Peace Corps News

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.

International House creates California's First Endowed Doctoral Fellowship for Peace Corps Volunteers at UC Berkeley

International House announces the Joe Lurie Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Fellowship–California's first endowed scholarship to fund a former Peace Corps volunteer's first year of doctoral studies at UC Berkeley.

Berkeley is the number one university in the nation sending alumni abroad as Peace Corps volunteers. 3,326 UC Berkeley graduates have served since the Peace Corps began in 1961 in every sector of the Peace Corps–including education, health and HIV/AIDS, business development, environment, youth development, and agriculture.

The fellowship is named after Joe Lurie, International House's executive director for 19 years, and a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya for three years. It provides a returned Peace Corps volunteer beginning PhD studies at Cal with room, board and access to rich cross-cultural programs and resources at International House, a multicultural residential center with nearly 600 residents from the U.S. and over 80 countries. The UC Berkeley Graduate Division matches the I-House fellowship by providing the recipient one year of tuition and fee support plus a $5,000 stipend.

Financially-strapped returned Peace Corps volunteers are eligible to apply for the fellowship through the Office of Graduate Admissions, regardless of whether they reside in California or out-of-state. Awards are made by the admitting UC academic department. I-House accommodation is valued at approximately $12,000 annually and the Graduate Division match provides up to $40,000 for tuition and fees.

The goal of the fellowship is to create academic opportunities for returned Peace Corps volunteers, honor UC Berkeley’s historic connection to the program, and enable former volunteers to contribute to the intercultural learning environment at I-House. Read more.

Peace Corps Volunteers Evacuate Western Kenya

Peace Corps Volunteers Evacuate Western Kenya
The U.S. Peace Corps is evacuating 35 of its volunteers from western Kenya because of the violence that has rocked the country since the disputed December 27 presidential election.  The relief agency says the volunteers are safe, and should arrive in the main Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam Saturday.  The Peace Corps has 144 volunteers based in Kenya, although the organization says 22 of them are currently out of the country. An agency statement says the remaining volunteers have been "consolidated in a variety of locations."  The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi is asking U.S. citizens in Kenya to remain indoors while the fighting continues, and urges them to consider leaving for their own safety.  More than 300 people have been killed in the post-election violence. Read more.

Caption:  Protesters and Police in Nairobi on January 3.  Photo:  Flickr  DSC04663 by MentalAcrobatics Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

Peace Corps Volunteer Gillie Kehoe Details Perils in Kenya
By yesterday, Kehoe and other volunteers were out of Kenya, away from the carnage that began when President Mwai Kibaki won reelection. Peace Corps officials said 34 volunteers who were working in three western provinces would be temporarily moved to neighboring Tanzania. The Peace Corps has 144 volunteers in Kenya, 122 of whom were in the country when the unrest began, officials said. All of the volunteers have been accounted for and are safe, officials said. Safety and security are the top priorities of the Peace Corps, Amanda Beck, a spokeswoman, said yesterday, adding that the organization has emergency plans for every country and that they were engaged for Kenya. "Our plan is working. Everyone is safe and out of harm's way," she said. All of the organization's volunteers in Kenya have a cellphone and texting capabilities and were encouraged to contact their families, Beck said. The Peace Corps also checked on them twice a day, she said. "We were very closely monitoring the situation," Beck said. "I don't think anyone could have really anticipated what happened and the scale of what happened."  Read more.

Peace Corps Volunteer Hanna writes: There is this feeling of shock, defeat and injustice in the air... along with the tension that often chaperones those sentiments
We had the chance a few days ago to watch the news at a nearby hotel. In all honesty, things look MUCH worse on TV than they feel here. I mean, I'm not in Kisumu or Nairobi, but.... a lot of violence has gone down in Kericho, too.... and at least from where we sat, I NEVER would have described "how things are" as the scene that I saw on the news. It makes me sick to see it. I really am heartbroken. Perhaps the saddest thing for me is how ominous the future looks; I can't see how it will be resolved (if it can be resolved) and I certainly don't see it getting better before it gets worse. I don't think that one police officer is the only person who feels that way about justice. And it's becoming more and more apparent that there was (and remains) a lack of it.  Read more.

