November 11, 2005: Headlines: Hurricane Relief: Speaking Out: Crisis Corps: Personal Web Site: Crisis Corps Volunteer Camille says We ran a fun, creative, impactful program for victims of the hurricane and we were penalized for it

Peace Corps Online: Peace Corps News: Peace Corps Library: Crisis Corps: January 23, 2005: Index: PCOL Exclusive: Crisis Corps : November 11, 2005: Headlines: Hurricane Relief: Speaking Out: Crisis Corps: Personal Web Site: Crisis Corps Volunteer Camille says We ran a fun, creative, impactful program for victims of the hurricane and we were penalized for it

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-110-196.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.110.196) on Friday, November 18, 2005 - 12:00 am: Edit Post

Crisis Corps Volunteer Camille says We ran a fun, creative, impactful program for victims of the hurricane and we were penalized for it

Crisis Corps Volunteer Camille says We ran a fun, creative, impactful program for victims of the hurricane and we were penalized for it

To make a long story short, that fun Halloween activity for kids in Mississippi was supposedly against the Peace Corps rules because we crossed a state line. None of us were told we weren't allowed to cross state lines, but Peace Corps denied us an extension of our contracts anyway. (There were 8 of us.) Everyone who didn't go on the Mississippi trip and asked for an extension (about 20) got another contract. Bureaucratic stupidity at its best.

Crisis Corps Volunteer Camille says We ran a fun, creative, impactful program for victims of the hurricane and we were penalized for it

Friday, November 11, 2005

free fallin'

[Excerpt]

Here I am floating around again - different state, same state of mind... My one-month contract is over, and I was hoping it would be extended for another month, but now that's not going to happen. To make a long story short, that fun Halloween activity for kids in Mississippi was supposedly against the Peace Corps rules because we crossed a state line. None of us were told we weren't allowed to cross state lines, but Peace Corps denied us an extension of our contracts anyway. (There were 8 of us.) Everyone who didn't go on the Mississippi trip and asked for an extension (about 20) got another contract. Bureaucratic stupidity at its best. We ran a fun, creative, impactful program for victims of the hurricane and we were penalized for it. The worst part of it was that Peace Corps only knew we went to Mississippi because another volunteer ratted us out. Snitch narc brown-noser!

My project in New Orleans working with NGOs was just getting off the ground, and I was getting really excited about diving in for another month. Ah, well. On to Plan B, which is...???




Thursday, October 13, 2005
Crisis Corps

Finally got my assignment to work on the Katrina relief effort in Louisiana! My new contract is with the Crisis Corps, which is a division of the Peace Corps that sends Peace Corps alumni to disaster areas. It's a 1-month subcontract with FEMA, and I just flew to Orlando, Florida today for my 3-day training before we get shipped over to New Orleans or Baton Rouge.

My understanding is that our teams will be interviewing evacuees and helping them locate shelter, food, medical care, missing family members, and other services. I won't be managing any projects on this assignment, which is fine for me since I think it'll be a nice change just to follow orders and "do" all day rather than having to think too much. I know that FEMA is kind of a dirty word right about now, but I figure I can still lend a hand to the people in the Gulf, and maybe the Agency needs people like me so that things won't be so screwed up. (Naïve? Optimistic? Idealistic? Whatever, we'll see if this leads to a longer-term opportunity for me somehow...)

So far the atmosphere in our hotel at the training site is very much reminiscent of our Peace Corps trainings ten years ago: lots of 20-somethings and 30-somethings getting very drunk. Hilarious.





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


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Story Source: Personal Web Site

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Hurricane Relief; Crisis Corps

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