Peace Corps News

Senator Dodd introduces the Peace Corps Improvement and Expansion Act of 2009

On June 25 Senator Chris Dodd introduced the Peace Corps Improvement and Expansion Act of 2009 authorizing funding to double the number of volunteers within three years.

"Inventiveness and duty: two qualities that don’t often go together. But the Peace Corps is the result of just such a combination. It has strengthened our nation, improved the world, and stands today as one of the signal accomplishments of the 20th century. Nothing has meant more in my life, or in the lives of so many others. To those who know and love the Peace Corps, reform is an uncomfortable subject. After all, we don’t want to destroy what has made this institution so remarkable and unique. There wouldn’t be a Peace Corps if JFK had stuck to the script in Ann Arbor. There wouldn’t be a Peace Corps if thousands of students, acting on their own initiative, hadn’t caught his attention with their movement. There might not be a Peace Corps if Sargent Shriver had listened to the respectable voices of caution. The Peace Corps is unlike any other organ of our government because of its uniquely grassroots origin. And we can’t treat it like any other organ of our government. So the Peace Corps Improvement and Expansion Act of 2009 does not include a list of mandates. It does not micromanage. Instead, it asks those who have written this remarkable success story – from the Director to managers and country directors to current and returned volunteers – to serve once more by undertaking a thorough assessment of the Peace Corps and developing a comprehensive strategic plan for reforming and revitalizing the organization."

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Congresswoman Nita Lowey of New York announces on Chris Matthews "Hardball" that she will be supporting the $450 million appropriation for the Peace Corps

On June 16 Congresswoman Nita Lowey of New York announced on Chris Matthews Hardball that she will be supporting the $450 million appropriation for the Peace Corps

Matthews: "Coming up, funding for the U.S. Peace Corps. We'll talk about why Congress and the president need to fulfill President Kennedy's vision, and by the way, Barack Obama's promise, to double the size of the Peace Corps. So, Congresswoman, you have the ball in your hand. Are they going to do good things on the Hill for my old organization and Maureen's old organization?"

Lowey: "Now that I know that you were a former Peace Corps person, of course I will. But, of course, there are members like Sam Farr and Congressman Petri and others who are also Peace Corps alumnae. So I am going to-and you're the first to announce it-increase it to $450 million, which will expand the Peace Corps to 20 more countries. We now have just a little under 8,000 volunteers around the world. And I am thrilled to be in a position where I can do this, and I'm sure Maureen is delighted."

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Join Us Mr. President!

"We will double the size of the Peace Corps by its 50th anniversary in 2011. And we'll reach out to other nations to engage their young people in similar programs, so that we work side by side to take on the common challenges that confront all humanity," said Barack Obama during his campaign.

On June 13, Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and Friends of the Peace Corps came together in Washington DC to rally and to march to the White House to tell the President we remember his promise to double the Peace Corps. Read our photo essay of the rally and Nepal RPCV Laurence Leamer's commentary on what RPCVs are doing to build a bold, new Peace Corps.

Read our photo essay on the rally and march to the White House in support of a bold new Peace Corps.

PCVs peak at 11,000 under Obama Budget

Al Kamen writes: "The Obama budget is giving Peace Corps devotees major agita. Despite Obama's past boosterism, it appears that the agency's proposed budget is up only 10 percent next year and that the number of volunteers is projected to rise by 20 percent, to 9,000, by 2012. It peaks at 11,000 by the end of 2016, short of the doubling Obama talked about by 2012."

"We will double the size of the Peace Corps by its 50th anniversary in 2011. And we'll reach out to other nations to engage their young people in similar programs, so that we work side by side to take on the common challenges that confront all humanity." - Barack Obama, December 5, 2007

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President Obama has asked Congress to provide Peace Corps with a 10% increase in its appropriation for FY2010

"We will double the size of the Peace Corps by its 50th anniversary in 2011. And we'll reach out to other nations to engage their young people in similar programs, so that we work side by side to take on the common challenges that confront all humanity." - Barack Obama, December 5, 2007

What is increasingly apparent is that at its top levels, the Obama administration does not realize that it has reneged on the President's fervent campaign pledge. I know how unlikely that sounds, but it is the truth, and Congressman Howard Berman has done the President an immense service. If the Peace Corps is able to reinvent itself for the 21st century, Berman will deserve a place not simply in the history of the organization but in a new American presence in the world. Obama has a plate piled to overfilling with an endless heaping of intransigent problems, and it is understandable why he has not paid attention to the Peace Corps. But the time has come in the next few weeks when he can ensure this bold new Peace Corps will be a reality. The first thing we should all do is to call the White House at 202 456-1111 between 9 and 5 and tell the operator that we support a bold, new Peace Corps for the new century. Read the rest of Laurence Leamer's article.

