Author - Joanne Roll

Here is the latest news about The Towering Task, the Peace Corps Documentary in production  by RPCV Alana deJoseph (Mali 92-94). Building Bridges The Peace Corps and its long history of building bridges stand in stark contrast to the terrible news we seem to be reading about on an almost daily basis these days. While we’re assembling this documentary, it’s feeling like we are also getting the opportunity to respond to so much divisiveness, anger, and fear with a story of hope. We are inspired by your stories and steadfast support to keep building bridges – whether with people on the other side of the globe or our neighbors. Yes, it is much easier to respond with our own anger, fears, and frustrations, but making peace, reaching out, and healing the wounds that others have inflicted is what the Peace Corps and the RPCV community do day in and day out. Changing . . .

  American University has graciously accepted a copy of “Letters from Nurses in the Peace Corps”  to be archived in its Digitial Archive as well as a hard copy in its Peace Corps Community Archive.  We are so gratful that this document will be preserved. Letters from Nurses in the Peace Corps is a document containing letters from twelve nurses who served in the Peace Corps from approximately 1962 to 1967.  It was published by the Peace Corps as a recruiting brochure in 1967. Read excerpts from the letters here: Letters From Nurses in the Peace Corps – 1967 In acceping the copy, American University Librarian Nancy Davenport wrote: “This brochure will offer a unique glimpse into the work of Peace Corps volunteers during this period and will be of interest to both our campus community and external researchers.” Click to see the Peace Corps Community Archives at American University

  https://www.peacecorps.gov/news/library/new-law-strengthens-health-and-safety-peace-corps-volunteers/ October 10, 2018 President Donald J. Trump signed into law new legislation that seeks to improve access to medical care for Peace Corps volunteers, strengthen accountability and oversight and enhance procedures to reduce the risk of crime in the countries where volunteers serve. The bill was passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate on September 24 after passing the House on July 10. “We are deeply grateful to all those who have championed this important legislation – from the family of Nick Castle to leaders in the U.S. Congress, including Senator Bob Corker, Senator Johnny Isakson, Congressman Ted Poe and Congressman Joe Kennedy III,” said Peace Corps Director Jody Olsen. “Their leadership has made a positive impact on the Peace Corps by helping institutionalize higher standards for volunteer health, safety and security. This bill will codify best practices to help keep volunteers safe and hold the agency accountable to . . .

  Congratulations to the RPCV advocacy group, “Health Justice for Peace Corps Volunteers” who have worked so hard for years to get improved health care for Volunteers and RPCVs. From their Face Book page, about an hour ago: Success on our to obtain legislation to improve care for Peace Corps Volunteers!!!! The House Bill: HR 2259 – “The Sam Farr and Nick Castle Peace Corps Reform Act” was signed by the Senate today and awaits being signed into law by the President. It is a step forward. Unfortunately, the increase in disability income was dropped as were many other improvements we had written into the bill. Rep. Judge Ted Poe noted in his submitted remarks to the committee, “I fought long and hard to increase the disability payment provided to disabled returned volunteers so they can make ends meet. I hope that this provision will one day become law. Peace . . .

From the website at the National Archives: “Act of September 22, 1961 (Peace Corps Act), Public Law 87-293, 75 STAT 612, Which Established a Peace Corps to Help the People of Interested Countries and Areas in Meeting Their Needs for Skilled Manpower, 9/22/1961” Read the Act  here: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/299874 Coincidentally, RPCV Chris Matthews (Swaziland 1968-70) host of MSNBC’s Hard Ball, ended his show last night with a tribute to his Peace Corps group, from whose reunion he had just returned. He spoke of  pride in his fellow RPCVs and his affection and appreciation for them and all the people of Swaziland, who had welcomed and helped them.  What a fitting way to commemorate the 57th!

This is a extraordinary effort by the RPCV Friends of Korea and Gary Fedrick (K-6) to collect and preserve the important history of Peace Corps in Korea.  Now, the University of Southern California has accepted the collection for their library.  Please read this announcement: http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15799coll86 “Between 1966 and 1981, more than two thousand Americans served in Korea as Peace Corps Volunteers, working as teachers, health workers, engineers, agricultural advisers, etc. Living in rural and urban communities across the country, they learned the Korean language and participated in Korean life on a broader and deeper level than any other group of Americans before or since have been able to do. Once returned to their homes after their service, they formed an alumni group called Friends of Korea to continue their friendships with Korea and one another. Many went on to build careers as Korea experts as diplomats, educators, scholars, policy makers, consultants, etc. To . . .

