Letters

Letters, emails, LinkedIn and Instagram comments, Facebook posts, tweets, and other comments. We’re happy to continue the conversation here and our social media platforms. One way to write us: worldview@peacecorpsconnect.org

Cover to Cover

I want to congratulate you and the whole NPCA team for producing an outstanding magazine. Yesterday I read through the two most recent issues cover to cover and found the content to be rich and very informative. You should be proud of the role that WorldView plays in supporting and connecting the Peace Corps community.

Tony Barclay
Kenya 1968–70, NPCA Board Chair 2011–15

I have been reading your magazine for a while. I thought your last magazine was just wonderful — as were many before that — and want to congratulate you.

Kathleen Harnig
Bulgaria 1998–2000, Liberia 2013–14

You should be proud of the role that WorldView plays in supporting and connecting the Peace Corps community.

Congratulations on your special books edition. I found the quiet time to read this issue (as I try to read most issues of WorldView) from cover to cover. Your page 11 article on Ukraine is powerful and personal. I will be sharing it with a Ukrainian friend who is a former choir director at UC Berkeley and organized two concerts of Ukrainian religious and folk music to raise funds for the country of her origins. One was hosted here at our parish; the other at the concert hall on campus. 

I also need to thank you for the Book Locker and your extraordinary overviews of the books you reviewed. I joined Peace Corps (India 30, 1966–68) at the height of the idealism and call to service that brought PC into existence and led to its times of great success and accomplishment. But as transformative as the experience was for me, and as consequential as I think it was for some of the people with whom we worked, I have to see it as a small contribution to the larger movement of a nation and its people.  

I was part of a series of Peace Corps groups that were sent to Andhra Pradesh in south India to help high school science teachers teach using an investigative approach in place of the old British “learn by rote” Cambridge exam approach. Since commercial laboratory equipment was expensive and therefore unavailable to small village level schools, we taught ways of improvising laboratory apparatus using materials available in any village setting.

The impact of this effort is impossible to measure concretely, but in the years following our service, Andhra went from scoring very low on the Indian National Science test to being among the highest in India, I’ve been told. Whatever the contribution of Peace Corps, it was the Indians who took the resources that were made available to them and turned them into something transformative. 

The cover line of the most recent edition of WorldView, “The Stories We Tell,” fits well with my own embrace of my PC experience. We went to India and did what we were invited to do, and things changed. We may have been only a small part of the cause, but change definitely happened in a remarkably good way, and so we rejoice with and for the people we served.

Steve Bossi
India 1966–68

Great job on the latest PC mag. Especially liked all the books.   

Peter von Mertens
Nepal VIII (1966–68)

The Book Locker and the Third Goal

During the first few years of the Peace Corps, Volunteers were given book lockers. Mine included a copy of War and Peace, which I still have — and still have not read. Among books in the lockers were Animal Farm, Learning English, the James Beard Cookbook, Benjamin Spock’s Baby and Child Care, and The Wonderful World of Peanuts by Charles Schultz. So it is fitting that at the Ohio State University we celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Peace Corps this spring in the Jean and Charles Schultz Lecture Hall.

In the early 1960s, a group of Peace Corps parents in Columbus established the Columbus Peace Corps Service Council — either the first or second one in the U.S. In part, their purpose was to help fulfill the third goal of the Peace Corps: To help promote a better understanding among Americans of other peoples of the world. To do this, they set about informing the community about Peace Corps through news stories, booths at fairs, festivals and conferences, TV interviews, and exhibits at the OSU library, among many other activities.

But I’ve always thought another reason for those first parent-organized service councils was to try to understand where their children had gone and what exactly they were doing there. As a result of those first service councils, similar groups were formed in every state. Today there are four affiliate groups of the National Peace Corps Association in Ohio.

For the public, for those considering joining the Peace Corps, and even for returned Volunteers, the Third Goal has always been a bit of an afterthought. It’s more fun to talk about what we did instead of what we need to do now to strengthen, promote, and expand the Peace Corps. Whether you have just been accepted, if you’ve recently returned, or if you’ve been home a few years: It is your voice that will keep Peace Corps alive and keep Volunteers in the field.

Wallis Harsch
Panama 1966–68

The Peace Corps and Rotary International

In the special 60th anniversary edition of WorldView, Shaylyn Romney Garrett, co-author with Robert Putnam of The Upswing: How American Came together a Century Ago and How We can Do It Again, posits a policy prescription for the administration “that would help us move to an ‘upswing’ (a return to the ‘we’ of service to others, vs. the ‘I’ of self-service that has prevailed since the 1960s). National Service is my absolute go-to answer.” As a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer and Rotarian for 27 years, I can attest that we already have vibrant national and international service organizations.

There have been many calls for a national service; AmeriCorps, the domestic equivalent of the Peace Corps, has been a partial answer. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a former commander of international forces in Afghanistan and head of the “Serve America. Together.” campaign, called on the president to invest in universal national service for 1 million young Americans annually as “the most important strategy we can implement to ensure the strength and security of our nation.” But the foremost national and international service organization is Rotary International, dedicated to the motto “Service Above Self.”

