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...
Peace Corps Viet Nam: Launching in 2022
An historic partnership years in the making By Steven Boyd Saum The news broke July 10: inking of an agreement between Viet Nam’s Ministry of Education and Training and Peace Corps to formally establish a Peace Corps program in English education. The occasion also marked 25 years of diplomatic relations between the United States and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam. “We are thrilled to be entering into this historic partnership,” said Peace Corps Director Jody Olsen. “I am honored and deeply grateful to the people and Government of Viet Nam for their willingness to open their hearts, schools and homes to Peace Corps volunteers. This program, with its emphasis on cross-cultural...
Peace Corps 60th Anniversary
We’re marking the events in 1960 and 1961 that led to the creation of the Peace Corps. And we seek inspiration in how we can reimagine Peace Corps for a changed world. By WorldView Staff At 2 a.m. on October 14 the Peace Corps community kicked off 60th anniversary celebrations with a once-a-decade gathering: We returned (virtually) to the steps of the student union at University of Michigan to commemorate the impromptu speech by John F. Kennedy that helped launch the Peace Corps. The questions that caught the zeitgeist: “How many of you who are going to be doctors are willing to spend your days in Ghana?...
Letters Fall 2020: WorldView Readers Write
Unprecedented Times We set aside the standard magazine playbook for our summer edition. We’re happy to bring back your letters — to continue the conversation.Write us: worldview@peacecorpsconnect.org I’m writing to congratulate and thank you for the current issue of WorldView. It’s the most powerful thing in print I’ve seen from Peace Corps since I received my acceptance letter in 1969. Congrats to everyone involved on a mammoth job so very well done. Stephen Barefoot Kenya 1969–72 Most remarkable WorldView ever, both the quality of the product and the effort it took to gather and edit the stories. What we may have is the substance for a book, proceeds from which would...
Peace Corps Connect to the Future: Views from around the world and Volunteers at home
Eight town halls and a global ideas summit to reimagine the Peace Corps for a changed world. By Glenn Blumhorst What are the big ideas for the Peace Corps, National Peace Corps Association, and the Peace Corps community going forward? To answer that, in July we convened eight town halls and a global ideas summit that brought together thousands of members of the Peace Corps community. The reason: In March 2020, all Volunteers were evacuated from around the world because of COVID-19. They came home to a country in economic turmoil and with a worsening pandemic, and soon wracked by...
Is virtual volunteering an idea whose time has come?
Testing the waters — and exploring an idea that a commission on national service says will open up opportunities to more diverse and talentted candidates. By WorldView Staff Is virtual volunteering an idea whose time has come? It’s a proposal in the report issued by the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service earlier this year. As Lex Rieffel wrote in this magazine, the report explicitly calls for “an expansion of Peace Corps Response, making the program more accessible to older Americans and people with disabilities, with increased opportunities for ‘virtual’ volunteering.” Now Peace Corps has floated the idea...
First Volunteers return to service in January 2021
The Eastern Caribbean will be the first to welcome back Volunteers. By WorldView Staff The big news out of Peace Corps HQ on October 14: Volunteers will begin returning to service in January 2021. The Eastern Caribbean will be the first to welcome back Volunteers. “Our decision to return to the field follows months of extensive preparations and review, and I am extremely grateful to the many staff and host country partners who contributed to this effort,” said Peace Corps Director Jody Olsen. “I also salute the evacuated volunteers who are joining us as we take these first steps to resume operations and begin the celebration of...
Why Peace Corps is More Important than Ever
Lessons learned from the pandemic and global evacuation. And answers from a country director who found himself asking: Why is Peace Corps really necessary? By Mark S. Hannafin Photo: Volunteers hosting a summer camp in North Macedonia I wanted to be a Peace Corps Country Director for some obvious reasons. I had a fond memory of my own volunteer experience and a desire to see a wider part of the world and experience it with my family. I wanted to work with Americans of all backgrounds and support them in their service, and to be around committed local staff and partners who see the benefit of having a...
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...
We were evacuated from North Macedonia. So we set out to do work that reflects Peace Corps values at home.
The founder of RPCVs Serving at Home chronicles her work as a Volunteer — and launching a network to support communities across the United States. By Mia Richardson — as told to Cynthia Arata I had wanted to serve in the Peace Corps since high school. I was really interested in the Cold War, and while learning about that time in history, I learned about the creation of the Peace Corps during John F. Kennedy’s presidency. Peace Corps fascinated me. Originally I thought about going straight to graduate school after graduating from college, but I decided to put that...