Caption: A riot police officer looks on as people flee the area of ethnic violence in Nairobi January 2, 2008. President Mwai Kibaki's government accused rival Raila Odinga's party of unleashing "genocide" in Kenya on Wednesday as the death toll from tribal violence over a disputed election passed 300. Photo: REUTERS/Stringer

Peace Corps Volunteer Naty writes: Young men walk up and down the roads, dragging their machetes along the concrete. It's designed to scare people. It's working.
Sitting here, inside the house, there's not much to do. Seven of us, Peace Corps volunteers together for the holidays, ate dinner in more silence than accompanied our other meals today and yesterday. Outside there is the sound of muffled voices on loud speakers and radios. There are houses on fire a little ways down the street in both directions. Young men walk up and down the roads, dragging their machetes along the concrete. It's designed to scare people. It's working. This afternoon, before the vegetable stand near the house was tear-gassed while we bought tomatoes, we saw people, presumably Kikuyus, walking towards the tea fields carrying large rice sacks stuffed with their valuables.They went to sleep in the woods, away from crowds and rioters. They were preparing for the worst. They were preparing for this. Read more.

Ron Tschetter completes visit to Cameroon and Kenya

Ron Tschetter in Cameroon for 45th Anniversary
Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter unveiled a bust of former President John F. Kennedy at a U.S. Embassy ceremony on June 21 held to commemorate the 45th Anniversary of the Peace Corps in Cameroon. The outdoor ceremony, hosted by U.S. Ambassador Niels Marquardt, was attended by over 100 people ranging from currently serving Peace Corps Volunteers to high ranking Cameroonian government officials, many of whom were taught by Peace Corps Volunteers.

In his remarks, Tschetter quoted former President Kennedy's famous speech, "My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”

Tschetter continued, "As I have traveled around Cameroon, I have seen countless examples of our Volunteers and the people of Cameroon working together, and that’s what the Peace Corps is all about. Whether it is in education, agro-forestry, small enterprise development, or community health, our work can not be effective without a 'working together' relationship. And these bonds of trust, understanding and caring will absolutely contribute to the freedom of man President Kennedy talked about at his inauguration 46 years ago."

U.S. Ambassador Marquardt, who served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Rwanda in the late 1970's, said in his opening remarks, "With Director Tschetter's visit and today's ceremony, we also commemorate the 45th anniversary of the Peace Corps' uninterrupted presence in Cameroon. This record of continuous, unbroken presence since the very first Volunteers arrived in Cameroon, in September 1962, is matched in only two other countries on earth." He further stated that the Peace Corps, "has done more than any other American initiative to promote peace, mutual understanding, mutual respect, and social development around the world, and perhaps most especially in Africa." Read more.

Caption: Cameroon Peace Corps Director James Ham joins Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter at the bust of President John Kennedy in Yaounde. The Friends of Cameroon contributed to the creation of the bust, which was unveiled in June 2007. Photo: Friends of Cameroon

Tschetter visits volunteers in Kenya
Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter concluded his five day visit to Kenya on June 26 where he met with Peace Corps Volunteers, staff, media, and government officials. In a meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Michael Rannenberger and Kenya's Minister of Education George Saitoti, Tschetter said, "The Peace Corps program in Kenya remains strong. I am impressed with the many wonderful achievements of the Volunteers here and look forward to continuing to develop our partnership with the people of Kenya long into the future."

Ambassador Rannenberger also commented, "The relationship between the United States and Kenya is stronger than ever and the Peace Corps is an important and positive component of that partnership."

A highlight of Tschetter's trip was a visit on June 25 to a school for children who are Deaf in central Kenya where Peace Corps Volunteer Erin Hayba, of Lovettsville, Va., and a recent graduate of Penn State University, serves. Erin is among 29 Volunteers currently serving in Deaf education in Kenya, Peace Corps only Deaf education program country.

