Author - Joanne Roll

https://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/articles/peace-corps-museum-its-about-time “By the Committee for the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience If you are like most Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, you consider your national service in the name of peace as a critically informative and influential life experience. With this in mind, we have formed a nonprofit organization to establish a national Museum of the Peace Corps Experience to educate people about Peace Corps and preserve its legacy. Museum Mission Our mission is to inspire connection with the world by sharing the Peace Corps experience of living in different cultures.  Returned Peace Corps Volunteers’ rich understanding of world cultures and empathy for diverse lifestyles will be harnessed to produce engaging, educational exhibits, both physical and virtual. The museum is dedicated to sharing the Peace Corps story, expanding human understanding and promoting the values of civil society.  The museum will take on a major documentary role as well as collecting and exhibiting artifacts and producing . . .

The Peace Corps Office of the Inspector General reports to Congress twice a year. Here is the link to the latest report from the OIG to Congress.  It is of interest because it describes the trial and outcome regarding the  murder of Kate Puzey.  The section dealing with that report is printed here. The OIG also is charged with various audits.  In this report, there is the evaluation of programs in China and Georgia. Semiannual Report to Congress October 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017 https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.peacecorps.gov/documents/inspector-general/OIG_Semiannual_Report_to_Congress_Oct_2016_-_March_2017.pdf  Here is the section describing the investigation into the murder of Kate Puzey (page 24) “The U.S. Government has been assisting the Government of Benin with the ongoing investigation into Ms. Puzey’s death since 2009. Peace Corps OIG’s initial involvement in the case focused on the circumstances surrounding the related disclosure of confidential information, including the role of agency staff and contractors. Subsequently, OIG . . .

  CLICK for full information about the Commemoration. MAY 27, 2017 @ 2:00 PM EST John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum Columbia Point, Boston, MA The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is proud to partner with National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) and Boston Area Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (BARPCV) to host the Peace Corps community at a centennial commemoration of President Kennedy. Since President Kennedy founded the Peace Corps in 1961, over 225,000 Americans have served as Peace Corps Volunteers in 141 countries around the world. This special centennial event will celebrate the lasting legacy of President Kennedy and the enduring impact that Peace Corps Volunteers and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers continue to have at home and abroad. Details: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm: Museum open to visitors Free admission for Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and former Peace Corps staff 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm: Special Program . . .

  From the National Peace Corps Association: Today the Trump Administration announced its proposal to cut almost $12 million from Peace Corps’ present budget, lowering it to $398 million for fiscal year 2018. This amounts to the largest proposed cut to the Peace Corps by a president in over 40 years. With these cuts,  the agency will likely be unable to increase the number of volunteers for greater impact in over 60 countries,  make programmatic improvements volunteers need to be effective, or invest in our domestic dividend through support for returned volunteers’ work in their local communities. The budget proposal also requests disproportionate 32% cuts to the topline International Affairs Budget, bringing America’s development and diplomacy programs back to 9/11 levels and hampering the ability of Peace Corps’ partners to strengthen interagency project implementation. Glenn Blumhorst, president and CEO of National Peace Corps Association, responded to the president’s proposed cuts: Considering the challenges we currently face at . . .

There is some uncertainty about continuing funding for the federal government as Congress deliberates on a budge and/or a continuing budget resolution.  In a statement published in December of 2016, Peace Corps outlined its plans in the event there is temporary absence of appropriations.  Here is the link: http://files.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/pdf/documents/Peace_Corps_Operations_Plan_in_the_Absence_of_Appropriations.pdf

  Peace Corps service is not without real risks, as these two tragedies demonstrate. • CBS4News in Denver, Colorado reported on the death of PCV Cody Oser in Panama, recently. Cody Oser was an Engineering Graduate of Colorado State University. Oser’s father, Steven, tells CBS4 there is “absolutely no foul play.”His son’s body was found in the shallow water of a creek. “He was going down by a river and going across some boulders and he slipped,” said his father.” In a news release, acting Peace Corps director Sheila Crowley said, “His impressive engineering skills made him stand out as a volunteer because he dedicated himself to working with communities around the world to find solutions to their technological needs. His passing is a profound loss for the Peace Corps community as we mourn along with his family and friends.” The news report concluded: “The family is already starting an effort . . .

  JFK100 MAY 27, 2017 @ 2:00 PM EST John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum Columbia Point, Boston, MA The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is proud to partner with National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) and Boston Area Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (BARPCV) to host the Peace Corps community at a centennial commemoration of the birth of President Kennedy. Since President Kennedy founded the Peace Corps in 1961, over 225,000 Americans have served as Peace Corps Volunteers in 141 countries around the world. Peace Corps Volunteers embody core American values of cooperation, understanding, and peace. And beyond service, Volunteers return home to carry out the “Third Goal” of Peace Corps – to promote a better understanding of the countries in which they served. Whether as educators, entrepreneurs, humanitarian aid workers, public officials, community leaders, and fellow citizens, RPCVs continue to live by these ideals and share the . . .

