Archive - December 2014

1
Will the Millennials Join the Peace Corps?
2
Update on the effort to bring the murderer (s) of Kate Puzey to Justice
3
Dan Krell (Malawi 1966-68) Writes: Who's Your Editor?
4
James Beebe (Philippines 1968–73) publishes THOSE WERE THE DAYS
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Neil Boyer's (Ethiopia 1962-64) Christmas Letter Home
6
Call for Submissions: Cahaba River Literary Journal
7
A Christmas Message from the JKF Library
8
RPCV Brian Cummins (Dominican Republic 1990-92) Working For Justice in Cleveland
9
Peace Corps Equity Act Language included in Budget Bill
10
Millennial RPCVs Unable to Find Work in Washington
11
Posh Corps Shorts
12
The Peace Corps Ranks Third in Best Places to Work in the Federal Government
13
Remembering U.S. Open Champion Johnny McDermott
14
Another Obit on Kent Haruf (Turkey 1965-67)
15
Mark Jacobs (Paraguay 1978-80) publishes a new story in Superstition Review

Will the Millennials Join the Peace Corps?

The Associated Press reports that in a new survey young kids are more serious about giving back than their parents were (that means you!). In fact, those under age 30 now are more likely to say citizens have a “very important obligation” to volunteer, an Associated Press poll finds. The embrace of volunteering is striking because young people’s commitment to other civic duties – such as voting, serving on a jury and staying informed – has dropped sharply from their parents’ generation and is lower than that of Americans overall. Among six civic activities in the AP poll, volunteering is the only one that adults under 30 rated as highly as older people did. Today’s young adults grew up amid nudges from a volunteering infrastructure that has grown exponentially since their parents’ day, when the message typically came through churches or scouting. In the decades since President George H.W. Bush . . .

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Update on the effort to bring the murderer (s) of Kate Puzey to Justice

Kate Puzey was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Benin who was found brutally murdered in her village, in March 2009.  It has been alleged that she was murdered because she complained to her Peace Corps Director that a teacher, associated with the Peace Corps, had been sexually exploiting his students.That person as well as his brother are among suspects who have been in prison for five years in Benin, but there is not sufficient evidence to bring any one to trial. In March of 2014, Congress wrote to the F.B.I., the State Department, and the Inspector General of the Peace Corps requesting greater collaboration among the three in solving the case.To read John Coyne’s review of this request and the history of Kate Puzey, here is the link: https://peacecorpsworldwide.org/congress-2/ Here is the link: to read the Congressional request: http://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/2014_Puzey_Investigation_DearColleague.pdf In that letter, there is reference to the collaboration between the three Agencies . . .

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Dan Krell (Malawi 1966-68) Writes: Who's Your Editor?

Dan Krell (Malawi 1966-68) was stationed in Nsanje in a tuberculosis control program. As he wrote me recently, ” I’ve not kept up with things in Malawi as well as I would have liked, but I recently retired; life is not getting in the way as much as it had been over the last 1/2-century, so I’m looking forward to doing better.” He began by reading a recently self-publishing novel about Malawi written by an RPCV and while he had some good things to say about the book, he raised a concern we all have about books by RPCVs. I thought we all could learn from his words. So, further authors pays attention to what he has to say and have your book well edited before publication. Here’s what Dan wrote me. I just finished reading a self-published, fictional book, describing Peace Corps involvement in Malawi, shortly after independence. Granting . . .

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James Beebe (Philippines 1968–73) publishes THOSE WERE THE DAYS

Those Were the Days, published by Peace Corps Writers, is a series of vignettes of significant, often funny, and sometimes quite serious events, from James Beebe’s Peace Corps experience in the Philippine from October 1968 to May 1973. During that time he was profoundly changed by the joy of life and economic inequality he discovered. As a Volunteer he helped introduce a new activity-based approach to science teaching, learned the truth of the children’s rhyme that “Planting Rice is No Fun,” and taught part-time at a college. For him life included buying a one-of-a-kind mosquito net, being offered a love potion, witnessing funeral processions of poor babies, celebrating holidays, and being attacked by dogs after eating dog meat. The cloud of the Vietnam War also had a significant impact on James. But his most life-changing event almost didn’t happen when Maria, the “matchmaker’s” intended choice for James, accused the Peace . . .

