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 Letter from the President
Hello SDPCA Members!
This month, Peace Corps celebrates 60 years of service! Borrowing information from the Peace Corps website, we learn that 241,000 Americans have served as Peace Corps volunteers since its founding by John F. Kennedy in 1961. Within six years, the first director Sargent Shriver had developed programs in 55 countries with over 14,500 Volunteers (Peace Corps.gov).
I hope you were able to join us for some (or all) of our Peace Corps Week activities from February 28 through March 7. It was a busy week, starting with a virtual dinner party, then cooking dinner for Rachel’s House, and culminating with the viewing of A Towering Task and a discussion with the director. We also had a special photo share during that week on our Facebook page.
Later this month, please join us on March 19th for Gregg’s Memorial Happy Hour and the fan favorite book club on March 31st.
The SDPCA would also like to put out a call for members interested in joining the San Diego Peace Corps Association Board of Directors. Please contact me (president@sdpca.org) or any other SDPCA board member if you think you might like to join us. Our new board will be elected at the annual meeting in May.
Wishing all good health and peace in this 60th celebration,
Ashley Smallwood
Ecuador, 2004-07
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 Gregg’s Memorial Happy Hour
Friday, March 19 at 5pm
Zoom
RSVP: http://evite.me/sd4MQgHkeN
Gregg Pancoast was a long-standing board member whose birthday was on March 20th. Annually, Gregg would host a Happy Hour in the Hillcrest area around his birthday. In his memory, we continue to host a happy hour near his birthday each year. This year, we will be hosting the Memorial Happy Hour virtually. Even if you did not know Gregg, he would welcome you with open arms. All please join us!
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 Book Club – Kosher Chinese
Wednesday, March 31 at 7pm
Zoom
RSVP: http://evite.me/cRy22B58pS
Join us for an engaging discussion of Kosher Chinese by Michael Levy.
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 Socially Distanced Hike
Saturday, April 17 at 9am
Penasquitos Creek Waterfall
RSVP: http://evite.me/6CUGcmY8Ru
Please join us for a hike to the Penasquitos Creek waterfall. We will be meeting at the ranch house, which is located just past the tennis courts and baseball diamonds, and hiking on the north side of the river. The hike is about 6 miles roundtrip, with flat, dirt trails. The trail is great for families and dog-friendly.
Please be prepared to maintain a social distance of at least 6 feet and wear a mask when in proximity to people outside of your household. There are parts of the trail with no shade, so please consider bringing sunscreen and a hat. This event is weather-dependent (if it rains Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve might be closed to the public) and subject to public health orders - please check the invitation for updates.
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 Book Club – The Village of Waiting
Wednesday, April 28 at 7pm
Zoom
RSVP: http://evite.me/Kvka4GabGE
Join us for what is sure to be fun and lively evening discussing The Village of Waiting by George Packer.
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Annual Meeting and Celebration
Sunday, May 2 at 12 noon
Join us for our Annual Meeting as we celebrate Peace Corps' 60th Anniversary! Let's try to have at least 60 members in attendance to recognize each year that the program that brought us all together has existed.
A fun filled virtual event awaits YOU! See you there!
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Peace Corps Week Photos
Thanks to everyone who submitted photos to the SDPCA Facebook page during Peace Corps Week! Each day, there was a different theme. Below are the photos (and description by the photographer) that got the most likes for each theme:
 Gerald Sodomka
Country representation
This is Sokoto in northern Nigeria. Nigeria is a large and very diverse country. The Sultan of Sokoto is the religious leader of the Islamic north, and the end of Ramadan is the most celebrated holiday that continued a thousand year tradition. I was fortunate to see it twice during my two years teaching there and before it became more modernized.
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 Paul Courtright
Projects
My second year project in Korea: visiting about 70 (almost all) the leprosy resettlement villages with my co-worker to examine patients for eye conditions, provide basic health education, and organizing surgery for those needing it.
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 Sharon Kennedy
Host family/friends
Some of my host family during part of our training. The middle monk is my brother. In Thailand, men often become Buddhist monks for a short period of time - perhaps before getting married or after a relative dies.
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 Jill Parliman Kibler
PC toilets
Hard to see.....black and white, but the digging and the final product. My partner and I held a competition for all the schools in our area for constructing and using charpis (latrines). Nepal.
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 Tina Silva
Favorite memory
This was taken just a couple weeks in to being in country in Tanzania in 2005. This was our training site, Rudewa, and these were the other 3 volunteers I was clustered with for pre-service training. I just love this picture so much because I vividly remember having my first big "I'm IN the Peace Corps now" moment. We were just walking down the road and the farther we went, the more kids would join us. With little language training at this time, it was mostly just smiles and laughs to communicate with but it seemed to be enough for all of us. I remember really wanting to remember the moment so I ran ahead of them just to turn around and take this picture. And I'm glad I did because it's still one of my favorite Peace Corps pictures.
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Traditionally, the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) has coordinated a National Day of Action on Capitol Hill in DC during Peace Corps week to advocate for Peace Corps. Since we can’t attend in-person meetings this year, we will be advocating virtually all across the country through March and April!
If you would like to participate in a virtual meeting set up by the SDPCA with local representatives, please contact Danielle at advocacy@sdpca.org. Meeting dates and times are still being scheduled.
What You Can Do Now:
You can send your Representative a written note or email them to express why Peace Corps is important to you. Explain that we are celebrating 60 years of spreading peace and friendship around the world. We need to maintain robust funding as we prepare to get more volunteers safely back into the field. Your voice really does matter!
Submit an e-letter to all of your members of Congress at this link: https://advocacy.peacecorpsconnect.org/email-congress#/
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 SDPCA Membership Dues
To keep the San Diego Peace Corps Spirit strong, mark the 60th Anniversary of Peace Corps by renewing your membership (if you haven’t yet) or becoming a member for the first time. Honor our amazing community of proud returned volunteers and friends!
The annual SDPCA Membership is $20 per family. Newly COSed RPCVs (in the past year) are free. The membership fees help cover our modest operating costs and provide funds for our events.
There are two ways to renew:
1. Go to SDPCA.org/membership to renew on-line using our secure PayPal payment system. If you have issues with the payment system, send an email to Sharon at newseditor@SDPCA.org and she'll send you an invoice.
2. Mail a check for $20 to SDPCA PO Box 16362, San Diego, CA 92176. Please include a note with your country of service, dates served, and any updated contact information (email, phone, address).
Questions? Contact Tina Hunter Burnam at membershipinfo@SDPCA.org.
Artwork by SDPCA Board Member Alia Kroos
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