For a PCV, the two years overseas is the experience of a lifetime, but it doesn't end there…Peace Corps is an experience which transforms lives. In Peace Corps speak, COS could be made to mean Continuation of Service, rather than Close of Service. We should blow the 3rd Goal wide open conceptually, and give it teeth through programmatic possibilities. In fact, in our fully globalized world, all 3 Peace Corps Goals are now actionable at all stages of Peace Corps service. Returning Volunteers are model global citizens, and should be challenged and supported through a range of opportunities for continued lives of service and intercultural exchange. They should have opportunities for continued service engagement in their host countries and communities (encourage Peace Corps Response for all). Pathways from Peace Corps service to Public Service careers could be enhanced and expanded (building upon the Federal retirement and non-competitive benefit that exists). Returned Volunteer Services and NPCA could be expanded and work closely together to build a strong, engaged, and interconnected RPCV community. PCVs should earn Education Awards (modeled on AmeriCorps or the GI Bill) so that all are encouraged to deepen their knowledge and skills through graduate and professional programs that help them launch diverse careers of service and peacebuilding (Peace Corps Fellows/USA or Masters International programs already existing would match this ed award and also engage RPCVs in domestic service-learning). This vision of lifelong service and direct domestic benefit was central in President Kennedy's message to Congress in March, 1961: "The benefits of the Peace Corps will not be limited to the countries in which it serves. Our own young men and women will be enriched by the experience of living and working in foreign lands. They will have acquired new skills and experience which will aid them in their future careers and add to our own country's supply of trained personnel and teachers. They will return better able to assume the responsibilities of American citizenship and with greater understanding of our global responsibilities." It's true that many RPCVs have been making Kennedy's vision a reality organically for nearly 50 years. Let's take this opportunity to infuse the goal of lifelong service as the heart of the Peace Corps by providing programmatic pathways for every volunteer to turn a transformative two-year experience into a rich and engaged life of service.
Joby Taylor writes: Let's Reframe Peace Corps service as lifelong
Let's recapture the energy and practical idealism of the early Peace Corps! I believe that we're in a unique historical moment. The staggering needs of our nation and the world are matched by a widespread global citizen desire to be engaged in solving problems and building peace. It is a moment ripe for a powerful Call to Service, voiced from our nation's highest office and backed by a broad slate of programmatic opportunities for those [millions?] who will answer. The Peace Corps' two-year immersion model provides a gold standard for those with the commitment, courage, and curiousity to go all-in. The position of Director of the Peace Corps should be given elevated place and profile in the new President's plans to strengthen our nation's tools for soft and smart power. As in its early days, the Peace Corps of today and tomorrow must blend compassion and pragmatism. The first step towards this will be the choice of a strong leader, someone evoking the spirit of Sargent Shriver.
What would it look like to Shriverize the Peace Corps today? (Sen. Harris Wofford speaks fondly of a long usage of this verb) In the days after 9/11, Sarge himself issued the challenge. "Our present world cries out for a new Peace Corps-a vastly improved, expanded, and profoundly deeper enterprise.... I'm not defending the old Peace Corps - I'm attacking it! We didn't go far enough! Our dreams were large, but our actions were small. We never really gave the goal of 'World Wide Peace' an overwhelming commitment. Nor did we establish a clear, inspiring vision for attaining it" (Nov. 2001). Shriver's vision extends beyond the Peace Corps, but the new Director should take up this iconoclastic challenge and establish a task force with the mission of composing a new "Towering Task" for a 21st Century Peace Corps: Preserving that which is good, changing that which is not, and thinking creatively and intelligently about the vast potential of the Peace Corps as it approaches its 50th anniversary. The National Peace Corps Association's More Peace Corps campaign, as well as other RPCV groups and individuals, have been anticipating this timely opportunity for months and are generating a robust discussion around big ideas including exploring new country partners, new service partnerships, new uses of technology, new volunteer models, new types of projects, and new administrative structures. A task force with a formal 3-6 month mission and adequate staff could pick up this mantel and temper the project with the urgency, pragmatism, and humility required to work within the Agency towards real implementation. (note: The original PC was created in about 1 month)
Here's one specific recommendation. Reframe Peace Corps service as lifelong. For a PCV, the two years overseas is the experience of a lifetime, but it doesn't end there…Peace Corps is an experience which transforms lives. In Peace Corps speak, COS could be made to mean Continuation of Service, rather than Close of Service. We should blow the 3rd Goal wide open conceptually, and give it teeth through programmatic possibilities. In fact, in our fully globalized world, all 3 Peace Corps Goals are now actionable at all stages of Peace Corps service. Returning Volunteers are model global citizens, and should be challenged and supported through a range of opportunities for continued lives of service and intercultural exchange. They should have opportunities for continued service engagement in their host countries and communities (encourage Peace Corps Response for all). Pathways from Peace Corps service to Public Service careers could be enhanced and expanded (building upon the Federal retirement and non-competitive benefit that exists). Returned Volunteer Services and NPCA could be expanded and work closely together to build a strong, engaged, and interconnected RPCV community. PCVs should earn Education Awards (modeled on AmeriCorps or the GI Bill) so that all are encouraged to deepen their knowledge and skills through graduate and professional programs that help them launch diverse careers of service and peacebuilding (Peace Corps Fellows/USA or Masters International programs already existing would match this ed award and also engage RPCVs in domestic service-learning). This vision of lifelong service and direct domestic benefit was central in President Kennedy's message to Congress in March, 1961: "The benefits of the Peace Corps will not be limited to the countries in which it serves. Our own young men and women will be enriched by the experience of living and working in foreign lands. They will have acquired new skills and experience which will aid them in their future careers and add to our own country's supply of trained personnel and teachers. They will return better able to assume the responsibilities of American citizenship and with greater understanding of our global responsibilities." It's true that many RPCVs have been making Kennedy's vision a reality organically for nearly 50 years. Let's take this opportunity to infuse the goal of lifelong service as the heart of the Peace Corps by providing programmatic pathways for every volunteer to turn a transformative two-year experience into a rich and engaged life of service.
Joby Taylor
Director, Shriver Peaceworker Program (PC Gabon 91-93)
