Tales of Cartography
Mapmaking with fabrics and dances and sloths By Nathalie Vadnais Consider the map. We’ve all used one to get from point A to point B, to navigate the geography of the place in which we find ourselves. We also live in a world profoundly shaped by the arbitrary drawing of borders on colonial maps decades or centuries ago. But change the way you map the world around you, and you might see and hear and taste anew. That’s an idea that resonates with the Peace Corps community — which is why Hannah Engel-Rebitzer launched the World Maps Collaborative, through which...
Peace Corps Achievements – February 2021
News and updates from the Peace Corps community — across the country, around the world, and spanning generations of returned Volunteers and staff By Peter Deekle (Iran 1968–70) Pioneering Black women in leadership roles with the Department of Labor and Department of State. Bringing expertise to work on the National Security Council and in the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador. Recognition for work toward equity in health and forest stewardship. And a new role in journalism. Photo: A Twitter moment with Janelle Jones, the new chief economist for the Department of Labor. She’s the first Black woman to serve in that role. CAMEROON Erin Swiader took...
Peace Corps Achievements — January 2021
Achievements in the Peace Corps community from across the country — and around the world By Peter Deekle (Iran 1968–70) From new books to leadership roles, working with students and refugees, in conservation and the church. Plus a story of gratitude for all the Volunteers who served in Korea — with a thank-you and help in a time of pandemic. Photo: Shenna Bellows, who served as a Volunteer in Panama, is sworn in as Maine’s Secretary of State — the first woman to serve in that role. BOTSWANA Connie Czepiel (2009–11) has a career in international finance. She is also recently author of Dream On! The...
Peace Corps Achievements — December 2020
Achievements of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers Across the country — and around the world By Peter Deekle (Iran 1968–70) ALBANIA Ackeem Evans (2018–20) is the co-founder of EVERYONE EATS FOUNDATION, Inc. He is the project manager for World Central Kitchen, helping feed Louisiana refugees and first responders in the 2020 aftermath of Hurricane Laura. BENIN Megan McComb (2018–20) received a Fulbright fellowship for the 2020–21 grant year. She will serve as English Teaching Assistants (ETA) abroad. While the COVID-19 pandemic postponed travel plans, she will be able to begin her placement as soon as January 2021, conditions permitting. ...
Peace Corps Achievements — October 2020
Achievements of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers Across the country — and around the world By Peter Deekle (Iran 1968–1970) Angell Kim (far right) served in the northern coast of Colombia as a Peace Corps Volunteer in education and community development from 2016- 2018. Picture courtesy of Peace Corps. BULGARIA Jerramy Dear-Ruel is a candidate for Montana’s House District 6 in 2020. He is a former Peace Corps Volunteer, detention officer, anf law enforcement park ranger. Jeremy is also the founding executive director of Sparrow’s Nest of Northwest Montana, a nonprofit dedicated to helping homeless high school students. COLOMBIA Angell Kim (2016-2018) was...
Meet the 2020 winners of the Loret Miller Ruppe Award: Friends of Korea and Friends of Tonga
Recognizing contributions to community service by two groups founded by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers By NPCA Staff National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 Loret Miller Ruppe Award for Outstanding Community Service: Friends of Korea and Friends of Tonga. The awards were presented on September 25 at the annual meeting of NPCA. Named for the widely admired 10th Director of the Peace Corps, the annual Loret Miller Ruppe Award is presented by NPCA to outstanding affiliate groups for projects that promote the Third Goal of Peace Corps — “strengthen Americans’ understanding about the world and its peoples” — or continue...
Peace Corps Achievements — September 2020
Achievements of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers Across the country — and around the world By Peter Deekle (Iran 1968–1970) BURKINA FASO Tyler E. Lloyd (2012–2014) is an environmental protection specialist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and author of a memoir, Service Disrupted: My Peace Corps Story (August 2017). Tyler hosts My Peace Corps Story podcast, aiming to tell some of the many diverse and rich stories of Peace Corps Volunteers in their own words. The podcast is temporarily suspended, to be resumed later in 2020. Yoruba Mitchell is a community health educator with Doctors without Borders, teaching people how to prevent malaria, cholera, Zika, and Ebola. Since early 2020, she...
Evac Support via Facebook
A group to link evacuated Peace Corps Volunteers with the help they need. Sometimes that’s just someone to listen — and hear. By Steven Boyd Saum The day after Peace Corps informed Volunteers around the globe that they were being evacuated, a new group took shape to help them: Returned Peace Corps COVID-19 Evacuation Support [Community-Generated]was launched by returned Volunteer Joshua Johnson. The group had 200 members within the first hour. By the end of the day on March 16 that number had grown to 2,000. Soon nearly 10,000 returned Volunteers and parents joined. And a dozen administrators began to...
Fulbrights, Global Citizens, Teacher of the Year: Community Achievements — August 2020
Achievements of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers Across the country — and around the world By Peter Deekle (Iran 1968-1970) RETURNED PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS (RPCV) MADISON The Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Madison, Wisconsin, is the recipient of the Global Citizen Award from the United Nations Association of America, recognizing its annual production of an international events calendar, ongoing community programs (such as Freeze for Food walk), and a long history of service reflecting the United Nation’s mission, values, and goals. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Alexander Battaglia (2018–20) has received a Fulbright award for the 2020–21 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the...
Systemic racism is real. Here’s what we’re doing about it at National Peace Corps Association.
Ideas and actions — and the principles that guide us By Maricarmen Smith-Martinez and Glenn Blumhorst As Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, current and former staff, host country nationals, family, and friends, we uphold a commitment to creating a better world, one that promotes world peace and friendship. In this spirit, National Peace Corps Association envisions a united and vibrant Peace Corps community. We Stand Against Racial Injustice and affirm our commitment to empathy and justice — around the world, and here at home. Yet in the midst of national unrest ignited by systemic injustice, a vision of unity and vibrance is not enough....