Peace Corps Community in the News (week of December 29, 2024)
I am absolutely against the idea of compulsory national service for these reasons: 1) It is unconstitutional. The government has…
In case you missed it, here are the top online media articles about the Peace Corps community published during the week of December 29, 2024.
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I figured out how to use two-thirds less water — and it only took a week to set up, by Victoria Namkung in The Guardian, December 29, 2024.
While droughts are a natural feature of California’s climate, human-induced warming has made them even drier. After Eric Haas (RPCV Liberia 1985-87), 62, moved to Oakland in 2007, California was in a drought so severe a statewide emergency was declared. After experiencing drought conditions for several years, the California professor had a rainwater and greywater capture system installed at his highly efficient urban home to do his part to conserve water.
How chocolate, vanilla, and spices brought 7 RPCVs together in Madagascar, By Bill Guyton (DRC 1984-86) on PeaceCorps.gov | December 30, 2024
Do professional connections among Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) continue after completing service? In the case of the TSIRO Alliance in Madagascar, the answer is a resounding “yes.” Several RPCVs who served in various countries between 1984-2019 currently work collaboratively to help small-scale farmers while protecting biodiversity.
Jimmy Carter and Family, by Stephen Gottlieb (RPCV Iran, 1965-67) in WAMC Northeast Public Radio, December 31, 2024.
“You’ve heard a lot about former President Jimmy Carter but he and his family are pretty special for those of us who served in the Peace Corps. Carter’s mother, Lillian, was nearly seventy when she joined the Peace Corps in 1966, around the same time we did.”
A caucus of military veterans seeks to bridge the political divide in a polarized Congress, by Gary Fields in The Parkersburg News and Sentinel, December 31, 2024.
Edward Crawford (RPCV Dominican Republic 2004-06), a co-founder of War Veterans Fund, which recruits Republican war veterans to run for Congress, has had several candidates join the caucus after winning their races. A Navy veteran himself, Crawford said that while his organization centers on Republican prospects, he refers Democrats to his counterpart at a group called With Honor Action, because that nonpartisan organization promotes veterans from both parties for elective office.
More than ever, we need mandatory national service, by Jonathan Zimmerman (RPCV Nepal, 1983-85) in Social Press Blog, December 31, 2024.
“I’m talking about required national service, which would teach different Americans that they are part of one nation. In our hyper-polarized times, that’s the only thing that can bring all of us together… As a former Peace Corps volunteer, I can confirm that my two years abroad taught me about the world and transformed my life. But I also know that my own country has enormous needs, which we could tackle more effectively if everyone was required to help.”
Filmmakers talk musicals, Bill Murray and more at Palm Springs International Film Festival Opening Night, by Ema SasicEma Sasic in Palm Springs Desert Sun, January 2, 2025.
“Paper Flowers” is very special for producer Asit Vyas. The film honors his late nephew, Peace Corps volunteer and USC graduate Shalin Shah (played by Kapil Talwalkar), who died at the age of 22 from a rare form of cancer in his brain. During his last few months on earth, it was Shah’s mission to inspire people around the world to cherish every moment.
Local Photography Legend Turns Focus to Graphic Novel, in The Independent News, By Christina Cavallaro, Jan 2, 2025.
In “The Delco Years,” the group of survivors decides to form a new government based on the 12th century Parliament Viking system called Althing, in which the economy was centered on bartering. Bill Owens, who was raised on a farm in Citrus Heights near Sacramento, spent time in India and did a Peace Corps tour in Jamaica (1964-66). He said he isn’t necessarily targeting anyone in particular in this farce, except maybe “all the stupid survivalists out there.”
Biden honors CT’s Chris Dodd, Long Island’s Carolyn McCarthy, in WSHU, By Desiree D’Iorio, January 2, 2025.
Dodd served as a U.S. senator from Connecticut for 30 years, making him the longest-serving senator in the state. Before that, he served in the Peace Corps (Dominican Republic 1966-68) and Army and in the U.S. House, representing Connecticut’s 2nd district from 1975 to 1981.
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I am absolutely against the idea of compulsory national service for these reasons:
1) It is unconstitutional. The government has the right to conscript for military service, not
for something vague called “national service”.
2) The most important power that citizens have, in addition to the vote, is the right o organize, politicallly, and act to promote ideas and programs to solve real problems. National service
would robe them of this right for two years.
In the fifties and sixities, it was young people who organzized sit-ins at Woolworths to stop
segregation in their lunch counters; who integrated buses acrossing state lines and
were beaten and arrested, but finally were successful; and also who marched for civil rights and
voting rights. It was the :”peace demonstrations” of the 60s, which did not stop the war
in Vietnam, but, I believe, hasten the passage of the 26th amendment giving 18 year olds
the right to vote and have real political power.
3) If there is work to be done, workers should be hired and paid to do the work. Additionally, ther are organizations, far
more effective than Peace Corps or other government service programs, , who work with volunteers to get work done, without objectifying those who are recipients of
the work.