NEWS and ACTIVITIES <back to top>

RPCV Gathering in Colorado

Join BARPCV's Expanding On-Line Community

Help pick the BARPCV 30th Slogan

What should be the slogan for the BARPCV 30th? "30 Years Strong - Continuing to Serve" or "30 Years Strong - Bringing the World Back Home" or ??? Send ideas to doaneperry@yahoo.com.

BARPCV Book Group

Please contact Mary Knasas if you are interested in joining this lively group: mary.knasas.bra@cityofboston.gov

RPCV Writers

Peace Corps 50th Anniversary

Peace Corps 50th Anniversary is nearly upon us.  

What would you, in your wildest, craziest dreams, like to see Peace Corps, BARPCV, or the NPCA do for the 50th?   

Sample Wild and Crazy Ideas: 

• Leaders of all PC countries (past and present) do something
• All RPCVs get a ticket back to their country

More do-able Wild and Crazy Ideas: 

• US president comes to Boston and does event at the JFK library
• Special USPS stamps
• Peace Corps Budget Triples
• Fabulous photo book of volunteer photos throughout the years
• US government does a spin-off project where US high school students are sent to certain Peace Corps sites for the summer to help the volunteer with projects - free for the student

So, now that you have a few examples, what would you add to this list?  

Send your thoughts and ideas to Kendra at Kendrainfo@yahoo.com
To read more about initial planning through NPCA, click here: http://www.rpcv.org/pages/sitepage.cfm?id=1765

PC Wiki

JOBS, APARTMENTS, PROGRAMS <back to top>

First Listing/Jobs 

First Listing/Apartments

First Listing/Programs

Worcester Area Tutors

Azerbaijan RPCVs

Looking for Comoros RPCVs

I am a scholar from Comoros (South East Africa) in training in Boston. I would like to get in touch with former Peace Corps volunteers who had
served in Comoros. My e-mail address is: aboudou@bu.edu. Please, if you know any, mostly in the education sector put me in touch with.
Best regards,
Aboudou

Fort Collins to host Peace Corps Celebration

Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and the city of Fort Collins are throwing a party/reunion to celebrate the Peace Corps and its volunteers’ contributions. The weekend includes talks with prominent RPCVs, the Colorado premier of the Symphony for 1,000 Drums, a juried photography show of Peace Corps volunteers, a procession of flags and country-by-country reunions. There will also be an event to honor three of the organization’s founders, Maury Albertson, Andrew Rice and Pauline Birky Kruetzer. Festivities begin Friday Aug. 22 and end Sunday Aug. 24 with a Concert for Peace. Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, or RPCVs, are encouraged to sign up early by logging on to http://beetstreet.org/Peace-Corps-Reunion or calling (970) 419-8240

Rotary Foundation Fellowships

The Rotary Foundation announces a call for applications for the 2009-11 Rotary World Peace Fellowships (RWPF) and January and June 2009 Rotary Peace and Conflict Studies (RPCS) Program sessions.  The deadline for completed applications to be submitted to The Rotary Foundation for these sessions is 1 July 2008. (THIS IS FLEXIBLE) Programs are open to anyone, regardless of citzenship or country of residence.

Program Synopses
The Rotary Centers for International Studies program offers fellowships for master’s degree study (approx. value of  US$63,000) fields related to peace and conflict resolution.  Beyond academics, Rotary World Peace Fellows also gain practical skills in conflict resolution appropriate to their individual careers.

Up to 60 Rotary World Peace Fellows each year enroll in the six Rotary Centers based at leading universities in five countries: International Christian University, Japan; Universidad del Salvador, Argentina; University of Bradford, United Kingdom; University of Queensland, Australia; University of California-Berkeley, Calif., U.S.A., and Duke University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N.C.

The Rotary Peace and Conflict Studies Program is a professional development program (approx. value of US$10,000) held in Bangkok, Thailand, through which up to 30 participants embark on three months of intensive study instructed by some of the leading specialists in the peace and conflict resolution fields.  The specialized curriculum has been crafted to capitalize on the experience of both participants and lecturers while balancing theoretical and practical learning.

Ideal for busy professionals, the customized program helps promising leaders expand their global outlook, strengthen their negotiation skills, and ultimately make a positive impact on future peace and conflict resolution efforts worldwide.

Promotional Materials
Please feel free to use this announcement to advertise Rotary’s peace programs and recruit applicants.  We appreciate your help and support as we train leaders to build peace.

For More Information
Please contact Laura Tell, Rotary Centers Program Assistant, at +1-847-866-3307 with any questions or for more information.  Program materials and participant profiles can be downloaded at the links above or www.rotary.org.

