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
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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
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:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Peace Corps at highest Census in 30 years Congratulations to the Peace Corps for the highest number of volunteers in 30 years with 7,810 volunteers serving in 71 posts across the globe. Of course, the President's proposal to double the Peace Corps to 15,000 volunteers made in his State of the Union Address in 2002 is now a long forgotten dream. With deficits in federal spending stretching far off into the future, any substantive increase in the number of volunteers will have to wait for new approaches to funding and for a new administration. Choose your candidate and start working for him or her now. |
| Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in danger When the National Call to Service legislation was amended to include Peace Corps in December of 2002, this country had not yet invaded Iraq and was not in prolonged military engagement in the Middle East, as it is now. Read the story of how one volunteer spent three years in captivity from 1976 to 1980 as the hostage of a insurrection group in Colombia in Joanne Marie Roll's op-ed on why this legislation may put soldier/PCVs in the same kind of danger. Latest: Read the ongoing dialog on the subject. |
| 'Celebration of Service' a major success The Peace Corps Fund's 'Celebration of Service' on September 29 in New York City was a major success raising approximately $100,000 for third goal activities. In the photo are Maureen Orth (Colombia); John Coyne (Ethiopia) Co-founder of the Peace Corps Fund; Caroline Kennedy; Barbara Anne Ferris (Morocco) Co-founder; Former Senator Harris Wofford, member of the Advisory Board. Read the story here. |
| PC apologizes for the "Kasama incident" The District Commissioner for the Kasama District in Zambia issued a statement banning Peace Corps activities for ‘grave’ social misconduct and unruly behavior for an incident that occurred on September 24 involving 13 PCVs. Peace Corps said that some of the information put out about the incident was "inflammatory and false." On October 12, Country Director Davy Morris met with community leaders and apologized for the incident. All PCVs involved have been reprimanded, three are returning home, and a ban in the district has since been lifted. |
| 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 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related stories in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can find hundreds of stories about what RPCVs with your same interests or from your Country of Service are doing today. If you have a web site, support the "Peace Corps Library" and link to it today. |
| Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000 strong 170,000 is a very special number for the RPCV community - it's the number of Volunteers who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. It's also a number that is very special to us because March is the first month since our founding in January, 2001 that our readership has exceeded 170,000. And while we know that not everyone who comes to this site is an RPCV, they are all "Friends of the Peace Corps." Thanks everybody for making PCOL your source of news for the Returned Volunteer community. |
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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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