2006.03.29: March 29, 2006: Headlines: COS - Cambodia: Diplomacy: Humor: US Embassy in Cambodia: Ambassador Joseph A. Mussomeli says: I would also like to thank Peace Corps for somehow finding the funding in a particularly difficult budgetary time to open a new Mission in Cambodia
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2006.03.29: March 29, 2006: Headlines: COS - Cambodia: Diplomacy: Humor: US Embassy in Cambodia: Ambassador Joseph A. Mussomeli says: I would also like to thank Peace Corps for somehow finding the funding in a particularly difficult budgetary time to open a new Mission in Cambodia
Ambassador Joseph A. Mussomeli says: I would also like to thank Peace Corps for somehow finding the funding in a particularly difficult budgetary time to open a new Mission in Cambodia
"I will end with a confession I tell all Peace Corps volunteers that I meet. I confess to them that while I admire the Peace Corps greatly, my feelings are really more of a love-hate sort."
Ambassador Joseph A. Mussomeli says: I would also like to thank Peace Corps for somehow finding the funding in a particularly difficult budgetary time to open a new Mission in Cambodia
Announcement of Peace Corps Mission in Cambodia
Remarks by Ambassador Joseph A. Mussomeli
(Delivered via telephone)
March 29, 2006
Caption: Love Hate t-shirt Photo: Rachel Plefger
Thank you. I am delighted—and surprised—to get this opportunity to say a few words. That Peace Corps even thought to include someone residing 12,000 miles away is just another proof of how much the rest of us could learn from how the Peace Corps does business. So thank you. And congratulations: 45 years of stunning success is hard to argue with, and Peace Corps is one of America’s greatest success stories.
I would also like to thank Peace Corps for somehow finding the funding in a particularly difficult budgetary time to open a new Mission in Cambodia. Peace Corps is something the Cambodian people and government will embrace enthusiastically. There is a deep, abiding affection for America in Cambodia and our Peace Corps volunteers will only serve to make that affection stronger and deeper. Indeed, it is hard to think of a country more in need of – and deserving of—the Peace Corps. The Cambodians have come a long way after two decades of civil war and four horrific years of genocide under Pol Pot. The progress is almost miraculous, but Cambodia still has a long way to go, economically, politically, even spiritually. It remains in many ways a broken country. And one sure way to help it mend is through the use of what is often called America’s soft power, and there is no greater proof of the enduring strength of that power than the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps has not just helped change the world, it has also—one volunteer at a time—fundamentally changed the way the people of the world see America. As I often tell new Peace Corps volunteers, dollar for dollar, there is no agency of the US government that does more for our image, our security, and our prosperity than the Peace Corps.
I will end with a confession I tell all Peace Corps volunteers that I meet. I confess to them that while I admire the Peace Corps greatly, my feelings are really more of a love-hate sort. The love part is easy to explain: through their idealism, their commitment, their sense of service, the volunteers remind the rest of us that we should not forsake our ideals and that we are all servants. The hate part is more embarrassing: When I was 20 years old I applied to the Peace Corps and was rejected. Ever since then I have always felt a certain envy toward each volunteer. Thank God the State Department has lower standards and I was able to eventually find a job, -- but still, even after 33 years, I wish I had had the opportunity and honor to serve in the Peace Corps. I have spoken long enough. Again, thank you. We will eagerly await our first batch of volunteers and we will welcome them warmly when they arrive.
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| PC announces new program in Cambodia Director Vasquez and Cambodia's Deputy Chief of Mission Meng Eang Nay announced a historic new partnership between the Peace Corps and the Kingdom of Cambodia that will bring volunteers to this Southeast Asian country for the first time. Under King Norodom Sihamoni and Prime Minister Hun Sen, Cambodia has welcomed new partnerships with the U.S. government and other U.S. organizations. |
| Peace Corps suspends program in Bangladesh Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez announced the suspension of the Peace Corps program in Bangladesh on March 15. The safety and security of volunteers is the number one priority of the Peace Corps. Therefore, all Peace Corps volunteers serving in Bangladesh have safely left the country. More than 280 Peace Corps volunteers have served in Bangladesh since the program opened in November 1998. Latest: What other newspapers say. |
| Invitee re-assigned after inflammatory remarks The Peace Corps has pulled the invitation to Derek Volkart to join the Morocco Training Program and offered him a position in the Pacific instead after officials read an article in which he stated that his decision to join the Peace Corps was in "response to our current fascist government." RPCV Lew Nash says that "If Derek Volkart spoke his mind as freely in Morocco about the Moroccan monarchy it could cause major problems for himself and other Peace Corps volunteers." Latest: Volkart reverses stance, takes new assignment in Paraguay. |
| March 1, 1961: Keeping Kennedy's Promise On March 1, 1961, President John F. Kennedy issues Executive Order #10924, establishing the Peace Corps as a new agency: "Life in the Peace Corps will not be easy. There will be no salary and allowances will be at a level sufficient only to maintain health and meet basic needs. Men and women will be expected to work and live alongside the nationals of the country in which they are stationed--doing the same work, eating the same food, talking the same language. But if the life will not be easy, it will be rich and satisfying. For every young American who participates in the Peace Corps--who works in a foreign land--will know that he or she is sharing in the great common task of bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace. " |
| Paid Vacations in the Third World? Retired diplomat Peter Rice has written a letter to the Wall Street Journal stating that Peace Corps "is really just a U.S. government program for paid vacations in the Third World." Director Vasquez has responded that "the small stipend volunteers receive during their two years of service is more than returned in the understanding fostered in communities throughout the world and here at home." What do RPCVs think? |
| 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. |
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Story Source: US Embassy in Cambodia
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Cambodia; Diplomacy; Humor; Expansion; Updated 2006.04.29
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Mos tthings that the higher-ups say are staged and fake, but coming from Ambassador Mussomelli, this is really sincere.
I was not only a Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV Mauritania '87-91), but had the distinct pleasure of working with Amb Mussomelli in Manila. He is that rare, one of a kind Ambassador.
Keep the faith, Joe!
Paul DeverDammit