here. - National Peace Corps Association

Talking Points for Stacy Rhodes
NPCA Annual Gathering – Minneapolis
FINAL DRAFT
I. Introduction
Thank you, Kevin, for that kind introduction. I am very happy that a person of your great
experience serves as the President of the NPCA. It is a pleasure and an honor to be with you
all today at the National Peace Corps Association’s annual gathering, here in Minneapolis.
And thank you to Tony Barclay and the entire NPCA board and staff for your ongoing support
of the Peace Corps and its important mission. I carry the warm regards from our Director,
Aaron Williams, who very much wanted to be here today, but was unable to make the trip.
He asked me to extend his best wishes to you for a successful Peace Corps Connect event.
I see quite a few familiar faces here today … As always, it’s a pleasure to be surrounded by
fellow RPCVs. Your dedication to service and to the three goals of the Peace Corps is a
wonderful reminder of what makes the Peace Corps and the extended Peace Corps family so
special—the diversity of our backgrounds… the intensity of our commitment… and the bonds
of great friendship that endure, across the boundaries of geography and time.
Just as an example of this, I met my best friend today, Steve Huffstutlar, at Peace Corps
training in Logan, Utah, in July 1968 – exactly 44 years ago. After 2 years on the Bolivian
Altiplano we somehow stayed in touch; even without Facebook, email, or texting; and
actually wound up working closely together in Guatemala following the peace accords in the
late 90s. Steve went on to work for Tony Barclay in a number of countries – including Bolivia
which shows it is indeed a “small world” for RPCVs, and it’s clearer than ever how our Peace
Corps service overseas leads to many important connections, both personal and professional.
So while I am now currently serving as Peace Corps’ Chief of Staff, I am first and foremost a
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. And I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to again serve an
organization that I have loved so much for so long… and especially lucky to be able to have
done so during the 50th anniversary last year, which so many of you celebrated with us.
Last year, fifty years after our founding by President Kennedy and Sargent Shriver, we
honored their, and our, legacy in many different ways… and in the process, we helped renew
our faith in the power of service to bolster friendship and peace.
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I would certainly be remiss if I didn’t publicly thank everybody at NPCA—the board, staff, and
members—for helping make last year’s celebration such a great success. We shared some
wonderful events and moments in Washington, D.C., namely the extraordinary NPCA Gala, as
well as the incredibly moving events at Arlington National Cemetery the following day,
organized with Peace Corps and NPCA by the RPCV Washington area group. The march of the
Peace Corps countries’ flags from Arlington across the Potomac was a sight to behold.
But I know that some of the most significant remembrances, and greatest fun, were had in
the numerous reunions and 50 th events sponsored by area RPCV groups and “Friends” groups
around the country. Right here in Minneapolis, there were numerous events commemorating
our anniversary, including a reception on March 21, 2011 honoring Minnesota Peace Corps
Volunteers and RPCVs at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of the University of Minnesota, as
well as an extraordinary presentation I heard about in early April of last year by RPCV Juliet
Kosarzycki (Ko-­‐zar-­‐ski), on her experience empowering young women in Albania from 2006 to
2008.
Through the combined efforts of Peace Corps, the NPCA, and RPCV groups, as well as
individual RPCVs and currently serving Volunteers, our special anniversary was celebrated in
every state and in more than 100 countries around the world. On behalf of everyone at Peace
Corps headquarters, for all that was done to mark this historic moment, thank you, thank
you, thank you.
The one thing I think we all realized during our 50 th anniversary commemoration is that the
passion for service in this country is as alive today as it was 51 years ago…
II.
Agency Update
And so we move forward with anticipation. This is an extraordinary time for the Peace Corps.
We have very strong support from our President, the First Lady, and the Secretary of State. To
give you a sense of the enthusiasm and energy we’re feeling, allow me to share a brief update
on the Peace Corps and what we look to in the future.