Peace Corps' Roadmap for the Future

John Coyne writes: President Obama has in his hands the Peace Corps Transition Team document "Peace Corps Roadmap" telling the president what should be done to increase and improve the agency. The twenty-page transition document was written by his own team, sent to the Peace Corps after the election and before the president was sworn in. This impressive piece of work manages to be both positive about the Peace Corps and its role in the world, and yet outlines the problems of the agency and makes suggestions on how the president can improve the Peace Corps so that more Americans are able to serve our country. The Transition Team document is sitting on President Obama’s White House desk. It has been (so far) unread by the president. Would you like to read it? Peace Corps Online has the document below. Read it now.

With Twenty Countries Requesting Volunteers, Peace Corps Needs a Complete Top-Down Examination on Where to Send PCVs

At a time when the Obama administration is seeking to repair the image of the United States around the world, an estimated 20 nations are ready to accept Peace Corps workers. But the agency can't afford to start new programs in all of them. And despite the Peace Corps' still potent image as a symbol of American idealism, reformers say the organization must make fundamental changes to meet modern diplomatic and technological needs. There is also, they say, a reluctance to consider broader foreign policy goals when deciding where to send volunteers. It is a stance that many say undermines the Corps' mission: An organization dedicated to demonstrating America's commitment to understanding other cultures operates in only two Arab countries, Jordan and Morocco. On a strategic level, reformers say, the Peace Corps needs to rethink where it sends volunteers. The organization is adamantly apolitical, and volunteers do not want to be used for short-term foreign policy objectives. But many officials said the Peace Corps is missing an opportunity to improve relations in critical regions, while keeping volunteers in areas where such people-to-people diplomacy is no longer needed.

Byron Battle, the country director in Mexico and former director in Mali, wishes the Peace Corps would expand to India, Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, Indonesia and - when it's deemed safe - to Pakistan. Other officials would add Vietnam and Brazil to the list. Mark Schneider, who directed the Peace Corps during the last two years of the Clinton administration, hopes volunteers will be sent back to Haiti, where security worries forced the suspension of the Peace Corps there in 2005. "You've got to make sure that the places they're living and working make sense," Schneider said. Meanwhile, others wonder why the Peace Corps is still in Caribbean vacation spots, or in Romania and Bulgaria - both of which are now in the European Union, and could look closer to home for developmental help. The Peace Corps sends English teachers to China, but Strauss believes that China - which owns a great deal of US debt - should be able to pay for the teachers, many of whom work at universities. "I am a firm believer in Peace Corps, but I am not a firm believer that Peace Corps needs to be in every one of the places it is, or that it's an effective use of this very limited amount of money," Strauss said in an interview from Madagascar, where he now is a business consultant. Read more.

The Peace Corps Model for Mexico is to Send Older Specialized Volunteers

This is the new face of the Peace Corps: older - often retired - volunteers, many with years of professional training or advanced degrees, who work with foreign government agencies to advance environmental and scientific goals on their own. Launched in 2005, the Peace Corps Mexico program is a prototype, supporters say, of what the volunteer program should be in many parts of the world. The average age of a volunteer in Mali, where the Boston-born Battle was also country director, was 24. In Mexico, it is 48 (including one 79-year-old), the result of increased Peace Corps recruitment through professional organizations and the AARP. Under the Mexico plan, the country's government reviewed the resumes of Peace Corps-approved applicants, and selected a team of economists and ecologists to work with its own environmental protection agencies. The Mexico program requires five years' experience - and, preferably, a master's degree - for participation. While volunteers perform some field work - married couple Ben and Buffy Lenth, both Colorado ecologists, routinely go into the Sierra Gorda mountains to conduct environmental tests - the Mexico-based volunteers spend much time in offices, helping Mexican officials run their own programs. Read more.