As of 2006, Rotary had more than 1.4 million members in over 36,000 clubs among 200 countries and geographical areas. I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Turkey and have been able to continue my community development work as a Rotarian; I have been involved in countless local community projects and international projects, such as in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo assisting in its recovery from the various civil wars it suffered. More important, I am a founding board member of Partnering For Peace, an NPCA affiliate that has joined with the Peace Corps to support Peace Corps projects worldwide. That is a natural partnership of like minds and hearts, committed to both national and international service. It is time to acknowledge Rotary International’s role in both foreign and domestic public service for its growth and vitality. It is a testament to how well Rotarians and the Peace Corps Community are already working together. I already see this “upswing” happening for millions worldwide, as well as in the U.S.

Harlan Green
Turkey 1964–66

CORRECTION: Our Words

In the print edition, the review of On Corruption in America by Sarah Chayes (p. 22) included a brief excerpt in italics with one extra line in italics at the end: “There is no comforting answer to that.” Those were our words, not hers. Sorry about that.

WRITE US: worldview@peacecorpsconnect.org

Letters, emails, LinkedIn and Instagram comments, Facebook posts, tweets, and other missives. We’re happy to continue the conversation here and on all those nifty social media platforms. One way to write us: worldview@peacecorpsconnect.org

Thanks to NPCA as We Return to Service

As we prepare to return to Zambia in May 2022, we want to say thank you to each of you (and all of the NPCA staff/interns) for your continued support of us — first, as many of you are RPCVs yourself, and then advocates for Peace Corps even before our service, and throughout our first service, and then as evacuees, and through COVID, and then other important issues of the day these past two years, all really showing that this organization makes an effort to care about and hear the voices of (R)PCVs and country counterparts. We are going back to Zambia appreciative of all the people like you who’ve got our backs while we’re there — and for RPCVs everywhere. Thank you.

Adam Greenberg and Lianne Bronzo

Zambia 2018–20, returning to Zambia in May 2022

The Peace Corps at Sixty

Magnificent! Fabulous! Great! Superb! I hope to use the 60th anniversary edition of WorldView whenever I have a chance to let people know of our current situation as well as our historic and triumphant past.

Patt Behler

Peru 1962–64

Congratulations on a spectacular special 60th anniversary edition. Your coverage of the 2021 Peace Corps Connect Conference captured the core of key sessions. The article about the “I-We-I” trend tracked by Shaylyn Romney Garrett knocked my socks off. It was consoling to see our current social and political situation in an historical context. I’m still pondering — and talking about — her plausible explanation for what we experience now in the midst of deeply entrenched racism, impotent partisan politics, and staggering numbers of impoverished people. Can we push this insightful article out to a wider audience? Every service organization committed to social and economic justice would find its long view encouraging. The data is there, visible for all to see. I hope we don’t have to wait another half century to pull ourselves out of the trench.

Pat Wand

Colombia 1963–65

President, Museum of the Peace Corps Experience

We Can Do It! Again!

The special anniversary edition was a powerful invitation to discuss, debate, and create a better Peace Corps by those who know it best. I disagree, however, with Shaylyn Romney Garrett’s recommendation that our government sponsor millions of national service jobs which somehow would lessen economic inequality, cultural narcissism, and social fragmentation by creating a spirit of solidarity. There is no research suggesting national service would accomplish such goals. Our government does not have the authority to create programs to change citizens’ values and political orientations. Garrett is absolutely right, however, when she says there is much work to be done. Let us continue.

Joanne Roll

Colombia 1963–65

Highly pronounced trends in urban areas around the country — a commitment to green architecture, expand renewable energy, green public and private transportation, recover recyclable materials from the waste stream, expand parks and open space, democratize food security, make public education and healthcare more comprehensive, improve urban air quality, and more wisely manage water resources — demonstrate that the social justice and environmental movements have morphed into something institutionalized on a once-unimagined scale. Urban governments now have a “sustainability agenda.” That took collective action. Protests after the George Floyd case have been an immense show of citizen concern about systemic racism. The crisis of climate change will compel more collective action, as it already has. There remains within our citizenry a deep longing for community, fellowship, and common cause. Our challenge is not to be deceived by demagogues who wish to seize on what divides us to fuel their warped political ambitions. We need steady purpose and earnest, honest leadership now more than ever. I agree we can do it again. And I believe we will.

Jim Quigley 

Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia 1977–80

It seems that an obvious cause of social pathology is the breakdown of the family unit. There is no mention of this phenomenon in analysis of the “I-We-I” cycle in American cultural history. The sexual revolution, which took off in the 1960s, certainly highlighted personal gratification. It also deteriorated family unity. Yet sociologists of the Left seem unwilling to consider this perspective. For the sake of a more just and peaceful society, it is necessary to understand and act upon the abuses which the revolution engendered.

Carmen Mele, O.P.

Malaysia 1969–72

Fix Public Service Loan Forgiveness 

I did Peace Corps in the ’90s. My loan was put into forbearance not only for the two years I was serving, but also the year after I returned when I was very sick. Interest accrued for three years. It didn’t matter how I filled out the forms, what I reported to them. Nothing. Proud to say I paid it off anyway, but really a punch in the back to those of us who served.

