November 29, 2015 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Review — PEACE CORPS FANTASIES by Molly Geidel

Nov 29 2015

PEACE CORPS FANTASIES: How Development Shaped the Global Sixties by Molly Geidel University of Minnesota Press, $30.00 320 pages 2015 Reviewed by Mary-Ann Tirone Smith (Cameroon 1965-67) Please note the subtitle, herein: How Development Shaped the Global Sixties. This book is not a saga of the Peace Corps, but rather the conception and incubation of a plan to offer opportunities where none were available christened, “community development” (a fairly lame term I always thought). It is centered in the 1950s, an era that began in1950 but lasted till around1964, when men were men and women were having nervous breakdowns (treated with submersion in ice water, electric shock and lobotomies). Then 1965, accompanied by the Titan II rocket usher, broke open portal, and suddenly, Cassius Clay is Muhammed Ali; the Second Vatican Council turns altars around; Gloria Steinem dons a bunny suit to give an insider’s account of the casual acceptance . . .

CBS This Morning Set to "Hammer" the Peace Corps

Nov 29 2015

The agency was notified this last Wednesday afternoon about an upcoming broadcast tomorrow morning on CBS This Morning sometime between 7 am and 9 am EST. The topic is sexual assaults on PCVs. The general feeling within in the agency–based on questions asked–is that the segment will focus on what has gone wrong overseas and CBS will not balance its reporting with the positive changed that have taken place for women since the Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act of 2011 took effect. The reporting will also focus on the failures of some CDs in country to protect their Volunteers. Whether the CBS Morning segment will have the ‘staying power’ of the 20/20 report remains to be seen. For a good overview of how the agency is doing read the Peace Corps Performance and Accountability Report FY2015. It has just been published. The link:http://files.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/pdf/policies/annrept2015.pdf Meanwhile, applications to join the Peace Corps are at . . .

Sexual Assault Issues with Peace Corps to be aired on CBS This Morning

Nov 29 2015

Health Justice for Volunteers Founder, Nancy Tongue send out this notice: “The journalist who has been working on the sexual assault issues has notified us that her piece is going live on Monday on CBS This Morning, the national broadcast, sometime between 7 and 9am ET on Monday.” From the information that Nancy Tongue mailed, my understanding is that the focus will be on Peace Corps’s implementation of The Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act of 2011. For a good overview, read the Peace Corps Performance and Accountability Report FY2015. It has just been published. Here is the link: http://files.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/pdf/policies/annrept2015.pdf The last section is by the is the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The OIG reviews its previous recommendations to Peace Corps management and the current status of those recommendations. One ongoing concern of the OIG has been the training of overseas staff, particularly in regard to the law and sexual . . .

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