The Peace Corps

Morgan Courtney is a “Design thinker + foreign policy/international development practitioner working for social impact” who wrote an article for the Huffington Post.  She offers  ten points of advice for the “Graduate Who Wants to Work in International Affairs.” Of interest to the Peace Corps community and prospective applicants is #2 from Courtney. Get field experience. Many field jobs in international development require prior field experience. It’s a Catch-22. How do you get field experience if jobs require you to already have field experience? There are a couple of different ways. Firstly, your summer or semester in South Africa doesn’t count as much as you think it does. Sorry. What employers are looking for is real work experience, not classroom time, in another country. (What IS good is language proficiency from your time abroad!) So what can you do after college to get field experience? In my estimation, the very best . . .

Peace Corps has a new logo and a new website. “Peace Corps’ Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet and Creative Director Juan Carlos Polanco, will discuss the new brand and our efforts to showcase the Volunteer experience. Attend the event for a chance to ask questions or, if you can’t make it, watch the recording after the event.” This is the link for more information: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USPC/bulletins/14c8d44

  President Barack Obama is expected to announce Monday during his visit to Vietnam that the Peace Corps will be invited to establish operations in that country, the volunteer organization said. The volunteers will focus on teaching English to students, and training Vietnamese colleagues to teach English. It’s a striking turnaround from the years when some young men joined the Peace Corps in an effort to avoid serving in the military during the Vietnam conflict. The Peace Corps has been working on gaining entry to Vietnam for years. In 2012, then-Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams made a three-day visit to the country to explore the possibility of an invitation to establish a program there. The Peace Corps was established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy to promote world peace and friendship. Since then, more than 220,000 Americans have served in 141 host countries. Currently, volunteers work in 63 countries. . . .

Our Peace Corps History A Passing of the Torch reveals the magical moment in history that lead to one of the first student movements of the 1960’s and the formation of the Peace Corps. Candidate John F. Kennedy gave a three-minute impromptu speech before 10,000 University of Michigan students who had waited in the chill until 2:00 AM to hear him speak. In that speech he challenged them to commit a part of their lives to public service. That speech addressed a yearning among young people in America to make a difference. In answer to that challenge a group of Michigan students began a national student movement that would lead to the formation of the Peace Corps in just a few short months. This documentary explores the incredible events and synchronicity of what happened and it’s relevance today through the perspectives and recollections of those involved including Bill Moyers, Harris . . .

Ann Moore was a pioneer Peace Corps Volunteer, a pediatric nurse who went to  Togo in 1962. She was a member of a Peace Corps medical group which included  doctors, nurses, lab techs, a pharmacist and others. Ann observed the traditional patterns of baby care in Togo. She saw that the babies were always carried by their mothers.  She noted “the outstanding emotional well being of the African infant, either sick or healthy”. Ann brought home what she learned and created the baby carrier, the Snugli.  Generations of happy babies and parents, the world over, was the result. But, read Ann’s powerful story in her own words. Clink on the statement to which says to “continue reading.” The Snugli story  

Last January I wrote about Alan Toth (South Africa 2010-12) and his video project, Posh Corps. He wrote me, “Three years ago, I started working on the Posh Corps project. The idea was simple: to discuss the modern Peace Corps experience honestly. I wanted to cut through the mythology and the marketing, and capture the experience of volunteering in a rapidly changing world.” He has been doing that but recently he started to produce a series of Peace Corps reform podcasts. He recorded the interview with Kellie Greene in Washington D.C. at the end of February 2016. As Alan wrote me, “I spent the last few months tracking down documents and editing the podcasts. I’ve wanted to do stories about internal agency problems for some time. I do support Peace Corps, but I don’t support institutional incompetence. It seems clear that the agency has not focused on improving management for . . .

  If you are a football fan and your team (Broncos!) has the ball and is in touchdown range, then the Red Zone is a good thing. Any other time and place, the Red Zone means heighten risk and danger. I think Peace Corps is entering such a Red Zone. This is why. Four of the most egregious crimes against serving Peace Corps Volunteers occurred during a time of transition or anticipated transition from one political party in power to the other. The extraordinary number of political appointees in the Peace Corps agency and the always rapid staff turnover due to the Five Year Rule may have contributed to reduced support to Volunteers during such times. http://files.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/pdf/policies/PC_Final_Evaluation_Report_on_Impacts_of_the_Five_Year_Rule_IG1205E.pdf   (Please note: That Peace Corps has adopted one recommendation and now appointments are for five years, not two 30-month appointments. But they are not staggered to provide continuity) Four crimes over more than thirty years . . .

“The President and Mrs. Obama announced today that their daughter Malia will attend Harvard University in the fall of 2017 as a member of the Class of 2021,” the office of the first lady announced on Sunday. “Malia will take a gap year before beginning school.” Suddenly, the Gap Year is Hot! Those of us old enough to remember when there were No iphones  and  No Internet, will remember Peace Corps’ ATPs? No, an ATP wasn’t some sort of pain medication; it stood for Advance Training Programs and juniors in college applied early to the Peace Corps and spent the summer between their junior and senior high school year on a college campus somewhere in the States listening to boring lectures on their Country of Assignment before returning home for their senior year, and then off again the next summer to Peace Corps Training for real, often at the same . . .

Peace Corps Press Release WASHINGTON, D.C., April 28, 2016 – The Peace Corps will be retiring its Master’s International (MI) graduate school program after nearly three decades of fruitful partnerships with 96 graduate universities across the country. While students beginning an MI program by or before the fall of 2016 will still be able to apply to Peace Corps and serve as an MI student if selected, the Peace Corps will end its memoranda of agreement with MI university partners in September to focus resources on the agency’s Peace Corps Prep undergraduate program and Paul D. Coverdell Fellows graduate program. “We are incredibly grateful that this program laid the foundation for strong relationships with so many universities,” Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet said. “Although the Peace Corps has outgrown the goals of the Master’s International program, we’re looking forward to continuing our collaboration with our valued university partners knowing there are . . .