Peace Corps Connect Gathering in Nashville in June 2014

NPCA is very excited to be hosting Peace Corps Connect – 2014 in Nashville, TN with the great support of the Tennessee Returned Peace Corps Volunteers!

For those of you on Facebook, be sure to check out the fun aspects of Nashville hospitality.

The preliminary summary of events for June 20th and 21st is as follows:

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Rotary Peace Fellowship Program

Dear Friends of Peace Corps,

I am writing to you as an RPCV from Peru 2004-2006. I am currently working at The Rotary Foundation with the Rotary Peace Fellowship Program. We have just completed a successful round of our Rotary Peace Centers fellow selection for 2013-14 and are starting recruitment for the 2014-15 selection. I wanted to reach out to you for help with recruitment—for RPCVs, PCVs and HCNs in volunteers’ sites and in the PC office. Over the past ten years, Rotary Peace Centers has provided over 700 future peace leaders with peace and conflict resolution education and field experience. Our alumni work all over the world with organizations ranging from grassroots peace initiatives in Africa to the United Nations. In an effort to reach out to more qualified candidates all over the world, Rotary is reaching out peace-related organizations and asking them to post our fellowship opportunity to their websites, social media, listservs or newsletters. This is such an incredible opportunity for RPCVs and for leaders in their community. …

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Letter from New Peace Corps Ecuador Country Director

Saludos Friends of Ecuador!

As you are probably aware, Peace Corps Ecuador has been undergoing quite a few changes in the past few months. Parmer Heacox, who has led Peace Corps Ecuador for the past three years, has moved on to be the Peace Corps Country Director for Peru, and I arrived at the helm in Ecuador in early November. In addition, our former Director of Programming and Training, Dana Platin, and our Director of Manager and Operations, Joshua Cuscaden, also have moved on to other adventures. So, Peace Corps Ecuador is in the process of incorporating an entirely new leadership team. …

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El Clima Fall 2013 Story # 2 – VAC Grant Recipients

As you know, FOE supports VAC calendar sales, and these sales go to support volunteer projects. In the last issue of El Clima, volunteers reported on the recipients of VAC grants, some of which were supported through calendar sales purchased through Friends of Ecuador. We include that story from El Clima but just edited to include province rather than town name of all the volunteer who received VAC grants.

VAC is proud to announce the passing of a successful grant season! …

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El Clima Fall 2013 Story #1 – Why We “Second Goal” It

This is a story from PCV Zach Borenstein from the latest issue of El Clima. We thank El Clima staff, namely editor Rich Castello and Zach for sharing these stories with us.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that my host brothers, 8 and 16, like movies, so I decided, in my over- zealous quest to have education play a bigger role in their lives, that we might as well try to watch movies that are informative. There was not a moment of hesitation before the first film came to mind: Schindler’s List. …

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USAID to leave Ecuador

This will not affect Peace Corps Ecuador (in fact one group is COSing in January and another is arriving), but here is some pretty startling news out of Ecuador:

The US Agency for International Development says it plans to leave Ecuador amid an impasse with the government, just six months after the agency was kicked out of Bolivia, in what analysts say is another sign of the waning US influence in the region. …

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Last chance – Peace Corps Ecuador Calendars and Update

2014 Peace Corps Ecuador calendars are for sale through the end of this week. For those of you who have ordered calendars, volunteers returning home to visit family over the holidays are mailing them in the coming days. Support the work of Peace Corps Ecuador with your purchase of these full-size color calendars featuring pictures taken by current volunteers. Proceeds go to support small project grants and volunteer activities funded through the Volunteer Advisory Council in Ecuador. Past grants have been awarded for the installation of water systems, creation of community libraries, as well as providing start-up capital for numerous other small-scale sustainable projects. Calendars are $10 each. Shipping costs are $5 for each individual order up to 5 calendars to a single address. Calendars can only be shipped within the U.S. Please allow 2-8 weeks for delivery. Contact foe@friendsofecuador.dreamsites.io if you have any questions about your order.

12/15/13 Update. Sales have ended.If you click on the link below, you can buy calendars either through PayPal or if you don’t have a PayPal account, click on the link that says “Don’t Have a PayPal Account.” That should take you to a page where you can enter your Creditcard info.

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Volunteer jewelry project

From the project’s website:

Mujeres Cambia (Women Are Changing) is a social venture located in Ecuador whose mission is to provide opportunities for low-income women to benefit themselves and the environment through making and selling products made of recycled materials.

Mujeres Cambia members work towards change within their families, their community, and the world. All products are made by hand out of recycled materials and are priced to ensure that each artist is paid a fair wage.

Living in the coastal fishing villages of Santa Elena, Ecuador members come together to support one another working towards individual goals each member has set for herself. Mujeres Cambia gives women the opportunity to share their creativity outside of the home, to promote eco-friendly practices, and to earn money for their families.

How It was Started

Again, from the project website:

Mujeres Cambia was founded in 2011 by a Peace Corps Volunteer named Jessica who taught recycled arts projects to women in San Pablo. The founding group of women: Jennifer, Elba, Noralma, Alexandra, and Maribel opened up membership when new Peace Corps Volunteers Marisa and Paul started working with the group after Jessica’s Close of Service.

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