Author - Joanne Roll

Health Justice for Volunteers Founder, Nancy Tongue send out this notice: “The journalist who has been working on the sexual assault issues has notified us that her piece is going live on Monday on CBS This Morning, the national broadcast, sometime between 7 and 9am ET on Monday.” From the information that Nancy Tongue mailed, my understanding is that the focus will be on Peace Corps’s implementation of The Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act of 2011. For a good  overview, read the Peace Corps Performance and Accountability Report FY2015. It has just been published. Here is the link: http://files.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/pdf/policies/annrept2015.pdf The last section is by the is the Office of the Inspector General (OIG).  The OIG reviews its previous recommendations to Peace Corps management  and the current status of those recommendations. One ongoing concern of the OIG has been the training of overseas staff, particularly in regard to the law and sexual . . .

Peace Corps has issued the following press announcement: WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 27, 2015 – The Peace Corps today announced the temporary suspension of its program in Mali due to escalating security concerns. All Peace Corps volunteers are in the process of departing the country and the agency will continue to monitor the security environment in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy in Bamako to determine if and when volunteers can return. The Peace Corps has enjoyed a long partnership with the government and people of Mali and is committed to continuing volunteers’ work there in a safe and secure environment. Volunteers’ health, safety and security are the Peace Corps’ top priorities. There were 35 volunteers in Mali working with their communities on projects in community economic development and health. More than 2,645 Peace Corps volunteers have served in Mali since the program was established in 1971.http://www.peacecorps.gov/media/forpress/press/2612/

The following announcement was posted in the CRPCVA weekly newsletter.  The Columbia River Peace Corps Association is a very active group.  They present a museum display of the Peace Corps Experience around the Portland area. The formatting is copied from the newsletter.  Here is the link to their webpage: http://www.crpca.org The link in the announcement should be a copy and paste if reading it here.  Many  of us may beyond Graduate School, but what a great way to honor Shriver and a wonderful opportunity to pass along. Graduate Fellowship Opportunity with
Shriver Pieceworker Fellows Program Hello RPCV’s! I am writing you from the Shriver Peaceworker Fellows Program in Baltimore, MD.  Peaceworker is a competitive graduate fellowship program exclusively for RPCVs, and our current recruitment season is open and accepting applications. Fellows complete fully funded masters degrees in any discipline while serving 20 hours per week with a nonprofit or government partner . . .

The Washington Post is reporting that the only American killed in the Mali terror attack was RPCV Anita Datar. Here is the link to read the Post report: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/anita-datar-was-the-only-american-killed-in-mali-she-was-there-to-help/2015/11/20/70e0b0aa-8fe6-11e5-ae1f-af46b7df8483_story.html From the report: “When she was in her early 20s, Anita Datar spent two years in Africa, serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal. She was on the continent again, this time in Mali, on Friday, when gunmen seized a luxury hotel and killed at least 20 people. Datar, a 41-year-old international development worker from Takoma Park, Md., is the only American known to have died in the attack.” Thanks to the National Peace Corps Association for posting this on their Facebook page, where I first read about it.

From Peace Corps Twitter– “All Peace Corps Mali Volunteers and Staff are safe and accounted for. PC Mali has eyes on all Volunteers (and/or direct voice contact with them). We are in communication with the Embassy and will keep Volunteers and Staff updated of the security situation in Bamako.” There is a Peace Corps contingent in Mali. From the Peace Corps website: http://www.peacecorps.gov/volunteer/learn/wherepc/africa/mali/ “There are 39 Peace Corps Volunteers in Mali working with their communities on projects in community economic development and health. During their service in Mali, Volunteers learn to speak local languages, including Bambara, French, Malinke, Minianka, and Senoufou. More than 2,645 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in Mali since the program was established in 1971.”

Twice a year, Peace Corps publishes Peace Corps Times, an overview of current Peace Corps Volunteer activities around the world. The current issue, June 2015 to December 2015, focuses on “integrating and promoting gender equality in international development.” It is well written and worth reading.  In a few weeks, Peace Corps will be publishing its Annual Performance and Accountability Report FY 2015. I find it interesting to compare the bureaucratic jargon of previous PAR reports with the clear writing of the current Peace Corps Times. Please note: The Media Library referenced in the magazine is a collection of photos. Email library@peacecorps.gov for assistance in finding historical text documents that are not currently online. Here is the link: http://files.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/pdf/media/PCTimes_2015_07.pdf

Nancy Tongue and her Health Justice for Volunteers team have been working to establish adequate post service care for Volunteers who have service connected medical problems.  The GAO has issued an analysis on the benefits afforded RPCVs vs the benefits of Govermemt contractors such as State Department  and USAID.  Here is the first reporting we did on the issue : https://peacecorpsworldwide.org/report-from-congress-on-post-service-disability-benefits/ Now, Jonathan Pearson, National Peace Corps Association Advocate, has summarized the report. Read his commentary at: http://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/2015/11/study-examines-peace-corps-workers-comp-program/ Health Justice for Volunteers has reviewed the report and issued a response.  The response points out deficiency with the data in the report.  Follow the link at the bottom of Jonathan’s report to read their response.

