The Peace Corps

Letter published May 22, 2022 Dear Members of the Peace Corps Community, National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) is dedicated to serving the Peace Corps community and supporting the mission of the Peace Corps. NPCA is committed to providing support, resources, and advocacy while promoting a spirit of respect and acceptance of all people. The Board of NPCA takes all allegations of an unsafe or hostile workplace environment for women or others very seriously and has not and will not condone such an environment at NPCA. The allegations referenced in the recent posts online are not new. The Board took action to engage an independent and qualified investigator to conduct a thorough examination of these charges when they were brought to the attention of the Board. The independent investigator concluded that the allegations of misconduct were not credible and that NPCA did not present an unsafe or hostile work environment for . . .

by Abigail Calkins Aguirre (Cameroon 1987-90) In July 1992 we published this essay by Abigail. It remains one of my favorite essays by an RPCV writer. Note: JC    FEW RECOGNIZE ME without my trademark Suzuki. Now I have this red Yamaha DT they gave me to replace it. I’m still white, though, or so they keep insisting as I pass by the shouting voices trying to get me to stop to do a favor, chat, or taste the latest in palm wine. I know I have a bike, but how do you say “I’m not a taxi” in the local language? I’m late, I’m in a hurry, I’ve got to help a women’s group plant rows of plantains and pineapple in their community farm. This road could jostle my insides right out of me. My thighs are sore from being abused as non-stop shock absorbers. Yet, nothing beats a . . .

  It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time Tom Corbett (India 1966–68) Hancock Press 644 pages $14.99 (paperback), $24.99 (hardcover), $4.99 (Kindle) Reviewed by John Chromy (India 1963–65) Tom Corbett’s book, It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time, is well worth reading, mostly for the very thoughtful reflections of the India 44 RPCVs that arose at three reunions that started in 2009, forty years after their PC service in Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Drawn from Tom Corbett’s notes from the reunions, the narrative focuses not on all the problems or peculiarities of the host country, as many Peace Corps stories do, but rather these India RPCVs thoughtfully and often humorously reflect on: Some of the positive achievements, however small, each of them made during her/his PCV assignments, How much the PC/India experience changed their lives and forced them to become better people, The many achievements and progress . . .

July 25 at 8 PM Eastern / 5 PM Pacific: Join the NPCA Board of Directors and staff online for the 2022 NPCA Annual Board Meeting. Learn more about how you can engage with NPCA — and support the Peace Corps community. Contact boardassist@peacecorpsconnect.org for further assistance and to register. September 24 (time TBD): Join the 2022 Annual General Membership Meeting to hear a report on key achievements and initiatives at NPCA as well as engage in a membership forum discussing Board-proposed actions for what lies ahead for NPCA.

by Tim Carroll (Nigeria 1963–66) In 1988, as the first d Director of the National Council of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (NCRPCV), now the National Peace Corps Association, I felt a considerable part of my mandate was to bring our disparate numbers together, to gather us up to celebrate those feelings we had in common. A number of special events given under my tenure accomplished this in varying degrees of success, but none held the hearts of Peace Corps family as did the Journals of Peace. As the 25th anniversary of the death of President John Kennedy — the founder and much loved hero of early Volunteers — approached, I made a call to St. Matthew’s Cathedral, the church that had been the site of JFK’s funeral service, and asked if we might have a memorial Mass that would include not only the traditional Showing of the Colors, but a procession . . .

Peaceworkers in Action Published: Jul 13, 2022 By: Catalina Sofia Dansberger Duque     Michael Hassett and Chiara Collette first met each other in 2014 at the Los Angeles International Airport before boarding a 17-hour flight to the Kingdom of Tonga in the middle of the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Hassett applied to the Peace Corps hoping to be placed in Eastern Europe focusing on rural development. As a certified teacher, Collette didn’t have a specific country in mind. She was more interested in being able to teach. Both were placed in Tonga in teaching positions. Little did they know that this shared placement would permanently intertwine their personal and professional lives. In 2018, the couple got married and co-founded an internationally recognized nonprofit, Friends of Tonga—which earned a 2021 Literacy Award from the Library of Congress. Since then, Hassett and Collette have used their literacy educational tools and public policy skills gained at UMBC, and connections . . .

