December 14, 2012 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Peace Corps Annual Report for FY 2012

Dec 14 2012

The problem documented in the Mother Jones article began in the Spring of 2009, more than three years ago. This was one of the danger transition times at Peace Corps when the administration was in flux because of the political changes brought about by the election. There was rapid staff turnover. In 2009, the Director resigned on January 20th and the permanent Director was not sworn in until August. This period in 2009 also saw the murder in Benin of Kate Puzey in March. During this time also, RPCV J. Larry Brown documents the chaotic administrative directives from Washington to his Country Director post in Uganda in his memoir, Peasants Come Last. Since that time, there have been changes in the support Volunteers receive who are medically evacuated. From page 91 of the current Annual Report: • Analysis of medical evacuations: Volunteers are medically evacuated from their country of service . . .

The Peace Corps Finally Takes Action on Health Issues

Dec 14 2012

[Nancy Tongue (Chile 1980-82) emailed the following statement to FairWarning about the article on the US Department of Labor and medical assistance to RPCV. Nancy started Health Justice for Peace Corps Volunteer. You can read about it at: http://www.healthjusticeforpeacecorpsvolunteers.org/ This is their mission statement: Mission Statement To ensure that Peace Corps Volunteers who become sick and injured due to their overseas service obtain the support and benefits to which they are legally entitled. Strategy To obtain as many stories as we can from Returned Peace Corps Volunteers to better understand the nature of their struggles so that we can bring their needs to public light. To constructively use these stories to approach media sources and to pressure the government to make necessary positive changes. Core Values To lobby for and support other Peace Corps volunteers with integrity, commitment and compassion. This is Nancy’s statement to Fair Warning on their article: Health Justice for . . .

Susan Rice Didn't Deserve State Post, Let Alone Her U.N. Role

Dec 14 2012

From the Daily Beast by Jacob Heilbrunn Dec 14, 2012 The ambassador built her career on catering to authority, even some of Africa’s most loathsome dictators. Why the Libya fiasco had nothing to do with the Beltway insider’s demise. With her decision to withdraw from consideraion as secretary of state, Susan Rice-and her greatest champion, President Obama-is finally bowing to the inevitable. Her supporters concocted any number of reasons to promote her ascension to the top floor of Foggy Bottom. She was, they said, being demonized by the right. She was being subjected to racism. She was just trying to please her superiors. And so on. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice speaks during a Security Council meeting on the situation in Syria in August in New York. (Stephen Chernin/AFP/Getty Images) Don’t believe a word of it. The real problem is not that she bungled Libya. It’s that . . .

Joining The Peace Corps? Don't Get Sick, Whatever You Do From Mother Jones Magazine

Dec 14 2012

[This article appeared on December 13, 2012 in Mother Jones Magazine. It was originally on www.FairWarning.com. I know that in conversations with the new Acting Director of the Peace Corps that she has been working on solving this problem with the Department of Labor and is dealing with it in ways that previous Peace Corps Directors haven’t. Carrie has spent her life in nonprofit organizations working on health issues, and she has taken major steps to resolve these issues that PCVs and RPCVs have. Years ago, I suggested to the NPCA that they make this their central issue to help RPCVs, but ALL the NPCA Presidents and CEO (and whatever other grand titles they call themselves) were only interested in advancing their own positions with overseas trips, congressional appearances, visits to the Peace Corps office, and fund raising to pay their salaries. This issue for the Peace Corps and all . . .

Archive - December 14, 2012