Archive - January 19, 2017

Dear Returned Peace Corps Volunteer,                                                                                     January 19, 2017 As I complete my service this week, I want to reach out to all of you for the last time to express once again how grateful I am to have served with you during my tenure as director of this amazing agency. It has truly been the greatest honor of my life to return to the Peace Corps and lead you all in our historic efforts to safeguard the Peace Corps’ extraordinary legacy, welcome a new generation of Volunteers, and so much more. The magic of the Peace Corps depends on collaboration and on the will and spirit of each . . .

The President of the United States appoints the Peace Corps Director and deputy director, and the appointments must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Read more about the past directors of the Peace Corps. Initially established by President John F. Kennedy by Executive Order on March 1, 1961, the Peace Corps was formally authorized by the Congress on September 22, 1961, with passage of the Peace Corps Act. The Peace Corps enjoys bipartisan support in Congress. Senators and representatives from both parties have served as Volunteers. The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and House Committee on Foreign Affairs are charged with general oversight of the activities and programs of the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps’ annual budget is determined each year by the congressional budget and appropriations process. Funding for the Peace Corps is included in the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations bill. Generally, the Peace Corps budget is . . .

I received the following note from novelist Dick Lipez (Ethiopia 1962-64) who spends his winters in Bangkok. The ‘permanent’ RPCVs in Thailand are having their monthly lunch at the Foreign Correspondents Club this Friday. Dick writes that there are “usually 25 or so people, most of them ex-Thailand PCVs who have stayed in-country.  A few current PCVs may show up.  Plus current staff. As you can imagine, an interesting and congenial bunch.  Also, the food at the FCC is good.” The invitation note from Peter Montalbano to the Thailand RPCVs Good evening, all, and Happy New Year, such as we hope it may be . . . I’m pretty late with the monthly missive here . . . probably due to a mild case of burn-out. It’s been 2 years now I’ve been organizing meetings for the Former PCVs group here in Bangkok, and I’m getting pulled in so many . . .