Peace Corps

14 Stories

The Peace Corps Says Goodbye
The Peace Corps
Says Goodbye
Apr 25, 2020 3:00 PM CDT

The Peace Corps Says Goodbye

All of its volunteers around the world are pulling out

(Newser) - After two weeks alone in a hotel room in the Virginia suburbs, 40 minutes outside Washington, Kelsea Mensh was ready to go home. A few weeks earlier, the 22-year-old Peace Corps volunteer had completed a year of service in the Dominican Republic. She was working on a school improvement project...

Peace Corps Makes a Big Move Amid Pandemic

US government's volunteer program suspending operations, evacuating volunteers

(Newser) - The coronavirus pandemic is shutting down the Peace Corps, at least temporarily. The US government-run volunteer program, which sends people around the world to work side by side with local leaders on needs in the area, is suspending operations and evacuating volunteers. "As COVID-19 continues to spread and international...

Buttigieg's National Service Plan Would Enlist Millions

Buttigieg wants volunteers to work for community health, senior care

(Newser) - Pete Buttigieg hopes to see 1 million more young people volunteer to serve their country, and not just in the military. The Democratic presidential candidate, who signed up for the Navy Reserve after college and was deployed to Afghanistan, announced a plan Wednesday to create new service corps opportunities centered...

Peace Corps Evacuates Its Workers Over Ebola

2 Americans in isolation as a precaution because of contact with infected person

(Newser) - The Peace Corps is evacuating its volunteers from the three nations in West Africa hit hard by the Ebola epidemic, reports CNN . The 340 Americans will be returning to the US from Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea as the outbreak worsens. In fact, two Peace Corps workers must remain behind...

Short on Volunteers, Peace Corps to Change

Applicants will get to choose where they serve

(Newser) - The Peace Corps has been around for more than half a century, but recently, it's been facing some hurdles. The number of applicants who completed their applications dropped 34% between 2009 and 2013, when roughly 10,000 people finished the process, and the number of volunteers is now at...

Peace Corps Exits Honduras
 Peace Corps Exits Honduras 
Jan 17, 2012 7:12 AM CST

Peace Corps Exits Honduras

All 158 volunteers exited violence-plagued country yesterday

(Newser) - For the first time since 1963, there is no longer a Peace Corps presence in Honduras. All 158 volunteers exited the country yesterday, making good on a move announced in late December by the US group. The decision was made for safety reasons, explained the Corps. To wit, Honduras President...

Peace Corps Pulls Out of Bloody Honduras

And it won't send new recruits to El Salvador, Guatemala

(Newser) - Life in Honduras is no walk in the park: The country sees some 20 homicides daily, giving it the unfortunate title of Central America's most dangerous country. And so the Peace Corps has decided to pull out. Though it says the 158 volunteers it has in the country are...

New Law Protects Peace Corps Volunteers

House unanimously passes Kate Puzey Act

(Newser) - Congress has found something it can agree on: better protection for Peace Corps volunteers. A bill designed to protect whistleblowers, train volunteers on how to avoid attacks, and improve the treatment of sexual assault victims passed the House by unanimous consent yesterday. The Kate Puzey Volunteer Protection Act of 2011—...

Peace Corps Accused of Failing Rape Victims

Women speak out about agency's 'blame the victim' culture

(Newser) - A growing number of Peace Corps volunteers who have been raped while serving abroad are speaking out about their experiences and accusing the agency of not doing enough to help victims. Dozens of women describe a "blame the victim" culture at the government-run program and say the callous treatment...

Sargent Shriver in Critical Condition

95-year-old Kennedy in-law admitted to hospital

(Newser) - Former Peace Corps director and vice-presidential nominee R. Sargent Shriver was in critical condition this morning after being admitted yesterday to a Maryland hospital, a family spokeswoman said. No other details about the 95-year-old's ailment were released, but Shriver announced in 2003 that he had Alzheimer's disease.

Promises That Obama's Apparently Forgotten

Lesser known disappointments, from the moon to the peace corps

(Newser) - “There’s not a single thing that I’ve said that I would do that I have not either done or tried to do,” President Obama boasted to reporters this month. Yeah, right. Salon found plenty of evidence to the contrary, including these lesser-known broken campaign promises :
  • The
...

Kirstie Alley's New Show Is 'Dated, Whiny'

Do we really need to tune in to Alley's weight loss struggle?

(Newser) - Kirstie Alley’s Big Life is the actress’s second shot at losing weight on reality TV, and enough is enough. Maybe once “everyone thought it was cool that you weren't afraid to play an insecure, self-involved, overly-catered-to celebrity,” writes Mary McNamara in an open letter, but “...

No Hard Knocks for Peace Corps in Downturn

Obama, recession boost interest in volunteer group

(Newser) - During a commencement address last month, Barack Obama singled out the Peace Corps as an American institution dedicated to "opportunity, equality, and freedom." As the Los Angeles Times reports, the president's glowing praise—combined with Obama-era idealism and a weak job market—has contributed to a 16% jump...

Former Child Pilot Commits Suicide

Youngest person to ever cross the Atlantic dead at 26

(Newser) - Vicki Van Meter, the girl who at age 11 astounded the nation with a 5-hour cross-country flight, is dead at 26, the AP reports, of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. Van Meter’s trans-continental flight was a record at the time, and a year later she became the youngest pilot...

14 Stories