Ex-EPA engineer Paul Ruesch is getting his hands dirty in Mexico, and loving it

Running hand augers and sampling oil-soaked soil as a Peace Corp volunteer has energized the former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency engineer. In the midst of a two-year stint in Mexico -- the Peace Corps´ first in that country -- Ruesch has shed his white-collar duties at EPA for a more hands-on experience. Ruesch, 36, and a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, is one of 25 volunteers advising Mexican businesses and government officials. Instead of organizing conferences about industrial byproducts from the EPA´s Chicago office, Ruesch spends his days at landfills and wastewater treatment plants. Of late, he´s in Leon in central Mexico helping that region´s leather and tanning industries reduce their environmental impact. Ruesch´ s main role is as teacher. He also assists Mexican co-workers on project bids. "When we win them, I help them select the appropriate equipment, buy it and then show them how to use it," he said. Ruesch, now fluent in Spanish after starting from scratch, will leave behind the equipment and, hopefully, pass along some know-how to colleagues, including scientists at the oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or PEMEX. Before Mexico, Ruesch´s travels abroad opened his eyes "to environmental conditions which made the problems I was working on back home pale in comparison." Mexico´s small, dry and remote landfills don´t generate much leachate or pose great risks to drinking water. Yet, Ruesch said, there is little oversight on where and how these disposal sites operate. More eye opening, though, are the large groups of pepenedores, or garbage pickers, that sift through trash on the working face of Mexican landfills, separating anything that can be reused or sold. "It is not uncommon to see whole families dedicated to this practice [and] specialize in one particular commodity. The others working a particular landfill will respect each other´s domain and not touch the materials that they know another family is recovering," he said. Ruesch´s presence on the Peace Corps team has aided Mexico´s National Council on Science and Technology, too. The council and U.S. EPA are collaborating on a number of projects, thanks to Ruesch, said Hector Raul Pacheco-Vega, senior researcher at the council´s Leon office. Read more.

Peace Corps/Kenya Program Reopening

After a four-month hiatus due to unrest after elections in December, a group of 24 Volunteers arrived in Nairobi on June 10. All of the returning Volunteers had been serving in Kenya when the instability began and the Peace Corps program was temporarily suspended. In announcing the return, Director Tschetter said, "We are absolutely delighted to see Peace Corps Volunteers return to Kenya. I visited the Volunteers in Kenya last summer, and I know the outstanding work they were doing and the goodwill and friendships they had developed in their Kenyan host communities. The Peace Corps has a deep relationship with the Kenyan people and we look forward to resuming our partnerships, particularly through this period of recovery."

A group of over 40 new Peace Corps Volunteers will be arriving in November, 2008, and focusing on education, small enterprise development, and ICT. A subsequent group of over 30 public heath Volunteers will arrive in June 2009. As a result of preliminary discussions with the Government of Kenya, the Peace Corps is also exploring the expansion of its youth-related programming.

Since 1965, more than 5,000 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in Kenya. In addition to the deaf education program, Volunteers have worked in the areas of education, small business development, and health and HIV/AIDS prevention. To learn more about the Peace Corps/Kenya, visit the Where Do Volunteers Go? web page.

Peace Corps/Kenya had a total of 144 Volunteers serving at the time of the elections in December, 2007. During the initial post-election unrest, Volunteers were consolidated in a variety of safe locations. On February 5, 2007, the Peace Corps temporarily suspended its program in Kenya due to the growing security concerns. Read more.

Kenyan Prime Minister Visits Peace Corps Headquarters

Peace Corps Director Ronald A. Tschetter welcomed the newly-appointed Prime Minister of Kenya, Raila Amolo Odinga, to address the Peace Corps staff as part of the Loret Miller Ruppe Speakers Series. The series is a forum for distinguished individuals to speak about issues related to the Peace Corps' mission, such as volunteerism, international peace and development, and public service.

The Prime Minister reaffirmed the Kenyan government's partnership with the Peace Corps, and joined in celebrating the return of Volunteers to his country. "Kenya has developed immensely because of the Peace Corps," said Prime Minister Odinga. "I see the Peace Corps as part of a bigger cooperation between Kenya and the United States. The Peace Corps has united the American people with the people of Kenya. I have had the opportunity to meet some Peace Corps Volunteers...they work with a lot of dedication."

Said Peace Corps Director Tschetter of the recent return of Volunteers to Kenya, "I am delighted to say that 24 Volunteers arrived in Kenya last week, and they are already back at work. This November, over 40 new Volunteers will arrive in Kenya, and we are working to have the program back up to capacity as quickly as we can."

