From the Editor: This Time
Peace Corps teaches us a new way to think about time. Pandemic does, too. So what do we do with this? By Steven Boyd Saum ACROSS THE DECADES and countries and communities where tens of thousands of Peace Corps Volunteers have served, there are a few things we share. One: a new grasp of time. Be it seasons or how we count the days, a revised sense of punctuality or the value of hours in terms of money or daylight, be it devoted to sleep or preparing a meal or hiking to the well, be it in the presence of friends or alone with this self you are...
Hide Not Your Sorrow
A phone call and a lesson from Niger in the time of COVID By William F.S. Miles Photo: Faralu, a friend in Niger who reached out to the author to make sure his family was OK. Early in our new COVID-19 era last spring, a phone call and forwarded WhatsApp message from near my old Peace Corps site poignantly reminded me of the transnational compassion and solidarity that Peace Corps engenders. Twenty years ago I had received a similar urgent message of concern. Then it was about my 10-year-old son, Samuel, with whom I had just visited my friends in the...
African Americans and the Future of the Peace Corps
Recruitment, support — and what next? It’s a conversation we’ve had again and again. Here are some ideas, insights, and hard truths. ON SEPTEMBER 15, 2020, THE CONSTITUENCY FOR AFRICA convened a group of past, present, and future Peace Corps leaders for the annual Ronald H. Brown African Affairs series. It’s a timely and needed conversation — with all Peace Corps Volunteers evacuated from around the world because of COVID-19, and as our nation grapples with pandemics of coronavirus and systemic racism. The conversation was moderated by educational consultant Eldridge “Skip” Gilbert, who served as a Volunteer in Sierra Leone (1967–69). Edited...
Making Our Mark
President’s Letter: Now is a time to commit to building a legacy of inclusive peace. By Glenn Blumhorst Photo by Summer Gardner / Black RPCV in the DMV What a year this has been! What began as what many of us hoped might be a year of “perfect” 20/20 vision to achieve our new year’s resolutions, business plans, and interpersonal goals turned out to be one of the most challenging years of our lifetime — profoundly so for the Peace Corps community. Though shortly after the beginning of the year, we were concerned by legislation that proposed ending the independence of Peace Corps. Pandemic led to a global evacuation of Volunteers...
Three Partnerships to Bolster Voting, Democracy, and Service
At a time of great turmoil in our nation, NPCA is working with with nonpartisan groups to foster free and fair elections, to encourage discussion and understanding across political divides, and to underscore the importance of national service. By WorldView Staff Power the Polls We believe in empowering people to shape their own futures. This election season the coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll across the country, leading to a staggering decrease in the number of people able to work the polls. So National Peace Corps Association partnered with Power the Polls to recruit poll workers from the Peace Corps community...
Working for a Peace Corps to Which I Can Return
A Volunteer evacuated from Mongolia on work to help members of Congress understand the value of Peace Corps service — and what they can do to help By Daniel Lang The summer of 2019 I was training to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mongolia. More politically involved peers raised concerns that we should not take for granted that legislators would continue to fund the Peace Corps; more than 100 members of the House voted to defund it. That fall I swore in as a Volunteer and a close friend, Austin Frenes, began service in China. We both...
The West is Burning
My first season as a wildland firefighter By Colin McLaren as told to Steven Boyd Saum Photo by Colin McLaren By October 2020, wildfires in the western U.S. burned an area larger than the state of New Jersey. A story from the front lines. Typically when we’re out on a fire, we work 16 hour days: up before six and finishing with a pretty late dinner — whenever the work is really done. But recently two of the fires we worked overnight, to 9 a.m. the next morning. We were on the Cold Creek Fire in Wenatchee, Washington. We went...
Gratitude to the Peace Corps Community
Thank you to the groups and individuals who have supported evacuated Volunteers and their communities around the world during this time of crisis. By NPCA Staff In the months since the unprecedented global evacuation of Peace Corps Volunteers, National Peace Corps Association Affiliate Groups across the country have been generous with time and support they have shown evacuated Volunteers. They have provided service and assistance here in the United States during the COVID pandemic. A number of affiliate groups have also made generous donations to enable NPCA to provide vital transition support and services to the 7,300 recently evacuated Peace Corps...
Each Generation Must Do Its Part
Darlene Grant on her task to help shape “a more just and equitable Peace Corps” Illustration by Edward Rooks At a time of national reckoning with racial injustice — and the Peace Corps has heard calls from Volunteers to do better in confronting systemic racism as it affects the agency — a new top level advisor has come on board to lead work to create “a more just and equitable Peace Corps.” Darlene Grant’s official title is senior advisor to Director Jody Olsen. The excerpted Q&A below gives a sense of the scope of her work. You can read...
Design concept for the national Peace Corps Commemorative has been approved
The Peace Corps Commemorative is expected to be completed and dedicated in 2023. Just in time for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Peace Corps, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA), at its September 17 meeting, voted unanimously to approve the design concept for the national Peace Corps Commemorative. Designed and presented by artist/sculptor Larry Kirkland and landscape architect Michael Vergason of MVLA, the commemorative will be located on a small, triangular National Park Service site facing Louisiana Avenue, NW, in the heart of Washington, D.C., one block from the National Mall and the U.S. Capitol Building...