First, the number of Peace Corps Volunteers out in the field is at a 40-­‐year high, with 9,100
Volunteers serving in 75 countries around the world. While our budget limitations kept us
from reaching our goal of 10,000 Volunteers by the anniversary, we are at a level not seen
since 1970. We of course hope that our budget will allow for additional growth down the
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oad, but for the near term, the cuts we suffered for FY 2011 will more likely require some
retrenchment in overall presence levels.
But, some good news is that despite the often acrimonious overall political climate and
stringent budget appropriations we’ve had -­‐-­‐ Peace Corps continues to enjoy strong
bipartisan support in Washington. Last February, the President submitted Peace Corps’ 2013
budget request of $375 million to Congress in mid-­‐February, and the reaction so far from
both the House and Senate has been positive. If passed, this would keep us essentially level
with our current budget.
Frankly, in today’s fiscal climate, Peace Corps is relatively fortunate to continue to maintain
the same budget level in the last two fiscal years…And as Congress moves forward with its
spending bills, we will continue to follow the appropriations process closely. When he is not
out in the field, Director Williams spends more time on Capitol Hill discussing Peace Corps’
work with key legislators than on any other activity in Washington, and he has been very
effective in maintaining critical bipartisan support of the agency.
Notwithstanding the budgetary constraints, Peace Corps is actively working to implement the
modernization initiatives we started in 2009. Two years ago we submitted a Comprehensive
Agency Assessment Report to Congress, outlining a new vision and strategies that focus on
quality improvements that will guide the Peace Corps over the next decade…for anyone
interested, the full assessment can be accessed through the Peace Corps website…Let me
briefly highlight just a couple of these strategies and how they’re making a difference at the
Peace Corps.
Strategy #1 recommended by the Comprehensive Assessment is to better target our limited
resources overseas. To implement this strategy, we have developed an annual strategic
portfolio review, which is used to carefully inform decisions about potential country
openings, country closures, as well as allocation of Volunteers. Each country with a Peace
Corps presence, as well as those that have requested our presence, are reviewed, using a
number of key criteria, including Volunteer safety, the country’s need (as measured by the
HDI), extent of host government engagement and support, etc.
As a result of these annual reviews we have found it necessary to close four posts over the
past two years: Mauritania, Bolivia, Niger, and Kazakhstan. These painful decisions were
based on several key factors feeding into the portfolio review, of which the safety of
Volunteers was paramount. Similarly, we are in the process of a phase down in Bulgaria,
Romania, Cape Verde, and Suriname.
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At the same time, Peace Corps Volunteers have been requested by a number of countries,
and numerous countries have asked for additional PCVs. Seldom does a month go by that we
are not meeting with one or more ambassadors or government officials seeking either an
increase in a current program size or a new entry or re-­‐entry by Peace Corps. In 2010, we
were pleased to return to Sierra Leone, Colombia, and Indonesia, and earlier this year we
announced that Peace Corps is once again returning to Tunisia and Nepal, both revered
“Peace Corps countries.”
The first group of returning Peace Corps Volunteers is scheduled to arrive in Tunisia this
fall…where Volunteers will work in English language training and youth development, and
will undoubtedly play an important part in helping to build that country’s new democracy.
And our first class of new Volunteers will arrive in Nepal in September, after a proactive
effort by the Government of Nepal to assure Peace Corps’ return.
We have also completed initial assessments in several other countries where Peace Corps has
been proactively requested, including South Sudan, Bangladesh, and Haiti, and we are
reviewing the feasibility and costs of opening these programs. The security situation remains
our paramount concern in these countries.
As exciting as it is to enter or reenter countries, it is equally difficult for us to leave countries,
communities, and friends elsewhere. Nonetheless, our portfolio review has enabled us to
apply standardized criteria and strategically review our impact in these countries, assuring us
the opportunity to make the best use of scarce resources.
