The Peace Corps

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Marnie Mueller (Ecuador 1963-65) On Saturday, Rep. John Garamendi (Ethiopia 1966-68), a senior member of the armed services committee spoke with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss Russia’s invasion. He joined a one-hour briefing with 50 members of Congress. Garamendi, who represents parts of Northern California between Sacramento and San Francisco, shared his candid conversation with Zelenskyy. “He knows that he is at the top of the kill list, and he knows that his life is in jeopardy but he has pushed that aside to lead this nation. An incredible man of courage and leadership,” Garamendi said. Garamendi said Ukraine’s president emphasized that Russian forces are moving away from targeting the Ukrainian military and are now attacking communities. “He went into detail about high schools, kindergarten schools, apartment buildings, government buildings, presumably with the intent of breaking the wheel of the Ukrainian people,” Garamendi . . .

By LISA RATHKE Associated Press, March 5, 2022 The Peace Corps will start sending volunteers overseas again in mid-March after it evacuated them from posts around the world two years ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government program announced Thursday. An initial group of new volunteers and those who were evacuated in March 2020 as the coronavirus began to spread across the globe will go to Zambia and the Dominican Republic this month, according to a Peace Corps statement. The Peace Corps plans to return volunteers to their posts throughout the year, based on the number of COVID-19 cases and hospital capacity in the host country and the Peace Corps’ ability to transport volunteers to medical evacuation centers if there’s an emergency. It is currently recruiting for 24 posts. Besides their primary work on local issues, volunteers will be involved in COVID-19 response and recovery, the Peace Corps . . .

Special Edition Chief Executive Officer’s Message In this special edition of Inside Peace Corps, I want to acknowledge the fear and heartache we all have for the people and the country of Ukraine. Ukraine has been a partner to the Peace Corps since 1992. In the 30 years since, nearly 3,500 Volunteers have been warmly welcomed into communities across the country. Our hearts go out to these community members and long-time members of the Peace Corps network as well as all Ukrainians. It has been so incredibly moving to witness the outpouring of support for Ukraine from around the world, including from within the Peace Corps network. I am forever in awe of how this group of global leaders comes together in moments like these to stand for world peace and friendship. In response to the refugees coming across the Ukrainian border, our Peace Corps/Moldova team has been working around the . . .

This article was first published on February 24th and updated on the 26th. https://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/articles/2022-02-24-the-war-of-aggression-against-ukraine-must-stop The War of Aggression Against Ukraine Must Stop “We in the Peace Corps community stand in solidarity with the people and communities in Ukraine who are now in harm’s way. By Steven Boyd Saum, Jeffrey Janis, and Gretchen Upholt   Early this morning, Ukraine — a free and independent nation — became the victim of an unprovoked war of aggression launched by Vladimir Putin, who ordered tens of thousands of Russian troops to invade. Missiles and shells have fallen in cities across the country. Apartment buildings and hospitals have been hit. Civilians have been terrorized and killed, while many thousands huddle in bomb shelters and metro stations. Meanwhile, brave citizens are lining up to give blood, knowing that it will be needed in days to come. We in the Peace Corps community unequivocally condemn these acts . . .

Community Voices: An improved Peace Corps for the next generation by David Schaad (Iran 1971-73) The United States is on the verge of sending our most valued treasure — our people — overseas to serve as Peace Corps volunteers once again. For the past two years, the Peace Corps, like much of the world, has been grounded by COVID-19, with no volunteers currently serving abroad. This is about to change, and as the Peace Corps gets ready to relaunch, it’s my hope, as a returned Peace Corps volunteer who served in Iran from 1971 to 1973, that it does so even better than before. The good news is that this is possible. While nearly 7,000 Americans serving in some 60 countries came home in 2020, the 240,000 Americans who served since the agency’s founding in 1961 didn’t sit still. We organized, drew on the knowledge and experience of the community, . . .

    “Following up on the idea he launched at the University of Michigan, President Kennedy signed an executive order establishing the Peace Corps on March 1, 1961. Three days later, R. Sargent Shriver became its first Director. Deployment was rapid: Volunteers began serving in five countries in 1961. In just under six years, Director Shriver developed programs in 55 countries with more than 14,500 Volunteers.”   Peace Corps is one of President Kennedy’s greatest living legacies. I never had the privilege of serving as a PCV, but I did have the honor of working for Peace Corps HQs for four years — in the department that handles the recruitment and placement of Volunteers — and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I love that I am still connected to so many of my Peace Corps friends. Here I am in 1995 with the first Director . . .

Hundreds march, rally in central Phoenix to support Ukraine, end Russian invasion by Haleigh Kochanski Arizona Republic Hundreds of members and supporters of the Ukrainian community in Phoenix gathered Sunday to march in support of Ukraine’s independence and demand an end to Russia’s violent attacks on the country. People began assembling at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in the area of Seventh Avenue and Camelback Road at noon to prepare signs for the march. “The freedom march is to support Ukraine, get heavier sanctions now, urge everybody to stop buying Russian oil and gas, and basically to get Putin out of Ukraine,” said Vera Hoerner, secretary with the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America. “There is no reason for this to be happening. Ukraine did not provoke anybody.” Hoerner’s cousin, Nadiya Nava, said she has many family members in Ukraine. “I have friends and cousins, my father, sisters, nephews. I talk with my . . .

