RI-RPCV Newsletter
November 1999 Edition
(Text Only)

POSTAL SERVICE ISSUES STAMP COMMEMORATING PEACE CORPS
Rhode Island Council Of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers honored with Presention
Dateline Providence:
   The United States Postal Service honored the Rhode Island Council of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers at its monthly meeting on Tuesday, October 5, 1999, at 8 p.m. at the Seaport Tavern Restaurant, 16 West Main Road, Wickford, RI.
   Pamela J. Thurber, Customer Relations Coordinator for  the Providence Post Office,  presented a poster-sized enlargement of the newly issued Peace Corps stamp to the group (See photo above). "I am very happy to be able to recognize the members of the Council for their volunteer spirit, their patriotism, and their willingness to serve the people of the Third World," said Thurber.
   The stamp has been issued as part of the United States Postal Service's
"Celebrate the Century" program, featuring stamps commemorating the most notable events, people, places, and trends of each decade of the 20th Century. Stamps honoring the 20th
Century will be issued in 15-stamp sheets for each decade. The Peace Corps stamp appears on the 1960s decade sheet. The design of the stamp depicts a Norman Rockwell painting from his series on the Peace Corps completed during the 1960s. The painting is of a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia, one of the countries Rockwell visited.
   The R.I. Council of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers was founded approximately 20 years ago and now has about 350 members on its mailing list. The primary purpose of the organization is to share information and insights gained from the Peace Corps experience with other Americans. Members also promote the Peace Corps and raise money to assist local and international relief efforts. They speak to students about service in the Peace Corps and act as a resource for newly recruited Peace Corps volunteers and as a support system for newly returned volunteers.
   The stamp may be viewed on the Postal Service's web site: www.usps.com. Click on "Stamps on Line," then "Celebrate the Century," then "1960s."


HELP FEED THE HUNGRY - FROM YOUR COMPUTER!
Feed the Hungry by the stroke of a key? Free? Check out the Feinstein website where you can sign a petition to Congress and provide a meal to a hungry person through the UN World Food Bank paid for by corporate sponsors.  Go to:
www.feinsteinfoundation.com

FALL MEETING BIG SUCCESS
    The kickoff meeting for our 2000 millenium year got off to a great start at the Seaport Tavern in Wickford.  After a brief cocktail  party,  Chef Effendi Atma prepared a Turkish feast  which started with a tomato/  salad. The main course was kabobs of black angus  meet and vegetables specially marinated in spices with  a rice pilof  and pine nuts with  sides  of grilled eggplant / yogurt and asparagus.  The dinner was followed by a special presentation  to our RI RPCV group by Pamela Thurber of the United Postal Service (see  separate article).  Then group leader, Betty Leonard held  a  brief  meeting. She introduced our newest members, Scott Aronowitz (Paraguay) and  September LeFevre (Coite de Voir).    She also asked that some of our  other members re-introduce themselves to the group since  they had not  been  present for the last few meetings.  She reported that the Gospel Concert on 2nd October had raised   $4000.00 which will go directly to Turkish survivors.
Betty announced that Diane Brandley will be in charge of the sales of the National PC calendars.  We have ordered and paid for 100 calendars and Betty asked  each volunteer to purchase 2 calendars at the close of the meeting and we would be well on our way to our goal.   Proceeds from this sale go into our treasury to be awarded to various needy groups throughout the year. Please contact Diane Brandley (see  board member list) to place your orders for additional calendars.
Carolyn Anderson asked that any members who have additions or corrections for the  RIRPCV directory get them to her as soon as possible. The new directory that she handed out is current as of this meeting.
Barbara Fontaine then gave a tresurer’s report..  As of today we have $547.70  (this represents money used to purchase 100 calendars).  She said  as of the start of this meeting we only had 38 paying members.  Please pay your dues as  soon as possible! You can pay Barbara directly ($15.00/year) made out to RIRPCV or indicate your state affiliation when you pay National RPCV  membership ($25.00)
(editor’s note: With a mailing list of over 320 RPCVs in our RI/Southern Mass area we really should have many more members. Paying your dues is a good way to help support our group while not having the time to get personally involved).
Nanci Smith asked for  articles for the upcoming newsletter. A proposal to donate moneys to Turkish survivors and PC’s Global Teach Net  project was made and will be voted on at the next meeting.
Jim Alexander, Faith Fogle, and Stan Premy will be working on an African Program to be presented to the group in the Spring.  Jim  recently attended a regional convention in Baltimore organized by the Washington-based National Summit on Africa. Some 1000  East Coast regional government officials, academics and Africanists were present at the convention to "try to mobilize and energize an activist pool across the country to be more supportive of African Matters," according to Leonard H. Robinson, director of the National Summit.