(Please Note: I, Joanne Roll, made certain sections BOLD.) March 13, 2017 Presidential Executive Order on a Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch EXECUTIVE ORDER   COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR REORGANIZING THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Purpose. This order is intended to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of the executive branch by directing the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (Director) to propose a plan to reorganize governmental functions and eliminate unnecessary agencies (as defined in section 551(1) of title 5, United States Code), components of agencies, and agency programs. Sec. 2. Proposed Plan to Improve the Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Accountability of Federal Agencies, Including, as Appropriate, to Eliminate or Reorganize Unnecessary or Redundant Federal Agencies. (a) Within 180 days of . . .

Peace Corps has issued the following statement: “The trial in the matter of the 2009 homicide of Peace Corps volunteer Kate Puzey concluded in Benin on February 25, 2017. “Along with her family and friends, we continue to mourn the loss of Kate and we offer them our deepest sympathies during this difficult time. Today and every day, we honor Kate, whose memory is never far from our minds as we continue to build a stronger, more effective Peace Corps. We remain steadfast in our commitment to a Peace Corps that is worthy of Kate’s legacy. The Peace Corps and the Peace Corps Office of Inspector General appreciate the support of the State Department, Justice Department, FBI and the Government of Benin. “https://www.peacecorps.gov/news/library/peace-corps-statement-conclusion-trial-2009-“homicide-peace-corps-benin-volunteer-kate-puzey/ The official statement makes no mention on the outcome. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports there was an acquittal in the conclusion of the trial.  Read the article . . .

  From a single tooth, an Anthropologist can reconstruct a whole culture, a whole epoch. Watching a single dedicated nun, one can deduct the rules of a whole Order, was the observation in the novel, “A Nun’s Story”. So it is with Peace Corps. The Snugli and the generations of baby carriers it inspired exemplify the Peace Corps mission. If every time, someone saw a baby being carried close to a parent, he or she thought, “Ah, that started with a Peace Corps Volunteer”. If every time, a Mom plunked a crying infant into a baby carrier, close to her heart, and the baby calmed immediately, the Mom said, as I did, “Thank you Peace Corps”, “Thank you Anne Moore” and “Thank you Mothers of Togo”,then, maybe we would not have to hear: “Why preserve the Peace Corps when no one cares or has even heard about it?” I think . . .

By Edward Mycue  (Ghana I) Myth becomes parable evolving to symbol in the story of TURTLE who is holding up the world: one nameless fabled old lady explained what upheld the turtle: it’s turtles all the way down she asserted. I have told my story before, meeting John Fitzgerald Kennedy, US SENATOR, in 1960 as a Boston University graduate student under a fellowship from the Lowell Institute for Cooperative Broadcasting when I served as an intern at WGBH-TV then on the M.I.T. campus and (prior to the establishment of PBS — Public Broadcasting System) the linchpin of the Network for Educational Television (NET). The first time Kennedy was seeking the Democrat Party nomination for US PRESIDENT and the second time was after he became the nominee for president. Both times he came to WGBH-TV to appear on the New England News program helmed by Louis Lyons, curator for journalism of the Nieman . . .

  The newsletter of the Columbia River Peace Corps Association printed this announcement. I have reprinted it here, as I think we are part of the Peace Corps networks! • NPR seeks to interview RPCVs with negative experiences of Lariam CRPCA’s acting E-update Editor, Bill Stein, had two phone conversations this morning with National Public Radio investigative journalist Daniel Zwerdling, who asked to forward the following information request to Peace Corps networks. I’m doing stories on the controversial history of mefloquine (the brand name used to be Lariam). Among other issues, I’m examining why the Peace Corps continues to use it widely, even though the US military has pretty much banned it. I’ve interviewed dozens of former volunteers, government officials, researchers at university medical centers in the US and Europe, and others. I’m actually putting the stories together now, but I’m always eager to chat with more people who took . . .

As the transfer of power from a Democratic administration to that of a Republican administration looms, it may be very important to be able to review the Public Reports from Peace Corps.  If there is a Transition Report, I can not find it.  (I have made a FOIA request, but I suspect it will months before I get a response.)  These reports are the public summaries of Peace Corps work and also that of the Peace Corps Office of the Inspector General.  They may or may not be factors as the new administration directs policy for the Peace Corps.  The best way to scan all the Peace Corps Reports is to go to peacecorps.gov, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Open Gov and Inspector General.  Here are titles and links to those documents I think may be the most pertinent. Peace Corps Reports: peacecorps.gov Strategic Plan . . .

  The Peace Corps Office of Strategic Information, Research, and Planning (OSIRP) has completed and published a report on the role of Peace Corps Volunteers in eradicating the scourge of small pox.  It is an important historical survey and excellently done. It is a tribute to the work of Volunteers and  a Holiday Gift to the entire Peace Corps Community! The report concentrates on Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and Zaire, but acknowledges the work of Peace Corps Volunteers in all countries in the 60s and early 70s in eradicating this disease.  Here is a summary.  The link to the entire report follows.  Please read it.   “In 1966, the global burden of smallpox was estimated at 10 million cases and 2 million deaths per year. Global smallpox eradication, achieved in October 1977, required country-specific partnerships of national and international resources. As described in this report, Peace Corps and returned Peace Corps Volunteers contributed . . .