Community Achievements – July 2019
Community News - Achievements of RPCVs Author: Peter Deekle July 2019 PEACE CORPS Mark Gearan, the longest serving president in the history of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, concluded his duties as president at the end of the 2016-17 academic...
Raise Your Voice to Educate the 110 Members of Congress Who Voted to Eliminate Funding for the Peace Corps in 2020
Last month, the House of Representatives voted 315 - 110 to reject an amendment introduced by Congressman Mark Walker (R-NC) that would have slashed more than $19 billion from our international assistance programs, including the complete elimination of funding for the Peace Corps in...
A Divided Heart
Jacobo is a compact, 43-year-old man with too many teeth and a big smile. He is about to address a Monday morning class of 23 pre-med students from Minnesota’s College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University who are on...
Trouble in the Highlands
The influx of undocumented immigrants into the United States last year reached a 10-year high of more than 115,000 and has already passed that figure this year, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. Since the recession, Guatemalans represent...
The Caravan: Poster Child for a Broken System
The migrant caravans that have wound their way to the southwestern border of the United States from Honduras through Guatemala and Mexico have their roots in the failure of reform to our immigration policies. Despite two previous attempts during the...
Our Service Continues
If you’re like me, your Peace Corps service was a life-transforming experience. Those three and a half years in Guatemala from 1988 to 1991 changed my perspectives, my perceptions and – in many ways – my plans. Thirty years later,...
Peace Corps Connect 2019: Community, Advocacy, and the Third Goal
What happens when hundreds of members of the Peace Corps community get together to discuss innovation, collaboration, and service? An exhilarating two-and-a-half days of conversation on topics ranging from immigration to social media, economic development to climate change, and everything...
In Memoriam – June 2019
From Follansbee, West Virginia to Painesville, Ohio or Tacoma, Washington to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the Peace Corps experience took some of our community members who recently passed away to places that perhaps they'd never imagined. As a recent Peace Corps...
Rep. Garamendi Introduces Bipartisan Peace Corps Reauthorization Act
Today, Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA) introduced the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act of 2019 (H.R.3456), with bipartisan support. The bill’s original cosponsors include Representatives Joseph P. Kennedy III (D-MA) and Garret Graves (R-LA)—co-chairs of the Congressional Peace Corps Caucus with Congressman Garamendi—and Representatives...
To Austin and Beyond!
What a great gathering of the Peace Corps community last weekend in Austin, Texas during Peace Corps Connect on June 20 - 22. But our travels didn't stop there Immediately following the conference, members of NPCA spread out across four states to...