Archive - 2020

  On March 29th, RPCV writer Josh Swiller (Zambia 1994–96) posted the following on his FaceBook page:   Hi Everyone. Following up on the last post, I’m really seeing how important and supportive it is to share our stories and experiences. On that note, and in answer to the many questions I’ve received, what follows is a more in-depth account of what we went through. The first week of March, Leah attended a group therapy conference in New York City. It has now come to light that dozens of attendees at that conference tested positive or have shown symptoms but couldn’t get tested. In fact, the first person we learned was a confirmed positive was an attendee from Singapore. They tested him as soon as he got off the plane back home as a matter of policy. Leah had sat next to him for two days. Another person who has . . .

From NPR Coronavirus Sent Peace Corps Volunteers Home. It Could Also Give Them A New Mission April 1, 2020 ELENA RENKEN Photos by Adam Greenberg Peace Corps volunteer Adam Greenberg worked to develop fish farming in Zambia. He took this selfie on March 23, en route to San Diego, the final destination of his evacuation. Imagine this: One minute you’re a volunteer doing work that you find incredibly meaningful in a faraway place. Then you get a notice – evacuate immediately. Suddenly you’re back home, probably feeling down and definitely jobless. That’s the situation that over 7,000 Peace Corps volunteers found themselves in after an unprecedented evacuation order in mid-March. The reason: fear of coronavirus. The Peace Corps explains that it didn’t want its volunteers stranded abroad if travel became impossible. Yet they’re stranded in a way now that they are back, ineligible for unemployment benefits because of their volunteer status . . .

    Here is the story from Spectrum | News 1 —   Kentuckian in Peace Corps Shares Tale of Evacuation BY EILEEN STREET Published 10:10 AM ET MAR. 31, 2020   LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Peace Corps, a federal program for Americans to volunteer abroad, announced on March 15 that it was temporarily suspending all operations and evacuating all volunteers, a first in its history. According to the Peace Corps’ website, it was because of airport closures globally amid COVID-19, which could restrict evacuations for any non-COVID-19 illnesses for volunteers. One of the approximately 7,300 volunteers evacuated from 61 countries was Louisville native Shelby Durbin. “I was in my dream job, you know, in a culture that I was really connecting to, and that was kind of robbed from me,” said the 23-year-old, who has been back in Kentucky for less than two weeks. “So we got the evacuation notice a . . .

Living with Africa for a Lifetime by Mark G. Wentling (Honduras 1967–69, Togo 1970–73; PC Staff: Togo, Gabon, Niger 1973–77) My friends say I was born and raised in Kansas, but I was made in Africa. After a lifetime of doing almost nothing except dreaming, thinking, reading, writing about and working in Africa, I can see why this is said about me. I first stepped on the continent in 1970 as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo and stayed much longer than expected. I ended up knowing firsthand in varying degrees each of Africa’s 54 countries. My marriages to African women, the raising of our children in Africa and my close involvement with my extended families taught me a great deal about what makes Africa tick. I never planned to spend a lifetime so wrapped up with Africa. One thing led to another and most of the time I did . . .

                                 But Not PCVs! They had to come home on their own.

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Mark Wentling (Honduras 1967-69) Evacuated Peace Corps volunteers face uncertainty back home For the first time in its nearly 60-year history, the Peace Corps suspended all operations and evacuated volunteers as the coronavirus pandemic spread around the globe. NBC News reporters Julia Jester and Maura Barrett spoke with returning Peace Corps volunteers about what it’s like to suddenly be back in an America that they don’t recognize. Read in NBC News: https://apple.news/Am4tMaTIeQrqRdZKr_MnF0A

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Bea Hogan (Uzbekistan 1992-94) A World Turned Upside-Down In 1966, the writer Paul Theroux was in Uganda at a time of curfew and violence. It shaped his thinking about travel writing’s imperative to bear witness. Smoke rising in Uganda during the 1966 upheaval.Credit…Priya Ramrakha/Getty By Paul Theroux New York Times March 30, 2020 In this season of infection, the stock market little more than a twitching corpse, in an atmosphere of alarm and despondency, I am reminded of the enlightenments of the strict curfew Uganda endured in 1966. It was, for all its miseries, an episode of life lessons, as well as monotonous moralizing (because most crises enliven bores and provoke sententiousness). I would not have missed it for anything.   That curfew evoked — like today — the world turned upside-down. This peculiarity that we are now experiencing, the nearest thing to a world . . .

