Ohio RPCVs lobby Congress for bigger budget for Peace Corps



Ohio RPCVs lobby Congress for bigger budget for Peace Corps

Local volunteers lobby Congress for bigger budget for Peace Corps

2005-03-07

By Christopher Gohlke

Athens NEWS Campus Reporter

Local volunteers lobbied Congress last week for increased funding for the Peace Corps as part of a weeklong celebration commemorating the 44th anniversary of the organization.

The volunteers, who are members of the Athens-Area Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (AARPCV), hope for additional endowments to this year's record-breaking amount.

President George W. Bush allotted $345 million to the Peace Corps on Feb. 7 for fiscal year 2006, which was a $28 million increase from 2005. The organization's current budget of $317 million was previously the highest appropriation in its history.

As one of five such groups in Ohio, the AARPCV helps recruit new people to the Peace Corps, participates in the International Street Fair in Athens each spring, and conducts public-service projects.

Jennifer Cochran, assistant director of communications and graduate programming for the Center for International Studies at OU, said the AARPCV consists of graduate students, OU faculty and staff, and community members who have served in the Peace Corps. OU consistently produces a high number of Peace Corps volunteers each year, she said.

"There is a good ethic of community service and a strong international focus here, which translates well into Peace Corps service for our graduating students or recent graduates," she said.

Peace Corps Week was celebrated across the country last week. Thousands of former Peace Corps volunteers, representing service in more than 135 nations, shared their experiences with communities across the United States.

The AARPCV, along with other returned and future volunteers, brought Peace Corps Week to Athens, and planned numerous events to celebrate the organization's anniversary.

On Friday, several returned Peace Corps volunteers were scheduled to speak to students at Federal Hocking High School about their experiences in the Peace Corps. Among them was Karl Federspiel, OU's campus recruiter for the Peace Corps, who volunteered in a remote village in the Philippines from 1997 to 1999.

"I see the world differently now, and I am aware of other cultures and am more sensitive to their beliefs and values, even within the United States," Federspiel said in an interview last week. "I try to share this awareness with others, which is why trips to schools, like Federal Hocking, are such an important part of fulfilling the Peace Corps' goals."

Cochran added that speaking to students and community groups helps volunteers accomplish the third goal of the Peace Corps, which is to educate people in the United States about the developing nations in which the volunteers serve.

Currently, 23 former OU students are serving in the Peace Corps, and last year the university sent an all-time high of 45 volunteers to developing nations around the world.

"Ohio University and the Peace Corps have had a special relationship since the inception of the Peace Corps in 1961," said Federspiel. "The Peace Corps is one of the most recognized development organizations in the world, while Ohio University has a world-renowned International program and sends many students abroad at some point in their college careers."

He said this makes the Peace Corps and OU "a perfect match," and that more than 600 OU alumni have served as volunteers with the organization.

Cochran said Peace Corps volunteers are informal ambassadors of the United States and help break down stereotypes that people from abroad have about Americans.

"They help build bridges across cultures and nations," she said. "Volunteers share their lives with people in their host countries, so each OU student who serves in the Peace Corps helps to raise awareness of their alma mater in their countries of service."

Peace Corps volunteers commit 27 months to service in one of 72 countries. The first three months are dedicated to cultural, programming and language training in the country, and the following two years are spent doing volunteer service there.

When this story was posted in March 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 30,000 index entries in over 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related reference material in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can use the Main Index to find hundreds of stories about RPCVs who have your same interests, who served in your Country of Service, or who serve in your state.

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RPCVs in Congress ask colleagues to support PC RPCVs Sam Farr, Chris Shays, Thomas Petri, James Walsh, and Mike Honda have asked their colleagues in Congress to add their names to a letter they have written to the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee, asking for full funding of $345 M for the Peace Corps in 2006. As a follow-on to Peace Corps week, please read the letter and call your Representative in Congress and ask him or her to add their name to the letter.

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March 5, 2005: RPCV Groups in the News San Diego RPCVs host reception with Gaddi Vasquez on March 6 4 Mar Alaska RPCVs speak for dividend 4 Mar Western North Carolina's RPCVs sponsor Africa Night on March 6 3 Mar Maryland RPCVs lobby their Senators for Peace Corps 3 Mar Connecticut RPCVs hold fundraiser on March 5 3 Mar Charles Baquet speaks at Louisiana PC Breakfast on March 4 28 Feb RPCVs: Post your stories or press releases here for inclusion next week.

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March 5, 2005: This Week's Top Stories Senate FR Committee approves $345 M PC budget 4 Mar RPCV's "Kennedy's Kitchen" records second CD 4 Mar Sam Farr asks Army to reconsider burial policy 3 Mar Bayanihan jewelry designed by Philippines RPCV 2 Mar Todd Vetter receives calling during PC service 2 Mar Sargent Shriver still on Washington's A-list 2 Mar Photographer Bill Owens publishes new book 2 Mar Crisis Corps to open new program in Sri Lanka 28 Feb PC wants new stories for "The Great Adventure" 28 Feb Ukraine PCV asks "Is Bush right on Iraq?" 28 Feb Carol Bellamy defends "feminism" in aiding children 28 Feb John Bridgeland discusses role as Bush assistant 28 Feb Paul Theroux recalls high times with Hunter Thompson 28 Feb Elaine Chao Leads Delegation to Uruguay 28 Feb RPCV reunites with friend after 40 years 27 Feb Kay Muldoon-Ibrahim's photography on exhibit 27 Feb Jim Doyle displays political brilliance on tax cuts 26 Feb

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March 1: National Day of Action Tuesday, March 1, is the NPCA's National Day of Action. Please call your Senators and ask them to support the President's proposed $27 Million budget increase for the Peace Corps for FY2006 and ask them to oppose the elimination of Perkins loans that benefit Peace Corps volunteers from low-income backgrounds. Follow this link for step-by-step information on how to make your calls. Then take our poll and leave feedback on how the calls went.

Coates Redmon, Peace Corps Chronicler Coates Redmon, a staffer in Sargent Shriver's Peace Corps, died February 22 in Washington, DC. Her book "Come as You Are" is considered to be one of the finest (and most entertaining) recountings of the birth of the Peace Corps and how it was literally thrown together in a matter of weeks. If you want to know what it felt like to be young and idealistic in the 1960's, get an out-of-print copy. We honor her memory.

Make a call for the Peace Corps PCOL is a strong supporter of the NPCA's National Day of Action and encourages every RPCV to spend ten minutes on Tuesday, March 1 making a call to your Representatives and ask them to support President Bush's budget proposal of $345 Million to expand the Peace Corps. Take our Poll: Click here to take our poll. We'll send out a reminder and have more details early next week.

Peace Corps Calendar: Tempest in a Teapot? Bulgarian writer Ognyan Georgiev has written a story which has made the front page of the newspaper "Telegraf" criticizing the photo selection for his country in the 2005 "Peace Corps Calendar" published by RPCVs of Madison, Wisconsin. RPCV Betsy Sergeant Snow, who submitted the photograph for the calendar, has published her reply. Read the stories and leave your comments.

WWII participants became RPCVs Read about two RPCVs who participated in World War II in very different ways long before there was a Peace Corps. Retired Rear Adm. Francis J. Thomas (RPCV Fiji), a decorated hero of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, died Friday, Jan. 21, 2005 at 100. Mary Smeltzer (RPCV Botswana), 89, followed her Japanese students into WWII internment camps. We honor both RPCVs for their service.

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.

Read the stories and leave your comments.