2006.03.09: March 9, 2006: Headlines: Awards, Special Events: Local Groups: 45th Anniversary: History: The Boston Area Returned Peace Corps Volunteers: Second Edition: Greater Boston celebrates the 45th Anniversary of the Peace Corps

Peace Corps Online: State: Massachusetts: February 8, 2005: Index: PCOL Exclusive: Massachusetts : 2006.03.09: March 9, 2006: Headlines: Awards, Special Events: Local Groups: 45th Anniversary: History: The Boston Area Returned Peace Corps Volunteers: Second Edition: Greater Boston celebrates the 45th Anniversary of the Peace Corps

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-186-164.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.186.164) on Thursday, March 16, 2006 - 12:17 pm: Edit Post

Second Edition: Greater Boston celebrates the 45th Anniversary of the Peace Corps

Second Edition: Greater Boston celebrates the 45th Anniversary of the Peace Corps

Nearly 400 guests attended the sold-out evening celebration which included a reception, a program saluting the Peace Corps at 45 and a world music dance party. The program saluted the service of returned Peace Corps, the pioneering of the Ghana and Tanganyika 1 volunteers, the promise of 37 new volunteers going to Uganda and the achievements of the recipients of six Kennedy Service Awards, which were made for the first time. Organizers: The Boston Area Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, Inc. and the New England Regional Peace Corps Office are organizing the event. The John F. Kennedy Library and Museum is a co-sponsor.

Second Edition: Greater Boston celebrates the 45th Anniversary of the Peace Corps

Boston Peace Corps 45th Anniversary Celebration

Greater Boston Celebrated the 45th Anniversary of the Peace Corps

Photo Credit: Robert Gaffney

March 9, 2006 - The greater Boston community celebrated the 45th anniversary of the signing of the Peace Corps Act (March 1, 1961) at the Peace Corps 45th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, March 4, 2006 at the John F Kennedy Library and Museum Boston, Massachusetts.

Nearly 200 guests attended afternoon forums on the Peace Corps Legacy of Service at Home and Abroad and on the Peace Corps in the 21st Century.

Nearly 400 guests attended the sold-out evening celebration which included a reception, a program saluting the Peace Corps at 45 and a world music dance party. The program saluted the service of returned Peace Corps, the pioneering of the Ghana and Tanganyika 1 volunteers, the promise of 37 new volunteers going to Uganda and the achievements of the recipients of six Kennedy Service Awards, which were made for the first time.

Afternoon forum 1 on Peace Corps’ Legacy of Service began with ‘Jimi Sir,’ Claude von Roesgen’s film about Peace Corps Volunteer serving in Nepal in the 1970’s. Design that Matters Co-founder Tim Prestero described his work on technology innovations to social programs in developing countries. Forum 1 concluded with the Boston Area Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Third Goal Awards where Natalie Woodward presented Awards to three exemplary Returned Peace Corps Volunteers.

Forum 1 was a look at a legacy of success – and of John F Kennedy – at home and abroad. Compared to forum 2 it was a look at the past. Moderator Doane Perry thinks Jimi Sir is the best serious film about being a Peace Corps Volunteer because it shows James Park’s sensitivity to the Nepali culture and people and the joys and problems in being a Peace Corps Volunteer. It was in the program to convey the success of Peace Corps in goals one and two. Tim Prestero showed how the battery powered, LED lit film strip projector Kinkajoo is used by adult education teachers in Mali. It was in the program as an inspiring example of Peace Corps Volunteers succeeding in the third goal of Peace Corps.

With the Third Goal Awards, BARPCV continued its tradition of making third goal awards. The process was organized by a committee lead by former BARPCV president Susan Kuder. Natalie Woodward, who was New England Region Peace Corps director and country director in the Dominican Republic, presented the awards to:

Warren & Joan Sawyer, nominated by Heidi Sawyer. Warren Sawyer was Deputy Director of Peace Corps India from 1969-1971, and then Country Director of Iran from 1971-1974. Upon his return to the US, he served on the International Board of Directors for Habitat for Humanity. While this effort was primarily to serve homeless families throughout the world, Warren made lasting contribution in enabling understanding on the part of fellow Americans of the needs for housing internationally, as well as increasing awareness of how US citizens can contribute in meeting those needs. Warren and Joan Sawyer are currently directors and founders of The Caleb Foundation a non-profit involved in affordable housing development and services.