Mary Kay Diakite

Mali 1996–98

The [Public Service Loan Forgiveness] program was very misleading. Almost none of my fellow Volunteers were able to benefit. Neither was I.

Lauren L. Breland

Thailand 2014–17, via LinkedIn

Peace Corps Progenitors 

Thank you for highlighting Operation Crossroads Africa. As an alum of both, I can attest to the fact that they are wonderfully aligned and are both powerful programs, both for volunteers and those with whom they collaborate. I often think that OCA does not get the recognition it deserves, specifically in regard to its being an inspiration for the Peace Corps — so I’m appreciative of WorldView for taking the time to do so!

Lori Halvorson

OCA Senegal, Summer 2006

RPCV Burkina Faso 2007–09

Safety and Security

The discussion on “Peace Corps Safety and Security” revealed that the Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act gave rise to the Office of Victim Advocacy (OVA) — but, oddly enough, within the Peace Corps itself. Such a delegation with potentially opposing transparency objectives is somewhat akin to relegating the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates aviation accidents, to a division within one of the most accident-prone air carriers. OVA should more appropriately be matrixed onto the Office of Inspector General (OIG), which has congressionally mandated independence, whistleblower protections, plus the authority to access all of the Peace Corps systems of records. The current alignment could hardly be termed best practice. Congressional records have shown that the Peace Corps and OIG have had in the past a very public and bitter spat over the independence of IGs, including their access to agency systems of records besides the detection of waste, fraud, and abuse. 

Henry Mulzac

Belize 1975–77
NYPD Detective 1981–2002
Peace Corps OIG 2002–07

CORRECTION: Gabon

In edited remarks from Hermence Matsotsa-Cross in our fall 2021 edition (p. 37 in the print edition), we misstated where her mother was from. We should have said: “My father was a Volunteer in Gabon in the early ’70s, where he met my mother, a Gabonese woman from one village he worked in.” We’re sorry for the error. 
 

WRITE US: worldview@peacecorpsconnect.org

Peace Corps Response at 25. Sarge leads the first Volunteers. Budget advocacy. Remembering 9/11 two decades later. JFK at the Cow Palace in ’60. 

Letters, emails, LinkedIn and Instagram comments, Facebook posts, tweets, and other missives: Readers respond to the stories in words and images in the Summer 2021 edition of WorldView, special digital features, and the conversation on social media.

We’re happy to hear from you there and here: worldview@peacecorpsconnect.org

An anniversary. A pandemic. Peace Corps Response.

Great magazine — I always read it cover to cover. Congratulations!

Nancy Hatch

Nepal 1966–69

Big Picture: Sarge Leads

Photo courtesy John F. Kennedy Library and Museum

As a returned Volunteer who served in Iran, I can’t express how deeply Sargent Shriver’s work continues to affect my life, starting with a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer teacher from the first days of Peace Corps in junior high school to numerous friendships with a Peace Corps connection that continue to this day. This sort of service opportunity is the best of what our country has to offer our citizens and the world.

N. Bruce Nelson

Iran 1972–74

In Mashraqi High School in Kandahar, Afghanistan, three Peace Corps teachers taught us English in 1971. I still know one Peace Corps member. My thanks to them.

Shahwali Popal

via Facebook 

Budget Advocacy

The House of Representatives has voted to back $430.5 million in funding. They still need to bring the Senate around to backing more than flat funding for the seventh year in a row. — Ed.

Wonderful news. A lot of credit for this passage should go to the dedicated returned Volunteers who spent endless hours advocating on the Hill. After this unfortunate pause in service due to the pandemic, it is the perfect time to have adequate funding to resume Peace Corps service in countries requesting it.

Judy B. Smith

Niger 2010–11, Armenia 2011–13

I contacted Senator Feinstein’s office and Congressman Jared Huffman in regard to enhanced Peace Corps funding. We need Peace Corps more than ever now. Please don’t let JFK’s legacy fade with time. Keep up your good work. Your friend in peace.

Gary Whittaker

El Salvador 1976–80

I hope the Senate, too, approves this increased budget for the Peace Corps — and the Peace Corps finds meaningful ways to provide effective service in this COVID-impacted new world.

Kul Chandra Gautam

Former Deputy Director of UNICEF; recipient of 2018 Harris Wofford Global Citizen Award

Remembering 9/11

I was a month into training in Mali when it happened. The event altered our training but we continued through, and it brought everyone closer together, including our host country nationals.

Dean Hamerly

Mali 2001–03

Peace Corps Connect 2021

The 60th anniversary conference took place September 23–25.

I found the conference so easy to navigate, and the content throughout was excellent! Kudos for a worthwhile and memorable 60th anniversary event.

Peter Deekle

Iran 1968–70

Thanks to everyone who worked to make this happen. The Asian American Pacific Islander discussion was outstanding. Thanks to the guest speakers for sharing some of their personal journeys and experiences.

Christine Sheckler

Liberia 1982–84; President, San Diego World Affairs Council

Peace Corps service in Burkina Faso changed my life in many great ways. Met my wife! Professional direction toward medicine and public health! My time there taught me so much.