Peace Corps has published a Legacy Book for Peace Corps Burkina Faso honoring the 22 year accomplishments of Peace Corps Volunteers and the communities and people with whom they worked.  The program was suspended in late 2017 for security reasons. In preparation for the suspension of the program, the country staff began to collect examples of the work done by Volunteers and their communities over decades.  The stories ranged from the building of a computer lab for a school to programs seeking to eradicate guinea worm disease.  It became a collaborate effort when: “U.S. Ambassador to Burkina Faso, H. E. Andrew Young described the need to collect and immortalize the history of Peace Corps/Burkina Faso after the suspension became official in December 2017. Additional ideas for content and format were provided by the Peace Corps Acting Regional Director for Africa, Mr. Tim Hartman and the Country Desk Officer for Burkina . . .

  (Thanks to Alana deJoseph, Mali 1992-94 and Producer of The Towering Task, a Peace Corps documentary, for the information on this story) Peace Corps and Global Seed Health were in partnership for five years to train medical professionals in Africa. Peace Corps is terminating the partnership as of September 30, 2018. (See: https://peacecorpsworldwide.org/peace-corps-response-and-global-health-service-partnership-end-relationship-9-30-18/) Now comes an interview on PBS with reporter Fred de Sam Lazaro about the consequence in Africa of the end of this partnership.  Dr. Vanessa Kerry is the Director of Global Seed Health. She is attributed with the following explanation:  “Dr. Kerry blames the Peace Corps decision politics and says the resulting cutbacks will force a significant scaling back from five countries to two, including Uganda, and far fewer American medical volunteers.” Peace Corps declined to comment.  Here is the story from PBS. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/resisting-the-african-brain-drain-that-has-created-a-health-care-crisis A “brain drain” is sending many of Africa’s highly skilled workers abroad–and leaving . . .

Director Olsen with Peace Corps volunteers in China. WASHINGTON – Today, Peace Corps Director Jody Olsen joined U.S. Consul General Jim Mullinax in Chengdu at the swearing in ceremony of China’s 24th cohort of volunteers. The event marks the 25th anniversary of the Peace Corps program in China, where over 1,235 volunteers have served since 1993. The program is formally known as the United States-China Friendship Volunteer program. “At its heart, this program brings together people to share knowledge, world views, cultural riches and the values and shared aspirations of the American and Chinese peoples,” said Olsen. “We could not be prouder of our shared legacy, or more grateful for the friendship and collaboration of our Chinese partners.” The new group of 79 volunteers were sworn into service by Olsen after successfully completing 10 weeks of training. Their training included Mandarin language instruction and sessions on Chinese culture to better . . .

The documentary, Mining Phosphorus   http://www.mining-p.com produced by RPCV Alan Toth (South Africa 2010-2012) is a finalist for the Student Academy Awards.  Rising Dust by RPCV Lauren Schwartzman, (Panama 2013-215) is also a finalist for the prestigious award. Alan Toth has also produced a feature documentary about the modern Peace Corps Experience in South Africa.  Lauren Schwartzman is a member of the team. See the website to learn more:  Posh Corps http://www.poshcorps.com   Here is the ACADEMY AWARDS Announcement: http://www.oscars.org/news/meet-2018-student-academy-awards-finalists Documentary (Domestic Film Schools) Veronica Wangshen, “1,500 Miles 23 Days,” New York University Mathieu Faure, “An Edited Life,” New York University Lauren Schwartzman, “Dust Rising,” University of California –  Berkeley Jiayan “Jenny” Shi, “Finding Yingying,” Northwestern University Grace Oyenubi and Nani Sahra Walker, “Forced,” University of California – Berkeley Yiying Nikki Li, “Love & Loss,” University of Southern California Alan Toth, “Mining Phosphorus,” University of California – Berkeley Congratulations to Alan Toth and Lauren Schwartzman and Good Luck!