To the Editor Caledonian Record   I had the great pleasure to live in Ukraine from 2010 to 2014, serving as country director for the Peace Corps. I oversaw the work of some 1000 Americans of all ages who served across that nation, teaching English, developing communities, and supporting youth. I traveled throughout the country and found the Ukrainians to be warm, welcoming, and ready to embrace a better future after so many years of Soviet and Russian domination. In my last year, we evacuated all the American volunteers just before the Russians invaded Crimea and areas of eastern Ukraine. I cannot begin to describe how heartbroken our Americans were to depart this nation they had come to love, leaving behind so many friends and colleagues. I returned to Ukraine in 2019 as part of an international election observer team organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. . . .

  A friend who worked overseas and at HQ sent me this story of when he worked for Jack Vaughn as the Peace Corps Liaison Officer to the Department of State. • “I was invited to a meeting at State,” he wrote. “When I got into the room, there were some 15 different agency representatives seated around a large round table. The person at the head of the table was acting as its Chair — probably from State’s Intel Services. He posed this question: ‘Which agency here has access to what is going on in the villages of our world; which agency has people in the field that speak their languages; which agency has the most credibility with these villagers; which agency can report back to us on a regular basis in reference to what’s going on out there that we need to know about?’” “As he moved his finger . . .

Ukraine taught me a very Jewish concept: hope By Jeremy Borovitz, JTA (Ukraine 2010-12) • I watch what is happening in Ukraine and I feel helpless, scared for the state of the world, terrified for my friends and former students and anxious about the future of the place that I called home for nearly four years of my life. When I first arrived in Ukraine 12 years ago as a Peace Corps volunteer, I didn’t speak the language, was intimidated by the culture and was plagued by stories of pogroms and mass shootings that had penetrated the Jewish collective trauma. Imagine my surprise (not to mention the surprise of my family and friends back home in the United States) when it was Ukraine, and life in a small Ukrainian village, that led to my own spiritual awakening, which brought me closer to Torah, prayer and God, and which was the . . .

  Chief Executive Officer’s Message: Since the new year, words from Amanda Gorman’s “New Day Lyric” have been echoing in my mind. In it she says, “Tethered by this year of yearning, we are learning, that though we weren’t ready for this, we have been readied by it.” I cannot help but repeat these words as I reflect on the Peace Corps’ journey to return Volunteers to service overseas. There have been bumps in the road, but we have learned a great deal along the way. The challenges have prepared us to meet the moment by infusing new innovation into our time-tested approaches, holding our most valued partners – the communities where our Volunteers are invited to serve – at the center of all we do, and aligning our work more explicitly to our values. The return of Volunteers will be intentional, balancing the health and safety considerations of host communities . . .

  Bob Beckel, (Philippines 1971-72) former Democratic Party activist who later in life became a Fox News anchor — until he was fired in 2017 after being charged with racist comments — died Monday of unknown causes, Fox News said Monday. He was 73. “My friend and spiritual brother, Bob Beckel, has stepped into the presence of the Lord he loved. We’ve done so many things together and I hope we showed what two people with different political persuasions can be like when they love each other,” columnist Cal Thomas wrote about Beckel on Facebook on Monday. “For ten years we wrote the “Common Ground” column for USA Today, and a book by that title. The title of his ironically titled autobiography is I Should Be Dead. It is a very readable book about a difficult life that has changed dramatically in the last 15 years. See you soon Bob. . . .

  Peace Corps has posted the following blog on its official web site. It includes comprehesive information about the Peace Corps Response Program.  Here is the  article: Preparing for your PCR Interview Are you ready to take the next step to become a Peace Corps Response Volunteer? Competitive applicants must complete an interview before moving forward in the application process. Read the blog post below to learn our five recommendations to best prepare for your interview! READ MORE Open Positions The Peace Corps continues to monitor and assess the COVID-19 pandemic domestically and internationally. The locations and timing of returning Volunteers to service will be determined on a country-by-country basis. We are currently actively recruiting for the positions below. English Teaching Advisor requires a bachelor’s degree in English education or a related field, experience in classroom teaching at the secondary level and in planning and implementing projects, and an intermediate . . .

Published by USVI NEWS • Christine Herbert takes the reader on a “time-machine tour” of her Peace Corps volunteer service as a health worker and educator from 2004–2006 in Zambia. Rather than a retrospective, this narrative unfolds in the present tense, propelling the reader alongside the memoirist through a fascinating exploration of a life lived “off the grid.” At turns harrowing, playful, dewy-eyed and wise, the author’s heart and candor illuminate every chapter, whether she is the heroine of the tale or her own worst enemy. Even at her most petulant, the laugh-out-loud humor scuppers any “white savior” mentality and lays bare the undeniable humanity—and humility—of the storyteller. Through it all, an undeniable love for Zambia—its people, land and culture—shines through. What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write The Color of the Elephant? This story is a true account of my Peace Corps service in Zambia . . .