Summer 2021 | An anniversary. A pandemic. Peace Corps Response.
Short-term, high-impact. As the Response program marks a quarter century, Volunteers are serving domestically in the U.S. for the second time ever to battle COVID-19.
Service, Impact, and the Work Ahead
President’s Letter: This September, we gather to honor six decades of Peace Corps service in communities around the world. Right now, we need to honor Peace Corps ideals by helping in humanitarian crises.
By Glenn Blumhorst
Why Does Service Matter?
From Peace Corps to AmeriCorps to envisioning a quantum leap: 1 million people in the U.S. serving every year — and changing the culture and ethos of service. So how do we get there?
A conversation with Mark Gearan and Keri Lowry
Crisis and Response
From the Editor: Beginnings. Good sense. And the second time in history that Peace Corps Volunteers have been deployed in the United States.
By Steven Boyd Saum
Peace Corps at 60
This year we mark six decades since the founding of the Peace Corps — culminating in the global Peace Corps Connect Conference September 23–25. We’ll examine service and impact across the years — and look to the future of what Peace Corps needs to be. The conference is free and open to all. Read more and register.
Big Picture: First Volunteers, 8/28/61
Peace Corps Director R. Sargent Shriver leads 80 Ghana and Tanganyika Peace Corps Volunteers to the White House, where President Kennedy will give them a personal send-off.
PEACE CORPS RESPONSE: Stories from Across the Decades and Around the World
Peace Corps Response: Short-term, high-impact. Now marking 25 years since its founding.
A quarter century ago, at a midsummer White House Rose Garden ceremony attended by President Bill Clinton and Sargent Shriver, a new type of Peace Corps service was announced to the world: Crisis Corps.
By Steven Boyd Saum
Volunteers Serving in Times of Need
A timeline and snapshots of moments that have defined the history of Peace Corps Response.
Rebuilding After the Rwanda Genocide
The Beginnings of Crisis Corps
By David Arnold
Lily Asrat: One of those moments I thought, “We’re doing something right.”
Peace Corps Volunteer in Namibia (1996–98) | Crisis Corps Volunteer in Guinea (2000) | Peace Corps Response Volunteer in Eastern Caribbean–St. Lucia (2006)
As told to Ellery Pollard
Teresa Bonner: “Now you know what it’s like to have a sniper.”
Peace Corps Volunteer in Lithuania (1996–98) | Crisis Corps Volunteer in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2001)
As told to Ellery Pollard
Priscilla Goldfarb: Within 48 hours she was on a plane, headed to serve in Katrina relief efforts.
Peace Corps Volunteer in Uganda (1965–67) | Crisis Corps Volunteer in United States (2005)
By Joshua Berman
Carlos Jean-Baptiste: When the earthquake hit Haiti, I started trying to find ways to help.
Peace Corps Volunteer in Kenya (2006–08) and Zambia (2008–09) | Peace Corps Response Volunteer in Haiti (2010)
As told to Ellery Pollard
Miguelina Cuevas-Post: “It would be wonderful if the world didn’t need a Peace Corps.”
Peace Corps Volunteer in Jamaica (1976–78) and Belize (2011–13) | Peace Corps Response Volunteer in Jamaica (2016–17) and Belize (2017)
As told to Ellery Pollard
Yemi Oshodi: “I understood quickly that I couldn’t do it on my own.”
Peace Corps Volunteer in Swaziland (2003–05) | Peace Corps Response Volunteer in St. Lucia (2011–12)
As told to Sarah Steindl
Marcy Pursell: Last year, all Volunteers were evacuated. I’ve been there, twice.
Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali (2011–12) | Peace Corps Response Volunteer in Mali (2015) and Sierra Leone (2016)
As told to Emi Krishnamurthy
Hilliard Hicks: Reviving Sustainable Aquaculture in the Philippines
Peace Corps Volunteer in South Africa (2014–16) | Peace Corps Response Volunteer in the Philippines (2019–20)
Annie Eng: One month into work in Georgia, I was evacuated.
Peace Corps Volunteer in Georgia (2020) | Peace Corps Virtual Service Pilot Program (2020–21)
As told to Sarah Steindl
Judith Jones: “Literacy will improve countries, economies, and social situations.”
Peace Corps Response Volunteer in Belize (2018–20) | Peace Corps Response Volunteer with FEMA in Oregon, United States (2021)
As told to Sarah Steindl
Vishakha Wavde: “This journey has brought me to consider what more I can do.”
Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi (2018–20) | Peace Corps Response Volunteer with FEMA in United States (2021)
As told to Emi Krishnamurthy
Public Health Is Global Health
In 2019, Peace Corps Response launched the Advancing Health Professionals program. Then the pandemic hit.
COVID-19 has interrupted Volunteer service. But it has also underscored the need for strengthening health systems through programs like this.
By Sarah Steindl
Dallas Smith: From experts, I learned knowledge passed along generations.
Peace Corps Volunteer in Cambodia (2017–19) | Peace Corps Response Volunteer in Malawi (2019–20)
As told to Emi Krishnamurthy
Towela Nyika: “We are trying to achieve health for all.”
Peace Corps Staff in Malawi (2013–present)
As told to Emi Krishnamurthy
News and Updates
Beginning With Belize
Peace Corps takes steps to return to service overseas.
Quote: One of their daughters asked, “Why did you send me to school if I must cover myself and can never go to work?”
John W. Bing served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Afghanistan. From a girl in Afghanistan, he shares a painful question she and her family now face.
Recruiting Volunteers for Viet Nam
Peace Corps Viet Nam is now recruiting the inaugural cohort of Peace Corps Volunteers. And Vice President Kamala Harris officially opened the office in Hanoi in August.
Time to Connect
This year, for the first time, two returned Volunteers in the Midwest reached out to their members of Congress to talk about Peace Corps. That effort made a difference at a critical moment.
By Jonathan Pearson
Peace Corps Funding: The House Says It’s Time to Invest More
It has been six years since the Peace Corps received a meaningful increase in its baseline funding. Could this be the year that changes?
By Jonathan Pearson
Virtual Service: Going Big
This summer Peace Corps kicked off the third round of the Virtual Service Pilot.
Here’s Some of the Latest Peace Corps Legislation
Respect for Peace Corps Act, NOVID Against COVID, and an amendment missing from the budget
Have a Seat
A place to pause for peace: David Garcia, president of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of South Florida, donates a sculpture and bench to Florida International University.
People and Ideas
“Peace Corps Is Just Like Netflix!”
Mapping and reinventing cultures. Radical responsibility. Counting tiles and waiting in line. That long lunch may be your ticket. Telling the Netflix story with fellow returned Volunteer Reed Hastings. And other insights from a conversation with business thinker Erin Meyer.
Metaphors for Thought
The unruly sculpture of Joel Shapiro
By David Arnold
Madame Presidents
Meet the new presidents of the Poetry Foundation and the YMCA of the USA.
Humility, Grace, and Dance
Meet Carole Anne “Aziza” Reid, the winner of the 2021 Lillian Carter Award.
Notable: Recent Awards for Four Members of the Peace Corps Community
Honors for Maureen Orth, Melvin Foote, Peter Kilmarx, and Ruth Kauffmann
The M’s Did It for Her
Miriam Welderufael (Paraguay 2013–16) finished her appearance on “Wheel of Fortune” with a moment of true delight.
Unleashing Climate Innovation
Audrey Zibelman takes on responsibilities as vice president at X, the Moonshot Factory, leading work to decarbonize the electrical grid.
#StartSmall and Think Global
Inspired by Peace Corps experience, the Women’s Global Education Project gets a boost from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.
Taiwan Trip
Former U.S. Senator Chris Dodd and two former secretaries of state formed an unofficial delegation in April.
China Farewell, Again
Renowned writer Peter Hessler had planned on spending five years back in China with his wife and daughters. But the university he was teaching at did not renew his contract.
A Scholar Who Changed Our Worldview. A Diplomat Committed to Peace and Democracy in the Caribbean.
He Profoundly Shaped the Study of African Literature: A Remembrance of Charles Larson
Teaching in Nigeria changed his worldview. So he embarked on a lifelong journey to bring works by African writers to U.S. readers.
By David Arnold
Ambassador Larry L. Palmer
He was a diplomat who devoted decades to advancing peace
Letters
Reader Comments on the Spring 2021 Edition of WorldView
Reader comments on 60 years of Peace Corps, vaccine distribution, and “If I had three minutes to talk to President Biden about the Peace Corps ..”
You can make a difference.
Where We’re Going
Our work is just starting. Support Volunteers back in the States and their ongoing work around the globe through the NPCA Community Fund.
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