Second Listing/Jobs

Second Listing/Apartments

Second Listing/Programs

Congo region rape crisis group campaign

The Gender Working Group, an advocacy initiative based at the Heller 
School of Social Policy and Management,Brandeis University (Waltham, 
MA), is building a student campaign to raise awareness about the rape 
crisis in Congo and develop advocacy strategies for US/UN policy 
change towards Congo.

We are inviting returned Peace Corps volunteers 
from the Democratic Republic of Congo, or from neighboring countries 
with an interest in the Congo issue, to join our initiative. If you 
are in the Boston area, and can participate in outreach events, talks,
and strategize with us, please let us know.

On Thursday, 17th April, we had a strategy meeting to finalize 
some of our action plans and advocacy positions, at the Heller School 
of Social Policy, Rooom # 144. If you are in the area and would like 
to participate, please contact me at urudra@brandeis.edu

Please find directions to the school here:  http://heller.brandeis.edu/about/visiting.html

Thank you,
Urjasi Rudra
Coordinator, Gender Working Group

MA/Sustainable International Development
Heller School of Social Policy & Management, Brandeis University
Phone: 609-712-3361

"As a woman I have no country. As a woman my country is the whole
 world."
Virginia Woolf

Bring a new brand of travel to Boston – Join the Kindred Project Launch Committee

Please contact Jacque Caglia at jacquelyn.caglia@gmail.com if you are interested in speaking about your Peace Corps experience. We will also soon be looking for someone to serve as the volunteer coordinator of Speakers' Bureau, please contact Jacque if you are interested in learning more!

SPORTS OPPORTUNITIES <back to top>

Bike Rides

For organized bike rides, see http://www.hubonwheels.org

Softball

One may meet and greet other rpcv¢s at the weekly RPCV Softball games.  The schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, July 1, 2008 at Danehy Recreation Field, which is behind Alewife Plaza , Cambridge , MA

Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at Danehy Recreation Field

Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at Danehy Recreation Field

Monday, July 21, 2008 at Danehy Recreation Field

Monday, July 28, 2008 at Cambridge Commons, Harvard Square , Cambridge ,  MA

Tuesday, August 5, 2008 at Danehy Recreation Field

All games start at 6:00 pm .  Come on out and support your fellow RPCVs .

REGIONAL RPCV EVENTS  <back to top>

Massachusetts

Cape and The Islands

Metro West

Worcester Area

For more information, contact:
Marty Reed (Malaysia '71-'73)
508-865-3013;
774-696-7066 (cell)

Virginia Swain ( Liberia 64-66)
508-753-4172

Western Massachusetts

Email calendar@barpcv.org if you have updates!

Former Senior Peace Corps Volunteer Publishes Memoir, Two Years in Poland and Other Stories

In his newly-published memoir, Lawrence Brane Siddall describes his “late-life adventure” as a Peace Corps volunteer in Poland where he taught English in a high school from 1997 to 1999 following his retirement.  As a 67-year-old grandfather, he was one of only 450 senior Peace Corps volunteers out of 6,500 worldwide. The publication of his memoir is timely inasmuch as the Peace Corps is now actively recruiting older volunteers.

With an eye for detail, the author vividly describes the challenges he faces in his Polish classroom, his struggle to learn the language, his initial feelings of isolation in adjusting to a new culture, and the close friends he eventually makes. Siddall has since returned to Poland twice to renew friendships, participate in a reunion at his school, and attend two weddings.

          Siddall also weaves other stories into his narrative as brief flashbacks to earlier times. These include a glimpse into his own high school years and a vignette about the death of his mother in China in 1932.

In the longest flashback, the author tells of an amazing 11,000-mile overland trek from Europe to India in a VW Beetle in 1956 at a time of political Mid-East instability.  With the events of that time still reverberating today, Siddall’s keen observations are as relevant now as they were then.  His account of working his way back to the U.S. on a freighter is a colorful final chapter in his five-month-long odyssey.

           Born in China where his father was a medical missionary, Lawrence Siddall grew up in Oberlin, Ohio. He is a 1952 graduate of Oberlin College and holds advanced degrees from the University of Connecticut and the University of Massachusetts.  A retired psychotherapist, he lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.

For more information, to view photographs, or to purchase a copy of his memoir, please visit the author’s website,  www.lawrencesiddall.com.

New Hampshire

Email calendar@barpcv.org if you have updates!

Vermont

For Western Mass/Vermont RPCVs:

COMMUNITY SERVICE  <back to top>

Life. It is still calling you. Get out in your community and serve! There are so many different ways to engage in your community and BARPCV community service is reorganizing itself to make that even easier for you. 

We are looking to promote partnerships with community service opportunities in the communities where you live and would love to hear about any of the great local organizations that you work with or have worked with in the past. Please email service@barpcv.org with ideas. 

