We are conducting an artifact search in concert with the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institute, and the artifact lists are due by January 30, 2011. Guidelines for submission can be found at Peace Corps American History Artifact Guidelines.
We see this as a great opportunity to establish the history of the Peace Corps from its founding. Please pass word along to the members of your RPCV group about the artifact search.
I will be happy to answer any questions you may have, and we look forward to seeing your submissions.
Sam Norton
snorton @ peacecorps.gov
I am looking for a Cameroon RPCV. His name is John Noel, posted in MBalmayo around 74-76.
Graeme Frelick
gpfrelick @ verizon.net
домейнBy Whitney Isenhower (RPCV Cameroon ’06-’08)
(pictures by Amber Byrne of Live It Out Photography, LLC)
Nearly 100 Washington, D.C.-area residents gathered in the Eighteenth Street Lounge’s warmly lit Gold Room on the evening of April 29 for a fundraiser supporting Education Fights AIDS (EFA) International, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that empowers African youth infected with and affected by HIV and AIDS in Cameroon and Rwanda.
Alim Ousmanou, EFA International’s Cameroon country representative, spoke at the fundraiser—one stop on a visit marking his first time in the U.S. Invited to participate in the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program from April 3-23, Ousmanou remained in the country for two weeks after the program to visit supporters of EFA International’s work carried out in Cameroon.
Alim Ousmanou
“It was wonderful to see how young Americans are helping the community of youth living with HIV and AIDS in Cameroon,” Ousmanou said of the Washington event.
EFA International’s efforts focus on creating associations for individuals infected with and affected by HIV and AIDS in Cameroon and supporting a center for orphans and vulnerable children in Rwanda. The organization began when Ousmanou and Andrew Koleros, then a Peace Corps Volunteer in Maroua, Cameroon, identified dozens of HIV-positive youth in the city who lacked the psychosocial, educational and financial support to live positively with the virus.
Along with Koleros, returned Peace Corps Volunteers Rachel Hoy, Michael Nilon, Erin Nilon and Nicole Sheldon-Desjardins officially incorporated the organization in 2006 to continue this work. Koleros, who currently sits on EFA International’s Board of Directors, said Ousmanou’s visit deepened members’ commitment to the organization, which advocates the Peace Corps’ Third Goal.
“It’s really motivated the board and volunteers,” Koleros said of Ousmanou’s presence at EFA International events in the U.S. “It reminded us of why we all got involved in this organization in the first place.”
For EFA International’s benefactors, Ousmanou’s presence at the fundraiser made the organization’s mission more resonant, clarifying what their involvement means for the youth the nonprofit enables to live positively.
“It was nice to hear somebody from the area where it’s being helped speak,” said Michael Causey, a Washington-based lawyer who attended the fundraiser. “It’s easy for Americans to say, ‘Look at the great work I’m doing.’”
(AJEPS photo taken by Caitlyn Bradburn (PCV Cameroon ’08-present)
EFA International currently supports eight independent groups in the Extreme North province of Cameroon. Income-generating activities to advance members in their communities and peer education programs to raise awareness about HIV transmission and prevention have empowered more than 120 young men and women.
Doumtigai Guibai, member of an EFA International-sponsored association in Mokolo, Cameroon, said her participation in peer education training motivated her to speak openly about HIV.
“People come up to me to congratulate me for my courage to speak about HIV in the community,” Guibai said in EFA International’s 2009 Annual Report. “At school, students call me the ‘mama’ for teaching them about HIV.”
During his visit, Ousmanou also attended fundraising events in Massachusetts and spoke at a Harvard Divinity School panel discussion on development and HIV in Africa. He said he was extremely affected by returned volunteers’ commitment to both EFA International and Cameroon.
“I saw so many people during my time in the U.S.,” Ousmanou said. “Seeing former Cameroon Peace Corps Volunteers was the most significant to me.”
To find out more about EFA’s work, go to http://efainternational.org/
Do you know about the National Peace Corps Association’s Africa Rural Connect (ARC) program? You’ve probably heard of it before, it’s an online collaborative space created to link R/PCVs, development professionals, African farmers, members of the African diaspora, and others in building strong project plans for the development of rural Africa. Theye encourage members of our affiliate groups (like Friends of Cameroon), to take part in this initiative and offer their insight, ideas, and experiences to the many discussions.
Check out the site to learn about our unique idea-sharing platform and Competition for seed-funding.
http://arc.peacecorpsconnect.org/
We recently began recruiting RPCVs from West Africa to teach secondary level Math, Chemistry and Physics in 9 month placements in Guinea, beginning in September 2010.
Secondary Physics Teachers
Secondary Math Teachers
Secondary Chemistry Teachers
Interested RPCVs can submit their applications online by following the links above, or can feel free to contact me directly at the email address or phone number below.
Thank you for your consideration and assistance!
All the best,
Brianna Fischer
Peace Corps Response
Peace Corps
1111 20th St NW
Washington, DC 20526
800-424-8580, extension 2247
bfischer @ peacecorps.gov
I’m currently an invitee and am leaving for Cameroon in June. I thought this site might be nice to find a way to contact some RPCVs from Cameroon and see if anyone had any suggestions for someone about to start their service.
Thanks for the help!
Sean Denny
sean.m.denny @ gmail.com