Jonathan Schultz, M.D., MPH

Burkina Faso 2006–09

Having served in Guatemala, and my wife in Thailand, we are proud to be among the 240,000 who have experienced “the toughest job you’ll ever love.” It was my professor of international business at University of Washington — who had been a Volunteer in Chile — who planted the seed. Though I served during politically turbulent times in Guatemala, it was the experience of my lifetime. Plus I met my wife the year I was leading the returned Volunteer group in Seattle.

J. David Snow

Guatemala 1979–81

JFK at the Cow Palace

On November 2, we marked the anniversary of JFK’s 1960 campaign speech at San Francisco’s Cow Palace, where he used the term “Peace Corps” for the fist time and declared, “I am convinced that the pool of people in this country of ours anxious to respond to the public service is greater than it has ever been in our history.”

Photo courtesy OpenSFHistory.org
 

Love how he lights up the foreign service language skills (or lack thereof) in his full speech. Definitely resulted in our robust pre-service language training.

Joan Barker

Niger 2005–07

A life-changing experience for myself and hopefully for the lives I touched during my service in Malaysia. Hope to be of further service to the Peace Corps once I retire.

Patrick Harris

Malaysia 1981–83

The Peace Corps, together with the Fulbright program and USAID, are great initiatives and success stories.

Sami Jamil Jadallah

via LinkedIn

These letters appear in the 60th-anniversary edition of WorldView magazine. 

WRITE US: worldview@peacecorpsconnect.org

Letters, emails, LinkedIn and Instagram comments, Facebook posts, tweets, and other missives: Readers respond to the stories in words and images in the Spring 2021 edition of WorldView. We’re happy to continue the conversation here and on all those nifty social media platforms. One way to write us: worldview@peacecorpsconnect.org

Sixty Years of Peace Corps

Thanks for another great issue! Glad you included “If I had three minutes to talk to President Biden about the Peace Corps…,” which we heard in March, and then lots of other good stories such as “Once More, with Feeling” in Moldova and “Triage, Respite, and Isolation” at the Lord Baltimore Hotel. Glad, too, to be able to read on paper! Hoping for some in-person meetings in D.C. in September.

Peace,

Angene Wilson

Liberia 1962–64

While we’re not able to gather for Peace Corps Connect in person in September, some affiliate groups representing individual countries of service are holding their own reunions. And a wreath-laying ceremony will take place in person at the John F. Kennedy Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. More info, including a schedule for the conference and registration: bit.ly/peace-corps-connect-2021 —Ed.

Legislation for a Changed World

Much thanks to NPCA for drawing our attention to the current effort to reauthorize the Peace Corps Act (H.R. 1456). This important legislation has been introduced by John Garamendi (D-CA; Ethiopia 1966–68) and co-sponsored by Garret Graves (R-LA). It has been decades since the Peace Corps’ organic legislation was last comprehensively reviewed and updated in 1999. The world has changed a lot since then, and the Peace Corps Act needs to be updated to keep up with those changes.

Between the two of us (father and daughter) we have extensive Peace Corps experience, including two tours as Volunteers, five years of work in Peace Corps Recruitment, Peace Corps Employee Union work, and currently one of us is a Peace Corps Response candidate. Our work with the Peace Corps has given us insight into the deficiencies of the current law governing the Peace Corps. We desperately need an airing of any systemic problems so that reasonable solutions can be implemented. This effort will make the program more efficient and effective in the 21st century.

So … consider the baton passed! NPCA has alerted the Peace Corps community to the reauthorization effort. It is now incumbent upon us to contact our congressional representatives and encourage its passage. If you are reading this letter, stop now and go do it! What are you waiting for?

Aaron King

Ghana 1981–83

Natasha King

Morocco 2017–19

Vaccine Distribution

I served in Ghana in the mid-’70s and have followed President Biden in his COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan. He was asked if he would consider sending the vaccine overseas once we got the virus under control and we accumulated a surplus. The president’s response was quick in the affirmative, since we are aware that it is a global pandemic. I would like to suggest that the priority list for countries receiving our surplus should be countries that currently host Peace Corps Volunteers. It would be beneficial to both the host countries and the Volunteers.

As a side note, my daughter was also a Volunteer. She served in Botswana 2008–10.

Leebrick Nakama

Ghana 1976–78

“If I had three minutes to talk to President Biden about the Peace Corps…”

I’d say: 1) We know you support Peace Corps; thank you. 2) Please double the budget. 3) Lead retooling, re-entry, and re-engagement into host nations with public health efforts at the forefront.

Nate Engle

Madagascar 2004–06

via LinkedIn

What is the cost of public benefit/value and global net welfare gain via supranational peace in the long run? That’s just one reason I’m proud not only to have served in the Peace Corps, but to be an American. Many nations make allies to go to war. The U.S. decidedly makes allies to not go to war, while also promoting friendship across borders.

Jesse Fowler

Mexico 2020

via LinkedIn

If I had three minutes I would tell the president to definitely not expand the Peace Corps. Typical of government and organizations: If it’s working, let’s just expand it until it’s dysfunctional. Rather, put more young and old people to work in this country and keep the international portion selective and efficient.

