Peace Corps Showcased at Smithsonian Folklife Festival
At last. After lots of dreaming, meetings, and brainstorming a long held vision of the Peace Corps community was realized: For two weeks this June and July, the Peace Corps was a featured exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution's annual Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., an event that draws an audience of over 1 million visitors. Read here how it all started.
 A focal point for Returned Peace Corps Volunteers: the RPCVillage and Full Circle Tent. In the former people left messages on boards labeled with every Peace Corps country. In the latter RPCVs met others with ties to their country of service, reconnecting with old friends and making new. (Read the blog posts Reunion Tent Tales, From Michigan to the Mall, "I Love My Gram and Poland," "It's My Time Now")
Inside the main exhibit area RPCVs were also out in force. RPCV Stuart Conway, winner of the 2010 Shriver Award demonstrated cookstove technology and talked about his organization's partnership with Colorado RPCVs and serving Volunteers. Current and former RPCV Congressmen all made appearances. (Read Sam Farr Master Chef, Congressman Honda: "Sign Up," Shays Says "Do it in a Heartbeat") On the last day, NPCA staff spent some time on the Peace Porch, with Fiji RPCV Anne Baker participating in a closing kava ceremony to welcome the next 50 years of Peace Corps.
We have lots of photos from the Festival! Check our albums here, and here.
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Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Peace Corps this September!
Thousands will converge in the nation's capital for country, group and staff reunions, embassy receptions and other special events and celebrations (so many we can't list them all in this newsletter!) to mark this historic milestone in Peace Corps history. Check out the official 50th Anniversary Calendar and the National Peace Corps Association website to see links to all of the events and attend ones for your country, group, or the entire Peace Corps Community.
The best way for you to announce your Reunion (and find those long-lost Peace Corps friends) is by posting your event on the Calendar AND registering with the National Peace Corps Association so that your name and country of service years are added to the Master List and official historical record (plus help us get a head count). Be sure to attend at least one of the events hosted by your Association and be a part of history!
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The Promise of the Peace Corps: A Gala to Celebrate Peace Corps' 50 Years
You are invited to celebrate in style with fellow Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and supporters at The Promise of the Peace Corps Gala on Saturday, September 24, 2011 at The Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC. This once-in-a-lifetime event will be emceed by Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC's Hardball and RPCV Swaziland. Your ticket includes an open bar, gourmet sit down dinner, keynote speeches and entertainment.
Buy your ticket today to be a part of this huge celebration of Peace Corps' legacy. Members of the entire Peace Corps Community everywhere are gearing up for the historic 50th Anniversary events this September in Washington D.C. The National Peace Corps Association's staff has been working around the clock to make the events fun, memorable and, most importantly, a way to lead the Peace Corps into the next 50 years. Gala tickets are $250/NPCA members or $300/non-members. All proceeds from the Gala help fund the numerous free 50th Anniversary Events that NPCA is planning for the weekend commemorating 50 years to the day that President Kennedy signed the Executive Order to establish the Peace Corps.
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One Week Left to Win $5,000 in NPCA Contest
"When I was in the Peace Corps, I had this great idea...."
What was your big idea? Now is your chance to share it with the Peace Corps community. Through the NPCA/SEVEN Fund Enterprise Solutions to Poverty Essay Contest you could win cash, recognition in front of world leaders, get published in WorldView magazine, and win a free ticket to the 50th Anniversary Gala to be held this September.
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RPCVs Bring Home-Grown Advocacy in August
In New Hampshire, Robert Englund will host an August 12th gathering where RPCVs from the state will be sharing their views with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. In southern California, Theresa Mitchell reports as many as twenty local RPCVs are planning to take part in a meeting with the district office of Rep. Jerry Lewis.
In more than 20 states around the nation, RPCVs are at work organizing at least 50 district meetings with their representatives in Congress, as part of NPCA's first ever "August District Advocacy Days" action.
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Peace Corps the Theme of Santa Fe Folk Art Market Opening Celebration
While the state of New Mexico is known as The Land of Enchantment, Santa Fe, its capital is known as The City Different. Put those two things together - enchantingly different - and the phrase perfectly sums up the final Peace Corps 50th Anniversary Around the World Expo .
