SEND TO FRIEND
|
Dear NPCA Advocates,
An action day for global education nears. So does a Peace Corps assessment of its operations as volunteers are in the process of returning to three nations with a rich Peace Corps history. Details below in our June advocacy update. |
|
June 22: Be an Advocate for Universal Basic Education
As the National Peace Corps Association continues to advocate for universal basic education, there are plenty of opportunities to take action.
RESULTS, one of the lead organizations in the effort to push world leaders to provide all children with a quality basic education by 2015, has invited others to join them on Capitol Hill for a day of action on June 22nd to urge members of the House to support the Education for All Act of 2010.
If you are interested in participating in Capitol Hill advocacy on June 22nd, please contact us no later than June 16th at jonathan@peacecorpsconnect.org. You can also follow this link for full details of RESULTS international conference in Washington.
For those outside the DC area, look for an action alert on or about June 22nd to coincide with the Capitol Hill advocacy.
Also, if you have not already done so, follow this link to sign NPCA's petition and share your Peace Corps experience to express the importance of basic education around the world. Your comments will be shared as we meet with congressional offices on this issue.
|
|
37 Senators Sign Kerry-Lugar International Affairs Funding Letter
Thanks to the action of many activists representing many organizations, 37 Senators signed the Kerry-Lugar letter urging the Senate Appropriations Committee to allocate the President's full $58.8 billion request for the International Affairs Budget. Funding levels for Peace Corps and other important international assistance programs will be determined in part by how much funding is allocated to the Senate Appropriations State/Foreign Operations Subcommittee. An earlier vote in the Senate Budget Committee - which recommended reducing the President's request by $4 billion - prompted the bi-partisan letter.
Please follow this link to see if your Senator was among those who signed the Kerry-Lugar letter. If they did, please thank them for their support and urge them to be a strong advocate for increased funding to improve and expand the Peace Corps.
|
Updates on a Bigger, Better, Bolder Peace Corps
A lot is happening in the efforts to advance a bigger, better and bolder Peace Corps. Colombia is the latest nation where the Peace Corps has announced it will return, after an almost 30 year absence. RPCVs who continued to support Colombia played an important role in this announcement. Their gathering in February 2008 served as a key moment in the process. Meanwhile, NPCA board member Allegra Troiano, who is currently in Colombia, voices her approval of this decision, and says if volunteers come ready and are willing to work hard, they will be openly accepted. While Colombia volunteers won't arrive in country until this fall, Sierra Leone last week witnessed the return of volunteers for the first time in 16 years. Read about the send-off ceremony. And, as Sierra Leone volunteers begin their training, the first returning group of volunteers to Indonesia completed their training and were sworn in. Follow this link to read more. As these developments point to progress in expanding opportunities for Peace Corps service, many questions remain on progress to improve and embolden the Peace Corps. The agency is currently working on an assessment and strategic plan to address a range of issues that have been raised by Congress and others. As part of a congressional requirement that accompanied last year's record Peace Corps appropriation, the agency is expected to release a report outlining its assessment and strategy later this month. |
Road Trip! Advocacy Coordinator to Meet with RPCVs in August
A potluck gathering in Pittsburgh. The annual summer gathering of the Central Ohio RPCVs. Those are two of the stops currently planned when NPCA Advocacy Coordinator Jonathan Pearson takes a road trip during the second half of August (the 14th through the 31st) to connect with advocates and other members of the Peace Corps community. Travel during the two week period is expected to include visits with NPCA members, groups and other supporters in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Be on the lookout for more updates about this trip. If you live in this region and are interested in helping to coordinate a visit in your community please contact Jonathan at jonathan@peacecorpsconnect.org. |
Winter 2010 Issue of NPCA Magazine Will Feature Advocacy
Whenever we have a display table at an event, odds are that someone will come up to view our materials, see a copy of WorldView and exclaim "I love this magazine!"
This year, the winter edition of the magazine will focus on advocacy within and related to the Peace Corps community. While beaches and backyard barbecues cause winter to seem far in the future, we are beginning to consider article proposals.