Volunteer with the International Institute of Boston

Mentor in the Boston Public Schools

People Making a Difference Through Community Service

PEACE AND JUSTICE ACTION AND EDUCATION   <back to top>

DARFUR

Next month, a year will have passed since the U.N. authorized a peacekeeping force to protect Darfuri citizens. This force was supposed to represent, at long last, a commitment to stop genocide.

Yet, almost 12 long and lethal months later, only a fraction of the force has deployed.

The road to peace is long, but we have made real progress together. Since January, with your support, we have:

• Worked with the U.S. House and Senate to secure approval of $800 million of desperately-needed funding for Darfur;
• Supported successful divestment initiatives in Arizona and South Carolina, the 24th and 25th U.S. states to divest for Darfur;
• Coordinated a historic joint statement by Senators Clinton, McCain, and Obama—the first time since World War II that all major presidential candidates have come together on a foreign policy issue.

You have helped us come a long way, but there are many challenges ahead.

Violence in the region has intensified. Rising food and fuel prices have slashed international food aid to Darfur. Banditry claims much of the aid that does make it through. Still, of the 17,000 additional peacekeepers promised in July 2007, only 2,100 have been deployed.

The people of Darfur need peacekeepers now, not just to protect them from the murderous janjaweed, but also to safeguard efforts to deliver much-needed humanitarian aid.

Best regards,

HARVARD CAMBRIDGE WALK FOR PEACE

The Harvard-Cambridge Walk for Peace is in Harvard Yard at the John Harvard statue every 

Wednesday at noon to bring attention to the tragic violence being done to the people of Iraq. 

Do come join us.
--Steve Bloomfield

OP-ED, OBITUARIES, LETTERS   <back to top>

OP-ED

LETTERS           

The Peace Corps Collection at the Kennedy Library

In 1986 at the twenty-fifty anniversary of the Peace Corps, I put together the first panel discussion on books written by Peace Corps writers. In the large tent on the Mall in Washington, D.C., those RPCVs who love great books and good writing gathered to discuss what RPCVs had written. It was at this meeting that novelist Suzy McKee Charnes (Nigeria 1961-62) asked if there was a library or museum collecting the writings of RPCVs. 

OBITUARIES

Hopefully not next month.

PARTNER NOTICES   <back to top>

Please send listings for partner notices to calendar@barpcv.org. Doane Perry and Jacque Caglia, editors.

PEACE

CAMBRIDGE PEACE COMMISSION       

MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF PEACE           

NATIONAL PEACE CORPS ASSOCIATION [NPCA]

NPCA GROUP LEADERS FORUM
Trina Janes
Group Leaders Forum Coordinator
President, Chicago Area Peace Corps Association
Morocco 1991-1993
trinajanes@hotmail.com

Dear NPCA Group Leaders,           

As co-chairs of the NPCA Governance Committee, Bob Findlay and I write to alert you that it's not too early to begin thinking about NPCA Board membership.  The elections in 2008 will be in June and July and there will be three seats for member-elected representatives to fill.  Terms expire for each of the NPCA representatives in the three regions:
*  Asia and the Pacific, currently filled by Frances Alford
*  Southern Tier, currently filled by Bruce Anderson
*  West, currently filled by Robert Findlay

Either because of By-Law specified term limits or personal limitations of time, neither of these three NPCA Board members will be running for re-election. 

In addition to these three positions, the position held by the Groups Leaders Forum Coordinator must be elected as well as some Board-elected members.  We hope you will help find strong nominees by considering the possibility yourself or by encouraging others to put their names forward.  Serving on the NPCA Board is both a commitment and an honor. 

If you would like more information about the Board, we invite you to visit the NPCA website:  www.rpcv.org and click on "Who" on the left side.  Please let either Bob Findlay or me know if you have suggestions about people or the election.

Pat Wand   patwand@mac.com Robert Findlay   rfindlay@iastate.edu
Co-Chair, NPCA Governance Committee Co-Chair,
NPCA Governance Committee

PEACE CORPS

ENCORE SERVICE CORPS INTERNATIONAL            

[Formerly Peace Corps Encore]           

Our new web address is www.encoreservicecorps.org.

