WorldView | Fall 2020
JFK at the Union: The Impromptu Campaign Speech that Launched the Peace Corps
Well after midnight on October 14, 1960, presidential candidate John F. Kennedy arrived at the steps of the Michigan Union. Legend has it that he first proposed the idea of the Peace Corps here. The truth is a little more complex, but far more interesting. By James Tobin Senator John F. Kennedy’s motorcade rolled into […]
Making Our Mark
President’s Letter: Now is a time to commit to building a legacy of inclusive peace. By Glenn Blumhorst Photo by Summer Gardner / Black RPCV in the DMV What a year this has been! What began as what many of us hoped might be a year of “perfect” 20/20 vision to achieve our new year’s resolutions, business plans, and interpersonal […]
What Guides Us?
Equality and justice. Empathy and compassion. Teaching health or English, working in youth development or fisheries, nurturing enterprises or advising in agriculture. Building friendships to help the world understand our complex and troubled nation, bringing understanding of a wider world back home. Navigating lives as individuals and parents, children and siblings, citizens and friends in a time of need. Colt Bradley calls North […]
From the Editor: This Time
Peace Corps teaches us a new way to think about time. Pandemic does, too. So what do we do with this? By Steven Boyd Saum ACROSS THE DECADES and countries and communities where tens of thousands of Peace Corps Volunteers have served, there are a few things we share. One: a new grasp of time. Be it seasons […]
Eight town halls and a global ideas summit to reimagine the Peace Corps for a changed world. What are the big ideas for the agency, the National Peace Corps Association, and the Peace Corps community going forward?
Views from around the world — and from returned Volunteers across the country who have served over the decades. An overview of the summit and town halls. And answers to how we connect Peace Corps to the uncertain future we’re making.
Introduction by Glenn Blumhorst
Kul Chandra Gautam: Relevance of the Peace Corps in the post-COVID World
A host country perspective from Nepal. Remarks from the July 2020 global ideas summit: Peace Corps Connect to the Future. By Kul Chandra Gautam On July 18, 2020, National Peace Corps Association hosted Peace Corps Connect to the Future, a global ideas summit. NPCA invited three winners of the Harris Wofford Global Citizen Award to share […]
Luis Argueta: Now is a Time to Recognize Privilege — and Common Ties
A host country perspective from Guatemala. Remarks from the July 2020 global ideas summit: Peace Corps Connect to the Future. By Luis Argueta On July 18, 2020, National Peace Corps Association hosted Peace Corps Connect to the Future, a global ideas summit. NPCA invited three winners of the Harris Wofford Global Citizen Award to share their […]
Mohamud Said: The Main Aim of Peace Corps is to Empower People
A host country perspective from Kenya. Remarks from the July 18, 2020 global ideas summit: Peace Corps Connect to the Future. By Dr. Mohamud Sheikh Nurein Said On July 18, 2020, National Peace Corps Association hosted Peace Corps Connect to the Future, a global ideas summit. NPCA invited three winners of the Harris Wofford Global […]
Peace Corps Today
Address by the Director of the Peace Corps to the July 2020 global ideas summit: Peace Corps Connect to the Future By Jody Olsen On July 18, 2020, National Peace Corps Association hosted Peace Corps Connect to the Future, a global ideas summit. NPCA invited Peace Corps Director Jody Olsen to speak. She was introduced […]
From Ideas to Action: Reimagining a Peace Corps for the Future
Evacuated Peace Corps Volunteers and one with half a century of leadership experience in conversation. The big question: How can we transform this moment in Peace Corps history? On July 18, 2020, National Peace Corps Association hosted Peace Corps Connect to the Future, a global ideas summit. Four Volunteers joined NPCA President Glenn Blumhorst in conversation […]
Features
African Americans and the Future of the Peace Corps
Recruitment, support — and what next? It’s a conversation we’ve had again and again. Here are some ideas, insights, and hard truths. ON SEPTEMBER 15, 2020, THE CONSTITUENCY FOR AFRICA convened a group of past, present, and future Peace Corps leaders for the annual Ronald H. Brown African Affairs series. It’s a timely and needed conversation […]
The West is Burning
My first season as a wildland firefighter By Colin McLaren as told to Steven Boyd Saum Photo by Colin McLaren By October 2020, wildfires in the western U.S. burned an area larger than the state of New Jersey. A story from the front lines. Typically when we’re out on a fire, we work 16 hour […]
Hide Not Your Sorrow
A phone call and a lesson from Niger in the time of COVID By William F.S. Miles Photo: Faralu, a friend in Niger who reached out to the author to make sure his family was OK. Early in our new COVID-19 era last spring, a phone call and forwarded WhatsApp message from near my old Peace […]
COVID-19: Putting a Face on the ‘Invisible Enemy’
