12:00 – 1:15 pm: RPCV Brainstorming: Elevate the Third Goal

Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) are invited to participate in this discussion forum led by Peace Corps agency staff to brainstorm ideas and best practices to further promote and elevate the Third Goal. Here’s your chance to share your thoughts on what you do and what you need to “bring the world back home.” You are welcome to bring a brown bag lunch. This activity will be held in the Library Classroom.

Facilitator: Coming soon!

1:00 pm: Registration begins

After registration, guests are invited to visit the Around the World exhibits (multimedia room) or view the continuously streaming videos (classroom) from Peace Corps and the National Peace Corps Association. This activity will be held in the Library Auditorium.

2:00 – 2:45 pm: Speakers Program

Speakers:

• Keynote: Becca Stevens, Thistle Farms
• Peace Corps: Carrie Hessler-Radelet, Deputy Director
• National Peace Corps Association: Kevin Quigley, President
• Tennessee Returned Peace Corps Volunteers: David Keiser, President

3:00 – 3:45 pm: Break-out session: Engaging RPCVs in the Classroom

The Third Goal of the Peace Corps is to educate people in the United States about the countries and cultures in which volunteers have served. In this session, you’ll hear about free resources that support educators, returned Peace Corps volunteers and others to bring the world back home to classrooms and communities. Learn how you can tap into Speakers Match and Coverdell World Wise Schools materials, connect with serving and returned volunteers and more! This activity will be held in the Library Auditorium.

Facilitator: Anne Baker, Vice President, National Peace Corps Association

Panelists:

• Nicole Harper, Botswana 1994-1996
• Others coming soon!

4:00 – 4:45 pm: Break-out session: Peace Corps through the Eyes of Family and Friends

Do you have a family member or friend who is serving in the Peace Corps? Or who is contemplating service in the future? Come to this session to hear another perspective on Peace Corps: from friends or family of serving Peace Corps volunteers. We will discuss practical issues such as staying in touch, providing support and other concerns, in addition to hearing different takes on the experience. This activity will be held in the Library Auditorium.

Facilitator: David Keiser, President, Tennessee Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

Panelists:

• John Harris (parent of Papua New Guinea volunteer Angela Harris)
• John Sontag (grandparent of Ukraine volunteer Chris Powers)

Throughout the Event

1:00 – 5:00 pm: Around the World Exhibits

Stop by the Multimedia Room and visit each table in the Around the World exhibits to learn more about the Peace Corps experience and the countries served by volunteers.

Peace Corps Office of Third Goal and Returned Volunteer Services
Peace Corps Regional Recruitment Office
National Peace Corps Association
Tennessee Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
Around the World Displays

• Botswana: Nicole Harper 1994-1996
• Others: Coming soon!

We will have signage for each table, but otherwise invite you to fill the tables with whatever display you wish. This is a wonderful opportunity to share pictures and treasures with future volunteers, family members of serving volunteers, educators and the public. Other items to bring could include cloth, maps, project-specific items and handicrafts. Feel free to wear your favorite traditional dress. The goal for the display is to have some interesting Show and Tell items that initiate conversations with the people who attend. I’ll leave that up to your imaginations!

In the meantime, we need to know who is interested and which country you plan to represent. Please fill out the following sign-up form by June 3. Sign-Up Form

The National Peace Corps Association and the Peace Corps are kicking off the next 50 years of Peace Corps by focusing on the “Third Goal”: bringing the world back home. One way we are doing this is through a series of four Third Goal Expos – free events open to the Peace Corps community, educators, and the general public.  Designed in collaboration with local NPCA member groups and Regional Recruitment Offices, these expos will showcase the countries and cultures where Peace Corps Volunteers have served, highlight Volunteers’ experiences and projects, and introduce educators to free resources to bring the world into their classrooms via the World Wise Schools program.

Save the dates on your calendar to attend one or more of these exciting Expos:

June 23 – Nashville, TN
July 1 – Minneapolis, MN
September 22 – Providence, RI
September 29 – Los Angeles, CA

Complete Expo details and free registration will be available shortly on the NPCA website.

Please let him know that we appreicte this by sending him a thank you letter. https://cohen.house.gov/contact-me

We raised $1,100 for projects of Peace Corps Volunteers in Tennessee!

Four amazing bands, arm wrestling tournament hosted by GNARLLY and a photo booth were all highlights of the evening.

If you couldn’t make it, you can still  enjoy the pictures.

Stay tuned for more TNRPCV activities…

Online VIP Tickets are on sale now for $10.  Order now before they run out otherwise they are $15 at the door.

