2011.02.27: February 27, 2011: Sierra Leone RPCV David Magnani writes: 50 years for the Peace Corps
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2011.02.27: February 27, 2011: Sierra Leone RPCV David Magnani writes: 50 years for the Peace Corps
Sierra Leone RPCV David Magnani writes: 50 years for the Peace Corps
Twenty-five years later, under a tent in Washington, I offered the following thought experiment to 6,000 returned Peace Corps volunteers: What if the Pentagon and the Peace Corps were to exchange budgets? Fanciful? Of course! And no one would suggest it. But the Peace Corps could double in size if we reduced our Afghan force by three-tenths of one percent. Today we could put about 20 Peace Corps volunteers in the field for every pair of military boots we put on the ground, and we have 15 times more troops in Afghanistan alone than we have Peace Corps volunteers across the globe. Our policymakers call it "soft power." We always thought of it as building on our kinship with members of our global family. Peacemaking.
Sierra Leone RPCV David Magnani writes: 50 years for the Peace Corps
Magnani: 50 years for the Peace Corps
By David Magnani/Local columnist
The MetroWest Daily News
Posted Feb 27, 2011 @ 12:11 AM
"Ask not...," a phrase now so emblazoned on the American heart that it need not be completed to animate a passion for service.
On March 1, 1961, President John F. Kennedy founded the Peace Corps to fulfill its promise. He set forth the radical notion that a nation should have as its primary foreign policy objective, not to conquer, not to colonize, but to serve. Peace through service.
In my best recollection Peace Corps was born in a context of incredible purity. JFK, Sargent Shriver, Bill Moyers, Harris Wofford and others who created this organization, did so on the most revolutionary premise imaginable: that love could be a major foreign policy initiative, and created the Peace Corps to make it happen. President Kennedy's call to service spoke to the best in us: our patriotism, our confidence and our altruism.
Twenty-five years later, under a tent in Washington, I offered the following thought experiment to 6,000 returned Peace Corps volunteers: What if the Pentagon and the Peace Corps were to exchange budgets? Fanciful? Of course! And no one would suggest it. But the Peace Corps could double in size if we reduced our Afghan force by three-tenths of one percent. Today we could put about 20 Peace Corps volunteers in the field for every pair of military boots we put on the ground, and we have 15 times more troops in Afghanistan alone than we have Peace Corps volunteers across the globe.
Our policymakers call it "soft power." We always thought of it as building on our kinship with members of our global family. Peacemaking.
In a few days, 200,000 Americans who have served in the Peace Corps will celebrate their own transformative experiences, our 50 years of America's putting our best foot forward among citizens of the world and bringing the world back home. They will celebrate on March 1 in over 700 house parties in all corners of the earth including 18 here in Massachusetts (www.peacecorps.org). On March 5, at the Kennedy Library, the celebration will continue with films, dance, and cuisine from around the world, finishing the day with Caroline Kennedy presenting JFK Service Awards to outstanding volunteers.
It is clear that JFK's clarion call is being heard again today by America's citizens, especially among young people. Through Peace Corps and hundreds of service organizations, Americans are reading to young children, staffing food pantries, visiting the elderly and the imprisoned, and doing so much more.
Today, however, is special for those who, over the past 50 years, took two years or more of their lives and dedicated them to serving those in other lands, learning their language, music, customs and sharing new foods, dress, and climates, and living mostly without the basic comforts to which they had become accustomed.
For many it was transformative. Truly "the toughest job you will ever love." So whether or not you have been touched personally by the Peace Corps, take a little time out to celebrate one of the most heartening aspects of our amazing country. As President Kennedy did on that cold Inaugural Day, Peace Corps itself speaks to the best in us. And when the celebrations are over, you too can make a difference by asking your Congressperson to support the Peace Corps and those who are willing to serve in this profoundly special way.
David P. Magnani of Framingham served in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone and Kenya and represents the Northeast on the Board of the National Peace Corps Association.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: February, 2011; Figures; Peace Corps Sierra Leone; Directory of Sierra Leone RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Sierra Leone RPCVs; Politics; 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps; Speaking Out
When this story was posted in July 2011, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Peace Corps Featured at Smithsonian Take a look at our photo essay of Peace Corps' featured program at the 2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washington DC to see how the festival showcased the work of Peace Corps volunteers in economic development and income generation; ways volunteers have helped support local groups to help educate communities; and food and cooking traditions that have played a role in the Peace Corps experience. New: Enjoy photos from the second week of the exposition. |
| Peace Corps: The Next Fifty Years As we move into the Peace Corps' second fifty years, what single improvement would most benefit the mission of the Peace Corps? Read our op-ed about the creation of a private charitable non-profit corporation, independent of the US government, whose focus would be to provide support and funding for third goal activities. Returned Volunteers need President Obama to support the enabling legislation, already written and vetted, to create the Peace Corps Foundation. RPCVs will do the rest. |
| How Volunteers Remember Sarge As the Peace Corps' Founding Director Sargent Shriver laid the foundations for the most lasting accomplishment of the Kennedy presidency. Shriver spoke to returned volunteers at the Peace Vigil at Lincoln Memorial in September, 2001 for the Peace Corps 40th. "The challenge I believe is simple - simple to express but difficult to fulfill. That challenge is expressed in these words: PCV's - stay as you are. Be servants of peace. Work at home as you have worked abroad. Humbly, persistently, intelligently. Weep with those who are sorrowful, Care for those who are sick. Serve your wives, serve your husbands, serve your families, serve your neighbors, serve your cities, serve the poor, join others who also serve," said Shriver. "Serve, Serve, Serve. That's the answer, that's the objective, that's the challenge." |
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Story Source: Wicked Local Dedham
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Sierra Leone; Politics; 50th; Speaking Out
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