November 12, 2004: Headlines: COS - Nepal: Departures: Nepali Times: Peace Corps pulls out of Nepal
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November 12, 2004: Headlines: COS - Nepal: Departures: Nepali Times: Peace Corps pulls out of Nepal
Peace Corps pulls out of Nepal
Peace Corps pulls out of Nepal
Peace Corps pull out
This weeks announcement of the withdrawal of the American Peace Corps volunteers has dismayed many ordinary Nepalis who have benefitted from the work of this unique organisation for the past 42 years.
The announcement came in a statement from the US Embassy reacting to the blast at the American Information Centre in Gyaneswor on the eve of the 9/11 anniversary on Friday. No one was injured, the damage was minor and the Maoists haven’t taken responsibility. So far, the Maoists are only on the US ‘terrorist watchlist’, and one official hinted that if they had taken responsibility for Friday’s blast they would certainly have been “upgraded” to the terrorist list.
‘The attack at the American Center on Friday not only endangered lives but clearly violated all international norms and laws,’ the US Embassy said in a statement on Monday.
The decision to give family members of embassy staff the option to leave and to withdraw Peace Corps volunteers was “the last straw” another official said and denied that it was prompted by the need to reduce the US government’s legal liability in case a citizen came to harm at the hands of the rebels.
The Peace Corps suspension is said initially to be for six months, and sources said if the situation returns to normal after that, operations are likely to be resumed. Volunteers have been recalled to Kathmandu and will be sent home to the United States over the weekend. The Peace Corps office itself will remain open.
Nepal was one of the first countries to have Peace Corps volunteers with 62 in the first batch in 1962 and 4,000 have served here since then. Alumni of the Nepali volunteers have frequent get-togethers and many keep in touch by email. “It is Nepal that draws us together. Nepal did a lot for us. It showed us you didn’t need two cars in the garage to be considered successful in life,” Mac Odell, who came to Nepal in the first batch in 1962, told us in an interview last year. Many volunteers are still working in Nepal in the education and development fields while others have served here as diplomats. David O’Connor, the current director of the Peace Corps in Nepal was himself a volunteer in Ilam in 1967-69.
Peace Corps volunteers currently serving in Nepal say they have never faced any threats or intimidation, and spoke to us of being overwhelmed with the fortitude and generosity shown by the Nepalis they work amongst. “It is just very very sad that they have to leave,” said a Peace Corps official.
When this story was posted in February 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:
| The Peace Corps Library Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 27,000 index entries in 430 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related stories in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can use the Main Index to find hundreds of stories about what RPCVs with your same interests or from your Country of Service are doing today. |
| Bush's FY06 Budget for the Peace Corps The White House is proposing $345 Million for the Peace Corps for FY06 - a $27.7 Million (8.7%) increase that would allow at least two new posts and maintain the existing number of volunteers at approximately 7,700. Bush's 2002 proposal to double the Peace Corps to 14,000 volunteers appears to have been forgotten. The proposed budget still needs to be approved by Congress. |
| RPCVs mobilize support for Countries of Service RPCV Groups mobilize to support their Countries of Service. Over 200 RPCVS have already applied to the Crisis Corps to provide Tsunami Recovery aid, RPCVs have written a letter urging President Bush and Congress to aid Democracy in Ukraine, and RPCVs are writing NBC about a recent episode of the "West Wing" and asking them to get their facts right about Turkey. |
| Ask Not As our country prepares for the inauguration of a President, we remember one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century and how his words inspired us. "And so, my fellow Americans: 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." |
| Latest: RPCVs and Peace Corps provide aid Peace Corps made an appeal last week to all Thailand RPCV's to consider serving again through the Crisis Corps and more than 30 RPCVs have responded so far. RPCVs: Read what an RPCV-led NGO is doing about the crisis an how one RPCV is headed for Sri Lanka to help a nation he grew to love. Question: Is Crisis Corps going to send RPCVs to India, Indonesia and nine other countries that need help? |
| The World's Broken Promise to our Children Former Director Carol Bellamy, now head of Unicef, says that the appalling conditions endured today by half the world's children speak to a broken promise. Too many governments are doing worse than neglecting children -- they are making deliberate, informed choices that hurt children. Read her op-ed and Unicef's report on the State of the World's Children 2005. |
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Story Source: Nepali Times
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Nepal; Departures
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