted Doug Boucher, a Costa Rica volunteer from 1971 to 1973 who directs the tropical forest climate initiative for the Union of Concerned Scientists.

If you are interested in connecting with other RPCVs taking action on climate change, contact advocacy@rpcv.org.

The Peace Corps-Rotary Connection

RPCVs get involved in service in a lot of ways once their service is over.  Two RPCVs told us about their connection to Rotary International and how this organization is helping them maintain the volunteering spirit.

Bill Schmidt (Malawi, 67-69) and John Strain (Malawi) told us about the global impact the Rotary has helped them create and how other RPCVs can get involved.  Local Rotary clubs can get a matching grants from the Rotary International Foundation, and because of Rotary’s wide reach, local clubs from across the globe can connect to organize, oversee and administer projects.  With 32,000 Rotary clubs worldwide in 200 countries, there are huge opportunities for involvement.  

Rotary was founded by Paul Harris in 1905 in Chicago as an organization of business and professional leaders, now united worldwide, who provide humanitarian services, promote high ethical standards in all vocations and help build goodwill and peace in the world.  It fits with the ideals and goals of the Peace Corps, Schmidt and Strain told us.  "If Paul Harris had been alive when John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Sargent Shriver started the Peace Corps,  we think  he would have joined, or at least been made an honorary Peace Corps volunteer, like JFK was made an honorary Rotarian," they said.

To learn more about the Peace Corps-Rotary connection, you can read this article from The Rotarian or visit Rotary International's website.

Friends of Jamaica Gets Books on the Ground

Friends of Jamaica has had several very successful projects, and its most recent initiative to get books to Jamaican children and youth is one of them.  The project was a collaboration between FOJ, First Book, and Food For the Poor and resulted in the delivery of over 6,000 books to children in Jamaican primary schools. 

The books were less than $0.25 each from First Book, but the impact was huge.  FOJ's website notes that for $1,000 they could send dozens of books to every community in which Volunteers are active.  With the help of free shipping from Food For the Poor, which regularly ships donated goods to the Carribean and South America, the books were sent to schools selected by a USAID project and distributed both in the schools and from USAID project vehicles. 

While planning the project was somewhat complicated, the partnerships built up were enduring, the opportunities for other RPCV groups to engage in similar projects is high, and the lives of thousands of Jamaican children were improved. 

Getting the Most Out of a Gap Year

A little while back, we got an e-mail from Sandy Pendoley (Republic of Kiribati, 02-04), telling us about Thinking Beyond Borders, a gap year program that brings young people around the world to engage in service and learn about global issues.  At that time, the program was looking for partners, advice, and the best ways to get off the ground.  Two months later, the first group of 16 students and three trip leaders started their journey around the world. 

Each program cycle includes six to seven months of traveling in five core countries. In each of those countries, Thinking Beyond Borders works with a service organization, with the intention of becoming intimately aware of the issues, communities, and people that they work with. The itinerary presents students with a broad set of experiences in international development, including education, public health, environmental conservation, and agricultural development.

The opportunity for students to connect with people around the world is enormous, whether working with an aid organization or eating dinner with a host family.  The focus of the program empowers students to think critically about the ways they can make change in our increasingly global society. 

The organization is currently accepting applications for the 2009-2010 program.  You can apply here. 

RPCV Helps Colombian Kids Get Connected

RPCV Maureen Orth--and the Colombian school named after her--made front page news in Medellin, Colombia recently for receiving over 200 laptop computers thanks to One Laptop Per Child.  The organization worked to get laptops donated by Chevron and an internet connection provided by Motorola to the students in the small town of Aguas Frias, Colombia. 

Orth formed a foundation to fundraise and administer the programs which will now be replicated in other Colombian schools.  In the U.S., she founded K12 Wired to "provide a superior, modern education specializing in English and information technology to children who would otherwise be denied this opportunity," according to her foundation's website. 

To read Orth's own account of this success, check out her article in Vanity Fair.

Friends of Malaysia wins the Ruppe Award for Outstanding Community Service

This year the Loret Miller Ruppe Award for Outstanding Community Service goes to Friends of Malaysia’s Project Wizard of the World (WOW).

The Ruppe Award is presented by the NPCA to an outstanding member group for a project or projects that promote the Third Goal of Peace Corps or continue to serve host countries, build group spirit and cooperation, and promote service. Eligible projects either have been completed within the past two years or have been on-going for at least three years. The award not only to recognizes the great work that NPCA's groups are doing, but also generates ideas that other groups may emulate in their communities.

Friends of Malaysia's Project WOW brings Malaysia RPCVs to grade school classrooms around the country in an effort to fulfill the Third Goal of Peace Corps - bringing the world back home - by promoting global awareness and cross-cultural understanding among young Americans.

The 42 RPCVs use Malaysian folktales as a gateway for children to gain broader cultural understanding of Malaysia. In 30 states, over 3,300 elementary school students have gained some familiarity with Malaysia via these folktales, multi-media presentations, flashcards, show-and-tell, discussion, and Malaysian memorabilia - all provided by Tourism Malaysia and corporate donors such as Tuttle Publishing, G2, Inc., with support from DHL, Malaysia. Project WOW has been has been remarkably successful in organizing the project, engaging RPCVs, and reaching out to their communities nationwide.

Congratulations to Friends of Malaysia!

(At right, May Maniam accepts the Loret Miller Ruppe Award for Outstanding Community Service on behalf of Friends of Malaysia. May was instrumental in developing the curriculum for the Wizards of the World project. Photo courtesy of Juliet Dervin.)