A message to all members of Connected Peace Corps

Hi members of the Peace Corps Connect Community!

There is only one week left to submit your ideas for the FIRST round of competition on Africa Rural Connect.

Have you contributed your best idea for rural Africa on http://www.AfricaRuralConnect.org? As we near the first round deadline, there’s no better time to join the community.

As you hopefully are aware, NPCA created ARC to bring all of us together to discuss our most creative plans for rural agriculture in Africa.  Regardless of where you served as a Peace Corps Volunteer, you have something to offer.  ARC is holding a competition and awarding small funds EACH MONTH until November, when we will award $20,000 to help implement the best idea.

Go for it!  Test out your thoughts and see if you can work together with others to make it better: http://www.AfricaRuralConnect.org

If you like an idea, endorse it to help it win a round!

I also extend the invitation to your friends, family, and colleagues—who you think may be interested in contributing their insight and experience. Share the website on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, or by simply sending an email to your friends.

Thank you for helping us build the Africa Rural Connect Community!

Warmly,
Molly

P.S. Here’s an article in the Christian Science Monitor about Africa Rural Connect: http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0807/p02s05-usfp.html

Visit Connected Peace Corps at: http://community.peacecorpsconnect.org

Memorandum

To:Friends of the Peace Corps
From:  Chuck Ludlam and Paula Hirschoff (RPCVs)
Re: Peace Corps Reform Plan
Date: July 2009

With President Obama’s nomination of Aaron Williams for Peace Corps Director—which we strongly support—and the probable Congressional approval of increased appropriations, the Peace Corps is poised to embark on a journey of renewal and reform. We have developed a detailed and comprehensive plan (attached) providing a roadmap for Peace Corps reform with twenty priority initiatives.

Overall, our recommendation is that the agency must listen to, respect, and empower the Volunteers, without whom the Peace Corps accomplishes nothing. We loved being Volunteers, and we still believe in the ideals that drew us to serve in the 1960s and called us to serve again when we retired. We strongly believe that the Peace Corps could be playing a more crucial role in fostering grassroots development and serving the needs of both the U.S. and the host countries in the 21^st Century.

We have been working over the past four years, beginning during our second tenure as Volunteers (2005-07), to document the need for change and to research the policy options. Our effort gained momentum in July 2007 when Senator Dodd invited us to testify in favor of reform on behalf of the Volunteers then serving. Since our testimony we have communicated with many Volunteers about current conditions in the field and their affidavits are presented in this plan. We have been circulating drafts of this plan within the Peace Corps community since last December and have incorporated innumerable edits and ideas that have been submitted to us. We have also secured voluminous documents from the Peace Corps via Freedom of Information Act requests, including the results of the 2008 Peace Corps survey of the Volunteers and data on the number of “qualified applicants.”

Our conclusion is that the first priority at the Peace Corps must be to implement fundamental reforms rather than to increase the number of Volunteers. Quality before quantity. Indeed, considering the pervasive mismanagement in the agency that we have documented, we fear that rapid expansion would jeopardize the performance and reputation of the Peace Corps. We support additional appropriations for the Peace Corps—above the level recommended by President Obama—with most of the increase to be utilized for reforms. For details on our recommended allocations, see Appendix D. The plan makes clear that we support Senator Dodd’s Peace Corps Improvement and Expansion Act (S. 1382). Amendments to strengthen it are included in Appendix E.

We know we have no monopoly on Peace Corps reform proposals. We hope that the dissemination of this plan will prompt a debate about how best to transform the Peace Corps for the 21^st century. As part of that process, we invite you to forward the plan to PCVs, RPCVs, Peace Corps staff, Members of Congress, and the media. We invite RPCV Friends’ groups to post it on their websites and forward it to their members.

We welcome comments on this plan and recommendations for reform, which we will compile and submit to the Congress and to the Peace Corps. Requests for anonymity will be honored.

