Author - Joanne Roll

From the NPCA website: “The COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing national crisis that requires a creative and focused response by local and national governments as well as by individual Americans. There is an immediate need in communities across the country, particularly among minority and underserved populations to identify and trace the sources of COVID-19 infection. The Peace Corps community can help meet this immediate need. Contact tracing on this scale requires large numbers of trained personnel to be quickly deployed to priority-need communities, in coordination with state and local public health professionals.” NPCA’s first Emergency Response Network project was with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of Seattle and King County, Washington.  Dr. Anthony Fauci commended  these RPCVs as they began training as contract tracers for  COVID-19, in his moving address. The only contact I could find for RPCVs who might  want to apply to be a member of . . .

  NPCA President Glenn Bumhourst announces CONNECT WITH THE FUTURE.  It is NPCA’s  Plan, months in the making, for a Path to the Future for the Peace Corps.  Here is the announcement with links to read the Report. Today we present a community report on how to reimagine, reshape, and retool the Peace Corps for a changed world.  Read the Report Online Amid a time of unprecedented crisis for the Peace Corps and our nation as a whole, the Peace Corps community has come together to chart a way forward: with specific, actionable steps that will help reimagine and retool the Peace Corps for a changed world. Those steps are outlined in “Peace Corps Connect to the Future,” a report months in the making and made public today. The report itself was prepared by a special National Peace Corps Association advisory council drawn from the broad Peace Corps community inside and . . .

  The RPCVs Advocates who created this movement have named the petition, “Abolish the Peace Corps.”  But, in reading the petition, I note they offer many suggestions to “reform” the Peace Corps, not to abolish it.  In this regard, they may be surprised to realize they join other  RPCVs  from earlier eras, who also wanted to improve the Peace Corps. I think it would be worthwhile to read the petition and its proposed changes, because I think it would generate  discussion.  Here is the link to the petition.  Its content has been copied and follows. Abolish Peace Corps: A Movement Toward Ending Neocolonialism in International Development The Peace Corps prides itself on being fundamentally apolitical and consistently providing humanitarian efforts around the world. This is a facade in that the Peace Corps, like all U.S. government agencies, is subjected to change due to rotations in administration, which can greatly affect . . .

  October 14, 2020 WASHINGTON – Peace Corps Director Jody K. Olsen announced Volunteers will begin returning to service in January. Speaking to staff today during a town hall meeting launching the agency’s yearlong 60th anniversary celebration, Director Olsen said public health conditions permit the return of Volunteers to the Eastern Caribbean. The agency suspended global operations in March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I am thrilled to share this good news as we commemorate our founding moment, when then candidate John F. Kennedy planted the seed for what would become the Peace Corps during an early morning speech October 14, 1960 at the University of Michigan,” said Director Olsen. “Our decision to return to the field follows months of extensive preparations and review, and I am extremely grateful to the many staff and host country partners who contributed to this effort. I also salute the evacuated volunteers who . . .

  Here is the current list of unofficial Resources describing the history of the Peace Corps.  It is unofficial and incomplete. The public  documents are available but not necessarily easily accessible. Few are  digitalized. Most are the property of the institutional archives, public, private and certainly university. For example, the training documents for Colombia I, the first Peace Corps group to enter training in June of 1961, are archived at Rutgers University.  RPCVs may visit the university and review the materials, a privilege otherwise reserved for students and faculty of the university.   RESOURCES An unofficial guide to the locations of resources describing the Peace Corps, and its history.    This list is a cooperative effort with RPCV Alana deJoseph, producer of the documentary A Towering Task, her team and the many archivists and librarians at the places cited. Thank you to all .   This is the latest information we have. Please . . .

  PCV Bernice Heiderman (Comoros 2018) died of undiagnosed malaria in 2018. Please read the article Peace Corps faces questions over another Volunteer death (Comoros) posted here in Peace Corps Worldwide. The New York Times published this article, October 2, 2020. The article quotes from the Inspector General of the Peace Corps’ report.  Her parents are preparing to sue the agency over the death of their daughter.  As the Peace Corps evidently plans to send a new contingent of Volunteers overseas, when countries are safe and are willing to welcome new PCVS, the problems identified by the OIG become even more important to resolve.   Click here to read the entire OIG report. Here is the Executive summary: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY “This report provides the results of our review of the circumstances surrounding the death of Peace Corps Volunteer Bernice Heiderman (PCV Heiderman) on January 9, 2018, in Comoros. PCV Heiderman died . . .