Making SARS-CoV-2 tangible helps demystify the challenges we face with the COVID-19 pandemic By Markian Hawryluk From her laboratory in the far western reaches of Montana, Elizabeth Fischer is trying to help people see what they’re up against in COVID-19. Over the past three decades, Fischer, 58, and her team at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories, […]
Departments
Peace Corps 60th Anniversary
We’re marking the events in 1960 and 1961 that led to the creation of the Peace Corps. And we seek inspiration in how we can reimagine Peace Corps for a changed world. By WorldView Staff At 2 a.m. on October 14 the Peace Corps community kicked off 60th anniversary celebrations with a once-a-decade gathering: We returned (virtually) […]
Peace Corps Viet Nam: Launching in 2022
An historic partnership years in the making By Steven Boyd Saum The news broke July 10: inking of an agreement between Viet Nam’s Ministry of Education and Training and Peace Corps to formally establish a Peace Corps program in English education. The occasion also marked 25 years of diplomatic relations between the United States and the Socialist Republic of Viet […]
First Volunteers return to service in January 2021
The Eastern Caribbean will be the first to welcome back Volunteers. By WorldView Staff The big news out of Peace Corps HQ on October 14: Volunteers will begin returning to service in January 2021. The Eastern Caribbean will be the first to welcome back Volunteers. “Our decision to return to the field follows months of extensive preparations and review, and I am […]
Design concept for the national Peace Corps Commemorative has been approved
The Peace Corps Commemorative is expected to be completed and dedicated in 2023. Just in time for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Peace Corps, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA), at its September 17 meeting, voted unanimously to approve the design concept for the national Peace Corps Commemorative. Designed and presented […]
A First for Puerto Rico
Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in San Juan has become the first Puerto Rican college to be part of the Peace Corps Prep program for undergraduate students. By WorldView Staff Image by iStock The certification program strengthens students’ professional and intercultural skills, combining academic preparation with volunteering and an entrepreneurial project in areas such as health, education, the environment, and community economic development, among others. Alumni […]
Is virtual volunteering an idea whose time has come?
Testing the waters — and exploring an idea that a commission on national service says will open up opportunities to more diverse and talentted candidates. By WorldView Staff Is virtual volunteering an idea whose time has come? It’s a proposal in the report issued by the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service […]
Reed Hastings and Patty Quillin Give $120 Million to Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Investing in the future: It’s the largest gift of its kind. By WorldView Staff Graves Hall, Morehoiuse College. Photo by Thomson200, CC0 via Wikimedia Commons “THIS IS THE TIME to do some-thing bigger,” Netflix Founder Reed Hastings said when the news broke in June. How big? He and wife Patty Quillin announced that they […]
10,000 Meals: World Central Kitchen and Hurricane Laura
All in a day’s work for the team with World Central Kitchen By Steven Boyd Saum Indeed, 10,000 meals is all in a day’s work for the team with World Central Kitchen (WCK) working in Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura, helping feed refugees and first responders. “A very long (but good!) day,” says Daniella […]
Three Partnerships to Bolster Voting, Democracy, and Service
At a time of great turmoil in our nation, NPCA is working with with nonpartisan groups to foster free and fair elections, to encourage discussion and understanding across political divides, and to underscore the importance of national service. By WorldView Staff Power the Polls We believe in empowering people to shape their own futures. This election […]
Story Slammers Wanted
The New York City Peace Corps Association hosts the ninth season of their Story Slams — all virtual this year. So you can tell and hear stories from everywhere. Still to come on November 19: “Global Reentry: Evacuation Stories” from Volunteers forced to leave the communities where they were serving last March. This season also included stories on […]
Peace Corps News: Q&A with Senior Advisor Darlene Grant
Each Generation Must Do Its Part
Darlene Grant on her task to help shape “a more just and equitable Peace Corps” Illustration by Edward Rooks At a time of national reckoning with racial injustice — and the Peace Corps has heard calls from Volunteers to do better in confronting systemic racism as it affects the agency — a new top […]
NPCA News: Leaders in Humanitarian Work and Community Service
Announcing the Winner of the 2020 Sargent Shriver Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Service: Matthew Paneitz
For nearly two decades he has partnered with Guatemalans to address injustices against indigenous peoples. By NPCA Staff Photo of Matthew Paneitz courtesy Long Way Home National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) is pleased to announce the winner of the 2020 Sargent Shriver Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Service: Matthew Paneitz. The Shriver Award is presented annually by NPCA to Returned Peace […]
