The Peace Corps

  First Run Features presents A TOWERING TASK The Story of the Peace Corps Virtual Theatrical Release Begins May 22 First Run Features is pleased to announce that A Towering Task: The Story of the Peace Corps will have virtual theatrical runs across the U.S. beginning May 22, 2020. After sold-out screenings at the Kennedy Center and the Denver Film Festival, numerous community screenings from Alaska to Washington, DC to Hawaii and Florida, not to mention international screenings in Colombia and Afghanistan, the film will finally be available to American cinema-goers…albeit via streaming. Directed by Alana DeJoseph and narrated by Annette Bening, the documentary features indelible interviews of current and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, current and former staff, scholars and journalists, community members and leaders around the world (including Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf). Remarkable archival materials and stunning footage from around the globe by cinematographer Vanessa Carr bring to life an agency that . . .

Now, more than ever, Peace Corps needs to be kept in the public eye. RPCV Alana de Joseph, Producer of the Peace Corps Documentary, A Towering Task,  has a request. “RPCVs and friends of the Peace Corps can now approach their local movie theaters to virtually screen A Towering Task. Here is the link that can be sent to movie theaters: https://firstrunfeatures.activehosted.com/index.php?action=social&chash=5f2c22cb4a5380af7ca75622a6426917.912&s=f7dd23ab00b1845d65665ab7eef54a0a It’s a great way to support a local business and at the same time get the story out about the Peace Corps.”

Peace Corps Volunteers Can Get Unemployment Benefits, Officials Say New York Times By Mariel Padilla Published April 28, 2020 Updated April 29, 2020,  In previous years, returned volunteers were not eligible for unemployment benefits, but they will now be covered by the coronavirus relief plan. A mother welcoming her daughter home after she served one year with the Peace Corps and finished a two-week quarantine.Credit…Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press Peace Corps volunteers and other national service participants who lost their positions during the coronavirus pandemic will now be eligible for unemployment benefits as part of the $2 trillion economic relief plan, according to guidance released by the Department of Labor this week. In previous years, people returning from serving with the Peace Corps were not eligible for regular unemployment benefits because the Department of Labor considered them volunteers who were not in a legal employee-employer relationship. But the pandemic has caused the Peace Corps to temporarily suspend . . .

  What about The Death of Idealism by John Coyne (Ethiopia 1962-64) • Meghan Kallman did do some research. Of the 240,000 + PCVs & RPCVs she managed to get 140 Vols to interview. She also sent a questionnaire to approximately 2,000 RPCVs. So, she had information on the Peace Corps from 1/2% of 1% of all PCVs over the last 59 years. That done, and the few books she listed as having read, plus, I’m sure, her brief touring of three third world countries, visiting PCVs and Peace Corps Staff made her, she believed, qualified to write a book about the Peace Corps published by a major university press. Good for you, Meghan! She did quote one of the architects of the agency, Harris Wofford . . . once. She also quoted Shriver . . .once. No one else among the founders who created the agency in 30 days . . .

    Meghan Elizabeth Kallman is a graduate of Smith College with an MA from the University of Chicago, and a Ph.D. from Brown. She lives in Pawtucket, RI where she is on the City Council, and where she lives with her husband Tim. (Neither of them were PCVs.) She is also an assistant professor at the School for Global Inclusion and Social Development at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. The Death of Idealism: Development and Anti-Politics in the Peace Corps is Meghan’s second academic book. It was published this April by Columbia University Press in New York. In her acknowledgment, she writes, “I deeply, deeply appreciate the many Peace Corps volunteers and staff who permitted me to sit in, take notes, observe, pry, and explore their experiences and their gatherings. In giving me access, you gave me a gift.” In her book, Meghan mentions that she visited three . . .

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Dale Gilles (Liberia 1964-67)     When Life Felt Normal: Your Pre-Pandemic Peace Corps Moments New York Times, 4/25/2020 Readers share memories, images and videos from before the coronavirus became a pandemic, and reflect on what they mean now. . An early return home Isabella Black Reston, VAI   After my evacuation and termination from the Peace Corps, I feel for what could have been. We prepared for two years of service in Senegal, but we got only a moment of our host families, the language, the service, and the country. We had just begun training on how we could help to facilitate community economic development when we received word we had to go home. We had the chance to meet community leaders, families, and facilitators who were so eager for our continued service in the country. To return home so early from what I . . .

    Peter James Caws never worked at the Peace Corps but he was an important person to help the agency in its early days. Late in 1962, when Pat Kennedy, first director of the Division of Volunteer Support (DVS),  began to think about how to support Volunteers when they were completing the service. Pat wanted to create a Career Information Service, but the new agency did not have money to establish such an office. Pat decided to look outside the government for funding. At the time Peter Caws, a British citizen, was at the Carnegie Corporation in New York. Pat went to meet Caws, who had his Ph.D. in philosophy from Yale and was an officer at the corporation. Caws liked Kennedy’s idea for helping returning Volunteers, knowing that many RPCVs would be entering graduate studies. Caws convinced Carnegie to give the agency $100,000 to establish the Career Center . . .