Prime Minister Odinga also spoke about the unrest in Kenya following elections in December of 2007, and how the Kenyan people are now working together to move the country forward. "I want to extend a message of hope and welcome," he said. "We deeply express our thanks to the United States for the assistance that they have given us. By getting involved they have demonstrated that they are really true friends. We are ready for business again, Kenya is safe once again." Read more.

Peace Corps Returns to Rwanda

In 1994, the Peace Corps officially closed its program in Rwanda due to political instability in the country. At the invitation of the Government of Rwanda, Peace Corps will re-establish its presence in Rwanda this year and will play a role in assisting the government to meet its goals as outlined in Rwanda’s Vision 2020: “to reconstruct the nation and its social capital; develop a credible and efficient state governed by the rule of law; develop human resources in line with the objective to turn Rwanda into a prosperous knowledge-based economy; develop basic infrastructure including urban planning; develop entrepreneurship and the private sector; and modernize agriculture and animal husbandry.”

“We’ll be sending the Peace Corps back into Rwanda,” said President Bush. “First time it’s been here since 1993. These are good, decent folks, coming to your country simply to help—help people realize their God-given talents and realize the blessings of a peaceful, hopeful life.”

The Peace Corps will establish an office in Rwanda this summer, and by December, 35 Peace Corps Volunteer-trainees will arrive in the country. Fifteen of the Peace Corps Volunteers will work in the education sector, teaching English, math, science or information technology, while also addressing health and HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness. Twenty Peace Corps Volunteers will be funded by the President’s Plan for Emergency Relief (PEPFAR) and will focus on HIV/AIDS, collaborating directly with PEPFAR implementing organizations and the Rwandan Ministry of Health. These Volunteers will focus on three main components under PEPFAR: 1) care and treatment; 2) orphan and vulnerable children services; and 3) treatment, including home-based care services.

In the first year, Volunteers will be assigned to and collaborate closely with Rwandan administrative authorities at the district, sector, cell and local levels; international and Rwandan NGOs; associations; cooperatives; and private sector partners.

All Peace Corps Volunteers will receive training in Kinyarwanda and French, live and work for two years at the community level, and collaborate with their counterparts to build capacity and support sustainable HIV prevention efforts. Volunteers will also help build the capacity of rural communities to develop comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention strategies, and will conduct community-based training and other outreach efforts focused on prevention through abstinence and being faithful. Education Volunteers will incorporate HIV/AIDS prevention activities into their classrooms, train fellow teachers, and organize after school programs.

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Jack Vaughn writes: Finally, candidates 'discover' Peace Corps

After nearly half a century of staying out of politics, partly by intent but mostly by law, the Peace Corps now is on the verge of political greatness - or at least bipartisan flattery. And as with so many other Peace Corps triumphs over the years, this latest political achievement was reached through coincidence.

During my six years in the Peace Corps, I can recall but one other instance where political flirtation raised its pretty head. It came after a senior staff meeting to which I had invited Republican senatorial icon Barry Goldwater. After serious questioning on what Kennedy's new agency was all about, Arizona's Goldwater swore that the Peace Corps embodied virtually every one of the most noble aspects and values of the Republican Party.

What the Peace Corps set out as its goals in 1961 coincides almost exactly with what most of our presidential candidates in 2008 have promised to seek at home, e.g. bringing real change, better health care, improved environmental protection, peace by means other than bludgeoning, burnishing the U.S. image abroad (an area in which the Peace Corps has no rival), promoting nonpartisan solutions, better education at all levels, with a major focus on helping the poor and disadvantaged.

As gratifying as it is for us old Peace Corps types to see our presidential candidates getting real about what the world needs now, a very significant question remains. Literally every Peace Corps volunteer comes home recognizing he or she got more than they gave, learned more than they taught and were changed for the good forever. Question: Is there a chance our next president, having talked the Peace Corps talk so faithfully and so long, will be able to stay real and walk the Peace Corps walk (while increasing the Peace Corps budget)?

