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Dear NPCA Advocates,
Organizations promoting universal basic education say the experiences and personal testimonies of Peace Corps volunteers can provide significant assistance to national and global advocacy efforts. Read below to take action on this issue - part of our May advocacy update. |
 Share Your Peace Corps Experience to Support Education for All
As NPCA's participation in education for all advocacy gains momentum, we seek testimonies from returned Peace Corps volunteers about the importance of U.S. leadership in providing all people around the world with quality basic education.
We invite you to add your name and comments to NPCA's petition thanking Congresswoman Nita Lowey for her leadership on the Education for All Act of 2010.
Follow this link to sign the petition. Your comments will be shared as we begin to meet with congressional offices on this issue.
Additionally, you can take action now with your Representative and ask him/her to co-sponsor the Education for All Act.
And, be sure to stay connected by joining our Education for All Advocates group on our Connected Peace Corps site.
>>Sign the Petition Photograph: Congresswoman Nita Lowey (center) is joined by actress and education for all advocate Jessica Alba (left) at the April 21st press conference to introduce the Education for All Act of 2010. |
Action Alert on International Affairs Budget Expected this Week
As issues ranging from a new Supreme Court nominee to financial regulatory reform continue to build, it remains unclear how and when Congress will advance work on the Fiscal Year 2011 budget and appropriations.
While there is uncertainty as to whether congress will complete work on a budget (and instead move directly to the appropriations process), the Senate Budget Committee already voted to reduce President Obama's $58.8 billion International Affairs Budget by $4 billion. Coalition groups such as InterAction and the US Global Leadership Coalition are expected to launch an action later this week to demonstrate support for the President's request and opposition to any proposed reductions.
Reductions in the International Affairs Budget will threaten the possibility to advance robust funding for the Peace Corps. Be on the lookout later this weeek for an action alert to address this matter.
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Help Plan 50th Anniversary Events on College Campuses
Celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps kick off on October 13 - 16 at the University of Michigan, the site where then presidential candidate John Kennedy raised the prospect of volunteering overseas to students. This benchmark is one of several points over the next year in which college campuses are being encouraged to organize 50th anniversary events. Follow this link to review a proposed framework of activities put forth by the NPCA, Peace Corps regional offices, Peace Corps Masters and International Fellows programs and others. If you are a student/faculty member, live in a college community, or want to help in other ways to promote or organize campus programs - big or small, contact us today at advocacy@peacecorpsconnect.org so we can connect you to others with similar plans.
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RPCVs Urge Peace Corps' Return to Bolivia
As Peace Corps begins its return - after long absences - to Indonesia and Sierra Leone, and with the latest announcement to return to Colombia, the more recent 2008 departure from Bolivia is the subject of an advocacy effort by an independent group of RPCVs who served there.
One hundred Bolivia RPCVs - representing different years of service, regions of service and assignments - have written to Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams asking that volunteers return to the Andean nation.
One of those RPCVs, Robert Norman (2007 - 2008), has also been collecting letters from Bolivian citizens asking for Peace Corps to return. "The overwhelming response we have received inside Bolivia as well as from within the USA has been an amazing testament to the fact that our countries have a deeply established desire to share in the continuation of the Peace Corps."
The letter to the director notes that other volunteer organizations continue to operate in Bolivia.
The Bolivia RPCVs have posted a site on Facebook for those who are interested in learning more.
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Expanding International Volunteerism
The National Peace Corps Association and other members of the Building Bridges Coalition (BBC) are making progress towards an agenda to expand various forms of international volunteerism.
BBC and its member organizations hope to build on the legacies of past presidents in creating and expanding opportunities for Americans to volunteer abroad. Peace Corps will be a central focus of that expansion. In fact, there is hope to introduce comprehensive legislation to congress and name it after the first Peace Corps Director, Sergeant Shriver.
Along with doubling the Peace Corps, the so-called "Service World" initiative also calls for expanded service opportunities through Volunteers for Prosperity as well as the creation of Global Service Fellowships.
As these initiatives develop over the next few months, more information and action opportunities will be forthcoming. |
 National Day of Action Video Posted
Our March National Day of Action was a great day with a great group of advocates. Now, you can meet some of them! We have posted a video that was taken on Capitol Hill that day, featuring advocates including Rebecca Lee (Azerbaijan 05-07) and Veneeth Iyengar (Philippines 07-09) who came out to share their insight on the valuable work the Peace Corps does and express their support for its expansion. Special thanks to NPCA advocacy interns Jillian Klarman and Marisa Shannon for shooting and producing the video! >>Watch the Video (Note: audio adjustment required
for advocate interviews) |
Featured Advocate: Geri Critchley - Washington, DC
For more than three decades, Geri Critchley has been part of the fabric that has shaped and defined the Peace Corps community.
A Senegal volunteer in the early 1970s, new mother in the 1980s, Geri says she wanted to do whatever she could in her "spare time" to advocate for and support the RPCV community. Her work is a testament to the energy and devotion she brings to the ideals of international service and cross-cultural understanding.
G
eri was active in planning Peace Corps' 30th and 40th anniversary celebrations (including organizing congressional receptions), marched in two inaugural parades and has been active in the MorePeaceCorps campaign. Beyond advocacy, Geri has taken action on a range of fronts over the years - founding an international community center in Rochester MN, raising funds for an African athlete to participate in the Special Olympics, supporting Catholic and Protestant students from Northern Ireland to attend a peace institue, and helping write a proposal for an RPCV Crisis Corps (now the Peace Corps Response program).
Most recently, Geri has become an active supporter of the Building Bridges Coalition. "I have been committed to international service and cross cultural understanding since my Peace Corps service and since directing The Experiment in International Living in Washington DC and Canada. (The Coalition) embodies all I have been interested in and working on for most of my career. I see it as a key vehicle to promote and increase access to opportunities for cross cultural understanding. I appreciate the dedicated individuals who have made it a reality."
As a member of its advocacy committee, Geri's dedication and experience will no doubt be a powerful asset in advancing the coalition's comprehensive global service initiative. Photo Above: Senegal RPCV Geri Critchley with Peter Yarrow at a recent benefit Geri organized for the Alliance for Peacebuilding. |
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This Month's Featured Advocate
Geri Critchley
(Senegal 71-72)
Washington, DC
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Peace Corps Announces Plans to Return to Colombia
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Put Some Spring in Your Step
Visit NPCA's
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Maine and Connecticut Advocates are PERFECT!
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ORGANIZATIONS REFERENCED IN THIS MONTH'S ADVOCACY NEWS | |
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Peace Corps Budget Request
Follow this link to review Peace Corps' FY 2011 budget justification to Congress. (Note: This pdf is 8.95 MB)
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