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Neil Boyer's (Ethiopia 1962-64) Christmas Letter Home

What parents, siblings, and friends loved most about our Peace Corps experience were our letters home. Of course, today, there is little need for such letters, given cell phones and the Internet, but in the first years of the agency, letters home (and received) were treasured by all of us. Recently Neil Boyer (Ethiopia 1962-64) sent me an email about his first Christmas letter home. Neil wrote: “My cousin Barbara Duhamel recently supplied me with some of her archives, and they included the holiday letter that I sent from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in December 1962 — the first of many letters.  From the distance of 52 years, some of the contents of this letter seem a little exaggerated and perhaps overly optimistic, but it’s pretty clear I was enjoying my introduction to the Peace Corps.” I asked Neil if I might reproduce the letter for others to share and enjoy. . . .

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Call for Submissions: Cahaba River Literary Journal

Call for submissions Cahaba River Literary Journal Published Bi-monthly (every 2 months) Debuts April 2015 Essays, Fiction, Poetry & BW Photography Subscription: $35 year for 6 issues Call for submissions: We work with new and seasoned writers. We need stories, poems, essays, and BW photography on all subjects, in any form. Editor’s Tips: “Present to me your best works: I want to laugh, cry, be sad, get angry at the story or poem of just have fun sharing it with our readers. I want ‘awe’ when I seen your photos!” Length of stories: no more than 2500 words; poetry no more than 25 lines (only submit 3 poems at one time); BW photos (no more than 5 photos with a short story (no more than 150 words to accompany it as a caption). Pays in copies. EMAIL SUBMISSIONS ONLY. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS MARCH 20th, 2015. Cahaba River Literary Journal 2413 Bethel Rd. Logansport, LA 71049 USA 318-564-6031 Email: marcies04@yahoo.com https://www.facebook.com/groups/1505827313012865/ . . .

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A Christmas Message from the JKF Library

The JFK Library has issued a special  Christmas letter that President Kennedy wrote to a little girl who was concerned about the safety of Santa Claus!  Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q7HJSMsq20 In President Kennedy’s last year in office, he successfully negotiated a limited test ban treaty with the Soviet Union.  From the Department of State:  Here is the link: http://www.state.gov/t/isn/4797.htm Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water BUREAU OF ARMS CONTROL, VERIFICATION, AND COMPLIANCE Signed at Moscow August 5, 1963 Entered into force October 10, 1963 On a personal note, if I may, this was a special Christmas surprise for me.  October 10, 1963 was the day I became a Peace Corps Volunteer.

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RPCV Brian Cummins (Dominican Republic 1990-92) Working For Justice in Cleveland

Brian Cummins (Dominican Republic 1990-92) served in a small business program as a PCV.  After stints as a trainer for a DR program in ’93 and a Latvia program later that year he was hired as Admin. Officer (AO) for the Russian Far East (1994-97), then transferred to Moldova (1997-90) as AO.  He is currently on the Cleveland City Council.  He and his RPCV wife, Gayle have two daughters. Ken Hill, Country Director in the Russian Far East (1994-96) recalls that Brian’s work at the challenging RFE post was “extraordinary and impressive, resulting in major improvements to post operations and volunteer support”. Ward 14 Councilman Brian Cummins was re-elected to Cleveland City Council for a thrid term in 2013 and represents the communities of Clark Fulton, Stockyard, and portions of Brooklyn Centre, Tremont and West Boulevard neighborhoods. Councilman Cummins previously represented the community of Brooklyn Centre and parts of Old . . .

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Peace Corps Equity Act Language included in Budget Bill

Jonathan Pearson, Advocate for the National Peace Corps Association,  is reporting: “Tuesday night, as President Obama signed a $1.1 trillion appropriations bill to fund most of the federal government for the remainder of the current fiscal year, one very small component of the bill means fairer treatment for female Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs). Included in the Peace Corps section of the 1,600 page spending package is corrective language that will implement the provisions of the Peace Corps Equity Act (S. 2291; H.R. 4578). The legislation was designed to support PCVs the same as others serving our nation overseas, should a Volunteer seek to terminate a pregnancy in the rare instances of rape, incest or life endangerment.” Here is the link to read his entire article: http://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/2014/12/peace-corps-equity-victory/ Why is this important? The Hyde Amendment passed in the 70s stipulated that no federal funding could be used for abortion services except in . . .

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Millennial RPCVs Unable to Find Work in Washington

This news article appeared today in the Washington Post. Results are not surprising as even the Peace Corps doesn’t recruit RPCVs to work at HQ. The article cites two RPCVs from Ghana, Cheri Baker and Anthony Cotton, both highly skilled and laden with degrees plus their Peace Corps service, both having given up and/or working part-time to find a federal job. ……Ask not what your government can do for you…. Millennials exit the federal workforce as government jobs lose their allure By Lisa Rein December 15 at 9:30 PM Six years after candidate Barack Obama vowed to make working for government “cool again,” federal hiring of young people is instead tailing off and many millennials are heading for the door. The share of the federal workforce under the age of 30 dropped to 7 percent this year, the lowest figure in nearly a decade, government figures show. With agencies starved for . . .

