January 15, 2016 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Bryn Mooser (Gambia 2001-03) Body Team 12 Nominated for Oscar Documentary

Jan 15 2016

Bryn Mooser is the Co-founder of RYOT, a media company based in Los Angeles. Mooser was Country Director for Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ) and helped build Haiti’s largest Cholera center as well as APJ’s secondary school in Port-au-Prince, which now educates 2,400 Haitian youth per year. Before working in Haiti, Bryn served in the Peace Corps in West Africa. Bryn is also an award-winning documentary film maker. His first three documentary shorts, Sun City Picture House, Baseball In The Time Of Cholera and The Rider And The Storm, premiered at TriBeCa Film Festival three years in a row. He was named one of Esquire Magazine’s “Americans of the Year” for his work in Haiti and a “Hollywood Maverick” by Details Magazine for “raising guerrilla-style docs to the level of art.” Body Team 12 In Monrovia, Liberia, Garmai Sumo is the only female member of Body Team 12, one . . .

Leaving El Salvador the First Time

Jan 15 2016

Leaving El Salvador 1980 – Peace Corps left El Salvador in the Spring of 1981 for the first time. The documents describing what was happening in El Salvador and Peace Corps were made available by the Digital National Security Archives at George Washington University. Posted by Joanne Roll on Friday, March 9th 2012 https://peacecorpsworldwide.org/leaving-el-salvador-1980-final/ The following document summarizes how events dictated the final decision: “Summary of Events Leading to the Withdrawal of Peace Corps Volunteers from El Salvador” (DNSA/GWU:Collection: El Salvador, The Making of U.S. Policy 1977-1984, Item Number: ES00332) “In early January, PC Deputy Director William Sykes and LAC Regional Director Paul Bell traveled to El Salvador to assess the situation. After much dialogue with PCVs, PC staff, American Embassy and GOES officials, the recommendation was given to Peace Corps Director Richard Celeste not to withdraw the PCVS. (My note: there is an attachment referenced describing the . . .

More on El Salvador and The Peace Corps

Jan 15 2016

Peace Corps suspends El Salvador program as violence surges Thanks to a ‘Heads Up’ from Barry Hillenbrand (Ethiopia 1963-65) By Jerry Markon January 14 at 5:14 PM Washington Post The Peace Corps has suspended its half-century-old program in El Salvador, highlighting the violence that has wracked the Central American nation and helped propel a wave of migration to the United States. In a statement, the agency begun by President John F. Kennedy said it is pulling out its 55 volunteers, who work on youth development and community economic development projects, “due to the ongoing security environment.” El Salvador has suffered a rash of gang and drug-related violence, though Peace Corps officials said no specific security incidents or threats triggered the suspension. The gang wars helped fuel a renewed surge in recent months of undocumented families with children flocking across America’s southwest border, the vast majority from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. That, in . . .

Archive - January 15, 2016