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A majority of adults (55%) support increasing the federal budget to allow everyone who is qualified and wants to serve in full-time service programs such as the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps to do so

A majority of adults (55%) support increasing the federal budget to allow everyone who is qualified and wants to serve in full-time service programs such as the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps to do so
In a recent Harris Poll, nearly three in four (73%) U.S. adults agree that it is important for young people to serve their country, but that this service should be voluntary. When given an array of non-military civilian service opportunities, like tutoring and mentoring disadvantaged youth, improving health services, building affordable housing, cleaning parks and streams and helping communities respond to disasters or a military option, almost two-thirds of adults (63%) agree that there should be another option in which young people can serve their country.

These are some of the results of a Harris Poll of 2,337 U.S. adults conducted online between January 11 and 18, 2007 by Harris Interactive(R). This survey was conceived and developed by Harris Interactive and was not commissioned by any organization. However, valuable input was sought and received from the National Youth Leadership Council.

Adults are not ready to reinstitute drafting young adults into service -- military or civilian. Slightly more than four in 10 adults (43%) support a draft of young adults where they could choose to serve in the military or in non-military civilian service. Only one in four (24%) support a draft for military service and far fewer adults support a draft of young adults only for non-military civilian service (14%). However, over three-quarters (77%) disagree with the concept that it is not important for young people to serve their country.

A majority of adults (55%) support increasing the federal budget to allow everyone who is qualified and wants to serve in full-time service programs such as the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps to do so. Just under one-third (30%) oppose this idea. Support for increasing the federal budget for these programs is consistent across the generations as well as between the genders. There is also strong support for this idea amongst those who have earned post graduate degrees (64%).

Looking across party lines, somewhat stronger support for increasing the federal budget comes from Democrats (61%) and Independents (59%), than from Republicans (52%). Nevertheless, it appears to have bipartisan support. When we look at political ideology, it is a little different. While two-thirds of Liberals (66%) support an increase in the federal budget, only 44 percent of Conservatives feel the same way.

"What is significant about these results is the agreement across demographic groups and ideological lines. Republicans, Democrats and Independents all support higher funding for non-military civilian service opportunities," said Chris Moessner, Research Director in the Youth and Education Research Practice at Harris Interactive.

Jim Kielsmeier, President and CEO of National Youth Leadership Council offered these comments, "When the need is clear, America's youth respond. Military enlistments went way up after 9/11. Likewise, the volunteer response by AmeriCorps members and college and high school students to Hurricane Katrina was dramatic. Hundreds of thousands of young people headed to the Gulf Coast to help out -- often filling in for deployed National Guard troop. The current generation of draft-eligible youth and their younger counterparts are volunteering at record rates according to the Corporation for National and Community Service, the government's primary volunteer service agency and AmeriCorps manager. An estimated 55 percent of youth ages 12 to 18, about 15.5 million, volunteer." Read more.

Senator Chris Dodd says he would like to expand the Peace Corps to 100,000 from the 7,000 currently serving
A former Peace Corps volunteer, Dodd said he would like to expand the corps to 100,000 from the 7,000 currently serving. There are only two Arab-speaking countries — Jordan and Morocco — with Peace Corps volunteer programs. "We haven't been asked to be something larger than ourselves for a long time," he said. Read more.

"John Kennedy, when he sent off the first Peace Corps volunteers...said you know it’s going to be a great thing in 40 or 50 years from now there will have been a million young people in this country that will have served their nation in a foreign nation..That’s going to help us in the conduct of foreign policy with a better understanding of what’s going on."

"Well, there have only been 170,000 of us that have come back as Peace Corps volunteers, but that experience was life altering and changing. You respected other people, you listened to them. It gives you a better perspective on your own country. I came back with a deeper appreciation of what the United States was and what it could do as a result of that experience." Read more.

Read more about National Service and the Peace Corps.

First Cambodia Peace Corps Volunteers sworn in

Peace Corps sends first ever mission to Cambodia
Three Americans sang the Cambodian national anthem in the Khmer language at a ceremony in Phnom Penh on Wednesday to herald the official start of the U.S. Peace Corps' first volunteer program in this impoverished Southeast Asian nation. All 400 attendees stood as Sam and Kara Snyder, a couple from Buffalo, New York, and Autumn West, from Greenback, Tennessee, opened the event by singing the national anthem in Khmer. They then sang the U.S. national anthem while their fellow volunteers and American officials stood to attention with their hands on their chests.