The Description of Service or DOS was originally designed as the Personnel record for  each  individual Peace Corp Volunteer’s service.  It was used to verify service for employment and university applications as well as other needs for documentation of service. Initially, in early days, all terminating Volunteers in a specific group, received the same general description of program activities.  However, at a certain time, which I have not yet been able to determine, the DOS became a  V0lunteer’s own record of his or her First Goal program activities. It was written by the Volunteer and countersigned by the Country Director. The Office of Freedom Information Act reports there are over 190,000 DOS electronically catalogued and are available  to the Volunteer and anyone else. For more information DOS policy, visit: https://files.peacecorps.gov/documents/MS-285-Policy.pdf?_ga=2.162855740.1630460103.1599702479-1120743076.1599057042 The detail now required proves how historically valuable these documents are. Here are the instructions for preparing such a detailed . . .

Museum News Direct to You The Museum of the Peace Corps Experience wants to keep our members up-to-date. Once a month we’ll send you news of our latest projects, activities, stories, and exhibition plans. Our Inaugural Newsletter invites you to view – from the comfort of your home – “A Towering Task, The Story of the Peace Corps” documentary; announces the Many Faces of Peace Corps; encourages you and others to volunteer with the Museum; focuses on our active Marketing Team; and offers you ways to contribute objects, stories, and money. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome at contactus@peacecorpsmuseum.org Co-Chairs, Nicola Dino, RPCV Ecuador 1994-1997 Patricia Wand, RPCV Colombia 1963-1965 “A Towering Task” Peace Corps documentary! The Museum of the Peace Corps Experience hosts a screening of “A Towering Task,” the award-winning Peace Corps documentary, viewable September 18 – 30, 2020… Read More Museum Launches Many Faces of Peace Corps Peace Corps 60th . . .

  The Museum of the Peace Corps Experience will host a screening of “A Towering Task,” the award-winning Peace Corps documentary, viewable September 18 – 30, 2020. Income from ticket sales will allow us to create Museum exhibits next year during the 60thAnniversary of Peace Corps. Please help us get the word out. Distribute this message as widely as possible. Help us expand public awareness of the Peace Corps and its history-making impact. By selling tickets for an online showing, Cinema 21 theater in Portland, Oregon will donate all its earnings to the Museum. Ticket purchases will begin after September 1. Then you’ll receive another message including links to purchase $10 tickets from Cinema 21 for online streaming. The message will also invite viewers to a Zoom panel discussion on September 30 with Alana DeJoseph, documentary Producer, Glenn Blumhorst, President, National Peace Corps Association, and other returned Peace Corps Volunteers. It’s a win-win proposition—but . . .

PEACE CORPS Washington 25, D. C. Descriptions of the first 9 projects, including purpose, training, Volunteer skills needed, technical qualifications of Volunteers, and information about the training officials.   Released November 1, 1961   T    A    B    L    E        0    F        C O N T E N T S   COUNTRY                                                                                 PAGE N0. Chile •    •    •     •   •    •     •     •     •   •     •     •     •             21 Colombia •    •     •     •    •     •    •     •     •     •     •     •          4 Ghana  •    •   •    •    •    •     •    •     •    •     •     •     •           18 India  •     •    •   •   •    •   •    •    •    •    •    •    •                   15 Nigeria •     •     •    •    •     •     •     •    •     •     •    •             27 Pakistan (East and West)  •     . . .

  from the Peace Corps WASHINGTON – Peace Corps Director Jody K. Olsen attended a reception at the State Department today to celebrate the signing by Viet Nam of the implementing agreement between the Peace Corps and the Ministry of Education and Training to officially establish the Peace Corps program in English education. The event, which also commemorated the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States of America and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, included Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell, Viet Nam Ambassador to the United States Ha Kim Ngoc and Deputy Chief of Mission Hoang Thi Thanh Nga. Viet Nam will be the 143rd country to host Peace Corps volunteers since the agency was founded in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy. “We are . . .

Register for NPCA Town Halls and Peace Corps Connect to the Future Summit We invite members of our community to participate in our Town Halls on July 9-16 and Peace Corps Connect to the Future ideas summit on July 18. To register, login to your NPCA account. (There is a “forgot your password,” option if needed.) You will receive a confirmation email with call in details once you have successfully signed up. Please note: Each session has a separate registration page. You may sign up for as many sessions as you like. All sessions are listed below. To register for each, click on the orange “attending” button with the checkmark by it. A green bar indicating you have successfully registered will now appear at the top of your screen. If you have any problems registering, please contact support@peacecorpsconnect.org.Thursday, July 9 (8 pm EDT) – Peace Corps Funding and Capitol Hill MobilizationSaturday, July 11 (2 pm EDT) – Recruiting the . . .