Mike Devlin, nominated by Lori Tsuruda. Mike Devlin served as a Family Health and Nutrition Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines from 1982-1984. Among his many contributions as an RPCV, in 1987-88, Mike managed short courses for health professionals on primary health care, health care management, and health care financing for developing countries at the BU School of Public Health. He also is responsible for the founding and expansion of the "Community Connections" employee volunteer program for the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care - engaging 121 volunteers who have assisted more than 177 local charities. These include the generation of nearly $51,000 in disaster relief aid for victims of the 12/04 Tsunami and 9/05 hurricanes, as well as directing drives for food and personal care items for 275 needy kids and 52 formerly homeless elders in Massachusetts.

Timothy Prestero, nominated by Doane Perry. Timothy Prestero served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cote d'Ivoire, West Africa from 1995-1997. He was in the Urban Environmental Management Program where he worked as a consulting engineer and project manager for a city public works department. Tim is a co-founder of Design that Matters and the related ThinkCycle Initiative, and for the last three years he has been a lead instructor for the Design that Matters course at the MIT Media Lab. Design that Matters recognizes that the basic needs of 4 billion people in the world - in such areas as clean water, health care, renewable energy, and education - are not being met by the global market. Communities facing these challenges include developing countries, indigenous groups, the handicapped, and the elderly. Stakeholders and NGO'S can articulate these needs, but often lack the technical expertise and facilities to solve them. Local entrepreneurs with innovative solutions often lack the expertise to implement and commercialize them at a large scale.

Afternoon forum 2 on Peace Corps in the 21st Century was a panel conversation about diversity, careers, technology, and development, collaborating with NGOs, domestic service, and engagement of the American public.

The panelists included

· Christine Claypoole, RPCV Benin 1991-93, John Snow Incorporated, Deputy Director, International Division

· Tim Anderson, CEO, World Computer Exchange

· Ken Hill, RPCV Turkey mid 1960s, NPCA board chair, Country Director in Eastern Russia, Bulgaria and Macedonia, PC chief of staff

· Ifeoma C. Ezeh, RPCV Niger 1997-2000, MBA student, Boston University

· Anna Whitcomb Knight, RPCV Philippines 1973-74, Career Counselor

· Priscilla Goldfarb, RPCV Uganda 1965-66, Peace Corps Crisis Corps USA1

· David Magnani, RPCV Sierra Leone 1968-71, former Mass. Senator, NPCA board candidate

· John Coyne, RPCV Ethiopia 1962-64, Co-Founder Peace Corps Writers & Peace Corps Fund

Moderator Doane Perry wrote in the program note, “Peace Corps was and is a bold experiment as a socio-political program that gives Volunteers a great adventure and makes them feel at home in the world – to use a few book titles about Peace Corps, some edited by John Coyne on our panel. Over the 40 years since I went to Uganda as a volunteer, I have come to appreciate that Peace Corps has a brilliant design because of the way it works for the volunteer as an experience over time. First you help people in the country of service. Then they get to know you. When you come home, you tell people about the folks you helped and knew. Then there is the 4th goal effect, which is that the volunteer is transformed with a greater capacity to give and to serve and which might not happen until sometime after service.

But Peace Corps is a hybrid that compromises development and cultural exchange programs. The Volunteer profile does not reflect the diversity of America. It is not clear whether and when cell phones and laptops help or hinder the Volunteer. The re-entry to America crisis makes the career path complex for some. Advocacy by about 185,000 returned volunteers and staff have not succeeded in growing the Peace Corps appropriation beyond the low $300 million range [$337 million in the 2007 budget proposal]. [Former director Loret Miller Ruppe used to compare it to the Army marching band and an afternoon at the Pentagon.]”

The forum was a conversation with eight experts about solving these issues going forward. The Moderator’s questions included:

· What should Peace Corps do as a development program?

· What should Peace Corps do to leverage its programs by working with NGOs?

· What is the right mix of information technology for different Peace Corps programs and is Bill Gates correct in saying the cell phone is more powerful than the laptop in distributing technology in the developing world?

· What should Peace Corps do as a cultural exchange organization and at presenting the cultural face of America to the world?

· What impact does PC have on volunteers and their careers?

· How is the Peace Corps community doing at goal 3, engaging Americans in developing countries?

· What is Peace Corps doing domestically and what is USA1?

Guests concluded the forum with comments and questions to the panelists.

For dinner, organizers urged guests to take advantage of Dorchester and South Boston’s many restaurants by providing a list of restaurants, grouped by style, within roughly 5 miles of the JFK Library and Museum, Columbia Point, Boston, Massachusetts.

Nearly 400 guests attended the sold-out evening celebration which began with a reception featuring live music by Guy Mendilow, voted Best Local World Music Act, Phoenix Poll 2005.




