The Peace Corps

Tell us your Peace Corps story (and if you weren’t around back then!)…what did you think of the Peace Corps idea? Why did you join? Today, the agency has been in 141 countries…which one was yours? Over 230,000+ have been Volunteers. When were you a PCV? Tell us in 500 words or less what your service has meant to you. Why is the Peace Corps important for all of us? Send a photo of yourself from your Peace Corps years. Share your story with future generations of PCVs.

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Tino Calabia (Peru 1963-65)     Pompeo Aims to Cut Funds for Program Honoring Envoy Killed in Benghazi The secretary of state rose to prominence investigating the 2012 Benghazi attack. Now he’s on board with an administration plan to eliminate funding for a program honoring Chris Stevens (Morocco 1983-85). BY COLUM LYNCH, ROBBIE GRAMER Foreign Policy Magazine FEBRUARY 14, 2020     As a little-known congressman from Kansas, Mike Pompeo once said his top priority was getting to the bottom of the killing of J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in Benghazi, Libya, calling them heroes who had been let down by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other Democratic leaders who put politics above the safety of their own people. But as U.S. secretary of state, Pompeo is now pressing Congress to eliminate a $5 million contribution to a charity dedicated to Stevens’s memory. . . .

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Bob Arias (Colombia 1964-66)     Click HERE to see the reunion.  

Thanks to Marnie Mueller for the ‘heads up’ (Ecuador 1963-65)    50 States, 50 Love Stories New York Times, Valentine’s Day From sea to shining sea, here’s a tour of unforgettable fiction that explores matters of the heart. In the list of ‘love story’ by novelists from all of our states, Colorado comes up with a real winner, RPCV Kent Haruf (Turkey 1965-67) Colorado Kent Haruf, “Our Souls at Night” Kent Haruf’s final novel opens with an evening visit between neighbors in their 70s. Our reviewer wrote: “Both are widowed — Addie is 70, Louis about the same — and Addie makes the surprising proposal that they begin sleeping together, without sex, just to talk in the dark and provide the sleep-easing comfort of physical company. … We get to watch these two, night by night, pass through phases of awkwardness, intimacy and alliance.” In the summer of 2014 Haruf . . .

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Michael Varga (Chad 1977-79) Peace Corps’ sudden decision to leave China stirs blowback BY REBECCA BEITSCH – 02/12/20 06:00 AM EST 123 The Peace Corps’ abrupt decision to end its program in China has spurred confusion, including from lawmakers who question whether the agency is caving to political pressure from Florida’s two Republican senators. Congress was informed of the decision on Jan. 16, when the agency sent a note to the appropriations committees that it would be withdrawing from China, ending a program where volunteers teach English to university students in some of the nation’s poorest interior provinces. The drumbeat to get the Peace Corps out of China was led by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who has pressed to strip it of independent status under the White House while blocking it from placing volunteers in any “hostile nations.” Scott has introduced legislation to place the Peace Corps under . . .

This information is in response to FOIA 20-0042. The numbers are for the annual census  done in September of 2019.  Marian Haley Beil’s 3 by 5 cards are probably no longer in Peace Corps archives.  But, her legacy of maintaining accuracy  in data remains!  If contacting your Congressional Representative and Senators, it would be good to mention how many PCVs, as of 9/30/2019,  from your state are being evacuated.  This is an election year!https://peacecorpsworldwide.org/number-of-current-pcvs-per-state-and-total-number-of-pcvs-per-state/   Peace Corps also published the top 20 states:   https://www.peacecorps.gov/news/library/peace-corps-announces-2019-top-volunteer-producing-states/     C  

Contrary to some myths, Peace Corps Washington was not a government version of “Mad Men.” writes Joanne Roll (Colombia 1963-65) yesterday in her blog item. Sorry Joanne. I have to disagree. The Peace Corps (like other government agencies at the time was made up of  “mad men”.) In the third year of the Peace Corps–1963–a booklet was published by the agency entitled “Who’s Who in the Peace Corps Washington.” Here is a photo in those early years of a Senior Staff Meeting with Shriver at the head of the table. A list of the top 40 employees were profiled in this booklet. Only three profiles were of women: Alice Gilbert (Director of the Division of United Nations and International Agency Programs); Ruth Olson (Special Assistant to the Chief of the Division of Volunteer Field Support); Dorothy Mead Jacobsen (Chief of the Division of Personnel). There was also a list of  . . .

     “A Towering Task” producter Alana de Joseph asked that question as we tried to decipher how many actual Volunteers were serving from Colorado when Peace Corps did its annual count September 2019. Was this the simplest of requests?  Not exactly.  Only the top 20 states with serving Volunteers were listed on the Peace Corps home page. And then, only certain of these states were awarded an actual number. Colorado was not among them. Instead, Colorado was listed as having 4.1 Volunteers for each 100,000 in population, prompting Alana’s question. (https://www.peacecorps.gov/news/library/peace-corps-announces-2019-top-volunteer-producing-states/)   If I could have decoded that statistic, I would have majored in Physics and not Political Science. Using my Poli Sci degree, I realized we could just ask our Senator.  Within a day, Senator Gardner’s office reported Colorado had 192 serving Volunteers as of September 2019.  But all of this  reminded me of Peace Corps Worldwide’s publisher, Marian . . .

