The Peace Corps

 Third Goal of the Peace Corps To promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.   There’s something about the process of crafting personal stories to be told in front of an audience that brings you closer to yourself and to others. – Zach Matheson, Northern California Peace Corps Association This year we are proud to launch Peace Corps’ first-ever Storytelling Contest. Storytelling usually evokes images of huddling around a campfire or childhood bedtimes, but in recent years it has developed an exciting new image. The expansion of “Story Slams” is revitalizing the ancient tradition of storytelling to spread culture, ideas, and thought provoking experiences through spoken word. This summer, returned Peace Corps Volunteers will be invited to submit their stories in video form. Contest Theme: Building Bridges to Intercultural Understanding Humanize your host country by letting us get to know a special community member Share the moment . . .

This is a long, heartbreaking and true story of the experiences of a PCV who served in Malawi, became ill overseas as a Volunteer, and had the Peace Corps turn their back on her plight while overseas and when she was home again. Why the Peace Corps didn’t help Meghan Wolf receive medical care is the fault of the Peace Corps Staff and the Peace Corps legislation. Why the legislation hasn’t been changed is the fault of the agency, the US Department of Labor (the agency responsible for managing medical claims and loss of wages for Peace Corps service-related health issues) and Congress, which sets the budget and determines laws governing the care PCVs and RPCVs.  RPCVs, the NPCA, and those who support the Peace Corps are also at fault for not having successful argued all these years to have the laws changed so sick and injured RPCVs are properly cared for . . .

Joanie Laurer, who overcame a troubled home life in Rochester, N.Y., to win an international following as the pro wrestler Chyna, has died at age 45, according to her official website and World Wrestling Entertainment. Police found her body at her home in Redondo Beach, Calif., on Wednesday, according to local media. After college, and after 1992, she writes in her book that she joined the Peace Corps and was assigned to Guatemala. More at the Washington Post.  

Peace Corps reported that all Volunteers in Ecuador were safe. I could not find any notice of  organized plans to help survivors of the Earthquake on the official Peace Corps site. However, RPCVs want to help. Bob Arias, (RPCV Colombia 1964-1966Response Volunteer:Panamá 2009-2010, Paraguay 2010-2011Colombia 2011-2013, Panamá 2013-2014 CD Uruguay, Argentina) emailed from Panama that RPCV’s want to get involved, it is part of the Third Goal. Bob also said  “we offered our services to Director Carrie as former Volunteers and Response Volunteers.” The RPCV group, Friends of Ecuador, has both a website and a Facebook page.  Both offer ways on how you can help.  Go to the website for further information on how to help and where to send donations. Here is the link to the  website: http://www.friendsofecuador.org/2016/04/ecuador-earthquake-how-you-can-help/      From the website: “Current Peace Corps volunteers have expressed an interest in helping and many of them who live along the coast . . .

Rachel Mannino is a new novelist and at the Peace Corps she is also Grants Writer in the Office of Gift and Grants Management. (And you thought writing grants had nothing to do with fiction. Ha!) This what they have this to say about Rachel: Rachel Mannino is a passionate writer who creates characters and settings that allow readers to explore power dynamics in relationships, the empowerment of women, and the ethical and moral dilemmas love can create in our lives. Rachel also uses her writing skills to raise thousands of dollars for entities that enrich our lives and create community change around the world.  She has worked for the Peace Corps; the Humanities Council of Washington, DC; Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; and the Mayor’s Office of Arts, Tourism and Special Events in Boston, MA. Her first novel, Love or Justice, was published by Limitless Press in November, 2015. Her second novel, Fractal, . . .

  From the Peace Corps Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/PeaceCorps?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Peace Corps ‏@PeaceCorps 52m52 minutes ago All Peace Corps Ecuador Volunteers are safe & accounted for. Staff in Ecuador are in close contact w/ Volunteers regarding safety & security

The first Peace Corps film was done by RPCVs from Nigeria, David Schickele and Roger Landrum, both Nigeria 1 (1962-64) PCVs. The film Give Me A Riddle was shot in 1966. The producer and director, the late David Schickele, said about making the film, Nigeria became an independent country in 1960. In 1967 it was torn apart by civil war. Between these two events Nigeria enjoyed a kind of golden age, full of cultural ferment and cross-tribal fertilization. Every kid out of the village was writing the great Nigerian novel. A spirit of great hope prevailed through the land. Give Me A Riddle is about this golden age, seen through the eyes of ex-Peace Corps Volunteer — Roger Landrum — returning to his host country a couple of years after his Peace Corps service as a teacher at the University of Nigeria. The film follows Roger as he looks up his former students . . .

Check the Peace Corps Third Goal for more details. thirdgoal@peacecorps.gov Peace Corps Recruiment * CA, Berkeley – 04/26 – Send-Off Party * CA, Hayward – 04/28 – CSUEB Career Fair * CA, Sacramento – 04/26 – Working in Women’s Empowerment Abroad * CA, Sacramento – 04/27 – Peace Corps Service in Latin America * CO, Denver – 05/01 – Make Your Encore Years Count * CO, Denver – 05/210 – Invitee Send-Off Brunch * DE, Newark, – 04/14 – Service Panel: Opportunities at Home and Abroad * FL, Gainesville – 04/19 – Success in Service: Hear from Returned Volunteers * FL, Tampa – 04/16 – Peace Corps Send-Off Party * GA, Brunswick – 04/22 – International Festival at Coastal College of Georgia * ID, Boise – 04/15 – Boise Send-Off * KY, Morehead – 04/26 – Morehead State University’s Networking Dinner * MD, Baltimore – 04/28 – Special Event: Peace Corps Send-Off Party * MN, Minneapolis – 04/15 – Peace Corps Social * NJ, Mahwah – 04/20 – Peace Corps at Ramapo . . .

FROM USA TODAY BY GREGORY KORTE APRIL 11, 2016 WASHINGTON — President Obama, often criticized by Republicans for constitutional overreach for his use of executive orders to get around Congress, signed the 254th executive order of his presidency Friday — allowing the Peace Corps to change its logo. In his seven years in office, he’s also used executive orders to change the name of the National Security Staff to the National Security Council staff, to allow the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports to also consider the role of nutrition, and to prohibit government employees from texting while driving. And, showing that executive orders can attend to even the smallest details, Obama signed an executive order in 2014 to correct a typographical error in a previous executive order — which governed the format of executive orders. Executive orders are often thought of as the most muscular form of presidential . . .

Congressman John Garamendi (Ethiopia 1966-68) will appear on Fox Business at 12PM PT/3PM ET to discuss the effect of North Korea, South China Sea, and ISIL on the presidential campaigns. John is a member of the House Armed Services Committee.