Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s Hardball and a returned Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Swaziland, will host this year’s “The Promise of the Peace Corps Gala” which is organized by the National Peace Corps Association.
Matthews served in Swaziland from 1968 to 1970 as a trade development adviser. “The Peace Corps gets you out of your rut,” Matthews says. “It’s a great challenge as a young person to walk into a village and start relating to people.”
The Promise of the Peace Corps Gala is a keystone event during the 4-day weekend celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps. American singer-songwriter, Crystal Bowersox, will headline the evening’s musical entertainment. Her music speaks to the spirit of the Peace Corps through thought-provoking lyrics on the progress of the world and soulful, inspired rhythms.
Tickets are still available for the event which will be held at the Reagan International Building in Washington, DC and include dinner and drinks.
Other events during the weekend organized by the National Peace Corps Association include an Advocacy Day, Day of Service, a Global Leaders Panel, and an afternoon street festival. More information can be found here.
What is the session “Conversations: The Future of the Peace Corps” really about?
By Molly Mattessich
Tuesday May 31, 2011
The Global Community Project Competition is a $25,000 grant designed to quantify and demonstrate the continued service efforts of the community. Two semi-finalists will give live presentations at this session on how their project would use $25,000 to help solve a global issue. Then, the final winner will be announced at the Promise of the Peace Corps Gala and again during the Sunday closing ceremony.
For the second half of the session, NPCA has extended invitations to a number of country presidents and prominent US international leaders to speak about the impact of the Peace Corps and what they’d like to see for the next 50 years. NPCA has a verbal commitment from one past President and one sitting President. Some Country of Service groups will spend time with their Ambassadors over this weekend. This session will be a nice compliment to that experience.
The “Conversations” session will be held at the Warner Theater, 1299 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC on September 25, 2011. This session is the community’s opportunity to see a proposal for a third goal project and hear from prominent international leaders.
What are the other venues? Why is it so expensive? Where is my group meeting? Many of you have questions or comments about the way the NPCA events were conceptualized or organized for the 50th Anniversary year. NPCA is aware there are still questions regarding critical pieces of information about the weekend. To find out more about event locations, what will take place during each event, and more, please read the 50th Anniversary FAQ.
Ann Jimerson, RPCV Honduras, investigated the numerous ways in which RPCVs can share their stories during the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps. In the following months we will be sharing information with you to help you do just that. Here are three ways you can share your stories today.
Get on Ernie Zaremba’s 50th Anniversary Video Collage
Self described “digital nomad” Ernie Zaremba (Tanzania, 1964-66) is on a quest to capture on video the stories of RPCVs and the people they have touched. He and his wife (and camera operator) Helene have traveled the US and made several trips to Tanzania, prompting story sessions and reunions as they go. Visit Ernie’s Web site at http://gallery.me.com/erniezaremba#100234.
Check out some of his video stories on YouTube, typing in “ezaremba.”
Ernie is putting together a video collage of RPCV’s for the Peace Corps 50th Anniversary in Washington DC. Be part of the video collage. Contact Ernie at: [email protected] Ernie and Helene will be returning to Tanzania between May 16 – June 6. It would be best to contact them either before or after their trip to Tanzania. Contact them soon so you can be part of the collage. Look for their collage at the DC celebrations.
Take a friend to StoryCorps
StoryCorps’ mission is “to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives.” A facilitator helps you and a loved one record your own conversation. You go home with a CD with the audio recording of the interview and a copy is preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. You may have heard StoryCorps moments on Friday mornings on NPR. A recent search of the Library of Congress’ StoryCorps database for the term “Peace Corps” turned up almost 200 interviews. (Not all of these will be stories told by RPCVs, but each includes a reference to the Peace Corp.) But that was before StoryCorps’ Door-to-Door Department visited Madison, WI, to record at the “50 Years of Peace Corps in Africa” Conference in March 2011. Ways to get involved with StoryCorps:
Make an appointment for a 40-minute recording session at one of the permanent StoryBooths in New York City, Atlanta, or San Francisco.
Sign up for a session at a MobileBooth, an Airstream trailer outfitted with a recording studio that travels the country collecting stories.
As in Wisconsin, bring StoryCorps’ Door-to-Door services to your Peace Corps event, and record up to six 40-minute interviews per day. The service is costly, but if you can pool the funds, your stories will be professionally recorded and archived.
Download the Do-It-Yourself Instruction Guide and use StoryCorps’ online question generator to record stories at home. You won’t be ensconced in the Library of Congress, but you will preserve your tales for family and friends.
It doesn’t take long to figure out that service to the community does not end after a person’s two year commitment to the Peace Corps. We hear phenomenal stories about the work carried out by former staff members, RPCVs and PCVs daily.
It’s not too late for you to share your success story with the broader Peace Corps Community. Nominate an individual RPCV for the prestigious Sargent Shriver Distinguished Humanitarian Award. The winner will receive $1,000 and a pair of tickets to the Promise of the Peace Corps Gala. Read more here Nomination deadline June 3, 2011.
Enter your creative idea to fight global poverty. Your idea could win $5,000 plus a ticket to the 50th Anniversary Gala and a feature in WorldView magazine. NPCA, in partnership with The SEVEN Fund, invites Peace Corps volunteers to submit essays exploring first person experiences with small enterprise development solutions to poverty in the developing world. Find out more about contest rules. Essay contest deadline July 31, 2011.
We know that your actions help farmers, business owners, educators and community leaders worldwide. Last but not least NPCA invites your proposal for the inaugural global community project $25,000 grant. If you are searching for scaling or pilot funding this grant may be a perfect fit for your organization. Details available here. Proposal deadline June 3, 2011.
On March 1, 2011, current and returned Peace Corps Volunteers around the world (75 countries to be exact) are celebrating the spirit of the Peace Corps and its founding 50 years ago. Parties range in size from small potluck dinners to large scale events with hundreds of people.
The National Peace Corps Association wants to help everyone around the world, in every town, city, village, state and country where there is someone who has been impacted by the Peace Corps, to celebrate this very special day. That’s hy you can look for a Global House Party near you to join in solidarity with those around the world.
In keeping with the Peace Corps’ mission, the gatherings will also highlight important international development issues including the availability and access to food. The National Peace Corps Association has partnered with Oxfam America to provide educational resources and action steps that the Peace Corps Community can take to continue “making a difference.”
Standing on the steps of the University of Michigan’s Student Union in history’s shadow on October 14th in a light drizzle among a boisterous crowd at 2am, there was a palpable sense that this was a special moment and that the 50th Anniversary year had begun.The anniversary was beginning where Peace Corps started. In Ann Arbor, energized students dramatically answered presidential candidate John F. Kennedy’s impromptu challenge to international service lighting a spark that launched a movement that lead to the creation of the Peace Corps.Like that night 50 years ago, this past October 14th there was a crowd gathered in the rain, and there was uncertainty about exactly what was going to happen. Was this going to be a historic moment? Harris Wofford, one of the architects of the Peace Corps, answered succinctly, “Only if we make it so.”
Unlike other anniversary events, this golden anniversary celebration is designed to be much more than celebrating the past. It is not simply about big White Tents on the Mall, conferences with country updates, and a colorful parade of Peace Corps flags—although we will have that.
Rather, the anniversary events have been designed to help revitalize the Peace Corps in ways that enable it to make more progress in advancing its timeless mission of making a more peaceful and prosperous world.
It also has been designed so that individuals everywhere who value the Peace Corps can participate, in their own way and on their own terms.
We at the National Peace Corps Association hope very much that you can be part of the 50th anniversary celebrations.