John Coyne has been posting a series on early Peace Corps history. One of the articles referenced the early staffer, John Noffsinger.  The link to this article was rendered inactive because Peace Corps/Washington is transitioning to a new all inclusive website.  However, Elizabeth Karr, RPCV and current librarian has generously offered to help all RPCVs who wish to view the digitalized  text documents, such as this one, during this transition period. Elizabeth asks that requests be sent to the email: library@peacecorps.gov As we wait for Mary-Ann Tirone Smith’s review of Peace Corps Fantasies, John’s history becomes even more important.  Here is the link to his posting that included John S. Noffsinger.  Following the link is the article by Paul A. Rodell, RPCV. https://peacecorpsworldwide.org/ivs/ John S. Noffsinger & the Global Impact of the Thomasite Experience* By Paul A. Rodell Peace Corps/Philippines 68-71 Introduction This paper explores the life of a remarkable . . .

Nancy Tongue (RPCV Chile) is a tireless advocate for RPCVs who have had service contacted medical problems and who have had difficulty receiving the help to which they are entitled. She founded Health Justice for Volunteers http://www.healthjusticeforpeacecorpsvolunteers.org Nancy’s group is an associative group of the National Peace Corps Association. The group is working with both the NPCA and Peace Corps to create better solutions for RPCVs. Nancy has updated the work of her organization in an email and also attached the report from the GAO on post service disability benefits. From Nancy’s email message:letter-from-nancy-tongue “The Senate Foreign Relations Office has just posted the findings from their recent GAO report analyzing the difference between the benefits from the USDOL vs: what employees of the State Department receive. You will see that it was noted that they did not conduct actuarial analysis, which was what was needed in order to really understand . . .

Ambassador Stevens was an RPCV. He brought his Peace Corps experience and his values to his appointment as Ambassador to Libya. He was assassinated in an terrorist attack in Libya on September 11, 2012. This week, the then Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton will testify before a House Committee investigating the circumstances surrounding the terrorist attack. .  To understand one accounting of what happened immediately before, during, and after the attack, read the testimony of Gregory Hicks, who was in charge when Ambassador Stevens had left on a mission.  Here is the link: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/08/transcript-whistle-blower-account-sept-11-libya-terror-attack/  

Michael Buckler (Malawi 2006–08) , author of the Peace Corps memoir From Microsoft to Malawi: Learning on the Front Lines as a Peace Corps Volunteer [Hamilton Books, 2010] has written an article for the website Humanosphere — “The not-so-easy task of educating girls“ — updating his efforts as a PCV to “help girls learn.” The piece is critical to understanding the obstacles that many young women face in trying to continue their education. Buckler describes the problems that young women had in his area. The underlying causes were many. Although long distances from home to school plagued both sexes, boys were more likely to commute on a bicycle. Girls also faced intense pressure to drop out of school, get married, and perform domestic chores while at home. Girls who tried to overcome these obstacles by renting rooms near campus often faced unsanitary and unsafe living conditions, including sexual harassment from . . .

The Peace Corps Sexual Assault Advisory Council was mandated by Sec. 8 D. of the Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection of 2011. Kate Puzey was a Volunteer in Benin. She was murdered. Her murder remains unsolved.  Kate Puzey was a teacher and she had complained to the Peace Corps Office that a Host National Teacher, with an association with the Peace Corps, was sexually exploiting her female students. She was murdered shortly after making this report.  It is widely believed that her murder was in retaliation for her report. This remains speculation because her murderers have not brought to justice. In the Congressional hearings as the bill was being considered, RPCV women testified about their experience as sexual assault victims during Peace Corps service. The legislation is designed to address this problem. Sexual exploitation of young women in host countries who want to get an education is not addressed by . . .

Peace Corps writers bring their communities to life. From their unique perspective, they allow us to share  a moment in the lives of people we would never otherwise know or understand. Through the years, from letters written on tissue thin airmail papers, to film sent away to be developed, to journals that became books, to videos, Volunteers have sought to bring their world home. Today, blogs are the media of choice for Volunteers. The blogs are unofficial and Volunteers must adhere to guidelines established by Peace Corps. But the stories still say “Look what I see,” “Let me share what I have learned,” “Know these people as I do.” One such special blog is this written by Thomas O. Isom, Volunteer serving now in Mozambique.  Peace Corps has published it on its Passport Blog on the official Peace Corps web page.  Here is the link: http://passport.peacecorps.gov/2015/09/25/losing-a-piece-of-the-past/ It is also reprinted here. . . .

One of the many hidden treasures of Peace Corps history is the RPCV Oral History Collection at the JFK Library, begun more than fifteen years ago by RPCV Robert Klein,(Ghana I). Bob interviewed members of Ghana I for his book, Being First: An Informal History of the Early Peace Corps Robert Klein (Ghana 1961-63) Wheatmark, 2010* and realized how valuable those taped interviews were. He decided to expand to interview as many RPCVs as possible, at his own expense. For years, he crisscrossed the country, interviewing RPCVs and teaching them how to interview others. The JFK Library agreed to archive the tapes. There are now APPROXIMATELY 400 individual RECORDED interviews, one to three hours long. Years of service represented go from 1961 through 2015. All RPCVs may participate. Sadly, Bob died in 2012.  His partner, RPCV Phyllis Noble, (Nigeria 65-67) has continued his work. In an email, Phyllis wrote: “I’m delighted . . .