Jerry Wager

Guyana 1967–69

Peace Corps Connect to the Future

I read through your whole Winter 2021 publication and do want to tell you how much I appreciated it. I don’t necessarily feel comfortable with all of your  proposals for the future of Peace Corps; there is definitely a generation gap. 

I am now 95 years old (and was obviously an “older” Volunteer), yet I still feel very much in tune with the concept and the actual organization. I served in the Dominican Republic 1987–89 in rural development, and before the electronic age. Yet, as I read the stories of the various recent Volunteers, their experiences don’t seem so different from mine.

Thank you for keeping us returned Volunteers informed.

Rose-Marie Ullman

Dominican Republic 1987–89

Thank you for amplifying the discussion of diversity in the Peace Corps community. That spurred our minimally-diverse TCP Global team to look beyond the ranks of RPCVs. Not too surprising, adding two Kenyan Americans and one representative each from Uganda, Nigeria, Niger, and Nepal helps all of us to better address the different challenges and opportunities in different regions. Their presence on the team serves as a welcome sign for site administrators to offer their own suggestions for improving service, much as Colombia Project administrators helped to perfect our model over the first seven years in Colombia. We are still a work in progress and are fortunate to have natives of five countries we serve helping us chart the course ahead.  

Helene Dudley

Co-Executive Director, TCP Global

Colombia 1968–70, Slovak Republic 1997–99 

Corrections: Politics, and that would be March 2021

Our Spring 2021 roundup of returned Volunteers serving in state government (page 47 in print) should have included one who recently made the move from the hospital to the capitol in Wisconsin: Sara Rodriguez was elected to the state legislature in 2020. She served with the Peace Corps in Samoa 1997–99, as a health education Volunteer focused on HIV/AIDS and reproductive health. She has worked as a nurse, in epidemiology with the CDC, and as a healthcare executive. 

In print, “What Lies Ahead for the Peace Corps” (page 15) contained a slip of the year in the intro: Carol Spahn’s remarks were given at the Shriver Leadership Summit in March 2021, not 2020. 

WRITE US: worldview@peacecorpsconnect.org

Letters, emails, LinkedIn and Instagram comments, Facebook posts, tweets, and other missives: Readers respond to the stories in words and images in the winter 2021 edition of WorldView. We’re happy to continue the conversation here and on all those nifty social media platforms. One way to write us: worldview@peacecorpsconnect.org

Retool, then reengage

The pandemic offers a unique opportunity for Peace Corps to critically evaluate programs. It’s tempting to just send back returned Volunteers to previous assignments—and probably easiest from utilizing appropriated funding. But I hope there will be a pause, and a rethinking about how best to use the skills and idealism of some of America’s best.

Jerry Wager

Guyana 1967–69

WorldView is spectacular! I just received the winter issue. Wow! I get a lot of magazines, but WorldView is just head and shoulders above all of them.

Dennis Lucey

Country Director, Liberia 1976–77

Important connections — the NPCA email newsletter, WorldView. Connections make a difference! My Peace Corps experience 55 years ago has strengthened in my perspectives and actions over the years. Always learning, always valuable.

Judy Lippman

Morocco 1966–68

After perusing the latest WorldView, I was wondering if you had considered a letter to the editor campaign in which returned PCVs would highlight Peace Corps’ 60th anniversary and explain the current status of the program and plans to return Volunteers to the field.

In addition, have you considered contacting current and past presidents and their spouses, inviting them to become patrons of the Peace Corps and advocates of its work, while requesting their support with Congress and the public at large? Many thanks for your great efforts in keeping alive and well the ideals of the Peace Corps that inspired me and so many others to serve.

Fred Kalhammer

Dominican Republic (1962–64)

“Ask not…” Annotating JFK’s Inaugural address

I watched and heard the words while working as a nurse aide in January ’62. In April I sent an inquiry, sent in the application, trained that summer, and was in country by fall. Still the best thing I ever did. Would do it again, but I’m 77! 

Edith O’Neil-Page

Ecuador 1962

I am dumbfounded why you did not include this paragraph from the inaugural in your article:

To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required — not because the communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

Within an inaugural address that people would parse as if it were the Gettysburg address, it would be difficult not to read Kennedy’s pledge as a statement to the world of why he would be creating a “Peace Corps” … which he did by executive order about 45 days later. Within the confines of two sentences, Kennedy spoke directly to what many then called the “Third World” and set out the principles of the pledge he was making and what would govern a Peace Corps: We would come not as “helpers” but as equals, “to help them help themselves,” not limited by an arbitrary time requirement, but “for whatever period is required”… and most important we come not out of some self-interest but out of the moral responsibility that comes from being a citizen of the world … because it is right.

Gordon Radley

Malawi 1968–70; Training program director, Western Samoa 1979

Excellent point and taken. Check out the full address here, along with more annotations by Gordon Radley, Editor Emeritus David Arnold, and others. —Ed.

How Peace Corps inspired Linda Thomas-Greenfield 

Read the story here.

Love her: She swore in our L4 group in Peace Corps Response Liberia! She will be a fantastic U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., bringing compassion, intelligence, experience, down-to-earth warmth, talent, and a diverse perspective.

