Author - Joanne Roll

The public private partnership between Peace Corps Response and the Global Health Volunteer organization represents a brand new direction for Peace Corps. The purpose of the partnership is to enhance the medical training in host countries by placing highly qualified medical educators, doctors and nurses, in positions of teaching authority in medical education institutions. This represents a new direction for Peace Corps, because the agency will pay an NGO to manage the program, recruit the participants, who do not have to be RPCVs, and the NGO will  provide direct supervision and support in country. This initial three year contract calls for 36 medical educators, per year, to be assigned to these positions in Malawi, Uganda and Tanzania. In describing the program on npr’s Health notes, Director of Global Health Volunteers, Dr. Vanessa Kerry, said “Partnering with the Peace Corps is a strategic move — not only for name recognition — . . .

“Letters from Nurses in the Peace Corps” is a remarkable document that Peace Corps once preserved and is now no longer available. (5/7/18)The booklet records some 12 letters from Peace Corps nurses serving during the 1960s. The letters are comprehensive and give detailed descriptions of where the nurses were working, the problems they encountered and how they were solving those problems.  Evidently, the booklet was used for recruiting purposes. One hopes that it also was used to evaluate and improve programs. The nurses write as individuals, but all refer to their groups. They also speak of the “girls”. Remember, back in the 60s, we were all girls! Here are some excerpts from those letters. Gail Singer –  Niger, reported ” In my student days…we heard over and over again how a nurse must be practical, adaptable and creative; how she could carry the basic principles of cleanliness, sterility, and ingenuity . . .

Vietnam. In a remarkable speech to the Albert Einstein School of Medicine on November 15, 1964, Sargent Shriver called for universal medical education, manned, in part by Peace Corps Volunteer doctors. Read the entire impassioned  speech at Peace Corps’ greatly expanded digital library: http://collection.peacecorps.gov/cdm/singleitem/collection/p9009coll13/id/12/rec/3 Shriver said: “We need a new idea and a new program…The answer lies in universal health education, with effective medical programs, medical centers and medical personnel serving as the central source for this public education.  Just as the Peace Corps has sent thousands of teachers overseas to help developing nations achieve universal school education, so now we must help them make universal health education a reality.” If this program sounds familiar, it is exactly what is now being developed, fifty years later. by a contract between Global Health Volunteers and Peace Corps Response. There are striking similarities between the proposals, separated by fifty years. Shriver explained . . .

But you won’t read it on the Peace Corps’s official main website.   The RPCV women of First Response Action are the courageous ones who worked so hard to make the law that protects Peace Corps Volunteers a reality.  The report is posted prominently on their website: http://firstresponseaction.blogspot.com Finding the report on the official Peace Corps website is instead  a “scavenger hunt”. Go to peace corps.gov and scroll to the bottom of the page. There you will find a wealth of links to important agency documents, including the Peace Corps Manual and Evaluation reports from the Inspector General’s office. But you won’t find a report entitled “Peace Corps Volunteer Sexual Assault Advisory Council Annual Report”. You have to know to scroll down, on that main website, to the heading labeled “Media”, click on ” News Releases”. The disclaimer on this webs page is that only press releases for the last 90 . . .

No permanent Director; budget cuts that mean layoffs looming: and, personnel system changes to the Five Year Rule up in the air, this is Peace Corps, today.  Does it matter to the serving Volunteer? It could. I believe  it imperative to pay  attention to Peace Corps during times of transition to make sure that the safety and service of Volunteers are not compromised. From the outside looking in, it is hard to tell exactly how these stresses are currently impacting Peace Corps. But, there are some  clues to be found in the history. Let us look at them. In 2008, Obama’s transition team wrote a paper for the President outlining a road map for the Peace Corps. The report made recommendations for the first 90 days of the Obama’s administration, including this: “Peace Corps reform needs to start on January 20lh. Under ideal circumstances a new director will have been . . .

In December, Acting Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet wrote a memo on how sequestration would impact the Peace Corps. Sequestration was part of the “fiscal cliff” that was to occur on January 2nd, 2013 and now looms as a possibility on March 1st.  Sequestration is the procedure in which automatic spending cuts are triggered to budgets of federal agencies if Congress and the President cannot reach agreement on spending measures. Here is the Director’s memo: December 20, 2012 TO: Peace Corps Global FROM: Carrie Hessler-Radelet, Acting Director SUBJECT: Implications of Ongoing Fiscal Cliff Negotiations for the Peace Corps As you are all likely aware, the Administration and Congress are continuing to work to resolve a series of economic or fiscal events, collectively referred to as the “fiscal cliff,” that are scheduled to occur around the end of the year. One of the key issues involves potential across-the-board reductions in federal spending— . . .

On October 2, 2012, the Congressional Research Service published a report entitled“Peace Corps Issues”. The potential impact to Peace Corps of sequestration was discussed. From the report: Also, pending sequestration would likely severely cut the current Peace Corps funding level. On September 14, 2012, the Office of Management and Budget issued its report on possible sequestration actions that might be taken on January 2, 2013,if  requirements of the Budget Control Act of 2011 (P.L. 112-25) are not met. Under sequestration,the Peace Corps budget would possibly be cut by 8.2%, or about $31 million. This statement may be altered by directives from the Office of Budget and Management or other policy mandates, if sequestration actually goes into effect.  It is hoped that in that unfortunate event, Peace Corps will post on its official website the actual changes that will happen. A FOIA request is pending asking for those potential changes, but it is . . .

