Archive - March 2014

Alana (Horrigan) deJoseph (Mali 1992-94) was involved in rural small enterprise development as a PCV and today she makes films. She has worked in video and film production for over 20 years and has worn many hats as producer, director, videographer, and editor. Her latest involvement was in the production of The Greatest Good, a documentary about the US Forest Service. Now she wants to do an in-depth, comprehensive documentary on the Peace Corps. As she says on her website:  “In a time when the American public either has a very antiquated notion of Peace Corps, informed by an almost mythological awe of the 60s, or is not even aware that the agency still exists, it is high time to bring this unique organization back into the public discourse, to raise the level of the discussion from quaint to crucial.” Alana goes onto say, “Many books have been written and . . .

Hal Fleming, who headed the Peace Corps Public Affairs and Recruitment in the mid-’60s and later was the Country Director in Cote D’Ivoire, died suddenly of heart failure on February 4, 2014 at his home in Great Falls, Virginia. As a Peace Corps writer, he published several short stories, poems, and two novels: The Brides’ Fair, set in Morocco, and Once Upon A Storm, a Civil Rights era mystery. In 1978 he joined USAID as Mission Director in Morocco, later was a counselor for development at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. From 1994 – 97 he was at the State Department as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Organizations. A memorial gathering for family, friends and colleagues is scheduled for April 27 from 4 to 6 p.m., at DACOR Bacon House, 1801 F Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20006. Contributions in Hal’s memory may be made to the DACOR . . .

Carrie Hessler-Radelet (Western Samoa 1981-83), Acting Director of the Peace Corps, on the 5th and 6th of February, held the first Senior Staff Meeting of this new Administration. Aaron Williams (Dominican Republic 1967-70) did not hold any such meetings in his tenure (August 24, 2009 – September 17, 2012) as Director. Fifty plus Peace Corps ‘Directors’ met for two days in Eastern Maryland to chart the future of the agency. They went down to the shore in freezing winter weather because the hotel rates were cheap. As we know, the Peace Corps loves cheap! At the meeting Carrie Hessler-Radelet evoked Sargent Shriver’s credo that the Peace Corps was a “bold experiment” and told her senior staff, “the time has come for us to recapture that sense of purpose and idealism, the energy, the innovation…the passion.” Since become Acting Director in 2013, Carrie has made many major changes in politics and . . .

Marnie Writes: The Fickle Voter In late December 2013, I received an invitation to meet and greet the Mayor-elect of New York City, Bill de Blasio, in his new home-to-be, Gracie Mansion. I almost deleted the invite because I was still smarting over the fact that my first choice for Mayor hadn’t made it through the primary. I had voted for Christine Quinn because I thought, even though she was more conservative than I am, she’d earned the right to be Mayor, knew her way around the city’s political system, and was tough. You need to be tough for the second most difficult job in America. Also, I’m tired of super competent women being pushed out of the way when the next tantalizing upstart male comes onto the ballot. And I liked the idea of a married lesbian couple living in the above mentioned Gracie Mansion. As far as de . . .

The March 10, 2014, issue of The New Yorker carries a long “Letter From Cairo” piece by Peter Hessler (China 1996-98) from Egypt entitled, Revolution On Trial: The strange world of the Muslin Brotherhood court cases. Peter and his wife, Leslie, and their two babies live in Cairo. His most recent book is Strange Stones: Dispatches from East and West.

Dear Peace Corps Colleagues, I wanted to make folks across the agency aware that, in the coming week, we expect The New York Times to publish an extensive multi-media story about the Peace Corps both in print and online. The Office of Communications has been working with the paper extensively on this story, which  will include commentary from Acting Director Hessler-Radelet, along with both supporters and critics of the agency. The Times has solicited a wide variety of stories from current Volunteers and RPCVs, and we expect the piece will include both positive and negative sides to it.  Finally, it is our strong hope that agency reforms to enhance support for Volunteers and enhance their experience in the years ahead will be highlighted throughout. Because of the depth of this story, I fully expect that it will go viral quickly in the Peace Corps community and beyond.  To help Peace Corps . . .

Novelist, rancher, and country music singer, Kinky Friedman, got one step closer Tuesday to adding another line to his résumé: agriculture commissioner of Texas. Kinky made the  Democratic primary runoff for the position. He’ll compete against cattle farmer Jim Hogan in that May 27 contest. A Republican is favored to win the general election. Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/richard-kinky-friedman-texas-agriculture-commissioner-runoff-104270.html#ixzz2v5cIHl5B

Reported by Jonathan Pearson (Micronesia 1987-89) Advocacy Director for the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) on Tuesday, March 4, 2014 President Obama submitted a Fiscal Year 2015 budget to Congress which requests virtually the same level of overall funding for the State Department and other international affairs programs, including the Peace Corps. The President is requesting $42.6 billion for the State Department and other International Affairs programs, about a 0.2% decrease from spending in the current fiscal year. The Peace Corps fared only marginally better, as the President is requesting $380 million for the fiscal year that begins next October. That’s a one million dollar increase from current funding, which is about 0.3% above current funding. Pearson reports that RPCV Congressman Sam Farr  is expected to begin circulating his annual “Dear Colleague” letter, urging support for increased funding for the Peace Corps.

VOTE TODAY FOR KINKY FRIEDMAN (BORNEO 1967-69) Willie Nelson’s bud Kinky Friedman wants to become Texas’ next Agriculture Commissioner. So it should come as no surprise that he’s made the upcoming election “a referendum on lifting the prohibition on pot and hemp.” “Prohibition simply doesn’t work,” Friedman writes on his campaign website. “Lifting the prohibition is not about long-haired hippies smoking dope; it’s about the economy, the environment, water conservation, education, the border, health care, criminal justice (and injustice!). It’s about the future of this great state.” On the homepage of the site, it reads in big letters: “Kinky Says Legalize Now!” Musician, author, humorist and political hopeful, Friedman is best known as the leader of his band, the Texas Jewboys. These days he’s set his sights on making a difference working at the highest level of state government. Friedman has lost several previous races but is trying again to win the upcoming . . .