Alyssa Moy

Staff and consultant; associate director in Nicaragua 2014–19

I served in Somalia 9. We did our initial training at Leland College in Baker, Louisiana — probably when Linda was a little girl. I’d like to think we might have left an impression on her about Peace Corps.

Denis Viri

Somalia 1969–70

She was Chief of Mission in Liberia when I was there serving as director of management and operations for Peace Corps reopening the post. She is an extraordinary person and I am glad she is in the position she is in now.

Darren D. Defendeifer

Peace Corps HQ Staff

I worked for her at State and she is one of the most incredible human beings I’ve ever met.

Victoria Sturdivant

Ghana 1997–99

Anne Rimoin: “A matter of life and death”

Read the story here.

Thank you, Anne, for your informative and thoughtful article. Thank you for articulating so eloquently not only the significance of learning to listen to our community, but also how the Peace Corps experience teaches us that vital lesson.

Meredith McCartney

Benin 1989–91

Peace Corps Connect to the Future

Read the report here.

After reading the section of the report focused on “Reexamining the Peace Corps’ Second and Third Goals,” I find myself in complete and enthusiastic agreement. I’ve served three complete 27-month tours as a PCV. Being an educator by profession and assigned to the education sector, the First Goal was for me pretty much routine. I loved it — but the real excitement and life-changing experiences were reflected in the Second and Third Goals, which profoundly reflect the humanitarian values of our society.

I have an everlasting love for the language, the culture, and the people of Colombia. Why? The Second and Third Goals of the Peace Corps and the friendships I made. My two-plus years in Morocco gave me an even deeper awareness of our human commonalities. And living in Quito, Ecuador, opened up new perspectives for me on what it means to be human, thanks to lasting friendships with many Ecuadorian Indigenous people, organic farmers, and vegan restaurant owners.

I can’t emphasize enough the immense value of the Peace Corps as a human endeavor, especially in light of the technological dehumanization which we all are having to deal with.

At the present time, I’m waiting and hoping for a clearance from the Office of Medical Services and another assignment. I know we’re all in a sort of limbo until COVID subsides.

Robert Onstine

Colombia 1966–68; Morocco 2000–02; Ecuador 2017–19

These comments appear in the spring 2021 edition of WorldView magazine. Sign up for a print subscription by joining National Peace Corps Association. You can also download the WorldView App for free here: worldviewmagazine.org

Letters, emails, Facebook posts, tweets, Instagram comments: Readers respond to the stories in words and images in our fall 2020 edition. We’re happy to continue the conversation.Write us: worldview@peacecorpsconnect.org
 

Renew, retool, return?

I suspect the Peace Corps will see a renewal following the Biden administration. Service to our country and promoting peace, prosperity, and democracy will take on new importance. It should be a promising future for the Peace Corps.

Ben Kasper
Somalia 1964–66

I struggle to see how it is ethical to send PCVs into different countries considering that America has no control over the virus right now, a huge number of Americans have the virus, and Volunteers will likely be sent to areas that may not have the best health facilities. My concern is for the host countries and people living in the communities where the PCVs will be stationed. 

Jessica Mazzoni
Zambia 2015–17

“How many of you…?” JFK at the Union (and the Cow Palace)

I used to pass by a plaque in the University of Michigan Student Union steps marking this spot twice a day. One day there was a sign taped to it announcing a Peace Corps recruiting session in the International Center. There were RPCVs in attendance to share their personal experiences ... and four awesome years later I was back in the same room, doing the same.

Assuming the Peace Corps survives, as I approach retirement I’m considering going back for another round.

Thomas Chamberlin
Guatemala 1982–85

I’ve heard about this speech for years. This is the first time I’ve actually heard it. Entertaining and inspiring!

John Riley
Gineau-Bissau 1997–98

I was working in the oil fields of eastern Venezuela when Jack Kennedy was killed. It made a deep impression on me; especially moving was the reaction of the Venezuelan people who considered him as one of their own. I subsequently resigned my job, went to Washington, walked into Peace Corps and was hired on the spot to become desk officer for Venezuela. Later I was sent to Brazil as associate director. Years later I ended up as Peace Country Director in Tunisia. The Peace Corps years were rich in experience and without doubt were the most challenging and rewarding years of my life.
Charles Graham
Associate Country Director, Brazil 1966–68; Country Director, Tunisia 1981–83

I was inspired by that very speech and 20 years later served as a Volunteer in the Philippines. Over the years since then, I’ve given many presentations in schools on my Peace Corps experience and promoted Peace Corps service.

Catherine Saffian
The Philippines 1981

I always liked Kennedy’s sense of humor … like when he said “I graduated from Harvard … the Michigan of the East” and “This is the longest short speech I ever gave.”

Jeffrey Walsh
South Africa 2016–18

I am grateful for the Peace Corps services rendered to my birth country, Malaysia. I benefited much academically and personally. Diane was my maths teacher then at Penang Technical Institute in 1968. Thank you and God bless America.

Allen Ong via Facebook

I taught for two years in a beautiful country that was full of hope and progress. The people in Charikar made me feel like their daughter, their sister, their friend.

