Peace Corps Horizons

*Peace Corps Horizons* A monthly Peace Corps publication serving Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota

Thursday, March 10, 2005	February-March 2005	VOLUME 1 ISSUE 8

Although Peace Corps itself does not function as a disaster relief organization, it has produced Volunteers that are able to respond to emergency situations, like those following the tsunami, with the sensitivity and skill that their experiences have provided them. The following two stories, both about Returned Volunteers, remind us that when disaster strikes in another country, that country may be a country where someone has served as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and the communities and families affected may have been that Volunteer’s community and family for two years. Becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer is not just about going somewhere and teaching a skill or developing a project-- it’s about becoming a member of a global family.

Professor Who Dodged Tsunami Returning To Thailand To Help

Professor McNabb (second from right) with his family in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Scott McNabb served as a Peace Corps Volunter in Thailand, 1968-1971

A quirk of cartography may have saved the lives of University of Iowa education professor Scott McNabb and his family, placing them on the side of Thailand opposite where the deadly tsunami struck last month.

In March, McNabb will return to southern Thailand to help in the reconstruction of damaged elementary schools, efforts which aid workers say are desperately needed to help the children traumatized by the tsunami -- many of them orphans -- return to some state of normalcy.

[FULL STORY]

A Tsunami and the Fragility of Life
by Anne Roche, RPCV Dominican Republic

The following article is reprinted with permissions from the author and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender US Peace Corps Alumni (Returned Volunteer) Organization. It originally appeared in their February 2005 newsletter and is presented here in it's entirety.

December 26, 2004 was a beautiful morning, like all of the others that my partner Nancy and I had grown accustom to during our three-week adventure in Thailand. But this day in Phuket would prove to be very different.

[FULL STORY]

Governor Signs Peace Corps Week Proclamation
by Gary Lore

Recruiters Simon Bramble, Roxanne Denysiuk, and Alicen Burns (from left to right) witness the signing of a Peace Corps Week proclamation by Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.

As a prelude to Peace Corps Week (February 28-March 6), Minneapolis recruiters Alicen Burns, Simon Bramble, and Roxanne Denysiuk joined with Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty for a ceremony marking Minnesota's Peace Corps Week Proclamation.

[FULL STORY]

Peace Corps Announces Top Producing Colleges and Universities

Peace Corps recently announced the Colleges and Universities that produced the most Peace Corps Volunteers in 2004. The University of Wisconsin-Madison, which is located within the Minneapolis office’s recruiting area, was the number one producing school for Large Colleges and Universities nationwide.

[FULL STORY]