News
Announcing the Peace Corps Community’s 40 Under 40
To celebrate National Peace Corps Association’s 40th anniversary, we recognize the extraordinary achievements of 40 individuals we believe exemplify a new generation of leadership within the Peace Corps community and beyond, and we are proud to share their stories. Diverse as the countries they served as Volunteers, you will find politicians, entrepreneurs, film makers, professors, diplomats, and more among our honorees. They have learned many different languages. Some speak legal-ese in courtrooms, while others communicate with new forms of artificial intelligence through computer coding. For a community sometimes stereotyped as liberal, a notable few speak fluent Republican. Yet for all of their differences in profession,...
An Editorial Giant
When I think of Peace Corps champions, one name often comes to mind. David Arnold has, as WorldView magazine’s editor for 20 of its 32 years in publication, amplified the Peace Corps community’s voice worldwide. Each quarter, David has set the theme, curated content, and assembled a preeminent publication by and for the Peace Corps community. David edited WorldView for 15 years while serving as NPCA communications director, took an eight-year hiatus, then returned in 2015 to hold the fort while we reengineered NPCA as a social impact organization, reformed our business model, and reassessed the role of WorldView as a driver in advancing our mission....
Mobilization Continues for Senate Peace Corps Letter
While action on the annual House Peace Corps funding letter has concluded, opportunities for Senators to sign onto their version of this important letter continues. However, this is the final week for Senators to sign the letter. Senate A bipartisan Senate letter asking for robust funding for Peace Corps in fiscal year 2021 is co-authored by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Susan Collins (R-ME). Take Action with your Senators** If you wish, you can read the Senate letter here. Ask your Senator(s) to "sign the Feinstein-Collins Peace Corps funding Dear Colleague letter that is now circulating". TAKE ACTION HERE: Write and ask you...
Community Achievements – March 2020
Community News - Achievements of RPCVs Author: Peter Deekle (Iran 1968-1970) March 2020 COSTA RICA Jason Harris was appointed Santa Barbara’s first Economic Development Manager on February 10, 2020. He will oversee the development and implementation of the City’s economic development program and related functions and goals. ETHIOPIA Mildred D. Taylor (1965-1967) has completed her tenth book, All the Days Past, All the Days to Come (Viking Books for Young Readers), the concluding novel in the Logan family saga. The book is a story of the civil rights movement in America of the 20th century. KENYA Br. Guy Consolmagno (Kenya 1983-85) spoke recently about his Peace...
In Memoriam – February 2020
We honor and remember our community members who recently passed away for their unending commitment to peace, justice, and the greater good. Joseph C. Kennedy (1926-2019) became a part of Peace Corps leadership during the agency’s first decade. He served as Sierra Leone country director from 1967-70, as deputy director for Africa, as regional director for East Africa, and the Pacific. In 1971, Joseph joined another Peace Corps pioneer, C. Payne Lucas, who co-founded Africare. Joseph served as vice president and director of development. When he retired in 1999, $400 million had been distributed to 27 nations to combat drought and...
One School at a Time: How to Build 40 Schools in Myanmar for Less than a Million Dollars
I first visited Myanmar as a tourist in 1996, a few years after the country’s name changed from Burma. Years later, I was curious to return to Myanmar because I have grown to love Asia’s art, its culture, and Buddhism. I’ve traveled in more than 100 countries and many of them were very poor, but I never had the impulse to jump in and help solve a problem until the day in 2010 I walked through the hills of Myanmar’s Southern Shan State. In the market town of Kalaw, I met people working with a local non-government organization called the...
Community Achievements – February 2020
Community News - Achievements of RPCVs Author: Peter Deekle February 2020 AFGHANISTAN Tony Agnello is preparing a presentation in 2020 for a sermon at a local Unitarian Church entitled Afghanistan - Where Empires Go To Die. The sermon will address the fate of Iran and Khorasan which have been linked throughout history. CHILE Jesse Dubin (1964-1966) reported in 2020 that a Peace Corps Volunteer Scholarship Award at SUNY College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry, Syracuse, NY has been funded by RPCV graduates of the College. It is presented annually. Interested parties may contact S. Scott Shannon, Dean of the Graduate School at sshannon@esf.edu. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Lisa Peña (2003-2006) is...
A Larger Context: Saving the Voices of Complex Peace Corps Experiences
Megan Patrick’s arrival in Togo in 2001 remains a deep and raw memory to this day. “It was a difficult time in the beginning, but not in the way I would have guessed,” she said during her interview for the Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Archive. “I had to learn all over again how to buy food, avoid certain foods, get clean water, wash and dry clothes, and dress (never show your knees!)— indeed how to ask for help in a local language I barely knew. I felt like a two-year-old walking in an adult body. I’m not sure...
Planning Underway for Days of Action Solidarity Events in Support of Peace Corps
From Miami to San Diego, calls to action will be incorporated into viewings of a new Peace Corps documentary film. In Denver and Albany, letter writing gatherings are in the works. In Portland, Oregon, advocates are making their own video to share with lawmakers about why Peace Corps is important. And, from Richmond to Austin to San Bernardino, leaders of the Peace Corps community are seeking meetings with the district offices of their elected representatives. As part of our 16th annual National Days of Action in support of the Peace Corps, community members from every corner of the country are organizing local solidarity events...
Meet Steven Saum, WorldView’s New Editor!
Steven Boyd Saum came on board as editor of WorldView in January 2020. For more than two decades he has edited award-winning magazines in the San Francisco Bay Area, earning national recognition for writing, design, photography, illustration, and overall excellence. His journalism, essays, and fiction have appeared in Orion, The Believer, Creative Nonfiction, The Kenyon Review, Christian Science Monitor, on KQED FM, and other magazines and newspapers in the U.S. and internationally. Steven is a native of the Chicago area and has lived on both U.S. coasts and in the South, with a good part of the 1990s spent in Central and Eastern Europe—starting with his Peace...