Pat Emme
Afghanistan 1965–67

Without doubt the establishment of the Peace Corps and the Fulbright Program are the most important public and international policy in the history of the United States.

Sami Jamil Jadallah

Founder and Executive Director at New Initiatives Foundation

Today I was asked by a vendor wanting to find me a discount whether I served in the military. I responded as I usually do to that question, “No, but I served my country in the Peace Corps.” I think for the first time I heard from a vendor, “Thank you for your service.”

Bill Francisco
Ecuador 1989–91

I joined because I thought I could make the world a better place. I came back a better person.

Marie Russo
Cameroon 1968–70

Shriver Award Well Earned!

When I served in Guatemala in the 1980s it was dangerous to even teach indigenous people to read, let alone foster democratic involvement and economic and environmental justice. Well done, Mateo Paneitz.

Thomas Chamberlin
Guatemala 1982–85

Long Way Home is a great organization. Congratulations, Mateo!

Joanna Guzman
Guatemala 1986–90

In Memoriam: John Lewis

John Lewis: When I first met John Lewis, it was in the late 1970s, when I worked at ACTION, Nixon’s attempt to hide JFK’s agency called Peace Corps, which under ACTION became International Operations, with VISTA and other volunteer programs under Domestic Operations. He was associate director when I met him. He and his work have made the world a better place. We will miss him! 

Karen Keefer
Nigeria 1966–68, Liberia 1968

May his soul rest in perfect peace.
Muhammed Touray

In Memoriam: Joseph Blatchford

He was director when I was the training center director in Puerto Rico in 1970–72. Also a very good tennis player. Sad news that he has left us.

K. Richard Pyle

He was a good man who helped Peace Corps survive during a politically difficult period. Rest in peace.

Frank Almaguer
Staff, Belize 1974–76; Country Director, Honduras 1976–79

Unprecedented Times 

 We set aside the standard magazine playbook for our summer edition. We’re happy to bring back your letters — to continue the conversation.Write us: worldview@peacecorpsconnect.org
 

I’m writing to congratulate and  thank you for the current issue of WorldView. It’s the most powerful thing in print I’ve seen from Peace Corps since I received my acceptance letter in 1969. Congrats to everyone involved on a mammoth job so very well done. 

Stephen Barefoot 
Kenya 1969–72 

Most remarkable WorldView ever, both the quality of the product and the effort it took to gather and edit the stories. What we may have is the substance for a book, proceeds from which would fund NPCA  services and support to returning Volunteers. Two quotes (both from the stories from China): “A lot of my students had never seen or interacted with a foreigner. For them, the experience  is transformational” and, “To assume that  the Chinese government and people are the  same is a fallacy.” 

Steve Kaffen 
Russia 1994–96 

I wept my way through reading WorldView. The evacuation stories both broke my heart and raised my spirit. I could not help but imagine myself being torn away from my community, friends, counterparts, programs,  and much more, had I had to leave Paraguay  (where I served) within 24 hours. Unbearable thought for me and yet excruciatingly real for 6,892 Volunteers. Their stories were beautiful and so painful. I was buoyed up with an affirmation that Peace Corps is still making its unique contributions worldwide. Not just in the countries where Volunteers serve, but also in the Volunteers themselves. Peace  Corps must survive this global pandemic. We need it now more than ever. 

Congratulations on the rapid launching of your Global Reentry program. NPCA has risen to the challenges of today in so many  fabulous ways. Thank you for your leadership. 

Diane Wood  
Paraguay 1977–81 

Engaging, thoughtful, and truly remarkable — I’ve read it in print cover to cover, and will read it again online. This one’s a keeper. 
Peter de Groot 
PCV Benin 1980–82 
Peace Corps Trainer, Africa, 1983–92 

Amazing with the stories from the country directors closing their sites. These stories bring a world of hurt thinking about what each had to go through to plan their departures, and the Volunteers having to say “goodbye.” 

Kenton Hawkins 
Lesotho 1976–79 

On behalf of our RPCV Gulf Coast Florida group: We were touched to read the heartrending stories of so many evacuated PCVs, and especially Missi Smith’s eloquent lament, “I’m Tired.”

For our signature project, we have dedicated ourselves to fundraising for and assisting the African American community in the heart of Sarasota called Newtown, through its grassroots organization, Newtown Alive. African American residents played a major role in the development of Sarasota. Black labor cleared snake-infested land for real estate developers, laid railroad ties, harvested celery, helped plant golf courses, and labored in the homes of Sarasota’s power brokers — cooking, cleaning, and rearing children. The men and women fought for equal rights, triumphed over Jim Crow segregation, KKK intimidation, and vigilante violence. Today, a diverse group of historians, community scholars, and others  have united to present the dramatic history of strivers who refused to give up. More:  rpcvgcf.peacecorpsconnect.org 

Leita Kaldi Davis 
Senegal 1993–96 
Lillian Carter Award Recipient 2017 

We need to find  ways to make the  Peace Corps in its current form “bigger, better, bolder” and give the Third Goal more explicit attention. 