The Formal Program at JFK Library

Peace Corps Online

The Formal Program included

· James Arena-DeRosa, New England Regional Peace Corps Director, Welcome

· John Shattuck, CEO John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, Welcome

· Doane Perry, BARPCV President, The RPCV movement

· Short film tribute to Ghana 1/Tanganyika 1

· "Passing the Torch" ceremony – Henry McKoy, Peace Corps Regional Director, Africa - The Ghana and Tanganyika pioneers gave kente cloth gifts to the 37 Uganda stagees

· Gaddi Vasquez, Director of the Peace Corps - The Peace Corps at 45

· Peace Corps 45th anniversary video – 1961-2006: A Legacy of Service at Home and Abroad

· John F. Kennedy Service Awards Program – Gaddi Vasquez. Joe Kennedy, who is currently a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic, made the Kennedy Service Awards which recognized two RPCVs [Roland Alexander Foulkes – Ghana 1982-84, Tony Gasbarro – Dominican Republic 1982-84, El Salvador 1996-98], two serving volunteers [Scott Overdyke – Panama 2004-, Barbara Schlieper – Ukraine 2003-], and two PC staff [William Bull – Madagascar Country director, RPCV Sierra Leone 1985-89, Munkhjin Tsogt – Program Assistant, Peace Corps Mongolia] for outstanding service/work in the field. Gaddi Vasquez created and developed the awards. Nominations were open to the Peace Corps community. A group that included outside judges/panelists selected the winners. The physical awards are based on Norman Rockwell’s Peace Corps paintings. [www.peacecorps.gov/45/award]

The celebration concluded with World Music played by Emerson College DJs.

Organizers: The Boston Area Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, Inc. and the New England Regional Peace Corps Office are organizing the event. The John F. Kennedy Library and Museum is a co-sponsor.

BARPCV is a non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization with employer identification number 04-9036514 and qualifies to receive matching charitable contributions. Gifts are fully tax-deductible to the extent of the law. Proceeds will enable BARPCV to support its small grants program and the Peace Corps Partnership Program.

Contacts: Doane Perry, president, Boston Area Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, at DoanePerry@yahoo.com or 617 240 9883. Joanna Shea O’Brien, Public Affairs Specialist, Peace Corps, 617-565-5541 (o), jshea@peacecorps.gov

The Boston Area Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (BARPCV) is a non-profit organization founded in 1978 with about 400 members concentrated in Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. BARPCV seeks to connect with and support returned and prospective volunteers and to carry out the third goal of the Peace Corps, as stated in the 1961 Peace Corps Act: "To promote a better understanding of other people on the part of American people."



When this story was posted in March 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:


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Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
Peace Corps suspends program in Bangladesh Date: March 16 2006 No: 827 Peace Corps suspends program in Bangladesh
Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez announced the suspension of the Peace Corps program in Bangladesh on March 15. The safety and security of volunteers is the number one priority of the Peace Corps. Therefore, all Peace Corps volunteers serving in Bangladesh have safely left the country. More than 280 Peace Corps volunteers have served in Bangladesh since the program opened in November 1998. Latest: What other newspapers say.

Top Stories and Breaking News PCOL Magazine Peace Corps Library RPCV Directory Sign Up

The Peace Corps Library Date: February 24 2006 No: 798 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.

Invitee re-assigned after inflammatory remarks Date: March 16 2006 No: 825 Invitee re-assigned after inflammatory remarks
The Peace Corps has pulled the invitation to Derek Volkart to join the Morocco Training Program and offered him a position in the Pacific instead after officials read an article in which he stated that his decision to join the Peace Corps was in "response to our current fascist government." RPCV Lew Nash says that "If Derek Volkart spoke his mind as freely in Morocco about the Moroccan monarchy it could cause major problems for himself and other Peace Corps volunteers." Latest: The Ashland Daily Tidings has issued a request for all Peace Corps communications on the case.

Re-envision Peace Corps Date: March 16 2006 No: 823 Re-envision Peace Corps
Nicholas J. Slabbert says in his article in the Harvard International Review that an imaginatively reinvented Peace Corps could powerfully promote US interests in a period when perceptions of American motives are increasingly relevant to global realignment. His study envisions a new role for the Peace Corps in five linked areas: (1) reinventing America's international profile via a new use of soft power; (2) moving from a war-defined, non-technological, reactive theory of peace to a theory of peace as a normal, proactive component of technologically advanced democracy; (3) reappraising Peace Corps as a national strategic asset whose value remains largely untapped; (4) Peace Corps as a model for the technological reinvention of government agencies for the 21st century; (5) redefining civil society as information technology society. Read the article and leave your comments.

