2006.09.21: September 21, 2006: Headlines: Speaking Out: Budget: Journal News: Priscilla Goldfarb writes: Help Peace Corps reach full potential
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2006.09.21: September 21, 2006: Headlines: Speaking Out: Budget: Journal News: Priscilla Goldfarb writes: Help Peace Corps reach full potential
Priscilla Goldfarb writes: Help Peace Corps reach full potential
Peace Corps has the potential to be an even greater voice for sharing our ideals of global friendship and cooperation. Unfortunately, our government is falling behind a pledge made by President Bush in his 2002 State of the Union address to double the number of volunteers by 2007.
Priscilla Goldfarb writes: Help Peace Corps reach full potential
Help Peace Corps reach full potential
(Original publication: September 21, 2006)
I want to thank the offices of Sens. Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton for meeting with me and eight returned Peace Corps volunteers from New York during my recent trip to Washington. We spoke on behalf of one of the most effective — and cost-effective — examples of citizen diplomacy: the United States Peace Corps.
Now in its 45th anniversary year, the Peace Corps has sent more than 180,000 citizen volunteers to provide essential services such as teaching, health care, community development and agriculture to more than 130 countries across the globe. From New York state alone, more than 11,000 citizens have served, with 415 currently serving.
I am proud of my service as a Peace Corps teacher in Uganda from 1965-1967 and, as a Peace Corps Crisis Corps volunteer, helping in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I am excited by the enthusiasm, kindness and effectiveness of today's volunteers who carry on the tradition of early volunteers like me who were inspired by President Kennedy's call to service.
Peace Corps has the potential to be an even greater voice for sharing our ideals of global friendship and cooperation. Unfortunately, our government is falling behind a pledge made by President Bush in his 2002 State of the Union address to double the number of volunteers by 2007.
I hope the members of the New York delegation can lead Congress in a renewed effort to help Peace Corps reach its full potential.
Priscilla Goldfarb, Garrison,
When this story was posted in October 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Chris Dodd's Vision for the Peace Corps Senator Chris Dodd (RPCV Dominican Republic) spoke at the ceremony for this year's Shriver Award and elaborated on issues he raised at Ron Tschetter's hearings. Dodd plans to introduce legislation that may include: setting aside a portion of Peace Corps' budget as seed money for demonstration projects and third goal activities (after adjusting the annual budget upward to accommodate the added expense), more volunteer input into Peace Corps operations, removing medical, healthcare and tax impediments that discourage older volunteers, providing more transparency in the medical screening and appeals process, a more comprehensive health safety net for recently-returned volunteers, and authorizing volunteers to accept, under certain circumstances, private donations to support their development projects. He plans to circulate draft legislation for review to members of the Peace Corps community and welcomes RPCV comments. |
| He served with honor One year ago, Staff Sgt. Robert J. Paul (RPCV Kenya) carried on an ongoing dialog on this website on the military and the peace corps and his role as a member of a Civil Affairs Team in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have just received a report that Sargeant Paul has been killed by a car bomb in Kabul. Words cannot express our feeling of loss for this tremendous injury to the entire RPCV community. Most of us didn't know him personally but we knew him from his words. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends. He was one of ours and he served with honor. |
| Chris Shays Shifts to Favor an Iraq Timetable In a policy shift, RPCV Congressman Chris Shays, long a staunch advocate of the Bush administration's position in Iraq, is now proposing a timetable for a withdrawal of American troops. How Mr. Shays came to this change of heart is, he says, a matter of a newfound substantive belief that Iraqis need to be prodded into taking greater control of their own destiny under the country’s newly formed government. As Chairman of the House Government Reform subcommittee on national security, he plans to draft a timetable for a phased withdrawal and then push for its adoption. A conscientious objector during the Vietnam War who said that if drafted he would not serve, Chris Shays has made 14 trips to Iraq and was the first Congressman to enter the country after the war - against the wishes of the Department of Defense. |
| Peace Corps' Screening and Medical Clearance The purpose of Peace Corps' screening and medical clearance process is to ensure safe accommodation for applicants and minimize undue risk exposure for volunteers to allow PCVS to complete their service without compromising their entry health status. To further these goals, PCOL has obtained a copy of the Peace Corps Screening Guidelines Manual through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and has posted it in the "Peace Corps Library." Applicants and Medical Professionals (especially those who have already served as volunteers) are urged to review the guidelines and leave their comments and suggestions. Then read the story of one RPCV's journey through medical screening and his suggestions for changes to the process. |
| The Peace Corps is "fashionable" again The LA Times says that "the Peace Corps is booming again and "It's hard to know exactly what's behind the resurgence." PCOL Comment: Since the founding of the Peace Corps 45 years ago, Americans have answered Kennedy's call: "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." Over 182,000 have served. Another 200,000 have applied and been unable to serve because of lack of Congressional funding. The Peace Corps has never gone out of fashion. It's Congress that hasn't been keeping pace. |
| PCOL readership increases 100% Monthly readership on "Peace Corps Online" has increased in the past twelve months to 350,000 visitors - over eleven thousand every day - a 100% increase since this time last year. Thanks again, RPCVs and Friends of the Peace Corps, for making PCOL your source of information for the Peace Corps community. And thanks for supporting the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come. |
| History of the Peace Corps PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help. |
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Story Source: Journal News
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