Send us your ideas: Contact us today with your article suggestions for our upcoming special issue on advocacy. Email us at advocacy@peacecorpsconnect.org with your ideas. While space won't allow all ideas to be included, your suggestions will help us put together a magazine with information that is interesting and informative for our readers.
Not receiving WorldView? If you aren't receiving NPCA's quarterly magazine, that means you're not a member! Become a member today. Not only will you help support our advocacy efforts and other programs, you will recieve the magazine - a tremendous member benefit.
|
Environmental Advocate Wins 2010 Shriver Award
The recipient of the 2010 Sargent Shriver Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Service is Stuart Conway (Guatemala 84-86), co-founder of Trees, Water & People.
Over the past 12 years, TWP and its partners planted 3.5 million trees and developed fuel efficient cooking stoves to reduce deforestation and lessen global warming gas emissions. International projects focus on sustainable development in Central America and Haiti.
Conway will be honored for his contributions at a June 25th celebration in Washington.
|
|
Featured Advocate: Jean Naples - West Haverstraw, NY
As you read our advocacy updates, you are provided with a chance to educate yourself and take action on key public policy issues. This month's featured advocate, Jean Naples (Mauritania 77-79), has been among the most consistent individuals when it comes to responding to our action alerts, including and especially Peace Corps related actions. According to Jean, "Peace Corps volunteers are the best ambassadors for the USA in any country around the world".
Naples served as a laboratory medical technologist in Mauritania, where she was introduced to urinary schistosomiasis. She has been working to combat the disease ever since. Her Peace Corps service inspired Jean to devote her life to "fostering the good of public health around the world." Like so many others, Naples' service didn't end in Mauritania. She attended several prestigious universities to eventually get her Ph.D. from John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She also continued to give back, returning to Africa to assist with health initiatives in several nations including Somalia and Ghana.
Jean's commitment to bringing the world back home is furthered with her advocacy efforts. She has found she can be an advocate from the comfort of her own home by sending emails to her congressional representatives. This has been the most successful method of outreach for Naples, and her representatives regularly respond to her action requests. Jean takes regular action for the continued funding of Peace Corps and to sponsor the presence of volunteers in countries around the world. We commend her for her consitency and perseverance!
|
|
|
This Month's Featured Advocate
Jean Naples
(Mauritania 77-79)
West Haverstraw, NY
|
SUBSCRIBE TO NPCA ADVOCACY NEWS
|
|
Thank you to our spring interns (l to r) Micaela McNulty, Marisa Shannon, and Jillian Klarman. |
Put Some Spring in Your Step
Visit NPCA's
|
Support universal basic education: Join 1GOAL and sign your name for the children who can't.
|
|
ORGANIZATIONS REFERENCED IN THIS MONTH'S ADVOCACY NEWS | |
| |
|
|
Commencement
Speeches Reference Peace Corps
"It was 50 years ago that a young candidate for president came here to Michigan and delivered a speech that inspired one of the most successful service projects in American history. And as John F. Kennedy described the ideals behind what would become the Peace Corps." ~President Barack Obama, University of Michigan
"You've dived in. You've reached out. You have volunteered and applied to organizations like Teach for America and the Peace Corps in record numbers." ~First Lady Michelle Obama, George Washington University
"But I also believe there are many ways to serve something bigger than yourself. Many ways to make a difference, whether it's serving others through teaching, through volunteer work in the Peace Corps or in other parts of our government at the federal or local level. The need for service is huge and yours is a generation that has signaled your want to serve." ~Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, Florida A&M
"Citizen service is not new in America. It is as old as the Republic itself. But it was first placed on the agenda in 1961 when a young president - John F. Kennedy - challenged us to ask ourselves: 'What can I do for my country?' That led to the creation of the Peace Corps, and later our domestic Peace Corps, VISTA and then in 1993, AmeriCorps. Fifty years later, another young president has asked us to take service to the next level." ~CEO of the Corporation for Naitional and Community Service Patrick Corvington, Univerisity of Texas at San Antonio |
|
