The Peace Corps

  WASHINGTON – In a ceremony at the United States Institute of Peace, Peace Corps Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Carol Spahn presented the John F. Kennedy (JFK) Service Awards to five exceptional Peace Corps staff and returned volunteers. The award, presented every five years, commemorates President Kennedy’s vision, leadership, and commitment to public service by recognizing members of the Peace Corps network who embody the spirit of service and help advance world peace and friendship. The event was attended by former Peace Corps directors, staff, members of the Peace Corps network, and returned volunteers. “Peace Corps was built on the premise that peace is not the exclusive mandate of politicians and world leaders,” said Spahn. “It requires each and every one of us, day in and day out, deeply connecting as individuals to people and nations around the world and contributing our unique cultures, identities, skills and passions.” The awards were . . .

Answering Kennedy’s Call   Building Community Answering Kennedy’s Call, Harlan Green’s memoir of his years working to build successful communities at home and abroad, shows what is possible when communities come together to improve their lives.  He describes his work as a Peace Corps Volunteer in a rural community development program in a Turkish village, teaching vocational skills and convincing the villagers to develop new agricultural methods.  Green also worked as a photographer and filmmaker for the USEPA in its earliest days lobbying communities to implement the Clean Air and Water Acts that were enacted to mitigate the growing air and water pollution. He joined Cesar Chavez and the United Farmworkers of America during its mid-1970s struggle organizing seasonal farm workers to better their living conditions; documenting the grape and lettuce boycotts, and Cesar’s charismatic leadership using non-violent methods to fight violent opposition by growers and the Teamsters Union. He . . .

Encounters with Marvelous Creatures   In encounters with an array of creatures, from both domesticated and wild animals inhabiting my Louisiana backyard to denizens of the Amazon  I present these stories to illuminate our inseparability from the life around us by capturing peak moments in the natural world. These experiences are chronicled in the context of my day-to-day life and relationships, from childhood to retirement, highlighting a few unique glimpses of animal lives as they have intersected with mine. I have been investigating my natural surroundings as long as I can remember, wherever my life and travels have taken me. From earthworms to egrets and from Indianapolis neighborhoods to the Amazon rainforest, I have paid careful attention to the creatures crossing my path, doing my best to respect each life and place as I do my own. Imagine a bee sting that results in a 4-day flu; wondering how to . . .

  West Wing Playbook has learned that former Secretary of Transportation ELAINE CHAO is set to join the board of the Smithsonian’s Asian Pacific American Center. APAC is the institution’s emerging hub for learning and study of Asian Americans, and Ms. Chao would likely help shape the future of the national museum.  

  The World Against Her Skin: A Son’s Novel By John Thorndike (El Salvador 1967-68) Beck & Branch Publishers 306 Pages April 2022 $15.00 (Paperback); $4.99 (Kindle)   Reviewed by Marnie Mueller (Ecuador 1963-65) The World Against her Skin is an extraordinary work, written by a mature, highly published author. John Thorndike defines his book as a “Son’s Novel,” a hybrid memoir/novel or “biographical novel.” It is his endeavor to know his mother, as he openly states in his “Author’s Note, “I want to know everything about my mother,” especially the secrets that were kept from him as her son. He inhabits this woman character in order to know her. His are the height of literary goals; find truth through your imagination, cross boundaries through sympathy and empathy, and do it because you need to for survival. It beautifully flies in the face of current stricture to only write what . . .

Sexism is harming the Peace Corps Community. Let’s change that.  An Open Letter to the Peace Corps Community Dear Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, Peace Corps family and friends, Peace Corps Allies, Elected Officials, and Peace Corps Agency Staff, We are writing to you as former NPCA staff who want change. A strong Peace Corps is built on a strong Peace Corps Community. However, our opinion is that sexism and gender-based violence, including violence against women, is a culture and problem in the Peace Corps, as victims of sexual assault during Peace Corps service made publicly aware. However, sexism and gender-based violence, especially violence against women also permeate the Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) community and the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA). NPCA – the organization that represents 230,000 RPCVs and advocates to Congress in support of Peace Corps – enables sexism through its actions with the Peace Corps community, internally . . .

Gary Schulze says: June 21, 2022 at 1:49 pmEDIT As a member of the selection committee that originally picked Glenn to be President of NPCA, I was shocked to learn that the current Board has dismissed him as head of the organization. When Glenn took over the organization it was in financial trouble and had lost the respect of many RPCVs. Glenn rebuilt NPCA, recruited competent staff and gained the respect of the Peace Corps Directors and their staffs. He made a point of visiting regional RPCV groups to gain support for NPCA programs. As a former member of the Board I was personally aware of his many invaluable contributions. Why was he fired in a message which suggested a coup d’etat? And it raises questions about the guy who engineered Glenn’s termination and then made himself Interim President. Until the current Board comes up with a satisfactory explanation I will . . .