The Peace Corps Performance and Accountability Report for Fiscal Year 2012  Annual Report (PAR) FY 2012 is as ponderous to read as any government report.  However, it does have some gems.  Here is one: Over the last four years, Peace Corps has conducted a series of Host Country Impact Studies that contribute to Peace Corps’ ability to measure the impact of its Volunteers. The studies are unique in that they focus on learning about the Volunteers’ impact from the host country nationals who lived and worked with the Volunteers. The in-country field work is conducted by local research teams. The studies demonstrate the Volunteers’ ability to build local capacity and illustrate the transformation in host country nationals’ understanding of Americans after working with a Volunteer. The reports and summary information sheets for each study are posted below. Armenia (PDF) / Armenia Summary (PDF) Bulgaria (PDF) / Bulgaria Summary (PDF) Burkina . . .

The problem documented in the Mother Jones article began in the Spring of 2009, more than three years ago. This was one of the danger transition times at Peace Corps when the administration was in flux because of the political changes brought about by the election. There was rapid staff turnover. In 2009, the Director resigned on January 20th and the permanent Director was not sworn in until August. This period in 2009 also saw the murder in Benin of Kate Puzey in March. During this time also, RPCV J. Larry Brown documents the chaotic administrative directives from  Washington to his Country Director post in Uganda in his memoir, Peasants Come Last. Since that time, there have been changes in the support Volunteers receive who are medically evacuated.  From page 91 of the current Annual Report: • Analysis of medical evacuations: Volunteers are medically evacuated from their country of service . . .

The Peace Corps Global Health Service Partnership represents a radical change for Peace Corps and Peace Corps Response for two equally important reasons. The first is that these new “GHSPVS’ will receive generous financial compensation for a year of service, in addition to the allowances and benefits afforded the “traditional” PCV and PCRV. The second reason is that these GHSPVS will treat and provide clinical services, as well as training and teaching.  Let us look first at the “benefits package.”  From the concept paper: Historically, many health professionals interested in providing service – either domestically or abroad to socially and economically disadvantaged populations – face financial challenges from compounding educational debt and personal commitments. GHSC aims to build on the legacy of domestic federal programs such as the National Health Service Corps to assist with education indebtedness. GHSC will provide loan repayment support to eligible individuals for each year served . . .

There is now a  new and different role for Peace Corps Response.  The change is described in  “Concept Paper for the Peace Corps Global Health Service Partnership.” To download the PDF, use this link:_Concept paper on the Peace Corps Global Health Partnership

If there is a Republican takeover in the White House in November, the transition at Peace Corps could be even more difficult for serving Volunteers. The agency is already experiencing changes because of the early and unexpected resignation of Director Aaron Williams, (Dominion Republic 67-69) who headed Peace Corps for three years. The agency is in the capable hands of Acting Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet; but she is still only the acting Director. In a recent evaluation, the Inspector General of the Peace Corps found that transitions caused unique problems at Peace Corps because of the so-called Five Year Rule. One problem was the lack of succession planning.  The OIG made specific recommendations to correct these problems. The then Director Williams accepted them and was to send to the OIG, in August of this year, the policy changes and perhaps even proposed legislation all designed to implement the recommendations. However, this has been . . .

Dr. Vanessa Kerry is the daughter of Senator John Kerry. She has created a partner ship with Peace Corps Response to send doctors and nurses overseas. Kerry was interviewed on NRP about the new Peace Corps Response program. (Read the transcript of the interview at: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/09/18/161381770/a-peace-corps-for-doctors-built-by-a-senators-daughter In describing the program, Kerry stated: “The Peace Corps doesn’t have the technical capacity to do clinical medicine and nursing,” Kerry says. “But they do well at deploying people in a sensitive, integrated way.” Peace Corps Nurses, however, have served in the Peace Corps from its earliest days.    

After reading John Coyne’s article, I was inspired to find the  famous Kennedy quote “… pay any price”.  But as I read the Inaugural Address, I was so struck by how very pertinent all of it is today.  Here it is: Inaugural Address of President John F. Kennedy 
Washington, D.C. 
January 20, 1961 Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, Reverend Clergy, fellow citizens: 

We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom–symbolizing an end as well as a beginning–signifying renewal as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forbears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago. The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the . . .

The recently published Inspector General’s Report, Final Evaluation Report: Impacts of the Five-Year Rule on Operations of the  Peace Corps (IG-12-05-E)  focused on the problems caused by the so-called Five Year Rule.  But the report did acknowledge the effect of the Peace Corps’ political appointment structure. I think the observations are critically important. Do you?  From the IGO report: Staffs’ concerns regarding the Peace Corps’ political appointment structure Throughout the course of this evaluation many interviewees expressed their beliefs and attitudes regarding the effect that political appointees, particularly appointees with no previous Peace Corps experience, were having on the operations of the agency. Many respondents insisted that it was important for our evaluation to consider the combined effect on the agency’s operations of constant staff turnover and the agency’s political appointment structure. The commonly expressed reasoning respondents articulated was that these two features of the agency’s personnel structure—high turnover created by . . .