Lawmakers ask: How can we help?
In addition to legislation to support evacuated Volunteers, members of Congress have also taken time to share encouragement. Peace Corps Volunteers dedicate two years of their lives to serve their country abroad and are an important component of American foreign policy and international aid efforts. I’ve been a proud supporter of the Peace Corps for many years and hope to see Volunteers return to the field as soon as it’s safe to do so. While the COVID-19 pandemic continues, it’s important we support Volunteers and keep working to make emergency benefits available to them. I’ll keep working to...
Work on the Hill
Here’s how we’ve been advocating for evacuated Volunteers — and a Peace Corps in a changed world. By Jonathan Pearson and Steven Boyd Saum The coronavirus pandemic and temporary suspension of all Peace Corps programs marks the greatest existential threat to the agency in its history. When Volunteers were evacuated, they were ripped from communities with hardly any notice; in March they came back to a pandemic and an economic maelstrom. Regulations typically would not allow them to be eligible for unemployment insurance; their health insurance coverage would expire in a month. In some cases they had no home to...
Coming Home: Morocco
Morocco | Joshua Warzecha Home: Clayton, California Joshua Warzecha was an Arabic studies and linguistics major at Dartmouth College before joining Peace Corps in September 2018. He was on vacation with his family in the northern part of Morocco when he got the evacuation message and had to race back to his post in Tata, a province in the southwestern part of the country. He worked in the youth development sector, spending much of his time teaching English to teens and young adults. Back at his parents’ home in the San Francisco Bay Area, in the weeks under self-quarantine he...
Peace Corps Connect to the Future: A Welcome from NPCA President & CEO Glenn Blumhorst
We’ve reached the summit. But this is not the end of the journey. Welcoming remarks for Peace Corps Connect to the Future. By Glenn Blumhorst On July 18, 2020, National Peace Corps Association hosted Peace Corps Connect to the Future, a global ideas summit. Here is the introduction from NPCA President and CEO Glenn Blumhorst. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Glenn Blumhorst. I'm President of National Peace Corps Association. And I was a Volunteer in Guatemala from 1988 to '91. And I've chosen today to represent my bio — what we're doing is a six-word bio for myself today —...
Luis Argueta: Now is a Time to Recognize Privilege — and Common Ties
A host country perspective from Guatemala. Remarks from the July 2020 global ideas summit: Peace Corps Connect to the Future. By Luis Argueta On July 18, 2020, National Peace Corps Association hosted Peace Corps Connect to the Future, a global ideas summit. NPCA invited three winners of the Harris Wofford Global Citizen Award to share their perspectives. Here are remarks delivered by Luis Argueta — film director and producer whose work helps audiences better understand people on the margins — including “The Silence of Neto,” Guatemala’s first Oscar submission. Below is an edited version of his remarks. We are at...
Kul Chandra Gautam: Relevance of the Peace Corps in the post-COVID World
A host country perspective from Nepal. Remarks from the July 2020 global ideas summit: Peace Corps Connect to the Future. By Kul Chandra Gautam On July 18, 2020, National Peace Corps Association hosted Peace Corps Connect to the Future, a global ideas summit. NPCA invited three winners of the Harris Wofford Global Citizen Award to share their perspectives. Here are remarks delivered by Kul Chandra Gautam — diplomat, public policy expert, and peace advocate — and former Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF. I want to thank National Peace Corps Association for this opportunity to share my views on the future of the Peace Corps...
Mohamud Said: The Main Aim of Peace Corps is to Empower People
A host country perspective from Kenya. Remarks from the July 18, 2020 global ideas summit: Peace Corps Connect to the Future. By Dr. Mohamud Sheikh Nurein Said On July 18, 2020, National Peace Corps Association hosted Peace Corps Connect to the Future, a global ideas summit. NPCA invited three winners of the Harris Wofford Global Citizen Award to share their perspectives. Here are remarks delivered by Dr. Mohamud Sheikh Nurein Said — volunteer, philanthropist, and humanitarian engaged in a wide range of medical service and human rights activities on the local, national, and international levels. Below is an edited version...
Peace Corps Today
Address by the Director of the Peace Corps to the July 2020 global ideas summit: Peace Corps Connect to the Future By Jody Olsen On July 18, 2020, National Peace Corps Association hosted Peace Corps Connect to the Future, a global ideas summit. NPCA invited Peace Corps Director Jody Olsen to speak. She was introduced by Glenn Blumhorst, President and CEO of National Peace Corps Association. Her remarks come a week after Peace Corps signed a historic agreement for launching a program with Viet Nam in 2022. And they come as the COVID-19 pandemic makes the future for all international...
The Peace Corps in the Post-Pandemic World
COVID-19 upended systems. Now we’re focused on structural racism like never before. So how can Peace Corps help this nation live up to its ideals? By Lex Rieffel Illustration by Sandra Dionsi / Theispot The COVID-19 pandemic that erupted at the beginning of this year massively disrupted behavior that has for a long time been taken for granted — between people and between nations. Then in May the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis under the knee of a policeman sparked unprecedented demonstrations around the world to end systemic racial discrimination and improve social justice. Years will pass before new patterns of...
Peace Corps Volunteers are Needed at Home Now — and in a new National Service Program: The Week in Review
A national service program seems to be an idea whose time has come. Legislation to benefit Peace Corps — and to take back $88 million. Stories of evacuation and service at home. And Twitter shout-outs. By NPCA Staff Here are some top stories (and a couple of Tweets) on the Peace Corps community across the United States — and around the world. We include a sampling of opinion pieces and coverage from states and communities that are home to some of the 7,300 evacuated Volunteers — and nearly a quarter million Returned Peace Corps Volunteers. Stay up to date throughout the...