Terrific — packed with timely, important news that helps put unprecedented issues impacting the Peace Corps into perspective. I hope all past and future Volunteers and staff will go through the magazine cover-to-cover. I especially like“Our Unprecedented Times,”  tracing momentous events and decisions which have changed not only Peace Corps but also our nation and the entire world. And Lex Rieffel’s “The Peace Corps in the  Post-Pandemic World,” while controversial,  is worth pondering. I disagree with proposals to convert the Peace Corps into something other than an independent federal agency, but I agree we need to find ways to make the  Peace Corps in its current form “bigger, better,  bolder” and give the Third Goal more explicit attention. We must have more conversations about the ideals, relevance, and mission of the Peace Corps in a rapidly-changing world and make sure the Peace Corps truly reflects America’s diversity and has the resources it needs to get Volunteers back into the field as soon as it is safe to do so. 

Michael H. Anderson 
Malaysia 1968–71 
Board Member, Friends of Malaysia  

Well written and edited — a pleasure to read, though my eyes fill with tears as I learn Volunteers’ stories of their emergency  evacuations. That many returned Volunteers can continue to communicate with their colleagues and friends living in remote places is one benefit not afforded earlier Volunteers. Nevertheless, the bonds are immutable; after 40 years, I and a fellow RPCV returned to the sites where we trained and supervised  healthcare providers and located many of them because of their long, successful careers. We only had to ask a few strangers who recognized faces in old photos. (See  WorldView Spring 2018.)

I hope evacuated Volunteers are able to return to their work, if they so choose. 

Beverly Hammons  
Ecuador 1970–73 

You managed to convey the urgency of the moment and the vast disappointment of so many.

As a longtime journalist, allow me  to say that you’ve done a great job. The coverage of the withdrawal of Peace Corps from its posts was absolutely terrific. The text cover, a brilliant graphic touch, was only the beginning of a fascinating issue. You managed to convey the urgency of the moment and the vast disappointment of so many. These are terribly difficult times for us all, particularly painful for Peace Corps and the many new, reluctantly-made, RPCVs.  

Barry Hillenbrand 
Ethiopia 1963–65 

Fabulous edition! I’m sending my copy off to my granddaughter, who was considering joining. Here’s hoping she has the chance!!

Virginia Davis 
Namibia 2007–10 

Greetings from the Solomons. I am missing my WorldView mags due to no mail from the States for months. Glad to know there is an online edition. COVID19 has held up the reopening of the Peace Corps office for the Solomons this year and the bringing in of new PCVs in 2021.  

Dennis McAdams 
Solomon Islands 1974–78 

Reading stories of the evacuated Volunteers brought back memories of my service 50 years ago in the Philippines. The agricultural school where I was assigned is now a full-fledged university. Some current  students are likely to be the grandchildren of students I taught while there. Best wishes for continuing Peace Corps ideals in the future.

Steve Lahey 
Philippines Group 36 

Some time ago, my daughter was notified that she is on a list for training for Guinea. She is diligently working on French. I hope  this pandemic can be brought under control before many more months pass; she doesn’t  want to miss this opportunity.

The issue of WorldView that tells the stores of the PCVs  being recalled was absolutely fabulous.  

Joan Landsberg
Costa Rica 1964–66 

What a work by dedicated individuals! I  served in the first group to go to Nyasaland  (Malawi) in 1963. Thank you to those who shared, captured the info, and created this issue.

Linda Millette 

Truly wonderful issue. Thanks for your  hard work in writing and putting it together. 

Angene Wilson 
Liberia 1962–64 

Fantastic! Thought provoking and meaningful, from the global evacuation to the pandemic to Black Lives Matter and the very future of the Peace Corps.  

James Skelton 
Ethiopia 1970–72 

I’m Tired 

Powerful and well-written, this article by Missi Smith challenges us to take action, giving us a clear list of things we can actually do to move our society toward racial equality. 

Peter Szydlowski 
Ecuador 1970–74, Nicaragua 1974–75 

It is fabulous, and I would like to share among family and friends, to encourage some to join  the Peace Corps and others to take action. Missi Smith’s essay, “I’m Tired,” is powerful.  The statements from the PCVs who were evacuated testify to the incredible importance of the Peace Corps around the world, especially as global ambassadors. I have just  now made contribution to the NPCA and  will add it to my annual giving list. Keep up  the good work! The return of Peace Corps  to the wider world is in my prayers.  

Janet Stulting 
Ukraine 2011–13 

It is fabulous, and I would like to share among family and friends, to encourage some to join  the Peace Corps and others to take action.

I got my edition and immediately called my brother, the father of an evacuated 25-year-old volunteer from Botswana. I told him I would keep this edition as a  keepsake for my nephew, saying it was  historical and powerful and moving! If one can order second copies please let us know.  We continue to support and pray for these Volunteers and communities!  

Julie Cominos 
Romania 1992–94 

Indeed, we’re happy to send more! Support from  NPCA members and donors makes it possible for us to tell stories that matter.
—Ed. 

No thanks 

A few questions: What kind of a journal  has no place for readers’ responses — and simply takes current headlines and applies  them to something entirely different? Do you  really think there is systematic racism in this  country and the Peace Corps is part of it?  

James Eric Lane

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