The Peace Corps

“Jack’s life story is at once inspirational and terrifying, such a compelling combination for this modest man who looked like a country doctor and lived like a poster for a Harrison Ford movie.”  —TOM BROKAW Kill the Gringo is the wide-ranging, action-packed memoir of Jack Hood Vaughn, whose career in diplomacy, social advocacy and conservation spanned more than 25 jobs and 11 countries. A professional boxer during his college years, Jack joined the Marines in 1941, fighting in the battles of Guam and Okinawa during World War II. His rapport with people and facility with language led to a speedy rise in international development in Latin America and Africa where he drew the attention of Vice President Lyndon Johnson during his visit to Senegal in 1961. Three years later, President Johnson appointed Jack ambassador to Panama when violent anti-American riots there led to a severing of diplomatic ties. As the . . .

By Edward Mycue  (Ghana I) Myth becomes parable evolving to symbol in the story of TURTLE who is holding up the world: one nameless fabled old lady explained what upheld the turtle: it’s turtles all the way down she asserted. I have told my story before, meeting John Fitzgerald Kennedy, US SENATOR, in 1960 as a Boston University graduate student under a fellowship from the Lowell Institute for Cooperative Broadcasting when I served as an intern at WGBH-TV then on the M.I.T. campus and (prior to the establishment of PBS — Public Broadcasting System) the linchpin of the Network for Educational Television (NET). The first time Kennedy was seeking the Democrat Party nomination for US PRESIDENT and the second time was after he became the nominee for president. Both times he came to WGBH-TV to appear on the New England News program helmed by Louis Lyons, curator for journalism of the Nieman . . .

I guess we all want to return back to school for different reasons. I was in the Peace Corps in the Philippines on and off from 1976 to 1984. Five years as an  Agricultural Extension Volunteer then later as a staff member. I worked with the five tribes in the Cordillera Mountains collectively called Igorots. It didn’t take long to realize my agricultural techniques were not going to work in the steep mountains where rice was the main crop grown in inaccessible terraces. I was fortunate to connect with Mother Basille Gekierre, a Belgian missionary there since 1925. Mother Basille was unique among missionaries in that she saw the value of preserving the culture. When I got there she had converted a classroom, in the old brick schoolhouse, which covered the Bontoc Igorot. By a stroke of luck, she was able to get $250,000 to build a new museum. Now . . .

On January 14, 1960, Congressman Henry Reuss (D. Wis) introduced a bill for a study of a “Point Four Youth Corps” plan. It is passed. On June 15, 1960, Senator Hubert Humphrey (D. Minn) introduces a bill calling for the establishment of a “Peace Corps.” It is not passed. On November 2, 1960, Presidential candidate Kennedy announces plans for a “Peace Corps” at the Cow Palace, in San Francisco. On June 24, 1961, Colombia I begins the first Peace Corps Training program. On August 28, 1961, the first groups of Volunteers going to Ghana and Tanzania meet President Kennedy in the Rose Garden. On August 30, 1961, The first group of Peace Corps Volunteers departs for Ghana. The 51 Volunteers are serving as secondary school teachers. On September 12, 1961, Tom Livingston from Woodale, Illinois became the first Peace Corps Volunteer when he took up his post as an English teacher at . . .

Fellow Ghana PCV Ed Mycue reported the sad news that Tom Livingston (Ghana 1961-63) died today, January 24, 2017, in Oakland, California Kaiser Hosptial. Tom is credited with being the first ever PCV when he took up his post in 1961 as an English teacher at a secondary school in Dodowa, Ghana. – Gerald T. Rice in his definitive history of the first years of the Peace Corps, The Bold Experiment JFK’s Peace Corps published by the University of Notre Dame Press in 1985 and based on his Ph.D. dissertation from the University of Glasgow tells how the Volunteers arrived at Accra airport in Ghana on August 30, 1961. (The Volunteers bound for Tanzania did not arrive until a day later.) The Ghana PCVs began to travel to their assignments in different parts of Ghana two weeks later. On September 12, 1961, Tom Livingston became the first Volunteer to begin working overseas. – . . .

