Peace Corps Polyglot

Peace Corps at 50: Looking Back/Looking Forward

[In preparation for the National Peace Corps Association's Annual General Meeting, Board Meeting and Advisory Council meeting -- all taking place this week -- NPCA President Kevin Quigley has prepared a discussion paper on planning for the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps.]

In 2011, the Peace Corps community will be marking 50 years from when President Kennedy asked us to give two years of our lives to travel abroad, help others help themselves, and bring our experiences home in ways that serve the country.

With hundreds of events at home and abroad, we will celebrate Peace Corps’ many accomplishments and recognize the nearly 200,000 who served and the tens of millions of lives influenced. This milestone anniversary provides the chance to consider in what ways Peace Corps might be modified to realize more of its potential, be part of a constructive  U.S. role in the world and respond to the heartfelt desire of so many to serve.

To prepare for these anniversary events, we have some guiding principles:

• Ownership. Peace Corps belongs to the world… not to the federal agency, not to the National Peace Corps Association and its network of groups, staff or volunteers. Rather, it belongs to anyone who understands the power of individuals to contribute to a better world.
• Participation. These events will be designed so that people everywhere where Peace Corps is valued can join the celebrations.
• Purpose. These events must be more than looking back. They need to advance the essential work of Peace Corps, promoting human development, peace and prosperity.
• Aspiration. These events will help realize the Peace Corps community’s long-held dream of having a national focal point to share our stories, meet and remember.

We developed a framework to help organize these events:

• Policy. Peace Corps has succeeded moderately well. However, after 50 years, it is important to consider whether the goals and the model need to be revised to improve impact. This would involve organizing a High Level Commission comprising senior leaders of Peace Corps and others to think strategically about how to improve Peace Corps.
• Events. In addition to a major event on the National Mall, September 22-25, 2011 we anticipate that there will be events in all 139 Peace Corps countries. We expect that most of NPCA’s 130 formally organized groups would put together events celebrating Peace Corps’s anniversary and that the many institutions that cooperate with Peace Corps, such as USAID, World Bank, CARE, Save the Children, etc…, as well as universities that have Peace Corps programs, would also organize events. To mark the anniversary, we expect that many individual community members and related organizations would organize book and documentary projects, blogs, podcasts, and other forms of new media.
• Project. We would like to see a community sponsored anniversary project that would provide the opportunity for discernible progress on a major development challenge, preferably one linked to the Millennium Development Goals such as girls’ access to education or access to potable water. The community would garner support for a variety of partner organizations working on particular projects directly related to these efforts.
• Legacy. We think that this milestone anniversary is the opportunity for our community to achieve a long-held dream to create a museum/memorial space close to the National Mall. Towards that end, we hope to enter into a partnership with the US Institute of Peace which is building a Public Education Center at their new facilities on 23^rd and Constitution Avenue, just across from the Vietnam Veterans and the Lincoln Memorials.

This is an ambitious agenda that will require the involvement of many different individuals and organizations all around the world to succeed. For NPCA, we will inform the community about these upcoming activities and engage members in ways that best meet their own interests. We also expect to play a leading role in organizing the policy and legacy components of this upcoming anniversary.

As part of this effort to inform you about the anniversary-related events, we have created a landing page at www.peacecorpsconnect.org/peacecorps50. If you wish to share your ideas and suggestions you can do so at peacecorps50@rpcv.org.

[Text of this post available in .pdf format ]

Peace Corps Funding Level Remains Intact in House...Thank You

My NPCA colleague, Advocacy Coordinator Jonathan Pearson, sent out this e-mail message to our advocacy network this morning:

"Our thanks to those of you who contacted your Congressman/woman yesterday to oppose an amendment filed by Representative Hensarling (R-TX) to reduce funding for the Peace Corps.

As House action moved forward yesterday on the Foreign Operations spending bill, Rep. Hensarling decided in the end not to offer his amendment for consideration!

Among amendments that were offered and defeated were several calling for across-the-board reductions in the Foreign Operations spending package. These defeats were important for maintaining proposed funding levels for Peace Corps and other key development and humanitarian assistance proposals.

Attention on Peace Corps funding now turns to the Senate, where in recent years, spending levels approved for Peace Corps have been less than the House request. You should expect similar action alerts to the Senate on the FY 2008 $333.5 Million Peace Corps funding request in the coming weeks and months.

For me, work like this underscores the vitally important role played by the National Peace Corps Association.  In short, someone has to be "minding the store" and have the big picture in mind.  Effective advocacy rests in part on building relationships with Congressman, Senators and their staffs over time.   

