September 29, 2005: Headlines: COS - Ethiopia: Fund Raising: PCOL Exclusive: John Coyne's Remarks at the Peace Corps Fund
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September 29, 2005: Headlines: COS - Ethiopia: Fund Raising: PCOL Exclusive: John Coyne's Remarks at the Peace Corps Fund
John Coyne's Remarks at the Peace Corps Fund
Good evening and welcome to the Peace Corps Fund’s first Annual Live a Life of Service Awards. My name is John Coyne and my life in the Peace Corps began at two o’clock in the morning on October 14, 1960 at the University of Michigan. A guy named John Fitzgerald Kennedy was running for president and in his speech at the U of M he challenged all of us—over 10,000 students gathered on the campus in the post mid-night darkness-- to volunteer to work in the developing world. I went from living in Michigan to living in Ethiopia with the first group of Volunteers that the Peace Corps sent to that nation.
John Coyne's Remarks at the Peace Corps Fund
John Coyne
Maureen Orth (Colombia) on the Advisory Board of the Peace Corps Fund; John Coyne (Ethiopia) Co-founder of the Peace Corps Fund; Caroline Kennedy; Barbara Anne Ferris (Morocco) Co-founder of the Peace Corps Fund; Former Senator Harris Wofford, member of the Advisory Board to the Peace Corps Fund
Good evening and welcome to the Peace Corps Fund’s first Annual Live a Life of Service Awards. My name is John Coyne and my life in the Peace Corps began at two o’clock in the morning on October 14, 1960 at the University of Michigan. A guy named John Fitzgerald Kennedy was running for president and in his speech at the U of M he challenged all of us—over 10,000 students gathered on the campus in the post mid-night darkness-- to volunteer to work in the developing world. I went from living in Michigan to living in Ethiopia with the first group of Volunteers that the Peace Corps sent to that nation.
And in the 44 years since then nearly 200,000 Americans have volunteered in over 135 countries, speaking more than 300 languages. Over 45% of all Peace Corps Volunteers teach in schools overseas. Others work in health, agriculture, small businesses, and community development—and they are teaching too, from life saving AIDS education to the rudiments of rural credit union.
At its core, the Peace Corps is about service—service to our own country, and to the people of other countries. It is a simple but very powerful concept, one that has stood the test of time, and one that—in our view—has helped strengthen cross-cultural understanding between Americans and the billions of people in the rest of the world.
But the Peace Corps has another goal--one that stays with Returned Volunteers not just for a few years but for the rest of our lives. That goal, as stated in the Peace Corps Act of 1961, is that returned volunteers should "bring the world back home." That goal was important to JFK in the 1960s, and it's even more important for the United States now. Which is why Barbara Anne Ferris and I decided to establish the Peace Corps Fund, to provide grants and advice to Returned Peace Corps Volunteers—RPCVs—who are creating programs and projects to educate Americans here at home about the developing world. In the words of former Peace Corps Director Mark Gearan, this is a “domestic dividend” of the Peace Corps, one that will help our nation to better understand—and be in harmony with—the rest of the world.
Another domestic dividend of the Peace Corps are the 5 New York City Public School teachers we honor this evening. All of them began their teaching careers as educators in the Peace Corps.
Maureen Orth will tell you more about the individuals selected for tonight’s life of service awards. But what we know is that most former Volunteers who become teachers in America bring with them into their classrooms their overseas Peace Corps experiences. And these teachers are inspiring. Among today’s Peace Corps Volunteers, an overwhelming number say they were influenced to join the Peace Corps by RPCV teachers who ignited in them the spark of service and adventure.
It is now my pleasure to introduce to you my good friend Barbara Anne Ferris, founder and president of the International Women’s Democracy Center, co-founder of the Peace Corps Fund, who herself has lived in and traveled to over 100 countries, and is now a candidate for Congress from the great state of Ohio
When this story was posted in February 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| RPCV admits to abuse while in Peace Corps Timothy Ronald Obert has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a minor in Costa Rica while serving there as a Peace Corps volunteer. "The Peace Corps has a zero tolerance policy for misconduct that violates the law or standards of conduct established by the Peace Corps," said Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez. Could inadequate screening have been partly to blame? Mr. Obert's resume, which he had submitted to the Peace Corps in support of his application to become a Peace Corps Volunteer, showed that he had repeatedly sought and obtained positions working with underprivileged children. Read what RPCVs have to say about this case. |
| 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. |
| 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: PCOL Exclusive
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Ethiopia; Fund Raising
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