The official Peace Corps web site especially for RPCVs has now posted news of a RPCV Author appearing in Raleigh, NC.  RPCVs might want to check out this new webpage addition to the Peace Corps Office of the Third Goal at https://www.peacecorps.gov/returned-volunteers/ Here is the announcement “Meet an RPCV Author Aug. 22, 2018 07:00 PM – 09:00 PM Finlator Hall, Pullen Memorial Baptist Church 1801 Hillsborough Street Raleigh, North Carolina 27605 United States Hosted by North Carolina Peace Corps Association (NCPCA) Disclaimer: This RPCV event is listed here for your information. This event is hosted or sponsored by an RPCV group or Peace Corps Coverdell Fellows partner. Even though these events support the Third Goal of the Peace Corps, they are not sponsored, funded, endorsed, or hosted by the Peace Corps. When Lesotho RPCV Madeline Uraneck said hello to the Tibetan woman cleaning her office cubicle, she never imagined the moment . . .

  Update August 12, 2018:  Jonathan Pearson, NPCA Advocate writes:  We continue to encourage people to reach out to Congress to promote passage of the House version of the legislation (H.R. 2259), especially Senators. People can take action on the issue by sending messages using this link  https://advocacy.peacecorpsconnect.org/email-congress/#/40 The National Peace Corps Association joins Health Justice for Peace Corps Volunteers in urging Congress to pass legislation improving health care for both serving Volunteers and RPCVS. There are two bills.While similar in many ways, the bills are not identical and differ on some key provisions. The National Peace Corps Association is  urging support of both the House legislation, H.R.2259, the Sam Farr Peace Corps Enhancement Act, and in the Senate, S. 2286 the Nick Castle Peace Corps Reform Act of 2018. For a complete description of the  legislation and the provisions of each bill, read this June 8th update from Nancy Tongue . . .

The Peace Corps is a federal agency and subject to Executive Orders from the White House. There are three Executive Orders, in particular, which impact Peace Corps. They are: The Executive Order to all federal agencies to reduce staff by 20%. The Executive Order to reorganize the agency. The Executive Order to eliminate  all contracts and partnerships with any organization which works with abortion providers or counsels about abortion. Of these three, we only have specific information on the first.  FOIA 117-0166 provided the list of sunset positions and Marian Haley Beil has posted those positions.  https://peacecorpsworldwide.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Peace-Corps-Sunset-Positions.pdf  FOIA 18-0053, submitted on February 27, 2018, requested a copy of the Peace Corps Reorganization Plan.    However, the release of the Reorganization plan has not yet been authorized. The FOIA Officer has sent this statement: “I am coordinating with the Office of Management and Budget to ensure they have no objection to its . . .

  The National Peace Corps Association posted this news about the House of Representatives action on the Sam Farr and Nick Castle Peace Corps Reform Act of 2018.  It is good news, but the fight is not over. The Senate still has to act.  Here is NPCA’s article. https://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/articles/one-step-closer-house-passes-peace-corps-healthsafety-legislation “With praise for the mission of the Peace Corps and the work of its volunteers, and acknowledgement that more needs to be done to improve volunteer health care, safety and security, the House of Representatives unanimously passed Peace Corps health/safety legislation (H.R. 2259) late Tuesday afternoon. The revised House bill, renamed the “Sam Farr and Nick Castle Peace Corps Reform Act of 2018”, now goes back to the United States Senate for further consideration. Earlier this year, Senators unanimously passed its version of the legislation (S. 2286) introduced by Bob Corker (R-TN) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). The Senate can either approve the House version . . .

RPCVs of the Columbia River Peace Corps Association in Portland, Oregon, began developing the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience many years ago. As with so many Peace Corps endeavors, it began as an idea and with persistence and hard work, it grew.  The Museum of the Peace Corps Experience is not an official project of the Peace Corps.  It is now, however, an affiliate member of the National Peace Corps Association and it is growing.  The Museum, initially, focused on presenting exhibits.  Now, it hopes to have a brick and motor place to welcome the public all the time.  Please click on their new website to learn more about the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience and donate, contribute and support this incredibly important project.  See the video of RPCV Pat Wand speaking at the 2018 Shriver Leadership Summit Here is the link and the Introduction from the webpage:https://www.museumofthepeacecorpsexperience.org/cpages/home . . .