Miscellany

Clayton Kennedy (El Salvador 2010-12) who is, he informed me, “just an outreach specialist, not the director of University Partnerships” Sorry, Clayton, I just wanted to give your CV a boost). Also, Clayton tell me, “Peace Corps Prep and Campus Ambassadors have both been in the Office of Diversity and National Outreach, where I have worked since my arrival last June. However, these two programs and I are transitioning over to the Office of University Partnerships, which is simultaneously coming over to VRS. The position of the Director of University Partnerships is currently open and just about to be posted.” Okay, are we all thoroughly confused by this Washington gobbledygook? Good. But what (in simple plain English) is how you would describe Peace Corps Prep? I asked Clayton who was nice enough to reply, “Peace Corps Prep is a partnership program that prepares undergraduate students for intercultural service abroad. We provide . . .

Peace Corps Prep– Shriver & Clayton Kennedy “The Peace Corps is a way in which American students can put their studies of other cultures to effective use. The problem, therefore, is how to channel these students toward Peace Corps service. It would be of immeasurable help to the Peace Corps if the colleges and universities of this country would institute a Peace Corps preparatory program in which students could enroll before their service with us. In most schools this would merely be bringing together in one package of already existing courses. In others it could mean the establishment of new courses of instruction….” Sargent Shriver Institute of Higher Education Board Nashville, Tennessee July 24, 1961 The head of an office at the Peace Corps called the Office of University Partnerships is Clayton Kennedy, an RPCV who is developing the Peace Corps Prep Program. What, you ask, is the Peace Corps Prep . . .

Bob Buckley, a Colorado cowboy, gets as close as he can to a wild free range horse– a bucking Micronesia turtle! Bob Buckley(Micronesia 1968-70)

Charlotte Crawford & Neil Boyer (Ethiopia 1962–64) in Egypt Ethiopian PCVs on Vacation

Staying safe, preventing malaria BY PEACE CORPS ON AUGUST 9, 2013 By Barry G. Simon, M.D., Peace Corps Medical Director, Office of Medical Services Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its warning label on the anti-malarial drug mefloquine hydrochloride, and there has been a surge in news coverage lately about the side effects of medications used to prevent malaria. The Peace Corps takes these warnings very seriously and has taken proactive steps to ensure that Volunteers have all of the information they need to make an informed decision about the anti-malaria medication that is right for them, in collaboration with their Peace Corps Medical Officer. Before beginning any kind of anti-malaria regimen, every Volunteer has an individual, one-on-one consultation with their Medical Officer to discuss the pros and cons of each medication and all possible risks and side effects. Volunteers can revisit their choice of medication at any time during . . .

Nobel Prize laureate, Wole Soyinka, LandRover that Tom inherited when he became the University of Ibadan Theater’s business manager and directed the College’s 1964 Shakespeare national tour.

Those were the days my friend We thought they’d never end A lot gets lost over time and 50+ years of history is a long time for an agency. Reading this past weekend the long, and deadly prose written report: The Peace Corps A Comprehensive Agency Assessment– published in June 2010 by the agency–I realized how much of the original spirit of the Peace Corps has evaporated in five decades of service. This report written by six people, with lots of advisory committees, attempts to evaluate the agency, and make recommendations for the future. It was done at the suggestion of Peace Corps Director  Aaron Williams (2009-12) who said during his Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearings that his intention, once confirmed as director, was to “carry out an agency-wide assessment of the Peace Corps as a means of strengthening, reforming, and growing the agency.” Aaron said that “the agency-wide assessment . . .

While observing the Kazakh elections, 2005, Ken Hill is being observed.

Dr. Remington Lee Nevin is a consulting physician epidemiologist board certified in Public Health and General Preventive Medicine by the American Board of Preventive Medicine.  Dr. Nevin specializes in the evaluation of adverse reactions to antimalarial medications, particularly the neurotoxic quinoline derivative mefloquine (previously marketed in the United States as Lariam®). The above is from his website: http://www.remingtonnevin.com/site/home.html Dr. Nevin has written a letter to the Peace Corps Director urging that the policy regarding the use of mefloquine be changed to protect Volunteers from the medication’s adverse effects. His letter is signed by RPCVs who support the change.  Many of whom have suffered severe and potentially permanent damage from the drug. RPCV advocates, including members of “Health Justice for Volunteers, are urging RPCVs to write to Peace Corps Director Carrie Radelet-Hessler in support of Dr. Nevin’s recommendations, and also to contact their Congressional delegation with the same request.  Here is the link . . .

There was a Catholic secondary school for women a mile and a half or so from the Government teacher training college where Fanselow was teaching in 1962. Young Catholic women taught at the secondary school not as Peace Corps Volunteers, but as volunteers for a Catholic organization. John and the women would often get together on weekends after mass at the secondary school and sometimes went on walks later in the day. One afternoon they came upon the large pot used to cook stew for events in the village. John and the women teachers had food with them as well as forks, knives and spoons for their picnic, and they  thought it would be a good joke to give forks, etc. to the people in the village and hop into the pot. (John had remembered seeing an old Abbot and Costello movie with a similar scene.) Of course as soon . . .

The Peace Corps would give thousands of young Americans a chance to see at first hand the conditions in remote areas of the world. Sargent Shriver The Peace Corps is guilty of enthusiasm and a crusading spirit. But we’re not apologetic about it. Sargent Shriver Any idealist who tries to join the Peace Corps must realize he is not going to change the world overnight. Sargent Shriver In the Peace Corps, the volunteer must be a fully developed, mature person. He must not join to run abroad or escape problems. Sargent Shriver

Morris Baker’s white mule (that he named “LandRover”, because it was so sure footed) was one of several mules that he used to visit small villages in Gojjam Province while serving as a Leprosy Control PCV with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health.  This was his second year assignment in Ethiopia.  The man holding the reins is a leprosy patient. Morris Baker (Ethiopia 1966-68)