Worldview Magazine - Fall 2007 - (Page 3)

From the President FINAL GOAL Telling Congress how we can bring the world home n July 25, I testiﬁed before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the most talked about Peace Corps goal, the ird Goal of bringing the world back home. I urged that this was an opportune time to link the provision of substantial ﬁnancial resources to support outstanding ird Goal activities to plans to signiﬁcantly expand Peace Corps. anks to Peace Corps pioneer and former Senator Harris Woﬀord, I understand that our ird Goal was not simply to bring the world back home but to do so in ways that change how the United States interacts with the rest of the world. In accomplishing the ird Goal, we would fulﬁll President Kennedy’s initial vision of 100,000 volunteers a year and within a decade a million alumni would serve as a vocal and reliable constituency for a more cooperative U.S. foreign policy. us, there is a natural link between e ird Goal and National Peace Corps Association’s campaign of expanding Peace Corps and enhancing its impact. During this Senate hearing on the Volunteer Empowerment Act (S.732), many witnesses discussed a variety of provisions in legislation introduced by Senator, Presidential Candidate Chris Dodd (Dominican Republic 66-68) of Connecticut. Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter (India 66-68) talked about his 50-plus initiative and administrative eﬀorts to improve the medical clearance process. Former Peace Corps Director Mark Schneider shared his perspective on this legislation. Current Senegal Peace Corps volunteers Chuck Ludlum (Nepal 68-70) and Paula Hirschoﬀ (Kenya 67-69) addressed the challenges to service for 50-plus volunteers and oﬀered suggestions regarding how O by Kevin F. F. Quigley volunteers could participate in Peace Corps programming, staﬀ assessment and fundraising. In perhaps the most compelling testimony of the hearing, Peace Corps applicant Nicol Fiol Molina from San Juan, Puerto Rico described the likely 18-month application process and the considerable out-of-pocket expenses associated with her application, as well as her ongoing commitment to serve in Peace Corps. Given the potential impact on our community, I spoke speciﬁcally about Senator Dodd’s proposal to provide an additional $10 million for a competitive fund to support outstanding examples of projects that were bringing the world back home. If enacted, this would be the ﬁrst time in Peace Corps history that funds were set aside for this ird Goal purpose. Lack of ﬁnancial support is certainly can raise the proﬁle and impact of our bringing the world home eﬀorts, it will naturally attract greater U.S. attention to Peace Corps and thereby garner increased popular support and greater political and legislative support for the agency. F ollowing President’s Bush 2002 State of the Union pledge to double Peace Corps, there has not been a signiﬁcant and sustained eﬀort to do this. Now, as part of the lead-up to the 50th anniversary in 2011, is the opportune time to accomplish this. us, in my testimony I commended Senator Dodd for his legislation that would provide the authority for appropriations over the next four years that would ﬁnally enable a doubling of Peace Corps. In the next few months, NPCA will be launching a national campaign to ere is a natural link between e ird Goal and National Peace Corps Association’s campaign of expanding Peace Corps and enhancing its impact. one of the principal reasons that our community here at home has not done as well on the ird Goal as initially envisioned or as we aspired to do. Having these resources could make a major diﬀerence, and in my testimony I strongly supported this provision although some may argue that this provision could have the eﬀect of reducing resources available for putting volunteers in the ﬁeld. Without Congress directing Peace Corps to provide ﬁnancial resources for groupsponsored projects, our ird Goal eﬀorts are likely to always fall short of what is required. Furthermore, this “zero-sum” argument is short-sighted because if we expand Peace Corps and to improve its impact, especially as part of an eﬀort to restore U.S. standing in the world. is campaign will seek to raise this issue in the Presidential elections and work with the major parties’ candidates to ensure that this is an important aspect of their international agendas. For a report on the July 25 hearing, including copies of testimony, please see our website, www.peacecorpsconnect.org. As always, I welcome your comments on these ideas or any other matters related to our Peace Corps community. Kevin F. F. Quigley is NPCA president. He served in ailand from 1976 to 1979. Please send your comments to kevin@rpcv.org. WorldView 3 http://www.peacecorpsconnect.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Worldview Magazine - Fall 2007

Worldview - Fall 2007
Contents
Presiden'ts Note
Lafayette Park
Introduction
Interview
Commentary
Editor's Note
Letter from Rumbek, Sudan
Listings
Letter from Yekaterinburg, Russia
Letter from Codaesti, Romania
Letter from Catia La Mar, Venezuela
Letter from Gumare, Botswana
Letter from Ridder, Kazakhstan
Letter from Rincon, Cape Verde
Letter from Port Au Prince
Another Country
Community News
Giving Back
Opinion

Worldview Magazine - Fall 2007

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