National Symposium on Service Kicks off Peace Corps 50th Anniversary
It was fifty years ago that then-presidential candidate John Kennedy first gave public voice to the idea that would capture the imagination of American youth and become the Peace Corps.
To celebrate, the National Peace Corps Association, in conjunction with the University of Michigan, The Brookings Institution, and the Building Bridges Coalition, has organized a National Symposium on the Future of International Service on October 13 at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. This daylong national kick-off event featuring speakers and panelists who are national and world leaders in international service is part of a full schedule of events at the University to mark the start of the Peace Corps 50th anniversary year. Symposium details and listing of speakers can be found here.
There will be many more exciting events taking place around the country and the world in 2011. Make sure you and your Peace Corps friends are "in the loop" by completing our online Anniversary RSVP. Also watch for the launch of our special Anniversary microsite and calendar, coming soon
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Still Time to Enter the My Piece of the Peace Corps Video Contest
The September 30th deadline to enter the My Piece of the Peace Corps Contest video contest is almost here! Submit a YouTube video of no more than 2 minutes on how the Peace Corps, a Peace Corps Volunteer, or Returned Peace Corps Volunteer changed your life. This contest is open to all--you don't have to have been a Peace Corps Volunteer to enter.
- Grand Prize: $2,500
- Second Prize: $1,000
- Third Prize: $500
The contest runs through September 30 and the winner will be announced on October 7, 2010. Visit our website for details on how to enter.
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21-City Tour Outlines 50th Anniversary Plans
Backyard potlucks (including a stop in Indianapolis, pictured left). Informal gatherings in coffeeshops and restaurants from Morgantown, West Virginia to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
NPCA Advocacy Coordinator Jonathan Pearson spent three weeks in August traveling through eight states, meeting up with roughly 400 members of the Peace Corps community and eleven NPCA member groups. The primary focus was to build excitement and provide an overview of key plans for the upcoming 50th anniversary.
Follow this link to you want to read blog posts featuring some of the great people we met along the way.
Then join our Facebook Fan Page and check out the photo gallery from our road trip-a-palooza! |
NPCA Visits Minneapolis, Seattle, San Diego
Advocacy Coordinator Jonathan Pearson isn't the only staff member who has been traveling!
Molly Mattessich, Manager of Online Initiatives, returned to her home state and connected with the Minnesota Returned Peace Corps Volunteers group. Then it was on to Seattle, where she and NPCA President Kevin Quigley took part in meetings at the Gates Foundation to share information on NPCA's Africa Rural Connect project. They also took part in panel discussion on the Legacy of the Peace Corps hosted by the Seattle World Affairs Council.
Finally, San Diego, where Molly had a chance to connect with members of the San Diego Peace Corps Association and talk about plans for the Peace Corps 50th anniversary. As Molly writes in her blog post, "Each group of RPCVs had its own special energy and I can't wait to see the different ways that we all come together during 2011 to celebrate the future of the Peace Corps."
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Adding Our Voice for Universal Basic Education
"These kids are fighting for an education and so often their desires remain unfulfilled. Without an education, their futures are drastically limited - confined to a job with minimal wages, if they are graced with a job at all. It is senseless that just because a child is born into poverty, they should be condemned to poverty the rest of their lives. By providing adequate education to all children, we can start to level the playing field, and offer them the chance to grow up and achieve their dreams, irrespective of their family's status."
Our thanks to Andrea Liberatore (South Africa 05-07) and many others for providing thoughts and testimonies on the need for quality universal basic education. These comments are being shared as world leaders prepare to gather in New York. There's still time to add your name to a petition to the President, as a big week for global education is upon us.
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Chicago RPCV Speaks in Schools to Fulfill the "Third Goal"
Imagine being a Peace Corps Volunteer in Lithuania in the late 1990s, arriving at your host family's home for the first time, and being cheerfully greeted by 50 of your new and curious Lithuanian neighbors.
Michael Blasi shared this exciting "movie star" moment from his service with school children back home in Chicago. He is a participant in Speakers Match, a program that brings Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) into America's classrooms, allowing them to share their extraordinary stories and inspire the future generation of global citizens.
With the Peace Corps' Speakers Match program, elementary and secondary school teachers can enhance their students' learning through classroom presentations by returned Peace Corps Volunteers....
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Welcome Pittsburgh!
The board of the National Peace Corps Association is pleased to welcome its newest member group, the Pittsburgh Area Peace Corps Association (PAPCA).
PAPCA held an August 14th backyard potluck that attracted more than 60 people. All eras of Peace Corps service were on hand - from a Mongolia volunteer who returned home in the past few months, to self-described "Kennedy girl" and current PAPCA treasurer Kirsti Adkins....
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IT'S FALL --
TIME FOR A
PEACE CORPS
JACKET!
Our online store offers a wide selection of Peace Corps and NPCA logo merchandise--from t-shirts and coffee mugs, to pins and license place frames. Wearing logo merchandise is a great way to spark conversations about Peace Corps!
Your purchase supports the efforts of the National Peace Corps Association.
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Sometimes the hardest thing about Peace Corps is adjusting to life back home. It can feel like being a fish out of water.
That's why the NPCA, in conjunction with the Peace Corps, created this unique program to help returning Volunteers link up with RPCV mentors.
For more information or to apply for the program, visit RPCVMentoring.org.
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JOBS, JOBS, JOBS
The NPCA Career Center is a free privacy-protected service offered to the entire Peace Corps community. You can:
- See the newest job postings around the world listed below.
- Search types of jobs by regions of the world at Job Search. View specific postings and click to reply directly to any employer. Apply today.
- Register at Applicant Login to store cover letters and resume, manage and update your account and register your work/interests profile to have matching career opportunities emailed to you.
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