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Help represent the Rotary – Peace Corps Partnership at Your District Conference

Charlie Hunt, PFP Vice President

Many Rotarians are not familiar with the valued partnership between Rotary and Peace Corps. They also don’t know how to leverage the partnership at the grassroots level. We want your help to change that.

Are you attending your District Conference? Would you consider doing so to promote the partnership? As a member of PFP, we are asking you to host or help coordinate a booth at district conferences across the US. Learn more.

Peace Corps Volunteers Return to the Field

Adapted from Article by Glenn Blumhorst, NPCA President & CEO

This is a hopeful time for the Peace Corps. On March 14, a small group of Volunteers arrived in Zambia. They are the first Volunteers to return to service overseas since March 2020. Serving in Zambia will include partnering with communities to focus on food security and education, along with partnering on efforts to disseminate COVID-19 mitigation information and promote access to vaccinations.

Volunteers also returned to the Dominican Republic. In 2022, Peace Corps Volunteers have been invited to return to 24 countries. This includes those evacuated in 2020, trainees who never had the chance to serve, and new Volunteers. Crucially, they are all returning as part of an agency that has listened to — and acted on — ideas and recommendations from the Peace Corps community for how to ensure that we’re shaping a Peace Corps that meets the needs of a changed world.

Volunteers also return to work around the world building the person-to-person relationships in communities where they serve. Across this country and in Europe, thousands of returned Volunteers are at work to help Ukrainians in harm’s way.

At a time like this it’s important to underscore a truth we know: The mission of building peace and friendship is the work of a lifetime.

How Partnering for Peace is Helping

By Chantelle Doerksen and Shannon Carter, PFP Communications Committee

Earlier this month, PFP members met with Ukrainian counterparts to hear their stories. The RPCV Alliance for Ukraine and PFP member/Rotary Peace Fellow Shannon Carter (RPCV Ukraine) helped to coordinate.

PFP continues to discuss how we can continue support Rotary and Peace Corps efforts in Ukraine with humanitarian assistance over the upcoming months. We believe this will include leaning into partnerships like the MOU between Rotary and Peace Corps, as well as with other INGOs and NGOs. Learn more.

Kentucky RPCVs and Rotarians at Work

Bill Miller and Steve Werner, PFP Board members, are coordinating with RPCVs in central Kentucky and the International Book Project, which seeks to distribute books to communities in need. To date, over seven million books have been distributed internationally. Requests and distributions are curated to meet the needs of recipients.

RPCVs and Rotarians are also discussing ways to support local refugee populations and how to utilize the resources available through Rotary’s Global Grant program to support international projects in the upcoming year.

PFP members are available to present on their experience to other RPCV and Rotary groups who seek to develop joint projects.

Partners Needed for TCP Global Micro-loan Projects: A Global Grant Opportunity

The Rotary Clubs of Coconut Grove, Florida and Arua, Uganda seek partners for Global Grant 2234686 to expand micro-loan services to Women’s Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) in Northern Uganda, including the BidiBidi Camp for Sudanese Refugees.

The TCP Global model builds zero-overhead, sustainable loan programs in marginalized communities, currently working in over 140 sites in fourteen countries.

Twenty-two VSLA leaders of TCP Global programs in Yumbe, Uganda recently formed the provisionary Rotary Club of Yumbe and are awaiting charter.

If approved, this Rotary Global Grant would provide funds to establish or expand a minimum of thirty VSLA loan programs and fund automation to facilitate sharing of loan program information.

Contact: [email protected].

Join us! Rotary International Convention in Houston in June 2022

Rotary International wants to extend a special invitation to members of Partnering for Peace to attend the 2022 Rotary International Convention. Come and share experiences, network, and explore ways to keep moving the needle forward on mutually shared goals.

Information about specific PFP activities is forthcoming.

Learn more about the convention and register here.

Let us know if you plan to attend!