NPCA REPORT
Patricia Wand, Representative for the Americas
Generally speaking, Returned Peace Corps Volunteers want to stay connected; whether it’s to their Peace Corps site or to each other. With that knowledge in mind and using the latest web technology, the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) opened a new web portal on January 20, 2009. Fittingly launched on Inauguration Day, www.peacecorpsconnect.org provides the platform for any technological communication RPCVs might want to pursue.
In the first two months of its life, PeaceCorpsConnect hosted over 64,000 unique visitors and nearly 25,000 interactions, ranging from member group registrations to "friend" connections to Twitter updates. If you haven’t yet used PeaceCorpsConnect, spend a few minutes poking around the site and see for yourself what RPCVs around the world are up to. Here are some highlights:
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50th Anniversary Campaign – raising money to sponsor major (and minor) events in 2011 to celebrate 50 years of Peace Corps•
MorePeaceCorps – the ambitious initiative aimed at Congressional support for authorizing a bigger, bolder, better Peace Corps•
Global TeachNet e-newsletter –recently recognized by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) for outstanding achievement in electronic publications.Staff and Board have worked hard for NPCA to become financially solvent (which it is!) and are pushing forward on raising funds to support impressive initiatives. The largest grant yet is funding the technology to execute Africa Rural Connect Project. MorePeaceCorps is supported by foundations; whereas the cooperative agreement with Peace Corps funds the mentor program for Peace Corps Volunteers in their close of service transition months.
NPCA reaches out and informs RPCVs in more traditional ways, too. The electronic newsletter sent on 19 March 2009 reached nearly 15,000 readers and the informative, photo-enriched WorldView quarterly magazine is sent directly to NPCA members via snail mail.
If you’re interested in helping to maintain these activities, become an NPCA member. Dues of $35/year support the infrastructure to stay connected, informed and engaged. Again, visit the website for details.
Please contact me at patwand@mac.com if you have questions, suggestions or comments