Meet the 2020 winners of the Loret Miller Ruppe Award: Friends of Korea and Friends of Tonga
Recognizing contributions to community service by two groups founded by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers By NPCA Staff National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 Loret Miller Ruppe Award for Outstanding Community Service: Friends of Korea and Friends of Tonga. The awards were presented on September 25 at the annual meeting of […]
Advocacy: Virtual District Meetings
Working for a Peace Corps to Which I Can Return
A Volunteer evacuated from Mongolia on work to help members of Congress understand the value of Peace Corps service — and what they can do to help By Daniel Lang The summer of 2019 I was training to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mongolia. More politically involved peers raised concerns that we […]
NPCA Affiliate Groups
Gratitude to the Peace Corps Community
Thank you to the groups and individuals who have supported evacuated Volunteers and their communities around the world during this time of crisis. By NPCA Staff In the months since the unprecedented global evacuation of Peace Corps Volunteers, National Peace Corps Association Affiliate Groups across the country have been generous with time and support they […]
In Memoriam
Man of Peace and Justice: John Lewis
In these most challenging times for our nation, we have lost an icon in the struggle for racial justice in America. By Jonathan Pearson Photo of John Lewis in 1965 by Stanley Wolfson, World Telegram staff photographer / Public domain The Peace Corps community mourns the loss of Congressman John Lewis, who died today. As a […]
In Memoriam: Former Peace Corps Director Joseph Blatchford
Third director of the agency, he led during turbulent times By Steven Boyd Saum The Peace Corps community mourns the loss of Joseph H. Blatchford, third director of the Peace Corps. He took on that role at a time that heralded, he said, a “new world and a different America from 1961” when the Peace […]
Sorrow and Gratitude: Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg
She was committed to justice and equality. And a Peace Corps Volunteer helped the world see her in a new way. By Steven Boyd Saum Photo of Ruth Ginsburg by Steve Petteway, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States “Ruth obviously changed the country, but she did it by convincing people to […]
In Memoriam: Walter Carrington
He led Peace Corps programs, served as a top diplomat, and achieved important milestones in civil rights. By Jonathan Pearson One of the first country directors appointed by Sargent Shriver in 1961, Walter C. Carrington led Peace Corps programs in Tunisia, Senegal, and Sierra Leone in the 1960s before serving as Regional Director for Africa. But that was […]
Letters Fall 2020: WorldView Readers Write
Letters Fall 2020: WorldView Readers Write
Unprecedented Times We set aside the standard magazine playbook for our summer edition. We’re happy to bring back your letters — to continue the conversation.Write us: [email protected] I’m writing to congratulate and thank you for the current issue of WorldView. It’s the most powerful thing in print I’ve seen from Peace Corps since I received my acceptance letter in […]
One more thing.
Where We’re Going
We’ve got some learning and some work to do. That’s true for the Peace Corps community. For this nation. For this planet. We’re facing hard questions and grappling with systemic injustices that have been centuries in the making. We envision a vibrant and united community, here at home and around the world. What we do know: Working together as partners is essential. Rok Locksley is […]
About WorldView
WorldView magazine brings you stories from and about the greater Peace Corps community, with connections to the wider world. We feature news, profiles, commentary and analysis, politics, arts, and ideas with a global perspective. We publish quarterly in print, with digital features throughout the year.
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Current edition: Fall 2020
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We welcome pitches and, on rare occasions, completed pieces. What are we looking for? Stories that speak to the Peace Corps community. That might be focused on work connected to Peace Corps, returned Volunteers, communities and countries where Volunteers have served, connections to experiences and work in the U.S. and globally. We’re interested in ideas and impact and stories that connect with readers on a human level.
About the Editor
Steven Boyd Saum is editor of WorldView. For more than two decades he has edited award-winning magazines in the San Francisco Bay Area. His journalism, essays, and fiction have appeared in Orion, The Believer, Creative Nonfiction, The Kenyon Review, Christian Science Monitor, on KQED FM, and in other magazines and newspapers in the U.S. and internationally. He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine, where he also directed the Fulbright program and hosted a radio show. Send a letter to the editor: [email protected].
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