What do you wish Americans knew about your Peace Corps country?
I got an e-mail today from the Peace Corps’ lovely and talented Eileen Conoboy (Mali 1995-97), Director of Office of Third Goal and Returned Volunteer Services. She wrote that her Third Goal office had put together the Agency’s first video challenge for this year’s Peace Corps Week. They asked one simple question: What do you wish Americans knew about your Peace Corps country?
Eileen wrote, “We received 80 video submissions from RPCVs and PCVs representing 40 countries. Together, these videos have already received 25,000 views on YouTube and are shedding a light on unique global perspectives and cultural windows opened through the Peace Corps experience. Congratulations to our first place winner, Peace Corps Volunteer David Malana, who is being sent an iPad in recognition of his winning video, Kyrgyzstan Is Me. We hope this will help him continue to support Peace Corps’ Third Goal and complement his efforts as a cultural ambassador. There were many praiseworthy videos submitted, and these, along with other awards and honorable mentions, can be viewed on the Peace Corps website.”
Take a look!
Fabulous. I put the link on my Facebook page. Hope it reads. I am so happy to be part of all this.
So far, I have seen four of the videos. They are truly as informative as they are beautiful. But I would like to cite three essays that convey, to me, a profound understanding of the lives of the people featured and what I would want others to know about Peace Corps countries. They are:1)“Water”by Rachel Schneller (Mali 1996-98)This essay was the 1998 Moritz Thomsen Award winner.Posted by Marian Haley Beil on Monday, October 14th 20132) “Les Petites Camionaires”by Tony D’Souza (Ivory Coast 2000-02, Madagascar 2002-03)Posted by John Coyne on Saturday, April 19th 20143) “Our Samuel”by Ellen Urbani, Guatemala (1991–93)from Gather the Fruit One by One: 50 Years of Amazing Peace Corps Stories (Vol. 2: The Americas)edited by Pat Alter