And speaking of which, here's a link to the online video page for Congressman Sam Farr of California, who began his career in public service in 1964 serving in the Peace Corps in Colombia.  Click on "Farr Passionately Defends International Programs" to see what he had to say yesterday's debate.

 

NPCA and NetAid Expand Mentoring Program for Youth Leaders

With the NPCA/NetAid Mentoring Program gearing up for its third year, we've revised the online program to offer a greater range of opportunities: from a one-time presentation to year-long mentoring.

NetAid, an initiative of Mercy Corps, developed the Global Citizen Corps program to engage U.S. high school students by training them to lead and mobilize their peers to combat global poverty. Through NPCA, RPCVs educate, inspire and empower these exceptional youth through online mentoring.

Inspire our youth and join the fight against poverty! Visit the NPCA website for more information and to apply to be a mentor. Online applications are available through July 15.

Trade Justice Advocacy Heats Up

The House Agriculture Committee is expected to meet during the week of June 25th to consider changes to the 2007 Farm Bill. Decisions on U.S. agriculture policy don’t just impact farmers here at home (link to recent Washington Post article detailing the plight of small-hold farmers in the Mississippi delta). They also impact millions of people in countries where Peace Corps volunteers serve.

It’s time to be a voice for small farmers and rural communities around the world by urging your lawmakers to support agricultural reforms that don’t undermine their livelihoods. Click here to take action
now. Click here to get details on a June 24th trade justice program in Greenbelt, Maryland
organized by the NPCA and the Friends of Burkina Faso. And finally, click here to learn more about the concerns of one RPCV farmer, Bill Smith of Dakota .

NPCA to Testify on the Peace Corps Volunteer Empowerment Act

NPCA President Kevin Quigley is among those invited to testify on July 25th, when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee plans to hold a hearing on the Peace Corps Volunteer Empowerment Act. Companion legislation is expected to be introduced shortly in the House of Representatives.

A key part of the legislation addresses medical screening issues. Recently, the NPCA shared its survey results concerning medical issues with Peace Corps’ Office of Inspector General (IG) (Click here to view the general survey results. Click here for the summary of participant comments.) The IG's office is in the process of conducting a more detailed Medical Clearance System survey of Peace Corps applicants, volunteers and recent RPCVs on their experiences going through the medical screening process. Starting July 2, 2007, the IG’s office plans to reach out to approximately 3,300 individuals, seeking feedback and comment.

DC Partnership Reception Raises Funds for Swaziland Project

“A good example of how geographic and country of service groups, as well as host country partners and NPCA, can all work together in ways that help make a difference.” – Kevin Quigley, NPCA President

For several years, Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Washington, DC (RPCV/W) has demonstrated its ongoing commitment to the international development work of Peace Corps through annual sponsorship of a Peace Corps Partnership Project. It raises the money through direct solicitation of its membership, and by hosting an annual Partnership Reception.

This year they chose to support a community preschool in Ncabaneni, Swaziland.  (You can read more about the project, as well as a letter from Meghan Guetzko, the Peace Corps volunteer working on the project, by clicking here.  You can see a slideshow of photos from Meghan and the community of Ncambaneni in the Kingdom of Swaziland by clicking here.)

By all accounts the May 31^st reception at the Embassy of Swaziland was “a smashing success.” RPCV/W Vice President Maura Fulton writes, “Over 45 people attended the event and the Ambassador was very welcoming and engaging. Embassy staff also enjoyed meeting with RPCVs, especially those who served in Swaziland. Special guests Kevin Quigley, President of NPCA, and John von Reyn, President of Friends of Swaziland, offered remarks and guest enjoyed wonderful hors d’oeuvres from The Catering Company of Washington.” (Pictured at right:  RPCV/W President Jim Gore, Ambassador and Mrs. Ephraem Hlophe, RPCV/W Vice President Maura Fulton.)

Because they exceeded their funding goal, RPCV/W is taking on an additional Partnership project in Swaziland and is donating $1200 towards the construction of a community resource center that will provide services aimed at rural women and children affected by HIV and AIDS.

Great job RPCVs of Washington!

Wherever You Go, There You Are: Maps and Mapmakers of the Peace Corps

A few months ago Chris Delcher (El Salvador 98-00) circulated an intriguing e-mail message through the Peace Corps universe.  It said that he was trying to find maps and mapmakers of the Peace Corps.