March 1, 1961: Keeping Kennedy's Promise Date: February 27 2006 No: 800 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. "

Top Stories: February 2, 2006 Date: February 4 2006 No: 783 Top Stories: February 2, 2006
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W. Frank Fountain is new board chairman of Africare 27 Jan
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Christopher Hill Sees Ray of Hope in N.Korea Standoff 26 Jan
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Americans campaign for PC to return to Sierra Leone 20 Jan
Kinky Friedman supports Gay Marriage 20 Jan
Margaret Krome writes on Women leaders 18 Jan
James Walsh leads bipartisan US delegation to Ireland 17 Jan
Mark Schneider writes on Elections and Beyond in Haiti 16 Jan
Robert Blackwill on a "serious setback" in US-India relations 13 Jan
Kevin Quigley writes on PC and U.S. Image Abroad 13 Jan
Emily Metzloff rides bicycle 3,100 miles from Honduras 9 Jan
Charles Brennick starts operation InterConnection 9 Jan
Lee Fisher tells story of Pablo Morillo 7 Jan
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Paid Vacations in the Third World? Date: February 20 2006 No: 787 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 Date: February 3 2006 No: 780 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.

Military Option sparks concerns Date: January 3 2006 No: 773 Military Option sparks concerns
The U.S. military, struggling to fill its voluntary ranks, is allowing recruits to meet part of their reserve military obligations after active duty by serving in the Peace Corps. Read why there is opposition to the program among RPCVs. Director Vasquez says the agency has a long history of accepting qualified applicants who are in inactive military status. John Coyne says "Not only no, but hell no!" and RPCV Chris Matthews leads the debate on "Hardball." Avi Spiegel says Peace Corps is not the place for soldiers while Coleman McCarthy says to Welcome Soldiers to the Peace Corps. Read our poll results. Latest: Congress passed a bill on December 22 including language to remove Peace Corps from the National Call to Service (NCS) military recruitment program

Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in danger Date: October 22 2005 No: 738 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.

Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000  strong Date: April 2 2005 No: 543 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.






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Story Source: The Boston Area Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Awards, Special Events; Local Groups; 45th Anniversary; History

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By Doing the Right thing (ca07-ch01-bl11.va-ashburn0.sa.earthlink.net - 207.69.138.143) on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 3:38 am: Edit Post

This event is well intentioned and should be celebrated for all the above reasons.

What disappoints me is that many on hand have not participated or called for changes in Safety, Health and Security especially when their service went so well.

Awards were given to the Dayton Daily News too. These awards the Dayton Daily News were given were for exposing corruption on behalf of Peace Corps administrators on the numbers of volunteers who have fallen victim to violence in service during the early 1990's and into today. These situations were not a joke and should not be brushed off. Many former volunteers who have been wronged are making sure this dark light during Peace Corps forty five years becomes corrected. Most of all the families of the victims will be provide some relief and celebration for the memorial of their loved one who died in service.

Their have been 34 Volunteers who have died been killed, died or are missing in service since 1996.

Some of the mistakes Peace Corps made were not your's as former volunteers. You served proudly and like to promote your service. Many former volunteers do,even people who have gone through difficuties in service. We are proud of you too.

What we need is real change. We want Doane to understand the Walter Poirer issue is still open. There are many others from Massachusetts who have been wronged by Peace Corps administrators. This is happening throughout the country. People who represent National Peace Corps Association organizations will be challenged to speak for these issues.

There are going to be signifigant changes coming relating to how Peace Corps has handled these issues. You will want to be on the right side, the side of volunteers who served.

By Advocate (ca208-ch02-bl04.il-chicago0.sa.earthlink.net - 207.69.137.23) on Friday, March 31, 2006 - 4:33 am: Edit Post

Former volunteers such as the people in this meeting need to start speaking out for change within Peace Corps. A Change in Peace Corps policy toward not ignoring the families and loved ones and memories of the servicemembers who have died in service. They have not done enough. Number 2, no former volunteer should be discriminated from a job development, health care and federal jobs because of their service in Peace Corps and being a victim of violence. This has happened to thousands and we want ansewers.

Advocate

By anonymous (134.241.127.75) on Thursday, March 30, 2006 - 4:21 pm: Edit Post

I wish they would make the right changes too.

By Grace (218.88.122.247) on Thursday, June 29, 2006 - 5:59 am: Edit Post

If anyone knows Andrew D Wood (a Bostoner,a reterned Peace corps memember,once worked in China during2000-2004) Please send his e-mail to me.
I'll appreciate your help!!!  'cause I need him so much!!! Thanks!!!


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