The legislation which would have given Peace Corps Volunteers an Ombudsman and more help with safety and security, will die in Committee when this Congress adjourns. Once again, the RPCV community has allowed itself to be diverted and divided and failed to effectively advocate for this legislation.
Please call your Congressional Representative and Senators and asked them to pay special attention to the needs, right now, of serving PCVS. Remind them that times of political transition are times of increased vulnerablity for PCVs.

By daniel (user-105n81e.dialup.mindspring.com - 64.91.160.46) on Wednesday, December 15, 2004 - 11:07 pm: Edit Post

Absolutely a sham. I will not call the hill anymore for help on legislation. We should get a group of lawyers to sue Peace Corps for their wrong doings. Forget the Congress, they won't listen and have no concept of what Peace Corps volunteers do in the field. Chris Shays and Chris Dodd are a joke. Their staffers killed this half baked idea of getting an Ombudsman.

Janice O'connell (Dodd's stupid staffer) and staffers on Shay's staff have no idea what it is like to serve and be attacked at their site. 31 Volunteers have lost their lives due to Peace Corps bad planning and horrible placement policies during the 1990's and into 2004. 2,500 Plus have been victims of violence in service. I bet Senator Dodd did not get attacked in the "cake assignment" he got in the Dominican Republic". I once like this Senator. He is a joke.

John Kerry is not without being critized either. After what he went through in Vietnam he should know better. The bottom line is he just doesn't care. John Kerry is an attorney. He could have helped in the cases of Massachusetts volunteers being killed, missing, or attacked during service. He chose not to participate. They Dodd and Kerry know how hard we lobbied for this and killed it on purpose. It is the same old same old. I got a good glimpse of John Kerry first hand on the Dean campaign when his fire fighters "punched girls and women at St. Anselem College in New Hampshire to the ground". I was five feet from the guy and he "snickered". I will never forget it. He is not a leader. A leader would have helped the women who were knocked to the ground. He didn't. He has the same type of contempt for Peace Corps safety and security issues. He has known for years we have these issues in front of him and he has the opposite opinion.

Let me tell you folks something about this issue and lobbying for it. I have been lobbying since 1993 for attrition rate reductions and safety and security issues. Two days after September 11th two huge packages came to my house from both my Senators assuring me that volunteers are safe in the field. These packages were unsolicited. They know how serious these issues or they would not have sent those letters. Those letters were to cover their tracks in case this hit the media.

We should go to the media. 60 minutes. We should sue in court. Let them know what they have done to families.

Tony Hall you should get on the horn and get this reintroduced.

I won't call any of the Congress people or Senators. I have lost faith. They will wear you down and you will waste your time and money calling.

We should focus on finding private lawyers to sue in a class action law suit and individually.

I will never join the NPCA. It is corrupt and does not represent my experiences with Peace Corps.

Disgusted

Daniel

By Joanne Marie Roll (joey) (cache-mtc-aa04.proxy.aol.com - 64.12.116.8) on Thursday, December 16, 2004 - 10:37 am: Edit Post

Let me be clear. I am not urging RPCVs to call Congress to lobby for this dead legislation. I am urging that we call and speak to the staff who works with constituent services and just tell them; just remind them, that if they get any calls from PCVs or their families, to PLEASE PAY ATTENTION; PLEASE FOLLOW UP; PLEASE DON'T JUST REFER TO PC/WASH.

By daniel (user-105n950.dialup.mindspring.com - 64.91.164.160) on Thursday, December 16, 2004 - 8:38 pm: Edit Post

Joanne,

I have come to respect your opinions. I agree with you that they should pay attention. But, I will tell you that I have been in their offices, called day in and day out for years. Some will listen, however ultimately they will do nothing. Like you say most will ultimately defer to the problem itself to the agency.

I like you. However, I am taking another approach to this now. I won't waste my money anymore and time. That is what Peace Corps wants you to do. Going to court, will put them on notice of the seriousness of our concerns. Some of us will file until we win. Winning is about getting justice, the right compensation for violating volunteers rights, and putting staffers on notice that there will be no more funny business, head shrinking, not taking responsibility at particular site locations and under standing we are the program and it is our experience, not theirs.

Winning is also about telling the truth and not having Peace Corps lie about volunteers experiences and situations in a wrongful death, a rape, a violent incident etc.. and the list goes on.

Volunteers should become lawyers just to fight for the families and their RPCV friends who have been screwed by the agency on purpose. We should dig in and make them spend money. Then they wil get the point. Until then, the Vasquez's, the Baquette's, the Pierson's, the Bellamy's and Mark Gearan will hide behind the General Counsel at Peace Corps and get away with literal murder.

I will say it again. Some of these folks above have blood on their hands in these cases and they know it. They should be held accountable for mal practice.

It maybe radical to say but let one of them go through this type of treatment and they would be crying the same.

I will say it again. They aid and abet the perpetrators of violence, fear, terror and rape by covering up these cases and situations.

A Congressional staffer said to me, that I should not say these things. No, I feel I should. Because they have no idea what it is to face the people who are the violient perpetrators of rape, violence, and more.

When they do not back up volunteers who have served in these situations. They and others such as staffers become unamerican to me.

That is what I think of the Directors who think like they do and the staffers who just don't get it. Unamerican.

Joanne, here is a hypothetical for you. If you were attacked in your service and then the Peace Corps lied about your service record. What would you do if Congress did not listen to you, Peace Corps did not listen to you, and say you go all the way to the President of the United States and they still don't believe you either. What would you do then Joanne? Wouldn't you say the judicial branch is the next step? I would.

Santa Claus won't come with gifts.

But, God knows what has happened. Truth will rise up eventually.

The Dayton Daily news broke through because they had lawyers who sued Peace Corps for FYOI information. That was the only way they broke through the corruption.

Enough of my rant. I am extremely disappointed. But, as you know it just means another road in the course toward our and my own justice with the agency that we served.

Have a Good X-mas,

Daniel