"Many Volunteers are trained to make community maps while in service. These maps range from the hand-drawn variety that live in tattered journals to very sophisticated maps created with digital Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Chris' own hand-drawn maps focused on pubic health by displaying the problem of minimal latrine coverage in his town but volunteers from all Peace Corps programs are using maps for many reasons. No matter the  size or sophistication, if you have a map (or even a picture of you next to a map that you have created) from your service or know an RPCV that does, please contact Chris at cddelcher@comcast.net."

I followed up with him and learned that he's an epidemiologist who uses GIS quite a bit.  "My interest really comes from 3 things:  love of Peace Corps, love of maps, and love of research," wrote Chris.  "I'm hoping to find as many maps as possible, build a website, and do some writing about the maps.  I have a map in the collection and that's what got me thinking about finding more."  You can see what he's assembled so far at Maps and Mapmakers of the Peace Corps.

A world map painting project is often one of the most satisfying projects that a volunteer undertakes.  The scale or cost isn't daunting, it's creative, it can involve lots of people, both the process and end product are educational, it's tangible and -- at least for awhile -- it's permanent.  Some like it so much, they bring the idea home. 

Last year on the NPCA website we highlighted an initiative by The Greater Birmingham Returned Peace Corps Volunteers to partner with selected Birmingham, Alabama public schools on a world map painting project.  You can read that story -- which includes information on the "invention" of  the World Map Project -- by clicking here.  In fact, a complete set of instructions is available on the GBRPCV website (in .pdf format).

So get painting!

[Pictured above: A map in Pommern, Tanzania initiated by Joy Campbell (Morocco 98-00)]

Friends of Burkina Faso Project Ready for its Close Up

NPCA's partner GlobalGiving is holding its first-ever GlobalGiving FilmFest. They've gathered raw footage (photos and video) from more than twenty high-impact projects around the world, then handed the footage over to film makers who have created compelling and interesting videos that tell stories about the projects and the people being helped. 

Now it's your turn. Your vote will determine which videos do the best job of telling the project’s story. Check out all of the finalists’ videos at http://www.karmatube.org/ff and decide for yourself.

However, while they are all great causes, we will shamelessly admit our bias -- because, hey, this is a Peace Corps community  blog -- and urge you to vote for the Friends of Burkina Faso project video, Noon Day Meal. 

Even better, get all of your friends and family to vote too! And even if we don't agree on which video is best, the more people who get to know these projects, the more positive change we can create around the world. Vote Today! You have until June 29th at 11:59pm to make your vote heard. Scholarships for students or a gift to a project will be awarded for the videos with the most votes.

(GlobalGiving FilmFest videos can also be viewed on YouTube.)

Petitions: Restore International Surface Mail for Humanitarian Groups

Shannon Brown, Book Project Coordinator for the Friends of Malawi, has created an online petition to save the U.S. Postal Service International Surface Mail Service for Humanitarian Projects.

Many non-profit organizations, faith communities, schools and individuals used this method to ship books, professional journals and other educational materials to nations in need, expanding educational opportunities for thousands of students around the world.

Click here to TAKE ACTION NOW and get the links to TWO petitions:  one to Congress, one to the U.S. Postal Service.

Shannon and other concerned parties have also started a yahoo!group for any organizations or individuals who would like to talk about this issue. People can join the group by addressing a message to m-bags-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

NPCA is working to arrange meetings on Capitol Hill with relevant legislators and is drafting an Action Letter to be sent to members of Congress. Stay tuned!

Global TeachNet: Bringing the World into the Classroom

Teaching has been a bread and butter program of Peace Corps since its inception, so it's not surprising that many Peace Corps volunteers pursue careers in education once they return to the U.S.  And it's also not surprising that they come back committed to carrying out the "Third Goal" of Peace Corps:  "to promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans."        

In 1996 NPCA launched Global TeachNet (GTN) - a network of alumni, family and friends of the Peace Corps - to directly implement that global perspective in U.S. classrooms. You can read more about it by clicking here.

In the intervening years, Global TeachNet News has become the official newsletter of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development's Global Education Network. It was named an "Outstanding Network Newsletter" in March 2001 and again in March 2004.

The Summer 2007 issue of Global TeachNet News is accessible now on our website at  http://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/GTNSummer07.pdf. By delivering it electronically, we save not only money (which then can be put back into our programs), but also time and hopefully a few trees.

Among the features of this issue:

• A Letter from Lesotho: "What can I send you?"
• Best Practices for Teaching about Africa
• School Classes Making a Difference
• Global Libraries Outreach Campaign and
• Suggestions for Summer Reading

Enjoy! Letters or material for the next newsletter by August 10 to editor, Susan Neyer, at susanneyer AT astound.net.