This unique program began in 1992 as a way to train educators on better teaching methods, and to broaden the production of learning materials and facilities for Deaf and hard of hearing students. The program now includes computer training and health and HIV/AIDS education programs, as part of the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief. Read more.

Caption: Ron Tschetter observing students in the new computer lab built by the Peace Corps at the Kerugoya School for the Deaf. Peace Corps Volunteers Erin Hayba and Frank Lester participate in the presentation.

Read more about Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter.

Read more about Peace Corps Cameroon.

Read more about Peace Corps Kenya.

Kenya RPCV Guy Consolmagno blends faith and science as astronomer for the Vatican

Kenya RPCV Guy Consolmagno blends faith and science as astronomer for the Vatican
As a student and budding scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brother Guy Consolmagno used to wake up on Tuesday mornings excited to start his day. He was eager for a class on meteorites. "You're touching bits of outer space," Consolmagno, now 54, said in an interview, holding out his hand as if his empty palm was filled with a rock propelled from the heavens. "It's as good, sometimes better, than moon rocks." The self-professed nerd would go on to combine his love for the physical world with a passion for the spiritual one. Now, as a Vatican astronomer, Consolmagno spends much of his time talking to fellow astronomers, nonscientists, clergy, kids and skeptics about how science and faith, despite public perception, coexist.

Consolmagno says many Catholics have been taught that Catholicism and science don't mix, though they always have. The Big Bang theory that the Earth originated in an extremely dense and hot space and expanded was developed by a Belgian priest. Though many people believe that Galileo was shunned by the Church for saying the sun was the center of the universe, he was close to many church leaders. Consolmagno said church officials don't advocate for a strict interpretation of the book of Genesis, which includes the Christian creation story. "The cosmology of Genesis is not only not the cosmology of the 21st century. It wasn't even the cosmology of the second century," he said. "The Romans knew that the world looked different from a flat plane with a bowl over it and water above and below. And that didn't seem to bother them."

The conflict between evolutionary science and creationism in the United States comes from the Protestant tradition, not the Catholic one, he said. "American Catholicism is in a Protestant culture," he said. "We borrow a lot of our attitudes, along with a lot of our hymns, and not always the best of either." Instead of being at odds with each other, God's universe and physical reality are one, he said. He often is asked if the Church will meet its downfall if intelligent life is found on another planet. Consolmagno argues that such a discovery would only heighten the mystery of the Catholic God. "It will help us remember that we're not as clever as we thought we were," he said.  Read more.

Consolmagno discovered he loved teaching while serving in the Peace Corps in Kenya
"At one point I wondered why was I wasting my time doing astronomy when people are starving in the world - a little voice of conscience. So I joined the Peace Corps. While I was there, I discovered that I loved teaching. But mostly I discovered that the people in Africa, the people in Kenya, where I was, wanted to know about astronomy. That's what they wanted from me. And they were as fascinated and as excited about it as I was, as anyone in America."

"And I understood then why it's important. It's one of those things that makes us more than just well-fed cows. It satisfies a really deep hunger to know, to go someplace, to explore. And that is a hunger that is as human, as basic to human beings as food and shelter and anything else. And it's denied to a person only at the cost of denying them their humanity. By telling poor people, "No, no, you have to go hunt for food, you can't do astronomy," you are saying that they're less than human. And that's wrong. And it's a tragedy."

"When I came back from the Peace Corps, I taught for four years, and enjoyed it so much I decided to teach full-time. And so I entered a teaching order, the Jesuits. What I didn't realize was that they were going to pull me out of teaching to do full-time research at the Vatican. There's a small group of about a dozen Jesuits at the Vatican. I'm one of them. We come from all over the world. We all do just full-time astronomy. But in addition, I do a lot of public talks and things like my participation in this conference." Read more.