CIVIL LIBERTIES <back to top>

American Civil Liberties Union           

The latest Civil Liberties Update is now available at http://www.aclum.org/update/index.html.
Anthony D. Romero; Executive Director, ACLU           
Nancy Murray Director of Education, ACLU of Massachusetts
211 Congress Street, Boston, MA 02110
(617) 482-3170 x 314 

ADVOCACY  <back to top>

COALITION FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP ABROAD           

http://www.colead.org.
Harry C. Blaney III
President; Coalition for American Leadership Abroad (COLEAD)
Phone: (202) 944-5519
Fax: (202) 338-6820
E-Mail: colead@afsa.org

COALITION FOR A STRONG UNITED NATIONS (CSUN)

http://www.strongun.org/

ENVIRONMENT MASSACHUSETTS

Frank Gorke Environment
Massachusetts Director
FrankGorke@environmentmassachusetts.org
http://www.environmentmassachusetts.org

MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP [MASSPIRG]           

Janet S. Domenitz
MASSPIRG Executive Director
JanetD@masspirg.org; http://www.MASSPIRG.org           

NATIONAL PEACE CORPS ASSOCIATION [NPCA]           

Jonathan Pearson (Micronesia 87 -89)
Advocacy Coordinator; National Peace Corps Association
1900 L Street NW,  Suite 404
Washington, DC 20036
202-293-7728, ext. 21
fax: 202-293-7554
advocacy@rpcv.org
http://www.rpcv.org/advocacy
Check out our blog, Peace Corps Polyglot
For more information on NPCA Advocacy, visit the Advocacy Network
webpage at http://www.rpcv.org/advocacy.

OXFAM AMERICA

Tim Fullerton
Oxfam America Advocacy Fund

"Tim Fullerton, Oxfam America" <action@oxfamamerica.org>

Oxfam responds to the global food crisis

After years of remaining relatively stable, global food prices are being driven through the roof by a convergence of circumstances—including climate change, rising energy costs, and increased demand for biofuels. This phenomenon particularly affects poor people in developing countries, many of whom already spend 50 to 80 percent of their income on food. It’s estimated that 840 million people around the world are chronically hungry, and the shock of high prices will only increase world hunger. Click here to see how Oxfam is responding to the crisis.

Darfur Questions: You Asked, We Answered

A few weeks ago, we asked you to tell us what you wanted to know about the crisis in Darfur. We received an overwhelming response. Hundreds of you asked probing, insightful questions about the current situation. Mike Delaney, Oxfam's director of humanitarian response, and Scott Stedjan, one of our senior policy advisers, have both recently returned from Darfur, and in these videos they make it easy to understand what’s going on there now. Click here to watch the videos.

This Mother's Day, Think Outside the Picture Frame

Tell someone special – and the world – that you care with an unexpected Mother’s Day gift from Oxfam America Unwrapped. Forget about scarves, picture frames, and generic drugstore cards. How about some fair trade honey, to show how sweet she is? Or a dozen baby chicks that support HIV/AIDS-affected households?

Check out these and other great gifts at www.oxfamamericaunwrapped.com.

Buy and sell on eBay, support Oxfam programs

Did you know that buying or selling on eBay can help support Oxfam projects? Oxfam is one of three charities partnering with the eBay Foundation for their Community Gives campaign, in conjunction with Paypal. Here's how it works: the eBay Foundation has given Oxfam a grant to support water projects in Ethiopia and Zambia, and they'll kick in more funds every time someone donates or makes a purchase as part of the Community Gives campaign. To learn more about this exciting project, click here.

Help Protect Community Rights in Ghana

We've recently learned that a US-based company, Golden Star Resources, is planning to expand the Prestea Mine in Southwest Ghana—a plan that threatens communities surrounding the mine. Golden Star Resources isn't listening. We need you to speak out! Tell Golden Star Resources to respect community rights in Ghana.

THE SAVE DARFUR COALITION

The Save Darfur Coalition is an alliance of over 180 faith-based, advocacy and human rights organizations whose mission is to raise public awareness about the ongoing genocide in Darfur and to mobilize a unified response to the atrocities that threaten the lives of more than two million people in the Darfur region. To learn more, please visit http://www.SaveDarfur.org.           

I started as President of the Save Darfur Coalition last week, and I have already witnessed your power to make a difference. You told China to help end genocide. And we're picking up steam!

Thanks in large part to your emails and phone calls, members of Congress, Nobel laureates, Olympic athletes, world leaders, and Steven Spielberg sent a strong message: China cannot look the other way while the people of Darfur suffer.

Let's keep the momentum going! This week, we released a joint statement with our partner organizations outlining four essential actions China should take, beyond private pressure on Sudan, to help end genocide in Darfur.

Will you join us? Click here to read the joint statement and to urge China to use its power to help end genocide.

The joint statement, released in partnership with ENOUGH Project, Genocide Intervention Network, STAND, and Dream for Darfur, highlights China's constant resistance to help end the violence, starvation and disease that plague the people of Darfur. But the world is watching as China prepares for the 2008 Olympics.

This week, President Hu received letters from Congress and world leaders, and hundreds of activists gathered in 16 cities around the world to urge China to act. With the increased pressure, director Steven Spielberg made worldwide headlines by quitting his post as an artistic advisor for the Olympic Games to make sure China knows its ties to the Sudanese government are unacceptable.

We must capitalize on this momentum and show China that its indifference is unacceptable. We will not let up until t