  The advocacy efforts of  the NPCA and the RPCV Community on behalf of the evacuated Volunteers have been successful. https://www.peacecorps.gov/news/library/peace-corps-announces-wellness-stipend-evacuated-volunteers/?fbclid=IwAR1cXq7iOjaLIOqonbXs1MmWJecopuw6AI6SxWXyR1u_cWo81aw_QEXkY6s April 22, 2020 WASHINGTON – Peace Corps Director Jody Olsen announced the agency will provide additional financial support to the 7,000 volunteers and trainees who were evacuated from their posts last month due to the COVID-19 outbreak. “Our volunteers returned to the United States during a very challenging time, so I am pleased to announce this $1,500 wellness stipend,” said Director Olsen. “We are able to provide this one-time stipend thanks to the strong support of the Administration and Congress, which recently authorized a supplemental appropriation for the Peace Corps to cover costs associated with the evacuations and post-service benefits for volunteers.” The new stipend is intended to help returned volunteers and trainees cover near-term health and wellness costs. These funds will be provided in addition to the evacuation . . .

  Noah’s Ark The Event by Don Dirnberger (Antiqua 1977-79) Self-published/Amazon 88 pages April 2020 $0 (kindle); $29.99 (paperback)   Noah’s Ark The Event is about The Wobble and the aftermath upon the marble we call Earth. This book is sci-fi with a basis in reality. The events which have been occurring around us gave me a pause to consider the possibility of life on the planet after the predicted happened. It has long been stated in many civilizations and with scientific evidence that The Wobble is a real event. We are past due for it to occur. The book is a simple explanation of what might happen given the likelihood of history repeating itself. That repeat may have caused the extinction during the eons of the life cycle of the planet. Read with the open mind that should it occur we will either perish or survive based on our . . .

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Dale Gilles (Liberia 1964-67)       Click for  The latest on developments about the U.S. Peace Corps and COVID-19 global evacuation  By Robert Nolan with Greg Emerson, and Maricarmen Smith-Martinez at Flipboard.com.  

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Dale Gilles (Liberia 1964-67)     Pelosi appoints Rep. Donna Shalala to coronavirus oversight panel BY TAL AXELROD – 04/18/20    Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) tapped Florida Rep. Donna Shalala (D) (Iran 1962-64) to serve on the five-member congressional commission overseeing the Trump administration’s implementation of the latest $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package. Shalala was elected to her seat in the Democratic wave in 2018, but before that served as Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary under President Clinton, experience Pelosi said made her well-suited to serve on the commission. “Congresswoman Donna Shalala is a deeply respected and highly accomplished leader in the Congress and country, who has for decades led the fight to defend the health and economic security of the American people at the highest levels of government,” Pelosi said in a statement Friday night. “Her leadership as Secretary of Health and Human Services will serve . . .

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Marnie Mueller (Ecuador 1963-65)     Peace Corps faces uncertain future with no Volunteers in field BY REBECCA BEITSCH – 04/16/20 06:00 AM EDT 36   The Peace Corps has found itself in uncharted territory after evacuating all 7,300 of its volunteers worldwide due to the coronavirus pandemic. The agency, which places volunteers in more than 60 countries, has never before evacuated its entire volunteer roster, leaving questions about what lies ahead for evacuees and how the Peace Corps plans to rebuild once the outbreak subsides. Volunteers, who typically spend two to three years living and working in impoverished communities, had in some cases just a day’s notice to evacuate aafter Peace Corps made the move official last month. “When someone tells you you have one day to pack up three years of your life into two suitcases, it’s just so overwhelming but also so emotionally draining you . . .

  ERPCVs! — USAID opportunities US Agency for International Development (USAID) Human Capital and Talent Management (HCTM) has released a batch announcement for positions specifically for RPCVs to use their non-competitive eligibility. Please share far and wide among your networks! Exclusive Advertisement for Peace Corps Eligibles Great opportunities for those evacuated Volunteers to consider. International Cooperation Specialist (GS-0136-13) As an International Cooperation Specialist, you are the key communication link and liaison between the headquarters Bureaus and the Mission(s) in areas such as strategic planning and budget preparation, and program reviews. You will represent your selected Bureau’s interests to senior-level and other host-government officials, as well as representatives of local private sector and non-government organization (NGO) entities. Democracy Specialist (GS-0301-13) As a Democracy Specialist, you will serve as a technical expert on democracy, human rights, and governance (DRG); provide technical DRG advice and support to Missions overseas; formulate policy and programming guidance . . .

  By Amy Lieberman  14 April 2020   One month after COVID-19 prompted the Peace Corps to temporarily halt operations, former and prospective volunteers are wondering how the organization can regain its footing. Funding challenges could continue to complicate a return to normal, even once international travel and nonessential work resume, they said. “A lot of us, when we saw the news of the worldwide evacuation, we immediately worried about the long-term survival of the Peace Corps. Peace Corps is one of those programs of soft diplomacy, based on partnership and the belief that development rises the tide and that rising tide helps communities empower themselves,” said Greg Emerson, a member of the New York City Peace Corps Association board and a former volunteer in Morocco and Peru. “It seems a likely target for the current administration to further punish the people in government or the programs favored by Democratic voters. That said, who knows? . . .

  From Mid Hudson News April 10, 2020 Hudson Valley resident and four-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee David Taylor Ives (Costa Rica 1980-82) has announced that his new memoir, American Dreamer is available for purchase. The book captures memories of Ives’s experiences of a Peace Corps volunteer – the time spent working in schools and community gardens in impoverished parts of the world, and how the opportunity paved the way to Ives becoming a global humanitarian. Since the early days in the Peace Corps, the author has worked with leaders like President Jimmy Carter and the Dalai Lama, served as the senior advisor to the Permanent Secretariat of the Summits of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, and become well-known for his speeches about humanitarian issues, which he delivers as to generate interest in the world peace initiatives with which he’s involved throughout the world. According to Ives, “American Dreamer gave me . . .