Peace Corps describes  efforts to make sure all serving Volunteers and Staff are safe as the Coronavirus Outbreak continues.  Here is the latest press release: “https://www.peacecorps.gov/news/library/peace-corps-monitoring-coronavirus-outbreak/ “WASHINGTON – Since the outbreak was first reported in early January, the Peace Corps has been closely monitoring the coronavirus with the State Department Bureaus of Medical Affairs and Diplomatic Security, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization, to safeguard volunteers and staff at Peace Corps posts around the world. Peace Corps medical officers are communicating with volunteers on how to mitigate the risks of exposure, and an interdisciplinary working group is working closely with overseas posts to track and analyze the impact on the agency and to ensure an effective and timely response. Each Peace Corps program has developed specific protocols for the coronavirus that have been included in their Emergency Action Plans. Volunteers are thoroughly trained in . . .

  Join author Charles B. Kastner to discuss the history of African-American runners through the lens of his new book, Race Across America. About this Event Join author Charles B. Kastner (Seychelles 1980-82) to discuss the history of African-American runners through the lens of Charles’ new book, Race Across America: Eddie Gardner and the Great Bunion Derbies. A book selling and signing will be held after the discussion. About Race Across America: Eddie Gardner and the Great Bunion Derbies Anyone who roots for the underdog — the guy trying to do something in spite of impossible odds — should read Race Across America. It shows that human limitations are there to be broken and speaks to the untapped potential for human achievement that rests within each of us. It also puts a spotlight on the heroism of one of Seattle’s greatest endurance athletes, Eddie “the Sheik” Gardner. In the late 1920s, Gardner competed in two . . .

    Queen of Hearts: The Story of Anna Sipl Meyers Edited by Leita Kaldi Davis (Senegal 1993–96), Anna Sipl Meyers (Author) Self-published July 2018 248 pages $20.00 (paperback) Reviewed by D.W. Jefferson (El Salvador 1974-76 & Costa Rica 1976-77) • This is a life story worthy of a Horatio Alger novel, except that it is autobiographical rather than fiction, and the hero, Anna Sipl Meyers, continues her story after achieving her initial goal of owning a Las Vegas hotel and casino. In fact her ups and downs as a hotel and casino owner are among the most fascinating parts of her life story. The book is based on two years of interviews conducted by Claytee D. White, Director of the Oral History Research Center at UNLV (University of Nevada Las Vegas) Libraries. RPCV Leita Kaldi Davis organized the interviews and edited them into a book which is conversational, well organized, and . . .

  Mildred D. Taylor (Ethiopia 1965-67) was an early PCV to the town of Yirgalem in Southern Ethiopia. She was in the Fifth Group of Volunteers, having trained at Utah. As a former Volunteer she has had a remarkable career as a novelist, publishing nine novels, including the 1976 Roll of Thunder, Heart My Cry, published by Dial Press that won the 1977 Newberry Award. This new novel, published last month, is entitled All The Days Past, All The Days To Come is a sweeping saga of the Mississippi Logan family that comes to a compelling conclusion. It is the story of Cassie Logan who we first meet as a eight-year-old and she is a witness to the now-historic events of the century: the Great Migration north, relentless racism of postwar America, the rise of the Civil Rights Movements, and the often violent confrontations that brought about change. The book . . .

February 5, 2020 WASHINGTON – Due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak and related school closures and travel constraints, all Peace Corps China volunteers were safely evacuated out of the country, the Peace Corps announced today, February 5. The 139 volunteers will close their service. The evacuation of current volunteers follows a recent decision by the Peace Corps to graduate its China program. Since Peace Corps China began in 1993, approximately 1,300 volunteers have worked alongside educators at more than 140 Chinese colleges, universities and technical schools to strengthen English language learning. “My heart goes out to the extraordinary volunteers and staff who are participating in the Close of Service conference and preparing for the next steps in their lives,” said Peace Corps Director Jody Olsen. “I am proud of their hard work and strong commitment to this program, which brought our two countries closer together and gave Chinese students and . . .

Harvard Solicits Nominations for Permanent Winthrop Deans Amid Student Calls to Keep Interim Leaders Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana announced the next stages of the search for new Winthrop House faculty deans in an email to Winthrop residents Tuesday. By Juliet E. Isselbacher and Declan J. Knieriem, Crimson Staff Writers Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana announced the next stages of the search for new Winthrop House faculty deans in an email to Winthrop residents Tuesday. In his email, Khurana said the College would soon begin accepting nominations for faculty dean candidates, a process he called a “critical first step.” Current interim faculty deans Mark D. Gearan ’78 and Mary Herlihy-Gearan have led the House since August, following the College’s decision to not renew former Winthrop faculty deans Ronald S. Sullivan, Jr. and Stephanie R. Robinson’s contract amid a controversy over Sullivan’s decision to represent Hollywood producer and accused sexual abuser Harvey Weinstein. Gearan and Herlihy-Gearan wrote in . . .

  Third Goal Efforts by RPCV Betty & Bill Graff (Ethiopia 1963-65) I am continually impressed by what former Volunteers have done in their host countries in the years since their tours. Former Volunteers have continued to work in-country, spending time and money over the years to help the schools and sites where they taught and lived, to build school and community libraries, to find scholarships for students, to improve the medical conditions in their villages. One example is Bill and Betty Graff who were in Ethiopia from 1963-65. Recently I heard from Bill about his and his wife’s history of helping their school and region of Ethiopia where  they lived as PCVs in their second year in-country. Bill wrote . . . When Betty and I arrived in the Wolaita Region of southern Ethiopia in 1964 it was a pre-wheel society of about a million people.  We opened the . . .