I remember sitting in some dusty bar, drinking flat warm beer (and loving it) somewhere in the middle of nowhere during my Peace Corps service, listening to some older volunteers try to convince me that JFK was dubious about spending money to create the Peace Corps. They claimed that JFK only agreed to Sargent Shriver's plan for a Peace Corps when Shriver argued that PCVs would be cheap spies.
Of course, PCVs wouldn't literally be spies, but when things start to go awry somewhere, a PCV would no doubt be the first (or second at worst) to know. This was surely especially true during the Cold War, when one could easily imagine communists sneaking through the bushes, making promises of a better tomorrow to distant villagers in Central America and Africa. And who would probably be standing on the other side of the hedgerow that communists sneak through? A PCV of course.
[The reminds me of the months post-9/11, when I and other PCVs were the first to notice and understand the grave significance of "Viva Osama Bin Laden" signs in front of certain madrasas in the Muslim neighborhoods of the regional capital.]
Anyway, to the point of this post, apparently some real bright bulb in the American embassy in Bolivia decided to take this literally. Check out this article on it.
(By the way, this is not the first time Feds have tried some nonsense with making the Peace Corps about more than the Peace Corps. And failed.)
The best way to read the latest on this case is at Peace Corps online.
Also, feel free to write your congressman or senator and tell them you think this is a bad idea.
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Hello, y'all down in Louisiana! I'm an RPCV living and working in Washington DC and I've fallen in love with St Rose de Lima parish in Bay St Louis, MS, with whom my DC church has been partnered since September 2005.
We are working with the Boys and Girls Club in BSL to bring in local and DC-area volunteers during their summer camp which runs June 2-July 18.
Between June 9-13 they are focusing on "Around the World" -- and would really benefit from the pictures, stories and stuff that we as RPCVs bring. Kids are between 5-13 and are goofy and wonderful and great!
If you or a team could come over to the Club (it's right off highway 90 before the new bridge)for an afternoon or two or three (or each person could adopt a class), you'd be more than welcome.
What do you think?
If you're interested, please call Melissa Spynda, the VISTA serving them, at 1-412-983-0732 or me at
202-314-4699. Help stomp out stereotypes!!!!
Margie Legowski
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