Archive - April 2019

A Work in Progress: RPCV Authors Approximately 30 years ago, Marian Haley Beil and I (both Ethiopia 1962-64) began to identify Peace Corps Writers. It was our Third Goal Project to spread the story of the Peace Corps in developing countries by promoting the writings of RPCVs here at home.  We did this as two former volunteers, not connected to the Peace Corps agency or the NPCA. We began in April 1989 with a newsletter Peace Corps Writers & Readers and now on a website: www.peacecorpsworldwide.org We announce new books, have them reviewed, interview authors, and publish writings by RPCVs. We also started with Create Space/Amazon a line of Peace Corps Writers Books. Marian Beil is the creative publishing genius behind these projects. Annually we give cash awards in different categories for the best books published every year. We do not receive any money from these efforts, and gifts to . . .

    Here is Glenn Blumhorst Report about his experience. From the NPCA webpage:   “There is a great need for Spanish-speaking volunteers to serve in hospitality centers at the southern border. NPCA President Glenn Blumhorst (Guatemala 1988-91) recently took a leave of absence to lend a hand. Here’s his story and how you can volunteer with Annunciation House. “I can empathize with them; I’ve been in their shoes,” said Lupe, the Amtrak ticket agent in El Paso, Texas. I was dropping off Fortunato and his six-year-old daughter, Lourdes, for their four-day trip to Bellingham, Washington, with connections in Los Angeles, Oakland, and Seattle. I was moved by how kind and considerate Lupe was to these particular travelers – refugees who had made the arduous journey from their village in Guatemala to the United States, desperately seeking the safety and economic security that we Americans take for granted. “I can too,” I . . .

    From the website of the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience — “The Committee for a Museum of the Peace Corps Experience was founded by returned Peace Corps Volunteers in 1999 in Portland, Oregon.  As a 501(c)(3) private, non-profit organization, the Committee has an established record of artifact acquisition, professional exhibitions and modest fundraising. The Committee expanded its focus to the national level in 2016 during Peace Corps’ 55th Anniversary.  Twelve dedicated returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) from across the country stepped forward to comprise a core planning group. The Committee dramatically increased its activities in 2017 with a planning retreat in Denver preceding the annual Peace Corps Connect conference.  Momentum built when Committee members met face-to-face for the first time and reconfirmed their commitment to building a museum, both online and physical. They formulated four strategic initiatives – Operations, Collections, Fundraising, Technology – which provide the road . . .

    Visionary Women Championed During Women’s History Month Published March 28, 2019 A Distinguished Career of Furthering Peace Throughout the World   “Just say peacemaker,” responded Patti Garamendi when she was asked how she would like to be introduced for an event recognizing National Women’s History Month at the Census Bureau. Clearly, the returned Peace Corps volunteer (Ethiopia, 1966–68), former associate director of the Peace Corps, and former vice chair of the Committee on World Food Security for the United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organization, sees “peacemaker” as one of the most important roles in her dynamic, impactful career. On March 5 to an audience of employees—some returned Peace Corps volunteers themselves—eager to hear her stories and advice. The event was sponsored by the Census Women Count Chapter of Federally Employed Women and the Equal Employment Opportunity Office. This year’s theme for National Women’s History Month, “Visionary Women: Champions . . .