Gold in Peace
WHY I GIVE: From Mongolia to the San Francisco Police. For Kenneth Syring, it’s about service. A Conversation with WorldView Magazine Kenneth Syring joined Peace Corps when Volunteers didn’t choose their destination. He was thrilled when Peace Corps asked him to go to Mongolia. That’s the country he had in mind when this Bakersfield, California native applied. He soon was teaching English and tackling human trafficking. Now he’s an investigator with the San Francisco Police Department. Their motto, in part: Oro en paz — “gold in peace.” How did Peace Corps shape your path? Peace Corps gave me a bug for service. I like...
World-Class Teachers
Thirty years of connecting Peace Corps Volunteers, educators, and classrooms For three decades the Peace Corps’ Paul D. Coverdell World Wise Schools program has fostered global learning in the United States and around the world. And the program is celebrating its 30th anniversary by bringing more to the classroom: new interactive resources that teach intercultural understanding and global competence to young people. What’s there? Hundreds of online resources for U.S. learners, teachers, and current and returned Peace Corps volunteers. New lesson plans, activities, stories, and global competence trainings for educators. World Wise Schools provides easy-to-implement programs that educators can incorporate. They...
Earth Day at Fifty: How it began—and what you can do now
History and ideas from RPCVs for Environmental Action By Kate Schachter It began as a teach-in on the environment. After years of attempting to influence Congress to take action for environmental reforms, Gaylord Nelson, a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, turned to the American public: With actions nationwide, it was time to raise awareness of environmental crises across the country. On April 22, 1970, more than 20 million people across the nation took part in events large and small: students and teachers, mothers and children, scientists and farmers, labor union members and politicians of all stripes. The day was supposed to be...
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....
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...
We’re a Force for Good
Founded by and for RPCVs and former staff, NPCA truly is a community-driven social impact organization, championing lifelong commitment to Peace Corps ideals. Membership is voluntary and absolutely free, making us a more diverse and inclusive organization working together toward common goals. Together, we are: • Ensuring the future of the Peace Corps. In Congress, we’ve prevailed in maintaining Peace Corps funding at $410 million and passing important health care reform legislation for Peace Corps Volunteers and alumni. Yet, in recent months, 110 members of the House voted for an amendment to defund the Peace Corps in fiscal year 2020,...
Breaking Barriers: How RPCVs Advocate for LGBTQ Volunteers Here and Overseas
Gay and lesbian RPCVs and staff joined together during Peace Corps’ 30th anniversary celebration in Washington, D.C. in 1991 to advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer rights in the Peace Corps community and around the world. What we knew but many others did not realize was that when John F. Kennedy created the Peace Corps in 1961 as a federal agency it explicitly barred people with “homosexual tendencies” from service in a federal agency. That’s a far stretch from where the agency is now, placing same-sex couples and transgender Volunteers in service in many countries. The change is...
National Service: An Interim Report on the Commission Hearings
By Mark Gearan The bipartisan, 11-member National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service was created by Congress to find ways to increase participation in military, national, and public service and to review the military selective service process. Our goal is to ignite a national conversation about the importance of service as we develop recommendations for the Congress and the President by March 2020. I am honored to serve as vice chair for national and public service and was privileged to deliver opening remarks during two national service hearings held by the Commission in March 2019. From my years...
Bring the World Home
I believe the Peace Corps community is at a historic turning point. At a time when achieving the Third Goal is more important than ever, big things are about to happen that will elevate our primary goal of greater cross-cultural understanding and raise high the banner of the Peace Corps. It all starts on September 22 as we host a celebration of the opening — most appropriately — of a major expansion of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in their new REACH living theater. The day’s events include the premiere of “A Towering Task — The...
Why I Give: Gloria Levin
NPCA asks Gloria Levin why she gives time, talent, and treasure to the Peace Corps community While serving as a Peace Corps selection officer at headquarters from 1965 to 1966, Gloria Levin was inspired by returning Peace Corps Volunteers, especially B.J. Warren, who had served in Peru. Gloria served in Peace Corps as a community development volunteer in a squatter settlement in Arequipa, Peru from 1966 to 1968. After several years organizing in U.S. communities, she earned a University of Michigan Ph.D. in community psychology in 1975. She spent the rest of her career at the National Institutes of Health...