malwae says: It's been about 3 years for me dealing with PC, starting from application, through service in Uzbekistan, and now home. During that time I have seen a really unsavory Conservatizing of PC. And I mean conservative in the moral majority right wing family values religous right sense, not the fiscal responsibility sense. The **** that went down in Uzbekistan was a truly spectacular demonstration of how an ideology shift in the White House eventually trickles down to organizations like PC.



Peace Corps announced in May 2005 that it is suspending the Uzbekistan program after the visas of 52 Peace Corps volunteers who arrived in January were not renewed. The suspension comes after a State Department warning that terrorist groups may be planning attacks in Uzbekistan and after the killings in Andizhan earlier in May.

malwae says: It's been about 3 years for me dealing with PC, starting from application, through service in Uzbekistan, and now home. During that time I have seen a really unsavory Conservatizing of PC. And I mean conservative in the moral majority right wing family values religous right sense, not the fiscal responsibility sense. The **** that went down in Uzbekistan was a truly spectacular demonstration of how an ideology shift in the White House eventually trickles down to organizations like PC.

malwae

2005-06-27 20:20 (link)

Well I was wondering when this was going to come up. It's been about 3 years for me dealing with PC, starting from application, through service in Uzbekistan, and now home. During that time I have seen a really unsavory Conservatizing of PC. And I mean conservative in the moral majority right wing family values religous right sense, not the fiscal responsibility sense. The **** that went down in Uzbekistan was a truly spectacular demonstration of how an ideology shift in the White House eventually trickles down to organizations like PC.

Its an unavoidable reality of the nature of Peace Corps, which sends poorly compensated volunteers with foggy job descriptions and minimal training into every corner of the world which is lagging behind and isn't actively involved in a war, that very few policies at the DC level are going to make sense in all circumstances. There simply isn't the manpower, budget, resources, or organizational skill to research every post and decide what is appropriate and what isn't. Just in Uzbekistan, we have two differing viewpoints. c_double served in the middle part of the country, I served in the west. My husband, who was greatly respected and admired in the community, had both a tattoo and piercings. I have a facial peircing, and the only comments I got were envious enquiries about how I got it and requests for me to perform piercings. It was cool because they had seen it on MTV, and Karakalpaks traditionally did facial piercings before the Soviets came in and wholloped them with a dose of Marxist uniformity. Being pierced and tattooed in Karakalpakstan was a big big positive, whereas in c_double's area it would have been a negative. All in the same country.

I completely understand and agree with the emphasis on fitting in. But since the standards of fitting in vary so widely among regions and ethnic groups, these mandates from on high are useless and smack of somebody trying to look busy and prove to Congress that they are enforcing Decency. The tattoo/piercing thing is only marginally applicable when it come down to it. A volunteer's behaviour is far, far more important. From what I've seen, clothing choice and demeanor is much more important than a permanent characteristic like a tattoo. I spent a lot of time in service apologizing profusely for one of the other volunteers who careened through her service with no sense of professionalism in her dress or behaviour with men. In Karakalpakstan, if you insist on wearing tennis shoes to teach your class full of students in full business suits and dress shoes, you will cause far more problems than if you happened to have your lip pierced. And no matter how conservative your haircut, if you get drunk and belligerant people will think far worse of you than if you had the mark of the beast tattooed across you forehead.

And so for recruiting, yes, that does suck. And it will continue to suck (and probably get worse) until there is another ideology shift in the White House, and then it will take some years for PC to relax its rules. I don't envy your job. I doubt this is the end of it.

When this story was posted in June 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:



Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

The Peace Corps Library Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related stories in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can find hundreds of stories about what RPCVs with your same interests or from your Country of Service are doing today. If you have a web site, support the "Peace Corps Library" and link to it today.

---

---

American Taboo: A Peace Corps Tragedy Returned Volunteers met with author Philip Weiss in Baltimore on June 18 to discuss the murder of Peace Corps Volunteer Deborah Gardner. Weiss was a member of a panel that included three psychiatrists and a criminal attorney. Meanwhile, the Seattle U.S. Attorney's office announced that Dennis Priven cannot be retried for the murder. "We do not believe this case can be prosecuted by anyone, not only us, but in any other jurisdiction in the United States." Read background on the case here.

---

June 16, 2005: Special Events Philip Weiss, PCV murder writer, speaks in Baltimore June 18 "Rainforests and Refugees" showing in Portland, Maine until June 25 "Iowa in Ghana" on exhibit in Waterloo through June 30 NPCA to hold Virtual Leaders Forum on July 29 RPCV's "Taking the Early Bus" at Cal State until Aug 15 "Artists and Patrons in Traditional African Cultures" in NY thru Sept 30 RPCVs: Post your stories or press releases here for inclusion next week.

---

June 14: Peace Corps suspends Haiti program After Uzbekistan, the Peace Corps has announced the suspension of a second program this month - this time in Haiti. Background: The suspension comes after a US Embassy warning, a request from Tom Lantos' office, and the program suspension last year. For the record: PCOL supports Peace Corps' decision to suspend the two programs and commends the agency for the efficient way PCVs were evacuated safely. Our only concern now is with the placement of evacuated PCVs and the support they receive after interrupted service.

---

June 6: PC suspends Uzbekistan program Peace Corps has announced that it is suspending the Uzbekistan program after the visas of 52 Peace Corps volunteers who arrived in January were not renewed. The suspension comes after a State Department warning that terrorist groups may be planning attacks in Uzbekistan and after the killings in Andizhan earlier in May. Background: PCOL published a report on April 23 that Peace Corps volunteers who arrived in January were having visa difficulties and reported on safety and visa issues in Uzbekistan as they developed.

---

June 6, 2005: This Week's Top Stories Kinky Friedman will "sign anything except bad legislation" 6 Jun Niels Marquardt Makes Chimpanzee Protection a Priority 6 Jun Laurence Leamer needs approval for "Today" appearance 6 Jun Desperate Housewives' Ricardo Chavira is son of RPCVs 6 Jun Anthony Sandberg runs Berkeley sailing school 5 Jun Amy Smith field-tests sugarcane charcoal 5 Jun Mary Johnson organizes workshop on genocide 3 Jun Jonathan Lash in 100 most Influential Business Leaders 3 Jun Hastert jump-starts Chris Shays' Campaign 3 Jun John Coyne says 41 RPCVs applied for scholarships 3 Jun James Rupert writes on bombing in Kandahar mosque 1 Jun John McCain says to expand opportunities for service 1 Jun Jay Rockefeller's relationships with Japanese go way back 1 Jun Anat Shenker met her husband during service in Honduras 31 May Ryan Clancy punished without hearing for visiting Iraq 30 May Melissa Mosvick remembered as a fallen American hero 29 May Kurt Carlson played basketball against Togo's national team 29 May Helen Thomas's favorite president remains JFK 24 May

---

Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000 strong 170,000 is a very special number for the RPCV community - it's the number of Volunteers who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. It's also a number that is very special to us because March is the first month since our founding in January, 2001 that our readership has exceeded 170,000. And while we know that not everyone who comes to this site is an RPCV, they are all "Friends of the Peace Corps." Thanks everybody for making PCOL your source of news for the Returned Volunteer community.

Read the stories and leave your comments.