Archive - August 2012

The European Science Foundation and the Linkoping University are organising a Research Conference on: In search of Peace: Dialogues between theories and practices. It will take place on 20 – 24 October at the Norrköping, Sweden  The deadline is extended to 22 September, and several grants are available for young researchers and scholars. European Science Foundation Conference In search of Peace: Dialogues between theories and practices 20 – 24 October 2012 The search for peace is longstanding. And yet, the concept remains elusive. Most probably the reason is simple, namely that peace is never fully achieved, it is not an end-point, but rather a constant process of negotiation among different actors regarding the terms of their relationships in a myriad of different arenas. In this conference the aim is to investigate peace as a process and the various forms in which it has been conceptually framed and empirically practiced. In . . .

On June 27, 2012 Milford CT resident Jesse Osmun, 32, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing four girls while a PCV in South Africa. Steps are now being taken to set up a restitution fund for girls sexually abused by Osmun while he was in the Peace Corps. $10,000 has been provided by Osmun’s family for the fund. Restitution was discussed as part of a plea agreement, said Osmun’s attorney, Richard Meehan Jr. Osmun is accused of traveling from the United States to South Africa to engage in illicit sexual conduct with children. He has admitted that he sexually abused four minor girls, all under the age of six, while he was a volunteer with the United States Peace Corps in South Africa, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. Osmun will be sentenced Sept. 19, and he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years and a fine of up to . . .

Paul Cowan Non-Fiction Award Feather: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle by Thor Hanson (Uganda 1993-95) The Lion of Judah in the New World: Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and the Shaping of Americans’ Attitudes toward Africa By Theodore M. Vestal (PC/Ethiopia 1964-66) Ukraine: Discover the Real Ukraine By Ashley Hardaway (Ukraine 2006-08) Girls of the Factory: A Year with the Garment Workers of Fes By M. Laetitia Cairoli (Morocco 1985-87) The African-American Odyssey of John Kizell: A South Carolina Slave Returns to Fight the Slave Trade in His African Homeland By Kevin G. Lowther (Sierra Leone 1963-65) Angels of Mercy: White Women and the History of New York’s Colored Orphan Asylum By William Seraile (Ethiopia 1963-65) Big Dogs of Tibet and the Himalayas: A Personal Journey By Don Messerschmidt (Nepal 1963-65) Maria Thomas Fiction Award The Civilized World: A Novel in Stories by Susi Wyss (Central African Republic 1990-92) . . .

A good friend from Boston (not an RPCV!) sent me this short clip of Mark Shriver on Colbert last night talking about his father and his book on his Dad, A Good Man. It is a informative five minutes about Sarge, his place in history, and how well he is remembered. Check it out. http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/417499/august-07-2012/mark-shriver

So, if you wanted to join the Peace Corps in the early days, here are a few of the questions you needed to answer (I’ll add the answers so you’ll know your grade) Good Luck! # 1 VERBAL APTITUDE Directions: Each question below consists of a word printed in capital letters, followed by five words or phrases lettered A through E. Choose the lettered word or phrase which is most nearly opposite in meaning to the word in capital letters. Since some of the questions require you to distinguish fine shade of meaning, be sure to consider all the choices before deciding which one is best. LABORIOUS: (A) stationary (B) free (C) automatic (D) common (E) easy # 2 AGRICULTURE Directions: Which of the following is most commonly used in the United States for feeding swine? (A) Clover (B) Wheat (C) Alfalfa (D) Corn (E) Lespedeza #3 HEALTH SCIENCES Directions: . . .

PRESIDENT NATIONAL PEACE CORPS ASSOCIATION WASHINGTON, D.C. THE ORGANIZATION: Founded in 1979 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization supporting Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and the Peace Corps community. NPCA supports former Volunteers through their continued service back home and connects and champions Peace Corps community members in “bringing the world home” by:  Developing networks and information resources for and about the Peace Corps community.  Providing National Peace Corps Association members and member groups with service and education opportunities that build on their Peace Corps experience and values.  Advocating for Peace Corps and its values, and for critical issues identified as affecting National Peace Corps Association members. With a $1million-plus annual budget and a team of seven, NPCA encompasses a network of over 50,000 individuals and more than 140 member groups. Potential active constituents include 200,000+ . . .

In the very early days of the agency the Peace Corps had a set of Placement Tests that applicants were required to take. One was a 30-minute General Aptitude Test, another a 30-minute Modern Language Aptitude Test. One-hour achievement tests in French and Spanish were also offered during the second hour. The tests were ‘non-competitive; there were no passing or failing grades. The results, the agency said, were used to help find the most appropriate assignment for the person. Of course, those of us who took the tests had no confidence that that was ever done, given the assignments we finally got. The General Aptitude Test was composed of three different types of problems: verbal, mathematical, and spatial. The verbal questions require an applicant to select from five alternatives the synonym for a given word. The mathematical questions call for one to solve a problem, stated in a sentence or two, using . . .

Kevin Quigley, President and CEO of the NPCA, will return this fall to Thailand where he was a PCV from 1976-79. Quigley, who has been with the NPCA for nearly a decade, is well equipped to be the next CD in Thailand. He is fluent in the language, and while a PCV converted from his family’s Catholicism to Buddhism, then spent several months having buat phra–become a monk–after his Peace Corps tour. He has returned  to Thailand several times since his Peace Corps years, once as a Fulbright scholar, and he has maintained relationships with many HCNs. Kevin, who studied at Georgetown University, Columbia University, University College Dublin and Swarthmore College, before the NPCA was also the Acting CEO of  the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. His Ph.D. is in international relations and besides the Fulbright, he has been a   Woodrow Wilson Fellow, Guest Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Resident Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, . . .

Allen Mondell (Sierra Leone 1963-65) has just produced a 71-minute documentary entitled: Waging Peace: The Peace Corps Experience that weaves personal letters, journals, emails and blogs written by Peace Corps Volunteers with the profiles of four RPCVs whose work today shows the enduring impact of these experiences on their own lives and the lives of others. As Allen writes, “I hope this film demonstrates not only the value of volunteering–in a distant land or your own hometown–but also the importance of getting to know another culture firsthand and respecting the differences.” It is a terrific Peace Corps film. It is a terrific film. Allen also filmed a 82-minute RPCV writers’ panel discussion organized earlier this year by Richard Wiley (Korea 1967-69) at the Black Mountain Institute in Las Vegas that included Paul Theroux (Malawi 1963-65), Mary-Ann Tirone Smith (Cameroon 1965-67), Peter Hessler (China 1996-98) and Marnie Muller (Ecuador 1963-65). Allen tells me that he is . . .