National Peace Corps Day
7 March
First National Summit on Africa
RI-RPCV member Jim Alexander will also attend the  first national meeting of the National Summit on Africa in February 2000.  This will be an unprecendented nationwide effort to create a shared policy agenda to guide U.S. relations with the countries of Africa; educate the American public about Africa; and broaden and strengthen the network of Africa’s supporters in the U.S.
Volunteers are needed to assist in this Summit. If you are interested, fill out the application form at the summit website:
http://www.africasummit.org
or contact  Jim Alexander for additional details.

From Tragedy, A Fitting Tribute
From the Providence Journal
By TIFFANY BARTISH
As Leonora Van Hook stood before the small library in Oupumako, Namibia, that bears her daughter's name, she felt both excitement and gratitude. It was a moment she had long waited for - a moment when a dream born of tragedy and three years of hard work became a reality.
The tale began in 1996 when Van Hook's daughter, 24-year-old Kyrstin Schaminghausen, died in a car accident while teaching as a Peace Corps volunteer in Oupumako.
Kyrstin and two friends had been hitchhiking when the car that picked them up swerved off the road and hit a picnic table, killing Kyrstin and seriously injuring the two other women. Shocked and grievlng,Van Hook made the 4,000-mile trek to the town in southwest Africa where her daughter had lived and worked.
While there, she vowed to carry on Kyrstin's work by building a library in her daughter's memory. Van Hook and other volunteers, including the women injured in the accident, spent months raising money for building materials and soliciting publishers for books.  So farthe project has cost more than  $13,000U.S.dollars not counting 10,000 books from the Sabre Foundation, a nonprofit organization in Cambridge, Mass., that donates books to developing countries. "It was more work than I thought it would be," Van Hook said of the project.
A Very Special December Meeting

8 December 1999 will be the date of our last meeting of this millenium.  It will be a special "Hail" and "Farewell" Pot Luck Dinner welcoming home, Scott Aronowitz, Dennise DelaRosa, Julie, Jaffa Felber,Kathryn Gerhard,Robert Klug, Lucia MacLeod and September LeFevre and bidding farwell to  Erin Godfrin  (departing for Cameroon) and Erica Smith ( Feb departure to the Ukraine). We will have a special speaker, Anna Whitcome Knight, who is  the New England Rep on the PC National Board. Anna ( 73-74RPCV- Philippines) has her own business, CAREER CHOICES. She will update us on what the  NPC is doing and also  cover what services are offered by National PC to returnees, specifically  highlighting career  information..
PLEASE JOIN US  FOR A POT LUCK DINNER  AT ST. GEORGE’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
        hosted by
Mike Devine (RIRPCV)
8Dec 1999 at 7:00pm
St Georges Episcopal Church
Corner  of Central & Clinton Sts
Central Falls, RI
BRING YOUR FAVORITE  DISH
RSVP to Mike (401)  722-9449.-w
                             (401)728-1395-h
                   email: ap735@osfn.org
IF YOU COME TO ONLY ONE EVENT THIS YEAR, COME TO THIS ONE!
Directions: I95 North to exit 29 (Broadway North); 3 blocks north to 1st light (Duncan Donuts); left onto Central Ave.; continue into Central Falls (road becomes Cross Street); ¾ mile past river turn right and park in lot behind  Coelho’s funeral home; Church is across street - enter through side door around corner.


RI-RPCV Board

Editor:   Nanci Martin Smith   (Cameroon 64-66) (401)
683-1518     Rirpcvnews@aol.com