The Lynching: The Epic Courtroom BattlIne That Brought Down the Klan Laurence Leamer (Nepal 1964–66) William Morrow June 2016 384 pages $27.99 (hardcover), $12.99 (Kindle)   The Lynching published last year is a finalist for the Edgar Award as best true crime book of the year.  In a review of the book, Martin Ganzglass (Somalia 1966-68) wrote, “Whatever hyperbole appears on the back cover will not do justice to Laurence Leamer’s The Lynching — The Epic Courtroom Battle That Brought Down the Klan. This fast paced factual thriller, with its numerous short, punchy chapters, is better than a John Grisham courtroom novel.” Review — THE LYNCHING by Laurence Leamer (Nepal)

  Write about your PCV experience and earn your MFA. Click  for the details  

Dear Returned Peace Corps Volunteer,                                                                                     January 19, 2017 As I complete my service this week, I want to reach out to all of you for the last time to express once again how grateful I am to have served with you during my tenure as director of this amazing agency. It has truly been the greatest honor of my life to return to the Peace Corps and lead you all in our historic efforts to safeguard the Peace Corps’ extraordinary legacy, welcome a new generation of Volunteers, and so much more. The magic of the Peace Corps depends on collaboration and on the will and spirit of each . . .

The President of the United States appoints the Peace Corps Director and deputy director, and the appointments must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Read more about the past directors of the Peace Corps. Initially established by President John F. Kennedy by Executive Order on March 1, 1961, the Peace Corps was formally authorized by the Congress on September 22, 1961, with passage of the Peace Corps Act. The Peace Corps enjoys bipartisan support in Congress. Senators and representatives from both parties have served as Volunteers. The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and House Committee on Foreign Affairs are charged with general oversight of the activities and programs of the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps’ annual budget is determined each year by the congressional budget and appropriations process. Funding for the Peace Corps is included in the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations bill. Generally, the Peace Corps budget is . . .

I received the following note from novelist Dick Lipez (Ethiopia 1962-64) who spends his winters in Bangkok. The ‘permanent’ RPCVs in Thailand are having their monthly lunch at the Foreign Correspondents Club this Friday. Dick writes that there are “usually 25 or so people, most of them ex-Thailand PCVs who have stayed in-country.  A few current PCVs may show up.  Plus current staff. As you can imagine, an interesting and congenial bunch.  Also, the food at the FCC is good.” The invitation note from Peter Montalbano to the Thailand RPCVs Good evening, all, and Happy New Year, such as we hope it may be . . . I’m pretty late with the monthly missive here . . . probably due to a mild case of burn-out. It’s been 2 years now I’ve been organizing meetings for the Former PCVs group here in Bangkok, and I’m getting pulled in so many . . .

  The newsletter of the Columbia River Peace Corps Association printed this announcement. I have reprinted it here, as I think we are part of the Peace Corps networks! • NPR seeks to interview RPCVs with negative experiences of Lariam CRPCA’s acting E-update Editor, Bill Stein, had two phone conversations this morning with National Public Radio investigative journalist Daniel Zwerdling, who asked to forward the following information request to Peace Corps networks. I’m doing stories on the controversial history of mefloquine (the brand name used to be Lariam). Among other issues, I’m examining why the Peace Corps continues to use it widely, even though the US military has pretty much banned it. I’ve interviewed dozens of former volunteers, government officials, researchers at university medical centers in the US and Europe, and others. I’m actually putting the stories together now, but I’m always eager to chat with more people who took . . .

  Washington, D.C. Metro Area reclaims no.1 spot for first time since 2009 WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 20, 2016 – The Peace Corps today released its 2016 rankings of the top volunteer-producing states and metropolitan areas across the country. For the first time in six years, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria is the largest metropolitan-area producer of volunteers, bumping longtime leader New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island to no.2 on the total volunteers list this year. Vermont and California remain no.1 on the respective per capita and total volunteer-producing states lists. Montana has also made impressive strides this year with Missoula, Montana making its first appearance since 2011 in the no.1 spot for top metro areas per capita and The Treasure State climbing to no.3 on the list of top states per capita. For the first time, the District of Columbia and surrounding states appear on this year’s top states per capita rankings with D.C., Maryland . . .

  Come Teach in DC! DC Public Schools are looking for candidates for an RPCV-exclusive fellowship to teach Arabic, American Sign Language, French, Italian, Latin, Mandarin, and Spanish (teaching certificate not required). Register to learn more from our webinar and Q&A!    REGISTER    https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USPC/bulletins/17c8c59  

SBA Administrator and Obama Cabinet member Maria Contreras-Sweet and the Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet (Western Samoa 1981-83) signed a five-page set of commitments designed to deepen the working relationship between the two organizations. One key feature of the agreement includes enhancing employment opportunities for returned Peace Corps Volunteers. Another involves intentionally supplying current Volunteers with information relating to targeted SBA programs. This information will help Volunteers expand business and job creation opportunities in the countries where they serve. “It gives me great pride that the Peace Corps recognizes the value of empowering its volunteers to expand business and job creation in the areas where they serve,” said Contreras-Sweet. “Small businesses are the engine of job creation in the United States. With the new SBA/Peace Corps agreement, this entrepreneurial spirit can be exported to improve living conditions around the world.  At the same time, our agency will proudly continue to recruit . . .