Petition to Provide Better Financial Assistance to RPCVs

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/provide-better-financial-assistance-returned-peace-corps-volunteers-educational-debt/wzn3sjyt

There is a petition for providing better financial assistance to Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs). Many of us joined Peace Corps because we want to make the world a better place, but upon return, it can be exceedingly difficult to get back on our feet. The average student debt for students after college (when many volunteers join the Peace Corps) is about 26,000 according to a report by the Institute for College Access and Success--and that figure is only increasing. Peace Corps allows us to defer our student loans due to hardship--however, most of our loans are NOT forgiven, and we continue to accrue interest on the loans we have.

Financial debt can curtail many of our opportunities when we return to the states; as we seek to get a job, go back to school, find a place to live, etc., finances can be tight and limit what we can do, where we can go, and even the type of education we can receive. While some schools are part of the Paul D. Coverdell Fellows program (which involves RPCVs working in the community while attending classes), it's rare to find a good program that offers much financial aid. Peace Corps is generous enough to give RPCV $250 for each month volunteered abroad (PCVs therefore receive somewhere between $6,250-$6,750 depending on their program). However, this falls far short  of the debt most RPCVs have.

I believe Peace Corps is the US's best way of promoting world peace, acceptance, and understanding. I believe that the Peace Corps does more to ensure homeland security and the safety of America and Americans than any branch of the military. I believe that supporting Returned Peace Corps Volunteers is an investment that will return dividends in the form of greater knowledge, fuller perspectives, creative solutions, and increased philanthropy that benefits all Americans.

You can think of it as a way of promoting the Peace Corps as a tough but rewarding solutions to those considering how they might make the world a better place. You can see it as a way of telling Peace Corps Volunteers that you believe in their future, in what they will do to make America better upon their return from making other countries better. Or you can consider it a way of saying thanks for the two years of hardship helping those in need and promoting the US as a compassionate nation.

To sign the petition, go here: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/provide-better-financial-assistance-returned-peace-corps-volunteers-educational-debt/wzn3sjyt

For more information about the student debt, go here: http://projectonstudentdebt.org/files/pub/classof2011.pdf

For more information about the Peace Corps, go here: http://www.peacecorps.gov/

A Mongolian Halloween

As a child, Halloween was probably my favorite holiday. I would throw a Halloween party with themed music and pumpkin-shaped cookies--though of course, the best part was the planning and decorating. I bought all sorts of creepy things to haunt-up my house and yard, and it was always a lot of fun.

However, since I've grown up, I find I haven't as much time for Halloween. Last year, I was teaching as a volunteer ESL teacher on Halloween. I didn't even dress up! My hobbies and profession didn't really make celebrating Halloween easy, and so the magic of the holiday faded for me.

But being in a new place with people who are extremely interested in American culture--and, I think, just being around kids and young adults--has inspired in me a new excitement for Halloween.

Last week, students created decorations for the holiday. I found some templates online, and my counterparts and students found some colored paper, so we made decorations based on them and on little sticky-decorations my dad sent me (they're uber cute--thanks, Touchan!). We have pumpkins, black cats, owls, and ghosts! We also have cheese-cloth ghosts, made with cheese-cloth, tissue, and string. Making the decorations was a lot of fun, and one of my CPs, Tsogoo, helped:

 

The night before Halloween, I cut out a bunch of paper to make little owls to give out as prizes to the best group at the Halloween party. My counterpart, Bilge, and the department assistant Tsepa helped to glue the little owls together.

Mongolia doesn't have many of the same affordances of America, but I make do. So there are no pumpkins in Mongolia. Before Europeans came to America, it wasn't pumpkins they carved, but turnips. To get in touch with my ancient European roots, I thought I would try my hand at carving a turnip. It's certainly not as easy as a pumpkin, but honestly, nothing is lost of the spirit of Halloween. But maybe that's true regardless of what you're carving--or where you are or who you're with. For me, I guess, the spirit of Halloween isn't fancy costumes or pumpkin-shaped cookies. It's not horror films or haunted houses. For me, this year, Halloween is a happy, toothy lantern shining in darkness.

Happy Halloween.