January 25, 2006: Headlines: Diplomacy: Speaking Out: Deleware Online: RPCV Jeffrey A. Smit says: that we’ve had one-man outposts for forty-five years now, speaking local languages and connecting with real people. They are called Peace Corps volunteers.
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January 25, 2006: Headlines: Diplomacy: Speaking Out: Deleware Online: RPCV Jeffrey A. Smit says: that we’ve had one-man outposts for forty-five years now, speaking local languages and connecting with real people. They are called Peace Corps volunteers.
RPCV Jeffrey A. Smit says: that we’ve had one-man outposts for forty-five years now, speaking local languages and connecting with real people. They are called Peace Corps volunteers.
"I would certainly hold that were each member of congress to visit one constituent Peace Corps volunteer, onsite, in the second year of the volunteer’s service, the lawmaker would certainly gain knowledge as valuable as that to be gained from the Prime Minister or Minister of Defense. Such travel might be well-worth government sponsorship."
RPCV Jeffrey A. Smit says: that we’ve had one-man outposts for forty-five years now, speaking local languages and connecting with real people. They are called Peace Corps volunteers.
Dear Editor,
Ann McFeatters’ column headlined “Rice Doctrine would open the world,” praises the concept of “transformational diplomacy.” This concept would, reportedly, call for “...forcing ambitious diplomats to speak less French, more Arabic; ...staff more posts in countries that have less U.S. presence; and ...urging diplomats to link up with real people...”
Secretary of State Rice reportedly said in a recent speech that “..almost 200 cities in the world with populations of 1 million or more have no U.S. diplomat." The column reports that she said, “She’d like to have one-person diplomatic outposts spring up in remote parts of the world.”
One would think that the Secretary and Ms. Mcfeatters would be aware that we’ve had such one-man outposts for forty-five years now, speaking local languages and connecting with real people. They are called Peace Corps volunteers.
Ms. McFeatters goes on to mention ethical issues being raised around lobbyist-sponsored travel, and that the cure might result in “...lawmakers becoming even more isolated, when we need to know more about the world.” She suggests that “...government-sponsored travel to remote posts staffed by U.S. diplomats is one answer.”
I would certainly hold that were each member of congress to visit one constituent Peace Corps volunteer, onsite, in the second year of the volunteer’s service, the lawmaker would certainly gain knowledge as valuable as that to be gained from the Prime Minister or Minister of Defense. Such travel might be well-worth government sponsorship.
The lawmakers might also invite as many recently-returned volunteers for a debriefing as their schedule allows, over a better lunch than the former volunteer could probably afford.
I believe Ms. McFeatters is a frequent critic of the current administration, as am I. However, we share praise for any increase in one-on-one, person-to-person contact between diverse real people.
Jeffrey A. Smith
Newark, Delaware
(302) 368-1089
jasmix@comcast.net
When this story was posted in January 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| 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. |
| PC establishes awards for top Volunteers Gaddi H. Vasquez has established the Kennedy Service Awards to honor the hard work and service of two current Peace Corps Volunteers, two returned Peace Corps Volunteers, and two Peace Corps staff members. The award to currently serving volunteers will be based on a demonstration of impact, sustainability, creativity, and catalytic effect. Submit your nominations by December 9. |
| 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. |
| '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: Deleware Online
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Diplomacy; Speaking Out
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