Finally, we are looking to recruit an RPCV entrepreneur to establish a “RateMyPeaceCorps” website – a proposal discussed at length in our plan.

We take full responsibility for the contents of the report, for any errors or omissions, and for any excess of zeal or enthusiasm in our quest for reform.

Respectfully submitted,

Chuck Ludlam
Retired Counsel to Congressional committees/White House and lobbyist
RPCV: Nepal, 68-70, and Senegal, 05-07

Founder, Friends of Nepal
Advisor to Obama/Biden Peace Corps Transition Team

Member, National Peace Corps Association Board of Directors

Paula Hirschoff
Writer, editor, and teacher
RPCV: Kenya, 68-70, and Senegal, 05-07

Former Board Member, Friends of Kenya

The National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) is seeking a temporary Project Assistant to help in the development and implementation of our innovative new program, Africa Rural Connect (ARC).

The ARC Project is an online work collaboration website designed to encourage development work in Africa by drawing on the skills and talents of the African Diaspora, current and returned Peace Corps volunteers, as well as other individuals with development experience on the continent. The website will launch in June and aims to attract tens of thousands of users and their ideas, and will feature a business plan competition to spur creative and practical content generation.

The ARC Project Assistant will assist the ARC Project Manager with responsibilities associated with the website that may include research, communications, participation in strategic planning sessions, and other web-related tasks as assigned.

The ideal candidate will have significant computer skills including some experience working with databases, editing websites and troubleshooting technical problems. He or she should be creative, self-motivated, committed to the goals of the Project, and willing to work in a highly collaborative environment. In addition, the Project Assistant should have ties to the African continent, either as a Peace Corps volunteer or equivalent experience.

For more info, please go here - http://www.idealist.org/if/i/en/av/Job/336373-69/c

From February 23 to March 2, 2009, thousands among the 195,000 Peace Corps Volunteers who have served over the years in more than 139 countries will share their overseas experiences with schools and community groups throughout the United States.

Designated as Peace Corps Week, this weeklong celebration marks the 48th anniversary of the Peace Corps, founded on March 1, 1961, when President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order establishing it as a new government agency.

By giving presentations during Peace Corps Week, Peace Corps Volunteers help Americans better understand the people and cultures they’ve experienced, and the many benefits of service. Additionally, by making presentations in classrooms, Volunteers help create greater global awareness among students. For more of this article, click here.

For a complete list of Peace Corps Week activities across the United States, click here.

We’re Marching! RPCVs to Take Part in the Inaugural Parade

Now is your chance to be a part of history! The Returned Peace Corps Community has been selected from among groups around the country to march in the Presidential Inaugural Parade on January 20, 2009.

A total of 200 marchers will carry flags and banners from every Peace Corps country.

Members of the National Peace Corps Association are encouraged to put your name into a lottery to be selected at random to march in the Parade.

Click here for complete details.

From the NPCA:

The National Peace Corps Association is seeking photos of returned Peace Corps volunteers for possible use in in our print and online communication materials.

We’re looking for great photos that capture the diversity and essence of the Peace Corps experience….that show volunteers “in action” both overseas and in their “life after Peace Corps” as they continue to serve by carrying out the Third Goal.

Email photos to me at news@rpcv.org. Please put “NPCA Photo” in the subject line and provide your name, permission to use, and explanatory information about the photo (when and where taken, etc.). High resolution photos taken at closer range work best.

Please let others in your Peace Corps networks know.

From the NPCA:

Do you know of a returned Peace Corps volunteer who continues to make a sustained and distinguished contribution to humanitarian causes at home or abroad? Someone who typifies the best qualities of the Peace Corps community?

If so, nominate him or her for the Sargent Shriver Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Service. The award was named to recognize the tremendous contributions of the first Peace Corps Director, Sargent Shriver, in the founding and development of the Peace Corps.

We welcome your nomination materials by June 2, 2008 to qualify for consideration.

Past winners and the nomination form (.doc)