WorldView Magazine: Returned Peace Corps Volunteer
Books, Partners, and Possibility
As international assistance programs come under intense scrutiny and resources continue to be cut, one Volunteer's experience shows the linkages between organizations seeking to create a more just and equitable world.
Peace Corps Off-Broadway
A car crash, a cryptic State Department operative, and a rapidly shifting world order set the stage for RPCV Rajiv Joseph's new play, Dakar 2000. But this is more than just a thriller: it’s a work shaped by lived experience.
Everything Will Be Ukraine!
More than 3,400 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in Ukraine. Here are a few ways they have sought to help the communities they served as Russian rockets fly and bombs fall across the country. Logo by The RPCV Alliance for Ukraine By Raisa Alstodt and Natalia Joseph On February 24, 2022, Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale military assault by Russian forces on Ukraine, including attacks on civilians that have continued against communities across the country. Many of our friends and host family members have fled; many others are staying and fighting to defend their communities. The RPCV Alliance for...
What We Mean by Friendship
With the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Friends of Moldova has stepped in to provide crucial support to thousands of refugees. by David Jarmul Logo by Friends of Moldova Until this past February, Friends of Moldova was like many “Friends of” groups within the Peace Corps community: a loose organization of returned Volunteers sharing news and supporting small grant programs in the country where they served. Then Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and everything changed. As millions of Ukrainians fled the fighting, nearly half a million refugees came to Moldova — a small, crescent-shaped country with a population...
Ukraine Stories
A platform for citizen journalists, volunteers, and those working to deepen understanding of the war and efforts to help refugees. By Clary Estes Photo by Clary Estes The Ukraine Stories newsletter started modestly. In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, so many Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who had served throughout Central and Eastern Europe asked the same question: “What can I do?” For the Ukraine Stories crew, the answer was simple: Tell true stories. Yet this simple answer opened up a complex world of reporting, testimonials, and on the ground volunteering. Since the project’s inception, Ukraine Stories has sought to explain the conflict on...
President’s Letter: Time of Hope, Time of Crisis
Volunteers have begun to return to service. Yet millions in Ukraine are now in harm’s way. By Glenn Blumhorst This is a hopeful time for the Peace Corps: On March 14, a group of Volunteers arrived in Lusaka, Zambia. Just over a week later, on March 23, Volunteers arrived in the Dominican Republic. They are the first to return to service overseas since March 2020, when Volunteers were evacuated from around the globe because of COVID-19. The contributions of Volunteers serving in Zambia will include partnering with communities to focus on food security and education, along with partnering on efforts...
Good News from Maryland: Returned Peace Corps Volunteers Will Now Get In-State Tuition
It’s a change long overdue. And advocacy from NPCA and dozens of returned Volunteers ensured support for bipartisan legislation signed into law in April. By Jonathan Pearson Far too often, Returned Peace Corps Volunteers are left behind at the state government level when it comes to benefits that are afforded others for their service to our nation. In the state of Maryland, a bill was just signed into law to address one of those inequities: who qualifies for in-state tuition. Marylanders seeking in-state tuition have to prove they have lived in the state for the past two years. Because...
Put Together Skill, Knowledge, and Commitment with Opportunities and Support
Part of the discussion on “Building a Community of Black RPCVs: Recruitment Challenges and Opportunities” Photo courtesy Sia Barbara Kamara By Sia Barbara Kamara Peace Corps Volunteer Liberia 1963–65 | Educational Consultant I live in Washington, D.C. But I grew up in what would be considered public housing in North Carolina. I graduated from Johnson C. Smith University, a historically Black college. The Peace Corps recruiter came to campus just before graduation. I said, Yes, if I can go to Africa. I graduated with a degree in mathematics and physics, and a minor in economics. My goal...
Susan Neyer Taught, and She Nurtured the Peace Corps Community in California, Nationally, and Beyond
She served as a Volunteer in the Philippines, trained Volunteers who served throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific. She was a leader of both the Northern California Peace Corps Association and National Peace Corps Association. Illustration by Edward Rooks By Steven Boyd Saum Soon after graduating Marquette University in Milwaukee, Susan Neyer left for Peace Corps service in the Philippines, working as a teacher trainer 1962–65. She earned a master’s in urban education from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and went back to Peace Corps, training future teachers in Hawaii and then visiting them in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. She returned to...
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program Was Supposed to Benefit Returned Volunteers. It Hasn’t.
So returned Volunteers are rallying to try to fix that. And NPCA is working with them to help. By Jonathan Pearson In October 2021, the U.S. Department of Education announced an overhaul of the troubled Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. Applicants who devote ten years of work in the public service sector (and make 120 qualifying student loan payments during that time) are eligible to have further loan payments forgiven. In a press release, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said the changes were an attempt to live up to the promise of the program and could impact more than 550,000 borrowers. But,...
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