Strategy #2 from the Comprehensive Assessment has helped focus our attention on the need
for more carefully targeted, effective program interventions, accompanied by higher quality
technical training. Through an initiative we’re calling Focus-­‐In and Train Up (FITU), we are
scaling-­‐up a limited number of our most effective projects, and providing more intensive
technical training and support to Volunteers working in these areas. Posts are being asked to
focus their programs and concentrate training resources on the highest priority projects. With
the active advice and counsel of staff from overseas posts, the early focus of our enhanced
FITU programming and training has been primarily in education and in health, specifically
including teaching English as a second language, and our major HIV/AIDS education and
prevention program. Posts are responding to this challenge with great enthusiasm.
One particularly exciting – and so far successful -­‐-­‐ example of our efforts to focus in and train
up is our “Stomping Out Malaria” initiative in Africa. In collaboration with the President’s
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Malaria Initiative (PMI), Peace Corps and its partner organizations have developed a
campaign to mobilize more than 3,000 Volunteers across Africa to engage in the fight against
malaria. In its first six months, the initiative has been launched in 17 African countries. Peace
Corps Volunteers and staff from across West Africa participate in two-­‐week “malaria boot
camps” in Senegal, with training provided by experts from PMI, CDC, USAID, Malaria No More
(NGO), Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, and other partner organizations.
This initiative was based in very large part on a successful malaria program effort by Peace
Corps/Senegal. Volunteers there had been instrumental in distributing bed nets in high-­incidence
districts of rural Senegal and working directly with communities and families on
their proper and consistent use. As a result, malaria cases for children under age five
decreased from 40 percent to 7 percent in those districts where the Peace Corps and its
partners worked.
These are just a few examples of what’s going on at Peace Corps…In the past two years, great
progress has been made in advancing the strategies and recommendations outlined in the
Comprehensive Assessment, and we will continue to do more, especially as the budget
permits.
III.
Third Goal
Let me speak about the 3 rd goal for a moment.
This Peace Corps priority involves everyone in this room. Director Aaron Williams wants to
enhance the Peace Corps’ efforts to draw on the passion and perspective of returned
Volunteers like you—to educate Americans about the world we share… and to spread the
Peace Corps’ spirit of service across the United States.
To this end, in February of this year, we created a new and independent Office of Third Goal
and Returned Volunteer Services, to elevate the Third Goal and increase the career and
transition services we provide to RPCVs. This office is spearheading efforts to engage and
support our returned Volunteers… and to elevate the Third Goal to its rightful place and
prominence.
The Director of this new office, Eileen Conoboy, is here with us today…Eileen, please
stand…Eileen is an RPCV from Mali, and also the former Peace Corps Regional Office Manager
in Seattle, Washington. Also here from Eileen’s team is Lynn Kneedler, RPCV Tanzania and the
former Peace Corps Regional Office Manager of the Mid-­‐Atlantic Recruiting Office. Please
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stand, Lynn. Both of them will be here this weekend, and Eileen will be facilitating a session
on Sunday at the Third Goal Expo to get your ideas and input. She’ll also be providing updates
on new Third Goal plans-­‐in-­‐the-­‐making. She wants to hear from you so please track her
down, and don’t feel you need to wait until Sunday to give her an earful!
One priority that Eileen’s office has identified, which we feel very strongly about, is to do
everything in our power to elevate Peace Corps links to and support of geographic and
country-­‐of-­‐service-­‐based RPCV groups. This is where the best Third Goal ideas and events
originate, and where the rubber meets the road on addressing the 3 rd goal. Just this month,
Eileen’s office started a Third Goal Spotlight on the Peace Corps website to showcase some of
the extraordinary things being done around the country by groups and individuals, like many
of you in the audience today.
Indeed, the Minnesota RPCV group was the first group to be placed in the spotlight and
lauded for the important and creative call to service that the group issued through their
Service Passport program – which calls for 51 hours of service in honor of Peace Corps' 51st
anniversary, this year.
