Peace Corps Polyglot

And We're Off! NPCA Advocacy's Most Excellent Adventure

NPCA Advocacy Coordinator Jonathan Pearson's two-week trip through the south got off to a great start on Sunday, connecting with the Charlotte Area Peace Corps Association at the group's annual summer potluck at the home of Dominican Republic RPCV John Murphy.

More than 30 turned out for the family-friendly poolside affair - a great mix of RPCVs of many ages and eras.  This included several newcomers to Charlotte.  One of them, Jill Jones (Moldvoa 04-06) just moved down from Charleson, West Virginia.  Displaying that Peace Corps spirit of jumping right in and getting involved, Jill enthusiastically took information about organizing a Charlotte MorePeaceCorps House Party on September 6th!

The Charlotte group is also busy preparing its next "Partnership Dinner".  In recent years, these dinners have raised $7,500 for Peace Corps and other development projects all around the world.

"One of the most notable attributes of the group is in the course of general socializing, so many threads of conversation related to an ongoing commitment to service", said Pearson.  "People were speaking of service both inside and outside the Peace Corps community, whether it was teaching in local schools, supporting the local Kiwanis Club, or rennovating buildings in Costa Rica as part of a church mission project.  It's apparent that the Peace Corps spirit is alive in Charlotte."

Next Stop:  Gainesville!

For a full rundown of the trip itinerary, click here.

Situation in Georgia: Peace Corps Volunteers Evacuated to Armenia

It's been an eventful week for Peace Corps.  On August 8, 2008 the agency announced that all Volunteers and trainees serving in Mauritania were accounted for and safe following a coup two days earlier.

Then came the conflict in the Republic of Georgia.  Following an announcement on August 9 that the Volunteers and trainees there were safe, accounted for and in "stand fast" mode, the agency announced yesterday (August 11) that they have now been temporarily relocated to neighboring Armenia. The press release states:

The decision to relocate the Volunteers is due to the ongoing conflict taking place in the South Ossetia region of Georgia and bordering areas. All 36 Peace Corps Volunteers and 49 Peace Corps Volunteer-trainees serving in Georgia are safe. Personnel from Peace Corps/Georgia, as well as Peace Corps/Armenia, are now supporting the Volunteers.

The Peace Corps/Georgia office is still open in Tbilisi, and is constantly and carefully monitoring this situation along with Peace Corps Headquarters in Washington. Peace Corps Volunteers do not serve in South Ossetia, the separatist region located in the north of Georgia along its border with Russia.

The Peace Corps program in Georgia was established in 2001. Since that time more than 275 Volunteers have served there. The 85 Volunteers and Volunteer-trainees currently serving in Georgia are working in English language education, business and social entrepreneurship programs.

Here's a Peace Corps blog reporting on the situation in Georgia:

• B&C Go to Georgia

And here are some news stories related to the situation:

• Arroyo High grad near war zone airlifted to safety
  
• CU Alums in Peace Corps Unscathed
• Teacher Escapes Georgia Fighting
• Locals Caught in Georgia Crossfire
• City Man Fears for Kin in War Zone

Peace Corps in the Democratic Party Platform

The Washington Post political blog, The Trail, has announced that a draft of the 2008 Democratic Party Platform was distributed to platform committee members yesterday. 

Among the points:  "a call for more service, through an expanded AmeriCorps and Peace Corps, and a whole lot of hope."

You can read the blog entry here.

Update: Peace Corps, HIV and the Jeremiah Johnson Case

Back in May we posted about the case of Jeremiah Johnson, a Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine who tested positive for HIV and as a result was medically separated from Peace Corps service.  The case came to the attention of the Washington Post, the ACLU and Congress, among other parties, and generated a lot of interest. You can read that post, with relevant background links, here.

Well yesterday I received an update from Michael Learned, who leads the group Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual &  Transgender U.S. Peace Corps Alumni.  He's posted on the group's website an overview of what's happened in the intervening months and where things currently stand with Peace Corps and HIV positive volunteers.  You can read it here.  In addition, he highlights an interview of Johnson in POZ magazine.

In the July/August  2008 POZ Magazine, Jeremiah Johnson tells his story to reporter/writer Bob Ickes. It’s a terrific piece and we hear the story from Johnson’s point of view. I encourage you all to read it.

I’d like to  highlight a few key points from the POZ article:   

• Johnson is gay and his acquisition of HIV was because of one unsafe-sex encounter.  I admire his honesty. He’s a brave man.
• He found everyone he dealt with at Peace Corps sympathetic and helpful. He says some of the things said about Peace Corps in earlier press stories were untrue.
• Peace Corps (through the Department of Labor) has offered him free HIV care for the rest of his life, since his contracting HIV was ruled a consequence of having worked in a high-risk environment.
• Johnson has not asked to be reinstated in Peace Corps.   

National Peace Corps Association Announces Awards for Member Groups

We are very pleased to announce the winners for the 2008 NPCA Awards for member groups.  With so many high quality submissions this year, our reviewers had quite a challenge in picking the top groups for each award.  Thank you to all nominees for your outstanding work. 

And the winners are….

Loret Miller Ruppe Award for Outstanding Community Service

• Friends of Malaysia and their “Wizard of the World” project

NPCA Print Media Awards

• First place:   Amigos de Bolivia y Peru
• Second place:  Friends of Nigeria
• Third place:  Central Missouri RPCVs
• Fourth place:  San Diego Peace Corps Association

NPCA Electronic Media Awards

• First place:  Heart of Texas Peace Corps Association
• Second place:  Minnesota RPCVs
• Third place:  San Diego Peace Corps Association
• Fourth place:  Friends of Kyrgyzstan

Thank you to all groups who submitted materials for consideration for these awards!  To learn more about the awards and to link to the winning materials, visit the NPCA website. 

Congratulations!