Conor Cronin, from Scarsdale, New York, delighted the audience by delivering a speech in Cambodian, with Felicidad Garcia, from Miami, Florida, acting as his translator for the American guests. The crowd laughed when Cronin joked that he was chosen to give the speech because he was "the most handsome volunteer." "We, the volunteers, have come to Cambodia from different parts of America, each with a different history. But we are all here ... with the same commitment to serve as best as possible in every way," Cronin said. Read more.

Caption: Peace Corps Cambodia volunteers clap during a swearing-in ceremony at National Institute of Education in Phnom Penh on April 4, 2007. Thirty English teachers, the first group of Peace Corps volunteers will serve in Cambodia teaching English at the upper secondary level and supporting teachers in Cambodian provinces and districts to improve their English language and teaching skills. Reuters/Chor Sokunthea

Tschetter swears in first Cambodia Peace Corps Volunteers
Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter swore-in Peace Corps' first group of Volunteers, signifying the beginning of an historic new partnership with the Kingdom of Cambodia. “This first group of Peace Corps Volunteers is bringing with them the great tradition of service and friendship to an extraordinary country and a remarkable people,” said Director Tschetter. “They are not only trained professionals, but they are dedicated Americans who share in common a spirit of service and a commitment to make a difference in the lives of the citizens of Cambodia.” New Peace Corps Volunteers during their swearing in ceremony in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia Joseph A. Mussomeli also participated in the swearing-in ceremony. He remarked, “Cambodia is the kind of country President Kennedy had in mind when he created the Peace Corps. Peace Corps Volunteers do more to advance freedom and justice in the world and protect American ideals and principles than any other program of the United States government.” Director Tschetter thanking His Majesty King Sihamoni of Cambodia for the warm hospitality and friendly welcome of the Cambodian people

Following the swearing-in ceremony, Director Tschetter had an audience with His Majesty King Sihamoni and thanked His Majesty for the warm hospitality and friendly welcome of the Cambodian people. In return, His Majesty said, “On behalf of the Cambodian people, we are grateful for your initiative and cooperation and we thank the Peace Corps and the American people for their work in advancing peace and stability in Cambodia.” Read more.

Read more about Peace Corps Cambodia.

First Peace Corps Volunteers to Serve in Cambodia

First Peace Corps Volunteers to Serve in Cambodia
Peace Corps is launching its program in Cambodia with an English as a foreign language project. Volunteers will teach English at the upper secondary level and support teachers in Cambodian provinces and districts to improve their English language and English teaching skills. The scope of the Volunteers’ work, however, will not be limited to classroom teaching. Volunteers will also collaborate with community groups and individuals to develop sustainable community activities to enhance the quality of life for Cambodians in the communities where they serve.  "We are excited to begin this historic new program for the Peace Corps in Cambodia," said Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter. “The Cambodian people have extended their warm invitation, and we look forward to working with them. We are enthusiastic about this opportunity to build lasting friendships and a mutual understanding with the people of Cambodia.”  Read more.

Emi Caitlin Ishigooka is among first Peace Corps volunteers to be assigned to Cambodia
Ishigooka is one of 30 volunteers who will leave for Phnom Penh Jan. 31. After three months of training in Cambodia's capitol, the volunteers will disperse to rural areas. Like Ishigooka, they will teach English as a second language to high school-aged children. To prepare for her assignment, Ishigooka has been spending the last three weeks receiving Khmer language lessons from Nanh Toun. On a Wednesday afternoon, Ishigooka and Toun sit together in Toun's upstairs apartment on 17th Street near Poly High. On a couch beneath a picture of the Angkor Wat temple complex taped to the wall, Toun and Ishigooka work through the Khmer alphabet from a first-grade level book. Toun patiently guides Ishigooka through subtle sound variations in the Khmer language. Occasionally, he gives her phrases and tips for conversation that she jots down in a notebook.  Read more.

From 2004: Peru RPCV John McAuliff, Executive Director of the Fund for Reconciliation and Development, hosts reception for Her Excellency Mme. SUN Saphoeun, Under Secretary of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Kingdom of Cambodia
"At the outset, I wish to take this opportunity to thank the Fund for Reconciliation and Development (FRD), in particular Mr. John McAuliff, for organizing this regular meeting as well as for inviting the Cambodian delegation to take part in this important event. Every year, on the sideline of the UN General Assembly meeting, the Fund for Reconciliation has been constantly organizing this particular forum as an important venue for exchanging views and updating information on the latest development in countries, such as the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam."  Read more.

Read more about Peace Corps Cambodia.