Archive - March 15, 2019

    WASHINGTON – Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and members of the diplomatic community March 12 had a forum at the State Department entitled “The Lasting Value of Peace Corps Service.” Hosted by the State Department employee affinity group Returned Peace Corps Volunteers @ State, the event was held in the Dean Acheson Auditorium and livestreamed for staff at U.S. embassies around the world. The roundtable conversation and Q&A focused on how Peace Corps service shapes the personal and professional lives of Returned Volunteers. “Serving in a rural area, being the only American that hundreds of people will ever meet—that is a really powerful thing,” said Emily Armitage, who was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bulgaria before joining the State Department. Armitage recalled visiting with the people of her village in the months before Bulgaria entered the European Union and how valuable it was to be able to listen to . . .

    Peace Corps held a contest for serving Volunteers asking them to create a video  showing a  Day in the Life of people  they served.  The ten finalists are posted on You Tube and this Peace Corps link will bring you to the videos.  They are great!  https://www.peacecorps.gov/peace-corps-week/ (Personal Note, in my opinion. So many of the Peace Corps public records describe the Volunteer in terms of his or her relationship with Peace Corps Washington, despite Shriver’s inverted pyramid.  So many of the writings of RPCVs describe Host Country Nationals in terms of their relationship to us, the Volunteers.  These videos focus on the daily lives of Host Country people, their dignity, their work, their joy. They are beautiful. Please watch them and add to the number of views.) This is my favorite video . . .