  JULY 19, 2022 MENENDEZ, RISCH, COLLEAGUES CELEBRATE SFRC APPROVAL OF PEACE CORPS REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2022 WASHINGTON –  U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today were joined by Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) in releasing the below statements following the Committee’s passage of their legislation to reauthorize the Peace Corps for the first time in over 20 years. Authorizing the appropriation of more than $410,000,000 per year, the bipartisan Peace Corps Reauthorization Act of 2022 will extend Peace Corps Volunteers’ health care coverage, statutorily raise Volunteers’ readjustment allowance, expedite return-to-service opportunities for those impacted by COVID-19 and future comparable emergencies, and expand the agency’s Sexual Assault Advisory Council. “Today’s Committee approval of our bipartisan Peace Corps Reauthorization Act of 2022 is a momentous victory for those of us who appreciate the crucial role that the Peace Corps plays in . . .

In the early days of the Peace Corps there was a Placement Test given to all applicants. Actually, it was two tests. A 30-minute General Aptitude Test and a 30-minute Modern Language Aptitude Test. The areas of testing were in Verbal Aptitude, Agriculture, English, Health Sciences, Mechanical Skills, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, World History, Literature, United States History and Institutions, and Modern Language Aptitude. One-hour achievements tests in French and Spanish were also offered during the second hour. The instruction pamphlet that accompanied the tests said that the results would be used “to help find the most appropriate assignment for each applicant.” For those who missed the opportunity to take the tests, which were given –as best I can remember—from 1961 until around 1967, I am including a few of the questions. Let’s see if you could still get into the Peace Corps. 1. Verbal Aptitude The question below consists . . .

  Professor Luke Shannon’s study mission to Brazil takes an ominous turn. Tatiana, a fiery student with indigenous roots, has a secret agenda. She seeks the killers of her cousin, “the guardian of the forest,” assassinated on All Saints Day 2019. Teaming up with a veteran reporter in the Amazon, they press hard to discover the truth. Those in power feel threatened and push back. A Colombian drug lord enters the fray, taking Tatiana, Luke, and the journalist down a dangerous path. São Paulo’s crime syndicate and Big Ag interests play for keeps. They’ll eliminate anyone who gets in their way. Who will prevail? Stephen Murphy interviewed over one hundred Brazilians for this book, told through the eyes of sixteen unsung heroes and heroines. They battle to save their rainforests, native people and fragile democracy in Brazil today. NOTE: Reporter Dom Phillips and indigenist Bruno Pereira disappeared deep in the . . .

  Commemorative Marker Dedication Honoring the shared history of SIT, World Learning, and the Peace Corps   Saturday, August 13, 2:00 p.m. SIT & World Learning Campus 1 Kipling Road Brattleboro, Vermont   You are invited to celebrate the shared history and missions of SIT (School for International Training, World Learning, and the Peace Corps. Join us as we dedicate a historical roadside site marker denoting the Brattleboro campus as one of the original National Peace Corps Training Centers.   Hosted by World Learning CEO Carol Jenkins and SIT President Dr. Sophia Howlett. Keynote speaker to be Peace Corps CEO Carol Spahn.  

U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers Return to Ghana Home | News & Events | U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers Return to Ghana Accra, Ghana – U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers arrived in Ghana last week after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  The initial group of thirteen Volunteers will resume Peace Corps’ mission of promoting peace and friendship, in collaboration with their Ghanaian counterparts, in junior high schools and schools for the deaf, health centers, and farming communities in the Eastern and Volta Regions.  Additional Volunteers who will work in the agriculture and health sectors will arrive in January 2023. “Ghana was the first country to receive Peace Corps’ volunteers in 1961.  As a former Returned Peace Corps Volunteer myself, I’m beyond excited to welcome them back to Ghana.  The Peace Corps represents the ideals of the United States – volunteerism, cooperation, and friendship – and these Volunteers are no exception,” said Acting U.S. Chargé . . .

  A recent article discussed the top 101 female inventions that changed the world and women’s innovation history. One of the stories is about Ann (Aukerman) Moore (Togo 1962-64) who invented the child carrier Snugli. It is # 20 on the list of 101 Invention. Child carriers  The Peace Corps Volunteer nurse, Ann Moore, was the first person to invent the child carrier Snugli during the 1960s. While working during that time as a Peace Corps nurse in Togo, West Africa, she saw something interesting done by African mothers. They carried their little ones in fabric slings that were securely tied on their backs. She liked how close the mothers and their babies were this way and noticed how babies looked calm because they felt more secure due to their closeness to their mothers. Upon going back home to the US and having a child of her own, she wanted . . .