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Matt Losak (Lesothe 1985-88) Volunteer recounts being part of global Peace Corps evacuation by Dennis Webb, The Daily Sentinel 3/29/2020   Steve Vanderleest was serving in the Peace Corps in Peru when he was sent back home to Colorado because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Vanderleest worked in water systems, sanitation and hygiene during his time in the Peace Corps. In this picture, he’s shown helping demonstrate how to shake hands dry after hand-washing. Up until this month, Steve Vanderleest was reveling in his experience in the Peace Corps, helping people in the high-country town of Cajabamba, in Peru, and taking in the Peruvian scenery and culture. All of that changed this month thanks to the COVID-19 crisis. Before he knew it, he found himself in Grand Junction, where he’s been spending two weeks in self-quarantine, as part of the first- ever total evacuation by . . .

The RPCV Community immediately reached out to the Volunteers as the evacuation was announced and begun.  RPCV Joshua Johnson (2009-2011) generated a Face Bookpage which is the “go-to” site for EPCVs. It is a private group and  now has over 8000 members.  This is what it offers: Fellow RPCVs share their concern and their support for the EPCVs, establishing that the EPCVs are not alone. Fellow RPCVs are offering support via leads on jobs, obtaining health care, and places to “self-quarantine”. ( EPCVs have been ordered to self-quarantine for 14 days.  Peace Corps should reimburse for expenses associated with this as some EPCVs can not go home because relatives may be at high risk.  Finding places immediately upon re-entry can be a problem.) The Facebook page organizes these offers. EPCVs are posting specific requests for help in specific locations. Any RPCV can offer help  by becoming a member of the . . .

    Jack Allison (Malawi 1966-69) presently serves as Professor Emeritus of Emergency Medical Care, College of Health & Human Sciences, Western Carolina University, where he teaches, performs research, and spearheads faculty development. In 2012 he volunteered during the month of February with Medical Teams International in Kenya and Somalia where he provided both emergency medical care and public health education to Somali refugees; and in October he volunteered with Marion Medical Mission on a public health project in Malawi and Zambia where he helped to install 112 shallow water wells. Allison’s avocation is singing/songwriting. He has written over 100 songs and jingles, and recorded over 80 of those. Since 1967 he has raised $150,000.00 with his music, and he & his wife, Sue Wilson, have given away all of these monies to various charitable organizations, including $30,000.00 to help feed Malawian children who have been orphaned because their parents have . . .

    Recalled Peace Corps Volunteers Are Thrown Into A Terrifying New Reality The 7,300 volunteers face lost stipends, housing and health benefits amid a pandemic and economic crisis.   By Alex Leeds Matthews   Reporter Alex Leeds Matthews served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco from January 2014 to October 2015.    

      The National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) presents —   The Unfinished Business of Peace Corps Volunteers Evacuated from Around the World

Click on photos for more articles.   Clintandra Thompson is a web manager at the Atlantic Council and a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Senegal from 2012-2014. Here is her article. Peace Corps faces new challenge with coronavirus “On March 1, over 240,000 returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) marked the fifty-ninth anniversary of the volunteer service organization by sharing their unique experiences on social media, in classrooms, or during other special events. Founded in 1961, the Peace Corps sends thousands of Volunteers every year to interested communities across the world to build mutual understanding and provide technical assistance for economic and social development. Glenn Blumhorst, who served in Guatemala and is president and CEO of the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA), used the anniversary to connect RPCVs with lawmakers to “share their experiences with elected officials on Capitol Hill…who decide the fate of Peace Corps’ future.” According to . . .

The Death of Idealism Development and Anti-Politics in the Peace Corps by Meghan Elizabeth Kallman Columbia University Press 320 pages $24.48 (Kindle), $110.00 (Hardback), $28.00 (paperback) April 21, 2020     Meghan Elizabeth Kallman is an assistant professor at the School for Global Inclusion and Social Development at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She is coauthor of The Third Sector: Community Organizations, NGOs, and Nonprofits (2016) and an elected official in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. A case study of the conflict between professionalization and idealism in the Peace Corps. Shows how organizational practices affect people’s ideas and values in ways that have long lasting consequences for their lives and careers. Based on interviews with over 140 current and returned Peace Corps volunteers, brings a new perspective on how people lose their idealism and why that matters. Peace Corps volunteers seem to exemplify the desire to make the world a better place. Yet . . .