SIN CARRO by Bonnie Lee Black (Gabon 1996-98) JUNE 16, 2022 Ask any Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) what the biggest, longest-lasting personal benefit of their two-year service overseas has been, and my guess is most will answer in one word: adaptability. Spin RPCVs around, toss them in the air high enough to drop them into another country, and they’ll likely, like cats, land on their feet and adapt to that new culture in record time. Why? Because we’ve learned how. We learned how, I believe, early in our PC service, to let go of American expectations of what’s “normal.” That word quickly flies out the door of our cement-block houses or mud-and-wattle huts in towns and villages seldom shown on printed maps. “Normal” becomes a nonword, meaningless as a measure. My favorite example of this comes from my experience in the middle of the rainforest of Gabon, Central Africa, . . .

Dick’s husband, Joe Wheaton, and Dick’s two children–Sydney and Zachary–when married to RPCV Hedy Harris (Ethiopia 1964-67), held a memorial on June 19th, to celebrate the life of our RPCV legend. There was music, a pictorial romp, snacks and beverages, all under a tent on the lawn of Dick and Joe’s home in Becket, Massachusetts. A number of his friends were also asked to speak, and Joe asked me if I would say a few words about Dick’s Peace Corps years. It was surprising to me how many of his family, children and relatives, mentioned his Ethiopian years and when I stood up to address the gathering of about 200 friends and family, I was able to fill in some of the history of his life in Ethiopia as a PCV and later as Peace Corps staff in Washington, D.C.. Here is what I said, Sunday afternoon, on Father’s Day, . . .

Today, we begin a new chapter at NPCA. The Board of Directors announces the departure of NPCA President and CEO, Glenn Blumhorst. We are grateful for Mr. Blumhorst’s years of leadership and dedication to the Peace Corps through service, advocacy, and support, and wish him well in his future endeavors. Kim Herman has been appointed as Interim President and CEO with full authority while an Executive search is conducted for NPCA’s next leader. Jed Meline, former Vice Chair of the Board, is serving as Interim Board Chair. New comment in discussion NPCA Leadership Transition Announcement Comment: As Co-Founder and (forever) Member of NPCA, RPCV/W (formerly AAAGWA), Friends of Nigeria, and Shriver Circle, plus current member of them + NorCal PCA, I am familiar with allegations against Glenn Blumhorst and–based on my personal interactions with some involved–I am quite saddened to learn that Glenn has become the victim of the Board’s dismissal. And for this to . . .

Peace Corps Dominican Republic is currently the only Peace Corps program with a program focused on Spanish literacy. Spanish Primary School Literacy Promoter Volunteers provide critical support to enhance Spanish literacy rates within the Dominican education system. Volunteers work in Spanish to support childhood literacy in the native language of the Dominican Republic. By strengthening childhood literacy programs, Volunteers strive to decrease the number of children who are over-age for their grade, repeat grades, or who drop out of school. The work of Volunteers and their Dominican counterparts helps to lay a foundation for students’ lifelong learning and supports communities’ development priorities through access to quality education, effective reading and writing skills. Continue reading HERE.

  Bill Josephson, who was the General Counsel at the agency,  sent me this email to correct some of the information I had included in my blogs about the establishment of the Peace Corps. When the Kennedy administration took over the White House in 1961, Josephson was at the International Cooperation Administration, an agency within the Department of State that had principal responsibility for foreign aid programs under the Mutual Security Acts of the 1950s. He had joined the ICA’s General Counsel’s office in the Fall of 1959 as Far East Regional Counsel. About the same time, Warren W. Wiggins, a career ICA economist (all but thesis from the Harvard Economics Department) became the Deputy Director of Far East Regional Programs. Wiggins had served in Norway, the Philippines and Bolivia in the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s. Josephson and Wiggins bonded. Having been bombarded by the New Frontiersmen with . . .

Tuesday, June 14 House Foreign Affairs — 10 a.m. — 2172 Rayburn International Development budget State Department officials will testify on the fiscal 2023 budget request for the Peace Corps and U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.    

Published May 18, 2022 Chief Executive Officer’s Message   On March 15, 2022, two years after the Peace Corps’ first-ever global evacuation, our first group of Volunteers returned to service in Zambia! Since then, Volunteers and Trainees have arrived in nine countries and many more will depart for their countries of service in the coming months. This long-awaited return is about connecting across difference. It is also about taking action in the spirit of humble partnership and in the face of incredibly challenging and uncertain times. Over the past two years, we have seen staff, returned Peace Corps Volunteers, counterparts, and host families step up in so many remarkable ways to support each other, their communities, and their countries. The care and concern displayed by the Peace Corps network has so clearly demonstrated that the Peace Corps is much more than a service organization. It represents a lifetime of connection and solidarity. The . . .