Consolmagno says the space within the human soul where religion and science overlap is inhabited by poetry and metaphor
Even the most calculating scientist entered the field through the doorway of a heart filled with passion for the work, whether he believes in a supreme creator. And that passion can lead right to the feet of Almighty God, Consolmagno says. “What gets you up in the morning and into the lab?” he asked. “Day to day, what motivates you? It’s love for what you’re doing, and wherever you find that love, you’ll find God. That’s where you’ll find your religion.”

Those overlaps within the human heart are why different scientists analyzing exactly the same data can come to vastly different conclusions. “Scientists are human beings who make choices based on their own perspectives and experiences,” Consolmagno says. “All are accurate, and all are different. People bring different ideas to the equation.” Science doesn’t actually “prove” anything. It merely “describes,” he said. “When someone says something has been proven scientifically, all that’s been proven is that the person doesn’t know what science is,” he said. “There are big differences between information, understanding and wisdom.”

Scientific theories must do more than merely satisfy the data. They must do so in a way that is “elegant.” For example, when Einstein once heard that a rival scientist had completed experiments that disproved much of his Theory of Relativity, the renowned genius simply said, “He must be wrong,” Consolmagno said. “Einstein held his theory was true because it was so elegant, it fit together so well, that it had to be true,” he said. Science is not “literal,” Consolmagno said. It’s “poetry and metaphor” for how the universe works. “The same God who came to save you, an individual, created individual molecules, atoms and electrons,” Consolmagno said. “When I’m doing science, I’m playing with God.”  Read more.

Learn more about Vatican Astronomer Guy Consolmagno.

Spotlight on Peace Corps Kenya

Peace Corps assignment in Kenya teaches Joseph McMahan what really matters
He's embarrassed now to admit it, but Joseph McMahan had hoped, at least every now and then, a herd of elephants might step through the yard of his little house near a rainforest in western Kenya. McMahan knows the "Lion King" stereotype many Americans have of Africa isn't accurate. He knows most African people have given up traditional cultural life except for festivals. But no elephants? Not even a monkey or two? "It's completely not like that," McMahan said last week during a two-week furlough at his parents' Huntsville home. "Where I live in Kenya is fairly developed with little towns and cities all over. And the people are very well educated. They know more about American politics than I do."

The Peace Corps offered him, he said, a combination of both service and adventure. It's an adventure he very nearly didn't have. A degree from Auburn University led to a good job here in Huntsville with Adtran. Very shortly, he was paying for a car, a house, contemplating a serious romantic relationship. One day it hit him that if he didn't investigate the Peace Corps, an idea he'd had for years, he would be drawn into an inescapable orbit of job-marriage-kids. "One day I realized that if I didn't leave now, it was not going to happen," McMahan said. "In retrospect, it was probably the best decision I ever made."

His time in Africa has taught him a lot. Never again, he said, will he take clean water flowing out of a tap for granted. Never again will he take free high schools for granted or health care he can access because of insurance. And never again will he look at his own country in the same way, he said.

"When I tell my neighbors that in the United States you can live in an apartment and not know your neighbors, they say, 'How can that happen?'" McMahan said. "In Kenya, people look out for each other. It's a very community-based culture." Working with the people of the Kakamega District in Western Kenya, he said, has reminded him of what really matters. "In this country (the U.S.), we've reached the point where we define a lot of who we are through our material possessions," McMahan said. "In Kenya, they don't have so much materially, but they are very strong spiritually."  Read more.

Jonny Finity says: To see Africa, Cast aside Stereotypes
Surrounded by hundreds of beaming smiles, shining up at me as little hands flutter like butterflies, clutching and stroking and grabbing at my clothes or the hair on my arms, I can't help but smile back. Cacophonies of "How ah yooo?" and "Hallo!" pierce the air and fill my ears. My gaze sweeps over their big round, bright- moon faces, and they look away shyly, giggling. Many schoolchildren cower silently in the back of the crowd with wide anxious eyes that don't know whether to laugh or cry. Sometimes they do cry, loud wails of desperation and confusion, especially the babies, at the very sight of this strange white man on their own dark continent.

