2010.03.03: Colombia RPCVs David and Bernadette Miron write: Increased funding needed to strengthen Peace Corps
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2010.03.03: Colombia RPCVs David and Bernadette Miron write: Increased funding needed to strengthen Peace Corps
Colombia RPCVs David and Bernadette Miron write: Increased funding needed to strengthen Peace Corps
About 7,700 volunteers and trainees are in the field, a number at an all-time low, just when we need more "smart power" overseas. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, on July 15, 2008, said, "It has become clear that America's civilian institutions of diplomacy and development have been chronically undermanned and underfunded for far too long, relative to what we spend on the military, and, more important, relative to the responsibilities and challenges our nation has around the world." At a cost of $50,000 per volunteer vs. a cost of $1 million per soldier in Afghanistan, the Peace Corps is a bargain. We answered Kennedy's challenge in 1963. We went to Colombia, where we served two years. We worked side by side with Colombian educators to build an educational television network designed to improve math, science and language education for the first five years of primary school. The Peace Corps left Colombia in 1981. But in 2008, President Alvaro Uribe, at a "Thank You Peace Corps" event, asked Peace Corps to come back. There is no doubt in our minds that the Peace Corps has been a "gold standard" of volunteerism and service, paving the way for countless opportunities for service in the United States and abroad, recently through the National Service legislation of Orrin Hatch and Ted Kennedy. There is no doubt in the mind of Gates, who said at Kansas State University in November 2008 that it was one of the important "civilian instruments of national security." Now we hope to erase any doubt that anyone in Congress might have as they review the 2011 budget request for the Peace Corps.
Colombia RPCVs David and Bernadette Miron write: Increased funding needed to strengthen Peace Corps
Guest column: Increased funding needed to strengthen Peace Corps
* Story updated at 2:22 AM on Wednesday, Mar. 3, 2010
There are 110 returned Peace Corps volunteers on the First Coast who sang Happy Birthday Monday.
On March 1, 49 years ago, President John Kennedy signed into law the act that created the Peace Corps.
It was during a campaign stop, in October 1960, in Ann Arbor Mich., at 2 a.m., that he asked the thousands of students chanting his name: "How many of you are willing to spend several years of your life in Africa or Latin America or Asia working for the United States and for freedom?"
Within days, 800 signed up, ready to serve, and the legislation followed within five months.
Today, the members of the First Coast Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who have served in over 65 countries bring their experiences to their work as physicians, lawyers, nurses, servers to the homeless and abused women, foundation workers, government leaders, teachers and employees of businesses, large and small.
Current volunteers like Sipra Bihani, a graduate of Stanton College Preparatory School and University of Florida, continue in their footsteps. Bihani is serving, as a youth development volunteer, in Shymkent, Kazakhstan.
We hope others will have the same opportunity we all have had, but there is not enough money to answer the requests of 20 countries waiting to receive the Peace Corps.
About 7,700 volunteers and trainees are in the field, a number at an all-time low, just when we need more "smart power" overseas.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, on July 15, 2008, said, "It has become clear that America's civilian institutions of diplomacy and development have been chronically undermanned and underfunded for far too long, relative to what we spend on the military, and, more important, relative to the responsibilities and challenges our nation has around the world."
At a cost of $50,000 per volunteer vs. a cost of $1 million per soldier in Afghanistan, the Peace Corps is a bargain.
We answered Kennedy's challenge in 1963. We went to Colombia, where we served two years.
We worked side by side with Colombian educators to build an educational television network designed to improve math, science and language education for the first five years of primary school.
The Peace Corps left Colombia in 1981. But in 2008, President Alvaro Uribe, at a "Thank You Peace Corps" event, asked Peace Corps to come back.
There is no doubt in our minds that the Peace Corps has been a "gold standard" of volunteerism and service, paving the way for countless opportunities for service in the United States and abroad, recently through the National Service legislation of Orrin Hatch and Ted Kennedy.
There is no doubt in the mind of Gates, who said at Kansas State University in November 2008 that it was one of the important "civilian instruments of national security."
Now we hope to erase any doubt that anyone in Congress might have as they review the 2011 budget request for the Peace Corps.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: March, 2010; Peace Corps Colombia; Directory of Colombia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Colombia RPCVs; Speaking Out; Budget; Appropriations; Congress; Expansion
When this story was posted in May 2010, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Memo to Incoming Director Williams PCOL has asked five prominent RPCVs and Staff to write a memo on the most important issues facing the Peace Corps today. Issues raised include the independence of the Peace Corps, political appointments at the agency, revitalizing the five-year rule, lowering the ET rate, empowering volunteers, removing financial barriers to service, increasing the agency's budget, reducing costs, and making the Peace Corps bureaucracy more efficient and responsive. Latest: Greetings from Director Williams |
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Story Source: Jacksonville
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Colombia; Speaking Out; Budget; Appropriations; Congress; Expansion
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