November 29, 2005: Headlines: COS - Guatemala: COS - Dominica: Hurricane Relief: National Journal: In Guatemala, Dominica RPCV Ray Lynch is assessing damage from Hurricane Stan
Peace Corps Online:
Directory:
Guatemala:
Peace Corps Guatemala:
The Peace Corps in Guatemala:
November 29, 2005: Headlines: COS - Guatemala: COS - Dominica: Hurricane Relief: National Journal: In Guatemala, Dominica RPCV Ray Lynch is assessing damage from Hurricane Stan
In Guatemala, Dominica RPCV Ray Lynch is assessing damage from Hurricane Stan
The job and the studies are familiar to Lynch, who began a career in aid work and international development in the 1970s. After graduating from Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif., Lynch joined the Peace Corps as a marine biologist on the Caribbean island of Dominica. Shortly thereafter, Lynch went to the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, working on aid projects in Ecuador, Peru, Antigua, Barbados, El Salvador, and Guatemala.
In Guatemala, Dominica RPCV Ray Lynch is assessing damage from Hurricane Stan
Around the World
Nov 19, 2005
National Journal
Ray Lynch must be the only master's degree student at George Mason University who can claim Guatemalan mudslides as an excuse for missing lectures. "I'm skipping class," Lynch said, speaking by phone from Guatemala. Lynch is the new director of the office of emergency management and transition programs for the nongovernmental organization CHF International, which draws funding from government contracts as well as private donors.
In Guatemala, Lynch is assessing damage from Hurricane Stan before recommending reconstruction programs for the country. "Well, I'm still sending in assignments this week," said Lynch, who's juggling his course work in peace operations with this new job that regularly takes him to disaster zones.
The job and the studies are familiar to Lynch, who began a career in aid work and international development in the 1970s. After graduating from Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif., Lynch joined the Peace Corps as a marine biologist on the Caribbean island of Dominica. Shortly thereafter, Lynch went to the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, working on aid projects in Ecuador, Peru, Antigua, Barbados, El Salvador, and Guatemala.
Starting in the late 1980s, Lynch spent eight years working for the U.S. Agency for International Development in war-torn El Salvador; he worked on displaced-family aid programs during the conflict and focused on the reconstruction program that followed. Lynch has also lived in South Africa, where he worked on civil society programs to build up the country after apartheid.
Lynch, 53, said the main difficulty in his current work is getting Guatemalans to move from areas prone to disaster caused by hurricanes and flooding. "It's hard to get people to relocate any significant distance from where they grew up or lived before," said Lynch, a native of California. "They want to get back to their original homes." -M.K.
Copyright National Journal Group, Inc. Nov 19, 2005
When this story was posted in January 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in danger When the National Call to Service legislation was amended to include Peace Corps in December of 2002, this country had not yet invaded Iraq and was not in prolonged military engagement in the Middle East, as it is now. Read the story of how one volunteer spent three years in captivity from 1976 to 1980 as the hostage of a insurrection group in Colombia in Joanne Marie Roll's op-ed on why this legislation may put soldier/PCVs in the same kind of danger. Latest: Read the ongoing dialog on the subject. |
| PC establishes awards for top Volunteers Gaddi H. Vasquez has established the Kennedy Service Awards to honor the hard work and service of two current Peace Corps Volunteers, two returned Peace Corps Volunteers, and two Peace Corps staff members. The award to currently serving volunteers will be based on a demonstration of impact, sustainability, creativity, and catalytic effect. Submit your nominations by December 9. |
| Peace Corps at highest Census in 30 years Congratulations to the Peace Corps for the highest number of volunteers in 30 years with 7,810 volunteers serving in 71 posts across the globe. Of course, the President's proposal to double the Peace Corps to 15,000 volunteers made in his State of the Union Address in 2002 is now a long forgotten dream. With deficits in federal spending stretching far off into the future, any substantive increase in the number of volunteers will have to wait for new approaches to funding and for a new administration. Choose your candidate and start working for him or her now. |
| 'Celebration of Service' a major success The Peace Corps Fund's 'Celebration of Service' on September 29 in New York City was a major success raising approximately $100,000 for third goal activities. In the photo are Maureen Orth (Colombia); John Coyne (Ethiopia) Co-founder of the Peace Corps Fund; Caroline Kennedy; Barbara Anne Ferris (Morocco) Co-founder; Former Senator Harris Wofford, member of the Advisory Board. Read the story here. |
| PC apologizes for the "Kasama incident" The District Commissioner for the Kasama District in Zambia issued a statement banning Peace Corps activities for ‘grave’ social misconduct and unruly behavior for an incident that occurred on September 24 involving 13 PCVs. Peace Corps said that some of the information put out about the incident was "inflammatory and false." On October 12, Country Director Davy Morris met with community leaders and apologized for the incident. All PCVs involved have been reprimanded, three are returning home, and a ban in the district has since been lifted. |
| 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. |
| 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.
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
Story Source: National Journal
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Guatemala; COS - Dominica; Hurricane Relief
PCOL24346
73