• Laura and Kareese Friday, April 22, 2005 - 9:41 am [1]

Peace Corps Celebrates 44 Years of Global Service



Peace Corps Celebrates 44 Years of Global Service

Peace Corps Celebrates 44 Years of Global Service

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 28, 2005 - The Peace Corps will commemorate its 44th anniversary throughout Peace Corps Week February 28 - March 6, with national and international events that celebrate the mission of promoting better understanding between the U.S. and other nations.

More than half a million students in the United States will welcome returned Peace Corps volunteers into their classrooms throughout the week. Peace Corps Week commemorates the March 1, 1961, signing of the Executive Order by President John F. Kennedy that established the Peace Corps.

"At a 29-year high in the number of Americans serving as volunteers, the Peace Corps is alive and well and has much to celebrate," said Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez. "Peace Corps Week 2005 is a chance for thousands of volunteers to discuss how they helped citizens across the globe. It is also an opportunity for students and others to open their imaginations to the many cultures Peace Corps volunteers have experienced."

Director Vasquez will participate in events in the Washington, D.C. area, including a discussion with elementary school students and a forum with the U.S. Agency for International Development employees, before heading to the West Coast. In California, Director Vasquez will hold a roundtable discussion with returned volunteers and address students at Chapman University in Orange, Calif.

This week, thousands of returned Peace Corps volunteers will share the experiences and insights they gained from their overseas service with their local communities across the country. Numerous classrooms across America will speak with Peace Corps volunteers currently serving overseas by participating in international phone calls. Others will give talks at elementary schools in the U.S., universities and community centers. For more information about an event in your area, please click here.

Students, potential applicants and others can also find out what life is like serving as a volunteer around the world by participating in daily online chat sessions through the Peace Corps' Web site. For more information, please click here.

Other events across the nation include:

# Forty-three governors, plus numerous mayors and county boards of supervisors issued or will issue proclamations recognizing Peace Corps Week, many holding proclamation ceremonies.


# In Baltimore, more than 35 returned volunteers will participate in Johns Hopkins School of Nursing Honoring Diversity Week event held in conjunction with Peace Corps Week. The festivities include information booths, an art exhibit, dance performances, and presentations and panel discussions highlighting the overseas experiences of volunteers.


# On March 5, in Washington, D.C., the National Peace Corps Association will present "Global Challenge: A Day in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer" at Peace Corps headquarters. More than 100 Girl Scouts will learn first-hand from more than 20 returned volunteers what it is like to serve overseas.


# On March 7, in Augusta, Maine, Governor John E. Baldacci will participate in a conference call to Peace Corps Senegal with returned Peace Corps volunteer Joel King and his daughter, who is currently serving.


Since 1961, more than 178,000 volunteers have served in the Peace Corps, working in such diverse fields as education, health, HIV/AIDS education and prevention, information technology, business development, the environment, and agriculture. Peace Corps volunteers must be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years of age. Peace Corps service is a 27-month commitment.

When this story was posted in February 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:

The Peace Corps Library Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in over 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related reference material in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can use the Main Index to find hundreds of stories about RPCVs who have your same interests, who served in your Country of Service, or who serve in your state.

---

Make a call for the Peace Corps PCOL is a strong supporter of the NPCA's National Day of Action and encourages every RPCV to spend ten minutes on Tuesday, March 1 making a call to your Representatives and ask them to support President Bush's budget proposal of $345 Million to expand the Peace Corps. Take our Poll: Click here to take our poll. We'll send out a reminder and have more details early next week.

Peace Corps Calendar:Tempest in a Teapot? Bulgarian writer Ognyan Georgiev has written a story which has made the front page of the newspaper "Telegraf" criticizing the photo selection for his country in the 2005 "Peace Corps Calendar" published by RPCVs of Madison, Wisconsin. RPCV Betsy Sergeant Snow, who submitted the photograph for the calendar, has published her reply. Read the stories and leave your comments.

---

February 19, 2005: This Week's Top Stories NPCA Board positions are open for nomination 17 Feb Mike Tidwell on trial for climate action protest 17 Feb Katie Dyer is co-owner of Cadeaux du Monde 16 Feb Cyclone misses Tonga and Samoa PCVs 16 Feb Phil Hardberger in debate for Mayor of San Antonio 16 Feb Edmund Hull is Princeton Diplomat-In-Residence 16 Feb Bruce Greenlee is longtime friend of Latino community 15 Feb Mike Honda new vice chairman at DNC 15 Feb Jospeh Opala documents slave crossing from Sierra Leone 14 Feb Dear Dr. Brothers: Aren't PCVs Hippies? 14 Feb Joseph Lanning founded the World Education Fund 14 Feb Stanley Levine draws Marine and Peace Corps similarities 14 Feb Speaking Out: JFK envisioned millions of RPCVs 13 Feb Chris Aquino visits mother's homeland of Vietnam 12 Feb Is PCOL blocking users from posting messages? 12 Feb JFK Library opens Sargent Shriver Collection 1 Feb RPCV responds to Bulgaria Calendar concerns 28 Jan

---

WWII participants became RPCVs Read about two RPCVs who participated in World War II in very different ways long before there was a Peace Corps. Retired Rear Adm. Francis J. Thomas (RPCV Fiji), a decorated hero of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, died Friday, Jan. 21, 2005 at 100. Mary Smeltzer (RPCV Botswana), 89, followed her Japanese students into WWII internment camps. We honor both RPCVs for their service.

Bush's FY06 Budget for the Peace Corps The White House is proposing $345 Million for the Peace Corps for FY06 - a $27.7 Million (8.7%) increase that would allow at least two new posts and maintain the existing number of volunteers at approximately 7,700. Bush's 2002 proposal to double the Peace Corps to 14,000 volunteers appears to have been forgotten. The proposed budget still needs to be approved by Congress.

RPCVs mobilize support for Countries of Service RPCV Groups mobilize to support their Countries of Service. Over 200 RPCVS have already applied to the Crisis Corps to provide Tsunami Recovery aid, RPCVs have written a letter urging President Bush and Congress to aid Democracy in Ukraine, and RPCVs are writing NBC about a recent episode of the "West Wing" and asking them to get their facts right about Turkey.

RPCVs contend for Academy Awards Bolivia RPCV Taylor Hackford's film "Ray" is up for awards in six categories including best picture, best actor and best director. "Autism Is a World" co-produced by Sierra Leone RPCV Douglas Biklen and nominated for best Documentary Short Subject, seeks to increase awareness of developmental disabilities. Colombian film "El Rey," previously in the running for the foreign-language award, includes the urban legend that PCVs teamed up with El Rey to bring cocaine to U.S. soil.

Ask Not As our country prepares for the inauguration of a President, we remember one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century and how his words inspired us. "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."

Read the stories and leave your comments.