Graduate School After Peace Corps

In 1998, while I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador, I decided to apply for a PhD program in political science. I had no idea what I was doing. Though I had majored in political science at UNC-Chapel Hill, graduating in 1993, I had a limited understanding of the “discipline.” I barely knew what journals were. I had limited access to information about programs, with no access to the internet on a regular basis (I had a dial-up connection once a month or so if I took a two hour bus ride). In the end, two of the four programs I applied to required prior Master’s and I didn’t get in to those (including the one where I now am a professor!). I studied for the GRE’s using a practice book, in between neutering pigs and workshops on cultivating blackberries. When I went to take the exam, it was the first time they had used the on-line computer version, and it was so different! My quantitative score, compared to the practice exam, paled. It was a miracle I got in to Georgetown.

With volunteers and other prospective applicants having access to the internet in even remote locations (I just got an email from my graduate student in East Timor), there is no excuse for that kind of ignorance in this day and age. What can prospective graduate students coming out of the Peace Corps do to prepare themselves? In addition to my scholarly activities, I lead a small NGO called Friends of Ecuador. I know we have a great set of guidance for would-be applicants to PhD programs, but here is a post for returning Peace Corps Volunteers that speaks to applying for graduate school, both for MA and PhD programs. 

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NSA leaker headed to Ecuador?

Whistleblower/leaker Edward Snowden, the 29 year old IT whiz who worked as a contractor to the NSA for Booz Allen Hamilton, is waiting his fate in a transit lounge in a Moscow airport after fleeing from Hawaii and then Hong Kong. He may end up in Ecuador if his request for political asylum goes through. How did this happen? And, is it likely? …

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An Open Letter by Loren Finnell

We’ve had an incredible response from RPCVs to our site re-launch. We’re slowly getting stories in, and we hope to share some with you. Loren Finnell shared this story of meeting his wife Pilar in Ecuador and their adventures together ever since. Loren Finnell as many of you may know, is the President, CEO, and Founder of The Resource Foundation. He served in Ecuador from 1964-1966. In 1987, he founded The Resource Foundation to leverage the resources and experience of donors worldwide and NGOs in Latin America and the Caribbean to increase the self-reliance and living standards of the disadvantaged.  In honor of his life’s work, The National Peace Corps Association selected Dr. Finnell to receive the 2006 Sargent Shriver Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Service at a ceremony in the Senate Caucus Room on Capitol Hill. Friends of Ecuador was thrilled to support his nomination. Click here for a more extended bio.

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Ecuadorian Music Featured at DC Smithsonian Folklife Festival, July 3-7, 2013

Disappearing Ecuadorian Musical Tradition and Language Revitalized on ‘¡Así Kotama! The Flutes of Otavalo, Ecuador’; 7/2 via Folkways

Smithsonian Folklife Festival to host group for first-ever U.S. performances July 3–7 in Washington, D.C.

Evening Concerts:
July 5th, 6:00 pm – Kennedy Center Millennium Stage
July 6th, 6:00 pm – Smithsonian Folklife Festival Voices of the World Stage

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Introducing the new Friends of Ecuador

After nearly ten years with our old website, we are delighted to introduce the new Friends of Ecuador webpage. With the amazing design skills of mod.girl.designs, we have fully redone the Friends of Ecuador website. We have a new look and feel to the site with a new logo, new functionality, with greater integration to Facebook and a new newsletter format which will be delivering more regular content. We have strengthened our links with Peace Corps Ecuador and aim to be featuring news from volunteers often, including ways you can support grassroots development in Ecuador. Please encourage your friends and family to visit the new and improved Friends of Ecuador.

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News from Peace Corps Ecuador

Peace Corps Ecuador Update – 9/27/2012
Parmer Heacox – Country Director

In its 50st year Peace Corps Ecuador currently hosts 160 Volunteers in the following project areas:  Community Health/HIV-AIDS Prevention, Youth and Family Development, Natural Resources, and TEFL.  In all of these project areas Volunteers may  also elect to concentrate in leadership development, food security, community banking/financial management and small enterprise development.  Additionally, Volunteers draw on each other and all project areas  because as all RPCVs know, we may find ourselves working in secondary activities we never imagined.  We encourage our Volunteers to participate in Technical Exchanges to learn from other Volunteers in the field and more and more, Volunteers are tapping into resources and information on line.  Peace Corps has changed tremendously since its beginning but we still hold close to people to people relationships as our strategy for development and change. …

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50th Anniversary Celebration

In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps, Friends of Ecuador, led by Tad Baldwin, organized a gathering on September 23, 2011 at the residence of the Ecuadorian Ambassador to the United States. Joined by more than 200 of FOE’s closest friends, the evening was a tremendous success. Tad Baldwin reports on the festivities, and we link to our Flickr feed of photos.

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Llapingachos Recipe

RECETAS ECUATORIANAS

Llapingachos (en espanol)

2 libras de papas

½ libra de queso fresco

2 huevos

2 cucharadas de mantequilla

Preparacion: Pele las papas y cocinelas en agua hirviendo con sal.  Cuando esten bien suaves, escurralas y haga un pure.  Agregue la mantequilla y queso (desmenuzado), mezcle bien.  Agregue los huevos y amase para que si incorpore todo.  Haga unas tortitas pequenas y dejelas reposar 15 minutos.  Frialas en poca grasa, poniendo por cucharadas cada vez que el sarten esta seco.  Puede usar manteca de cerdo diluida o aceite.  Dejelas tostar, quedan mas sabrosas.  Se acompana con salsa de mani o cebollas. …

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A New Model for Peace Corps – Malaria Prevention in Senegal

Chris Hedrick, Peace Corps Country Director in Senegal, is a friend of mine. He has been pioneering some really innovative programming and a new Peace Corps model in an effort to vanquish malaria in the West African country where he served and is now Peace Corps director.

In an on-line essay for Philanthropy NYU, Chris describes the old Peace Corps development model:

The typical image of the solitary Peace Corps volunteer focused on local community development is an icon of “Peace Corps Classic,” as Sargent Shriver, the agency’s first director, constructed it in the 1960s.  Peace Corps evolved, but much remained unchanged over the decades. Volunteers served in relative isolation, with little outside communication and collaboration. They were deeply integrated into the host community, with language and cultural fluency. Their development impact was largely evaluated anecdotally. …

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