I am a Peace Corps volunteer. When someone learns that you're moving to Kenya for two years, their reaction will probably be very similar to that of my friends. They will click their tongues at you in an imitation of what they think African tribal languages sound like. They will point out all of the things you won't have: Electricity. Water. Toilets. Hamburgers. They will give you gifts of sunscreen. They will laugh at the thought of you with a 7-foot Nubian wife. They will tell you to watch out for elephants.

Africa is still an undiscovered land to most, in spite (or perhaps because) of Live8, Sallie Struthers and Nelson Mandela. People send billions in aid every year to feed naked, black, barefoot children with distended bellies who live under constant threat of death by malaria or AIDS. "Hunger porn," as Paul Theroux described it, largely defines the Western view of Africa. I have to admit, my own reaction didn't differ entirely from that of my friends. Trying to describe life here to someone without the experience is an impossibly daunting task.

It's almost as difficult trying to clarify the distorted perceptions of American culture commonly held by Kenyans. The biggest shock for most people here comes upon learning that poor people exist in the U.S. "Why don't the rich people help them," inevitably follows. I don't have an answer that satisfies them.

Just this morning I attended a meeting of several dozen HIV/AIDS counselors who promote awareness through dramas and other theatrical performances. Danson, the 23-year-old chairman, described his group to me using a biblical analogy. He told me of a woman who asked Elishah how God could use her. She had a small bottle of oil, so Elishah told her to collect pans from the neighbors. The small bottle filled all of the pans, with some left over. Then Elishah went away and did some other things too. Danson told me that his group had the oil. They were just looking for pots to fill.

Incidentally, my house does have electricity; I speak Kiswahili (not a click language), and I haven't seen an elephant. Yet.  Read more.

Caption (above right): Closing Ceremony for World Social Forum 2007 at Uhuru Park with Downtown Nairobi Photo: anna_imc  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0

Read more about Peace Corps Kenya.

"Peace Corps Online" and NPCA collaborate on story "Snowshoe Bob" in Worldview Magazine

"Peace Corps Online" and NPCA collaborate on story "Snowshoe Bob" in Worldview Magazine
Robert Paul died September 8 of this year when a suicide car-bomber struck his Humvee in Kabul, Afghanistan. Sgt. Paul was in his third year of active duty in the Army reserves and had completed two years in Iraq commanding a civil affairs unit in Baghdad. Paul had also served in Peace Corps in Kenya and last year, while studying Thai at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, joined a 2005 e-mail debate peacecorpsonline.com (sic) about Peace Corps as an incentive for military recruitment. Read more.

He served with honor
One year ago, Staff Sgt. Robert J. Paul (RPCV Kenya) carried on an ongoing dialog on "Peace Corps Online" on the military and the peace corps and his role as a member of a Civil Affairs Team in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have received a report that Sargeant Paul has been killed by a car bomb in Kabul. Words cannot express our feeling of loss for this tremendous injury to the entire RPCV community. Most of us didn't know him personally but we knew him from his words. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends. He was one of ours and he served with honor. Read the original discussion with Bob Paul on "Peace Corps Online" here.

Friends and Family remembers Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Robert Paul killed in Afghanistan
Paul's mother said her son never stopped charting his own path, whether it was taking German when French and Spanish were the only languages offered, or announcing over dinner that he had joined the Peace Corps. "His first year there, he learned Swahili, and that's a very hard language, I understand," she said. "Then when that year was up, he called and said he was staying another year."  When he left for Afghanistan "I asked, 'Is there anybody I can call to get you out,'" his mother recalled tearfully. "He said, 'You don't understand; I want to go.' Kenya RPCV Robert Paul worked in a Civil Affairs unit in Afghanistan.  He was killed in a car bombing in 2006. Read more.