The Minnesota Returned Peace Corps Volunteers group stands in great company with other
RPCV groups such as the Chicago Area Peace Corps Association and the Friends groups for
many countries, who are active via the Peace Corps Partnership program in supporting PCV-­managed
community projects. Whether you’re helping support Volunteer projects overseas
– or you’re helping recruit the next generation of Peace Corps Volunteers by talking to your
neighbors and co-­‐workers – or you’re giving presentations in classrooms or at Rotary Club
meetings – you’re doing your part to advance the Third Goal.
[Hold for applause]
IV.
Peace Corps Response
Finally, I’d like to shed some new light on one other exciting program that is just beginning to
expand and take off in a new direction.
Peace Corps Response is one of the Agency’s most innovative programs, and has been
providing RPCVs with a second opportunity to serve overseas since it was first established as
the Crisis Corps. In January we announced the expansion of Peace Corps Response, opening
the program for shorter-­‐term service terms to both returned Volunteers and now as well to
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highly-­‐skilled Americans with at least a decade of work experience and proven capacity to
adapt across cultures, including those who were not formerly Peace Corps Volunteers.
On April 30 th , Dorothy Burril, a 73-­‐year old woman from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, began a
six-­‐month assignment as the first American without previous Peace Corps service to
volunteer in the expanded Peace Corps Response program. Dorothy was a perfect fit…using
her lengthy experience working in education systems in the U.S. and degrees from Boston
University and Harvard Kennedy School. After arriving in Jamaica, she wrote that she “might
just well be the happiest new Volunteer in Peace Corps history loving every minute of this
experience.”
Another Response Volunteer, Janet Forte, also serving for the first time with Peace Corps, left
this month for the Philippines, to serve as a Drug Rehabilitation Officer for the Philippines
Department of Health. Like Dorothy, Janet came to us with very strong technical skills, proven
adaptability, and good experience in international development.
Today, we are lucky to have the Deputy Director of Peace Corps Response, Heather Schwenk,
with us here. Heather, please stand. Heather is an RPCV from the Dominican Republic and if
you get a chance, I strongly encourage you to speak with her this weekend to learn more
about Peace Corps Response. She’s a dynamo, and our Response program is on the march. So
check out the website for current opportunities to go back overseas for a new Volunteer
experience. At the same time, I urge you to think about your own friends or relatives who
may not have been PCVs, but might make great candidates for the new pilot program in
Peace Corps Response. I’m sure each of you knows someone who “always wished they could
be a Peace Corps Volunteer” and who would have been a great one—that’s who we are
looking for.
Just before concluding, I’d like to also quickly introduce a couple of other great members of
the headquarters team who came out to Minneapolis for this event: Buck Buckingham, the
extraordinary Director of our Office of Global Health and HIV; and Chuck Hobbie, one of our
supportive lawyers who is an RPCV/Korea.
V. Conclusion
I’ll close today with a quote from a man I have always revered, since the 1960s– Peace Corps’
guiding light and founding director, Sargent Shriver. Mark Shriver, Sarge’s son and someone
we talk to frequently in Washington, has recently written a very touching memoir about his
father and he tells this story about this Good Man. In 1994, when he was 78 years old, Sarge
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addressed the graduating class of his own alma mater, and said, in his inimitable, ebullient
style:
“I have one small word of advice for you.”—he told the Yale seniors—“Break your mirrors!
Yes, indeed—shatter the glass. In our society that is so self-­‐absorbed, begin to look less at
yourself and more at each other. Learn more about the face of your neighbor, and less about
your own…
When you get to be 30, 40, 50, or even 70 years old, you’ll get more happiness and
contentment out of counting your friends than counting your dollars.
You’ll get more satisfaction from having served your neighborhood, your town, your state,
your country, and your fellow human beings than you’ll ever get from your muscles, your
figure, your automobile, your house, or your credit ratings.
You’ll get more from being a peacemaker than a warrior. And I’ve been both, so I speak from
experience. So break the mirrors!”
The legacy of Sarge Shriver lives on in the Peace Corps, and in the hearts of the RPCVs.
Thank you for your service…past, current, and future..
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