March 1, 2006: Headlines: COS - Togo: Directors - Vasquez: Diplomacy: Peace Corps: Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez travels to Togo
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March 1, 2006: Headlines: COS - Togo: Directors - Vasquez: Diplomacy: Peace Corps: Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez travels to Togo
Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez travels to Togo
"Peace Corps volunteers are the ambassadors for Togo when they return to the U.S.," said Prime Minister Kodjo. "President Kennedy planted a small seed in 1961 that turned into a large tree which continues to bear fruit."
Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez travels to Togo
Peace Corps Director Travels to West Africa
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 1, 2006 – Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez returned to the U.S. after a two-week trip to three West African countries, where he met volunteers and dignitaries in Benin, Togo, and Mali.
The next stop on Director Vasquez's schedule was Togo. During his stay, he met with Prime Minister Edem Kodjo, U. S. Ambassador David Dunn, and Peace Corps staff.
"Peace Corps volunteers are the ambassadors for Togo when they return to the U.S.," said Prime Minister Kodjo. "President Kennedy planted a small seed in 1961 that turned into a large tree which continues to bear fruit."
Director Vasquez also had the opportunity to travel throughout Togo, meeting with Peace Corps volunteers and learning about their current projects. While visiting Peace Corps volunteer Amber Kenny of Houghton, Mich., Director Vasquez was given a tour of her small animal raising project. Togo's population is quickly outgrowing its food supply, so volunteers have been working with farmers to increase production and output. Kenny and other volunteers are training local farmers in better animal husbandry techniques. So far the project has been a success, growing from 24 animals to the current population of over 300 since it began in 2002. While visiting the site, Director Vasquez also had the opportunity to plant a nitrogen fixing tree that will improve the soil for further growth of the land.
In a radio interview on his last day in Togo, Director Vasquez had an opportunity to share with the listening audience his observations of the Peace Corps program: "In collaboration with their communities, volunteers have made a major contribution in Togo that has been sustained for over four decades. This success is due in large part to the hospitality of the government and the individual communities where the volunteers work."
The Peace Corps entered Togo in 1962, and since then over 2,200 volunteers have served in the western African country. At the request of the Ministry of Education, Peace Corps Volunteers are working with two education projects that emphasize building communities' capacity to prepare young people by developing leadership skills and employment opportunities. Volunteers in both projects help interested young people and communities develop computer centers at the regional, district and village levels. Volunteers also strive to promote environmental preservation, HIV/AIDS prevention, and business development through the education of local adults and children. Currently, 96 volunteers serve in Togo. To learn more about Togo, please visit the Where Do Volunteers Go? section.
Director Gaddi H. Vasquez returns to the U.S. after trip to West Africa
Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez returned to the U.S. after a two-week trip to three West African countries, where he met volunteers and dignitaries in Benin, Togo, and Mali.
When this story was posted in March 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:




Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
 | March 1, 1961: Keeping Kennedy's Promise On March 1, 1961, President John F. Kennedy issues Executive Order #10924, establishing the Peace Corps as a new agency: "Life in the Peace Corps will not be easy. There will be no salary and allowances will be at a level sufficient only to maintain health and meet basic needs. Men and women will be expected to work and live alongside the nationals of the country in which they are stationed--doing the same work, eating the same food, talking the same language. But if the life will not be easy, it will be rich and satisfying. For every young American who participates in the Peace Corps--who works in a foreign land--will know that he or she is sharing in the great common task of bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace. " |
 | The Peace Corps Library The Peace Corps Library is now available online with over 40,000 index entries in 500 categories. Looking for a Returned Volunteer? Check our RPCV Directory. New: Sign up to receive PCOL Magazine, our free Monthly Magazine by email. Like to keep up with Peace Corps news as it happens? Sign up to recieve a daily summary of Peace Corps stories from around the world. |
 | Paid Vacations in the Third World? Retired diplomat Peter Rice has written a letter to the Wall Street Journal stating that Peace Corps "is really just a U.S. government program for paid vacations in the Third World." Director Vasquez has responded that "the small stipend volunteers receive during their two years of service is more than returned in the understanding fostered in communities throughout the world and here at home." What do RPCVs think? |
 | RPCV admits to abuse while in Peace Corps Timothy Ronald Obert has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a minor in Costa Rica while serving there as a Peace Corps volunteer. "The Peace Corps has a zero tolerance policy for misconduct that violates the law or standards of conduct established by the Peace Corps," said Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez. Could inadequate screening have been partly to blame? Mr. Obert's resume, which he had submitted to the Peace Corps in support of his application to become a Peace Corps Volunteer, showed that he had repeatedly sought and obtained positions working with underprivileged children. Read what RPCVs have to say about this case. |
 | 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. |
 | 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. |
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Story Source: Peace Corps
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Togo; Directors - Vasquez; Diplomacy
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