Happy Holidays Everyone!  We had a great time at last weekend’s potluck with some pretty great white elephant gifts and awesome food.  Cheap chicken parts from Kazakhstan had one of the most interesting back stories (ask Roger Hume to tell you sometime) and the poppy seed roll was out of sight.  We also sold all of our calendars which is a first for us which is good, but at the same time, we apologize if you weren’t able to get one this year.  If you really want one, you can still get them directly from the source in Wisconsin at www.rpcvcalendar.org.  Thanks for coming and have a great holiday season. 

Maborok Said!

Dave Keiser

      50^th Anniversary Gathering Spotlights Critical Corps Needs

Four Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVS) from Knoxville,  Knoxville and Nashville are back  home following 50^th Anniversary celebrations in Washington, DC.  Wendy Seaward (Lesotho), Sean Keegan (Chile), Angela Harris (Papua New Guinea) and Joshua Gwinn (Burkina Faso) [photo] went to the Nation’s Capital with a message:  Support legislation to honor and strengthen the Peace Corps’ mission of promoting peace and friendship around the world. They met with Representatives Diane Black, Jim Cooper, John Duncan, Chuck Fleischman, Phil Roe, and the staffs of   Senators Llamar Alexander and Bob Corker.

The Returned Peace Corps volunteers from Tennessee were among 700 who committed themselves to participate in a September 22^nd Capitol Hill advocacy day, organized by the National Peace Corps Association, the nation’s leading non-profit organization supporting Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and the Peace Corps community.  September 22^nd marked fifty years to the day of final congressional passage and signing of the Peace Corps Act in 1961.  More than 6,000 attended Peace Corps 50^th celebrations from Sept. 21 – 25.

Advocates urged continued strong support for funding of the Peace Corps, noting the positive role Peace Corps volunteers play in U.S. outreach to the world and emphasizing the forgotten dividend and many domestic benefits RPCVs provide to communities here at home.  Earlier this year Peace Corps received a $26 million cut to its $400 million budget.  Advocates are seeking to forestall further cuts.  Some 8,655 Peace Corps volunteers are currently in the field – an increase of nearly 1,000 from a year ago and the highest number in 40 years.  Since 1961, more than 200,000 citizens have served as Peace Corps volunteers in nearly 140 different countries.

Advocates urged bi-partisan support and cooperation to ensure passage of the Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act, designed to strengthen the agency’s training and response to volunteers serving overseas who are subjected to physical or sexual assault.  Since this issue received much attention earlier this year, Congress, the Peace Corps and victims advocacy groups have taken significant steps forward to address the concern. 

“I have a special interest in this area as a woman in our group was experiencing assaults at her assignment, and our Peace Corps Country Director would not address her safety issue.   Most of the serving volunteers in Lesotho at the time wrote letters to DC and had the country director removed,” stated Wendy Seaward. 

Congress is also considering legislation to authorize the creation of a commemorative work near the National Mall to mark the historic significance of the founding of the Peace Corps in 1961.  This project would use no tax payer funds.   

C 

http://karla-offscript.blogspot.com/

By Jonathan Pearson on Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

We’re hearing good things from around the country as members of the Peace Corps community are reaching out and scheduling district office meetings during the National Peace Corps Association’s first-ever locally based advocacy mobilization during the August congressional recess.

Nashville Tennessee is just one of the places where this is happening.  ”RPCVs are active, engaged and responsible citizens who vote,” says Angie Harris, one of the lead organizers of the local advocacy initiative of the Tennessee Returned Peace Corps Volunteers.  ”We want our government officials and our local communities to be aware of the importance of the Peace Corps and how serving as a volunteer has impacted our personal and professional lives in a positive way.”

About a half-dozen RPCVs came together last month to start mapping out a meeting strategy.  The group reviewed materials provided by the NPCA and divided responsibilities for seeking and scheduling meetings.  From Nashville to Jackson to Memphis, meetings are being sought with at least half the members of the Tennessee congressional delegation.

While the group will be making specific requests on Peace Corps funding, safety and security legislation, and Peace Corps commemorative legislation, basic education will also be part of the effort.  ”We know as RPCVs that promoting the Third Goal  (bringing the world back home) is an integral part of promoting the values of the Peace Corps,” said Harris.  ”Tennessee RPCVs want our representatives to know about the global work that volunteers do as well as the service that RPCVs continue to do at home.  And, we want to acknowledge and thank our representatives who have supported the Peace Corps.”

Congratulations to Angie and fellow Tennessee RPCVs Susanne Bennett, Evan Campa, Hope Collins, Dave Keiser, and Sheila Denemark for their local leadership in advancing district meeting advocacy efforts.  It’s an endeavor that is much more than raising awareness about their personal volunteer experiences.  As Harris notes, “Advocating for the Peace Corps is important to us because we want other Americans to have the same opportunities as we did to serve as volunteers.”

http://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/2011/08/august-featured-advocates-tennessee-rpcvs/