This Expo - the last of nine held around the country this past spring and early summer - took place on July 7 in Santa Fe's Railyard Park in conjunction with a community-wide launch party for the 8th Santa Fe International Folk Art Market. Thousands attended. The International Folk Art Market was the brainchild of RPCV Judy Espinar and from its earliest days the market has been embraced by the New Mexico Returned Peace Corps community. It was a fabulous event, embodying all three goals of the Peace Corps....
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Take Action on Peace Corps Funding, Safety and Security, Commemorative
Our recent video from an advocacy trip through Texas highlights the forgotten dividend of Peace Corps. It's not just the two years of service. It's also about the ongoing service of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers!
That's an important consideration next week in the House of Representatives, where the State/Foreign Operations Subcommittee is expected to make a recommendation on Fiscal Year 2012 Peace Corps funding. Follow this link to take action.
15 Senators and 30 Congressmen/women are co-sponsors of Safety and Security legislation named after slain Peace Corps Volunteer Kate Puzey. Follow this link to take action.
And...is your Rep among the 129 lawmakers who have co-sponsored Peace Corps commemorative legislation? You know the drill! Follow this link and take action!
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Encore Volunteers Making a Difference
Encore Service Corps International volunteers work for one to six months on capacity building projects with partner organizations in countries around the globe. This year, as part of a Joint Project with the NPCA, Encore is focusing its efforts on East Africa in the areas of health and agriculture.
And the Encore volunteers are making a big difference: helping graduate students complete their research and defend their theses; documenting the use of fertilizers; designing a continuing medical education system; helping a small non-profit get off the ground...the future possibilities are endless.
When NPCA's Anne Baker went to Kenya and Tanzania last month, she heard time and again, "I am personally so grateful that Encore was there." Do you want to make a difference? Encore is currently recruiting for eight volunteers (3-6 months each) in organizational development (with a focus on IT), nursing education and (new today!) continuing medical education.
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Peace Corps Helps RPCVs Make Career Connections
On July 13, Peace Corps' Returned Volunteer Services team traveled to Chicago for another successful day-long career event. More than 100 RPCVs took part in a morning of career-related workshops followed by an afternoon job fair featuring 22 employers from the federal, private and non-profit sectors. The next regional RPCV career event will be held in New York City on Sept. 16, 2011.
Additionally, a large scale RPCV Career Conference will take place at Peace Corps Headquarters in Washington, D.C. from Aug. 9-12! This intensive four-day event features interactive workshops and a career fair with approximately 40 employers! Don't miss your chance to attend this free event where you'll have the opportunity to connect with RPCVs while getting RPCV-specific job-searching advice and best practices.
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You still want to make a difference.
Be a member to continue serving, connect with others, and support the legacy of the Peace Corps.
JOIN TODAY!
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NEW RPCV PIN!
 Bigger. More legible. It's the new RPCV Pin. Wear it with pride and let people know: You Served. Our new 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. And yes, the much requested Peace Corps patch! Wearing logo merchandise is a great way to spark conversations about Peace Corps! Your purchase supports the efforts of the National Peace Corps Association. |
OFFICIAL 50th ANNIVERSARY
CALENDAR
Want to find an event near you for the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps? Need people to attend your event? Visit the NPCA / Peace Corps Calendar of Events to keep track of all of the exciting, meaningful, fun celebrations happening around the world during the Peace Corps 50th Anniversary year. You can find the site here: http://events.peacecorps50.org/ Don't forget to add your own events!
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SHARE YOUR PEACE CORPS EXPERIENCE
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. Interested classroom teachers and returned Peace Corps Volunteers can enroll in the Peace Corps' Speakers Match program by clicking here. |
with NPCA
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RPCV MENTORING
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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GROUPS FOR YOU
Couchsurfing / Hospitality. In Memoriam. Injured While Serving. Job Searchers of the World Unite. These are just some of the hundreds of groups you'll find on NPCA's Online Community. Groups made by the Peace Corps Community, for the Peace Corps Community.
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