Why I Give: Haskell Ward
NPCA asked Haskell Ward why he supports his greater Peace Corps Community. His response: "Amazing Impact." Haskell Ward’s international career began with Crossroads Africa in Kenya which led to his Peace Corps service in Nazareth, Ethiopia. He built his international career developing African and Middle Eastern economic development strategies for the Ford Foundation in Lagos, Nigeria. He served as New York City’s deputy mayor during the Ed Koch administration and as deputy assistant secretary for Africa under Secretary of State Cyrus Vance in the Carter administration. Ward later worked on Africa energy and mining issues for Global Alumina and spent...
A Divided Heart
Jacobo is a compact, 43-year-old man with too many teeth and a big smile. He is about to address a Monday morning class of 23 pre-med students from Minnesota’s College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University who are on a three-month immersion Spanish language program in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala’s second largest city. On the day before, Jacobo stood in the living room of the two-story house in the village of San Lorenzo that he built for his family. The house, like Jacobo, is a bit unsettled. Four of the five bedrooms remain vacant and his father sleeps in what is...
Trouble in the Highlands
The influx of undocumented immigrants into the United States last year reached a 10-year high of more than 115,000 and has already passed that figure this year, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. Since the recession, Guatemalans represent the second-largest group of undocumented Latino immigrants after El Salvador, according to the Pew Research Center. No longer is the majority of these immigrants young males seeking work, but families and children, many of whom are seeking asylum. So what is pushing these people away from their homes? What impact do our government’s policies and those of the Guatemalan government...
The Caravan: Poster Child for a Broken System
The migrant caravans that have wound their way to the southwestern border of the United States from Honduras through Guatemala and Mexico have their roots in the failure of reform to our immigration policies. Despite two previous attempts during the George W. Bush administration and another during Barack Obama’s tenure in office, our politicians have preferred the path of bloated, fear-mongering rhetoric than one of serious, complicated policy reforms that would address the situation. Our current President knows that demeaning immigrants helped launch him on the path to the presidency, and he clings to the old tried and true slogans...
The Places I’ve Been
I can distinguish three different eras in my life on the road. The first focused on Getting the Furthest with the Most Stops at the Least Cost. My first overseas adventure started in 1956 thanks to Icelandic Air and Holland-American ships both offering dirt cheap student fares. We were contemptuous of that new book, Europe on $5 a Day. Why, we puzzled, would anyone spend that much money? There were great hostels for $1 a night, hearty meals the same. So that philosophy was pretty well settled by the time I arrived in Nigeria on New Year’s Day, 1965 as a freshly...
Healing Grace for Our Times
The question over the phone unsettled me. “Will Senator Wofford be joining you?” I was calling to make a reservation for a regular group of Peace Corps friends at Ristorante La Perla, our preferred lunch spot on Pennsylvania Avenue. It was logical that Vincent, the restaurant’s host, would ask. This was Harris Wofford’s preferred meeting place for lunch or dinner, just a short walk from his Foggy Bottom apartment. Peace Corps people usually didn’t gather there without him. But this time was different. I hesitated and collected myself before telling Vincent that Senator Harris had passed away. With reverence Vincent...
2017 Sam Farr Congressional Leadership Award Winners Selected
We are proud to announce the winners of the 2017 Sam Farr Congressional Leadership Award are Senator Lindsey Graham, Senator Patrick Leahy, Representative Ted Poe and Representative Joe Kennedy. As Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively, on the Appropriations Committee, Senator Graham and Senator Leahy have worked to ensure that the Peace Corps has the funding it needs. Representative Poe and Representative Kennedy have taken up the critical task of improving the health, safety and security of currently-serving and returned Volunteers. The awards will be presented by former Representative Sam Farr during NPCA’s Capitol Hill Day of Action on March 1st. Despite the Administration proposing...
National Peace Corps Association Supports Continued Improvements to Safety and Security of PCVs
National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) continues to stand by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) that were victims of sexual assault during their service. We also recognize the efforts Peace Corps has made to better support victims of sexual assault. Legislation introduced by Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) and Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) will also further address the challenges that victims face in country and upon their return home. NPCA strongly supports both pieces of legislation and encourages you to join us. Throughout the month of March, during our National Days of Action, we are meeting with lawmakers at the district level and...
Saving Lives Through Art
Three San artists from D’Kar, Botswana, recently traveled to the United States for the first time for an exhibit and sale of their unique, colorful folk art. The artists—Jan Tcega John, Xhoma Simon, Ndodonyane Ditsheko-- and the Kuru Art Director Maude Brown, spent 11 days in Santa Cruz, California as guests of the exhibit organizer, Peggy Flynn, RPCV Botswana (2013-2016). Fifteen oil paintings were sold via live and silent auctions; 37 original linocuts were sold, and a seven-day safari for two in the Okavango Delta of Botswana was auctioned as were three Annieglass © plates that were hand painted by the San artists a...
In Memoriam – January 2018
An iconic country music songwriter. An RPCV whose journey to the Peace Corps began in Nazi Germany. Leaders in the fields of mediation and conflict resolution. There's a long, lifetime of accomplishments among those we honor who recently passed away, and we are especially saddened by the untimely death of a serving volunteer. The Peace Corps community mourns the recent death of Bernice Heiderman (1993 - 2018), who passed away suddenly while serving as a volunteer in Comoros. A graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Bernice was an education volunteer, teaching English at a junior high school on the island...