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Posh Corps Shorts

Alan Toth (South Africa 2010-12) started Posh Corps Shorts as a companion series for his feature film Posh Corps. He was inspired to create the companion series based on his conversations with RPCVs from countries like Morocco and Cambodia. Despite the fact that they did not serve in South Africa, Alan said, “they understood immediately that the film was intended to demonstrate that the availability of first-world amenities does not make Peace Corps service posh. I wanted to help these fellow posh corps volunteers tell their stories.” Posh Corps Shorts was also an opportunity for Alan to achieve, in some degree, his original vision for Posh Corps. When he first started pre-production for the film he was finishing up his Peace Corps service. His vision for the film was to interview Volunteers in posh corps countries around the world. He even traveled to Cambodia for his COS trip to research the . . .

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The Peace Corps Ranks Third in Best Places to Work in the Federal Government

TO:                  Peace Corps Global FROM:            Carrie Hessler-Radelet, Director SUBJECT:      Peace Corps Ranks Third in Best Places to Work in the Federal Government I’m thrilled to share with you that the results of the annual survey of 2014 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government are in. The Peace Corps is ranked third among 30 small agencies-up from fourth place last year. Our employee satisfaction and commitment score is 82.8 out of 100, placing the Peace Corps in the very top of all small agencies. This is the fifth year in a row that the Peace Corps ranked in the top five agencies and we’ve only been participating for five years. Our employee satisfaction and commitment score improved by 4.6 points since last year. The government-wide satisfaction and commitment score is 56.9, down 0.9 points from last year. That places our 2014 score 25.9 points higher than the government-wide score. . . .

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Remembering U.S. Open Champion Johnny McDermott

FOLLOWING HIS TWO U.S. OPEN WINS, Johnny McDermott, our first “homebred” U. S. Open winner, entered the 1914 British Open, but because of travel delays he arrived too late to tee off. Returning home to the States his ship, the Kaiser Wilhelm II, collided with an English ship and sank. He drifted in a lifeboat in the middle of the Atlantic for over 24 hours before being rescued. When he did reach America, he learned he had been wiped out financially because of bad Wall Street investments and needed to take a job as the golf pro at the Atlantic City Country Club. He was then 23 years old and he quit playing tournament golf. Within a few years players couldn’t even recall his name or what he had won. Still a young man, McDermott began to suffer mental breakdowns and his family had him committed to the Norristown Hospital . . .

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Another Obit on Kent Haruf (Turkey 1965-67)

Kent Haruf dies at 71; novelist illuminated small-town life By Elaine Wood Los Angeles Times Kent Haruf, who found acclaim in midlife with a trilogy of sparely written novels, including the 1999 bestseller “Plainsong” that illuminated the rhythms and dramas of small-town life in America’s High Plains, died Sunday in Salida, Colo. He was 71 and had cancer, according to a spokesman for his publisher, Knopf Doubleday. Haruf (pronounced like sheriff) rooted his novels in the fictional small town of Holt, a composite of the three Colorado towns where he grew up. His creation inspired him in the same way that the apocryphal Yoknapatawpha County served one of his idols, William Faulkner. Haruf “has learned from Faulkner the wisdom of knowing something very well, of being at home there, that the more something is specific, the more it is universal,” novelist Richard Russo told the New York Times after “Plainsong” . . .

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Mark Jacobs (Paraguay 1978-80) publishes a new story in Superstition Review

Mark Jacobs (Paraguay 1978-80) is the winner of the Peace Corps Writers Maria Thomas Award for his novel Stone Cowboy. A former Foreign Service officer, he has published more than 100 stories in magazines including The Atlantic, The Southern Humanities Review, The Idaho Review, The Southern Review, and The Kenyon Review. His story How Birds Communicate won The Iowa Review fiction prize. In March 2015 Playboy magazine will publish  “The Bull You See, The Bull You Don’t.” Set in Madrid, it is the story of a young American woman breaking free of her deadbeat husband. This story, “A Lonely Man Talks to His Pig” was recently published at the online publication Superstition Review. • A Lonely Man Talks to His Pig The property was happily situated, wandering downhill to the raggedy terminus of a gravel road the county would not soon get around to paving. Thanks to a screen of ancestral . . .

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