Peace Corps

heyarnolds: Day 71: Thanks Crayola (& Sally). Hebron was...

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:00:00 -0400

Day 71: Thanks Crayola (& Sally). Hebron was squealing with excitement! I told her she has to keep both the crayons and coloring book at the house. She said, “Ishi” (ok) & then attempted to smuggle them outside!

So adorable!

The photograph shows the mothers and children cheering with the...

Mon, 13 May 2013 17:24:00 -0400

The photograph shows the mothers and children cheering with the fresh glasses of soy milk we just made. Malnutrition is a tremendous problem among the people here, most of whom are of Lencan descent, one of the indigenous populations of Honduras. My coordinating NGO, World Vision (counterpart at far left of photograph) and I work with the women to find local and nutritious foods they can make for themselves and their families. Soy, one of these local products, only costs 10 Lempiras ($.53) a pound, and is therefore more cost effective than other products, mainly meats, with the same protein content. We begin every class with a charla (presentation) over the importance of nutrition and different nutritional elements available in local foods and then cook a few different types of food from local ingredients, soy milk and soy chorizo being examples.

- Peace Corps Health Volunteer Lauren Roberts

postcardsfromghana: Harvesting honey during bee keeping...

Sat, 11 May 2013 12:30:29 -0400

postcardsfromghana:

Harvesting honey during bee keeping training

“When a student sees a postcard sent from a faraway place and...

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:11:00 -0400

“When a student sees a postcard sent from a faraway place and realizes it’s addressed to them, it sparks an enthusiasm for learning English that the textbooks don’t match. Even my least motivated students will call me aside to help them decipher new words and phrases.”

- Peace Corps Volunteer Matthew Borden, who is teaching students in his Indonesian community English with the help of postcards through a project he calls Postcards to Java

Peace Corps Volunteers, trainees, and staff were just a little...

Thu, 09 May 2013 15:22:05 -0400

Peace Corps Volunteers, trainees, and staff were just a little excited to meet President Obama in Costa Rica last week!

Happy National Nurses Week!

Mon, 06 May 2013 12:30:29 -0400

Togo - 1962

Liberia - 2009

Happy National Nurses Week!

anythingforamonth: Palm Sunday on Paama: after service, the...

Fri, 03 May 2013 12:30:22 -0400

anythingforamonth:

Palm Sunday on Paama: after service, the kids pillaged the branches cut to decorate the church. We made palm pinwheels, watches, bows, rings, crowns and swords. A hundred biodegradable playthings.

From the Peace Corps Digital Library: Photos taken by Peace...

Thu, 02 May 2013 11:14:00 -0400

From the Peace Corps Digital Library: Photos taken by Peace Corps Volunteer Ron Dizon for a Peace Corps/USAID Project called Operation Help during the 1970s famine relief in Afghanistan.

zaichiki: My super fashionable high school students. The...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:30:33 -0400

zaichiki:

My super fashionable high school students. The dancers’ photoshoot before the end of term bash at school.

mypubliclands: The Federal Government on Tumblr Increasingly,...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:37:40 -0400

Photograph of Civilian Conservation Corps Enrollee Planting a Tree ARC Identifier 594253. todaysdocument.tumblr.com

Students in Guyana are happy that Peace Corps Volunteer Tka Tyne helped revive their local learning center! peacecorps.tumblr.com

2 days ago – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry laughs after getting a hug from Ryousei, an 18-month-old he met while touring the Zojoji Shrine, in Tokyo. statedept.tumblr.com

Will the Base Runner Start for Third? by Clifford Berryman, 8/17/1906, U.S. Senate Collection (ARC 6010644) -- Congressarchives.tumblr.com

Gorgeous sunrise photo at Tipsoo Pond in Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington. AmericasGreatOutdoors.tumblr.com

mypubliclands:

The Federal Government on Tumblr

Increasingly, Federal agencies (like us here at the Bureau of Land Management) are using Tumblr to share photos, science, events, initiatives, and other great content with the Tumblr community. Here’s a list of some awesome Federal government blogs you should be following on Tumblr. It’s probably not exhaustive, but these are the ones we know about that post more than occasionally.

Reblog and help share the word:

America’s Great Outdoors: The Department of the Interior (our parent agency) shares an amazing photo a day of your public lands.

Archivist of the United States: The Tumblr of our “collector in chief” at the National Archives, David S Ferriero.

Bureau of Reclamation: Reclamation, and Interior Dept agency, is the largest wholesale water supplier and the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the United States, with operations and facilities in the 17 Western States.

Congress in the Archives: Since the First Congress in 1789, the records of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate have documented the history of the legislative branch. The National Archives helps you explore this history.

Conservation at Work: The Natural Resources Conservation Service, part of the Department of Agriculture, posts photos of conservation on farms and other private lands across the nation.

Fish and Wildlife Service: The Pacific Region of the FWS encompasses extraordinary ecological diversity. Photos, science, and more.

Internal Revenue Service: Because who doesn’t want tax information on Tumblr? Useful tips, videos, etc., straight from the IRS.

My Public Lands: The awesomeness of the Bureau of Land Management, which manages more than 245 million acres of amazing lands, as told by students, interns, and newer employees.

Our Presidents: One space to bring the past 13 Presidents together. Discover behind-the-scenes history here. Managed by the National Archives.

National Archives: News and current events from the United States National Archives and Records Administration whose holdings include the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, military records, Presidential records, and millions of other documents related to the Federal Government.

Peace Corps: Life is calling. How far will you go? Get up close with the amazing work done by peace corps volunteers.

U.S. Department of State: Videos, photos, testimony, and updates from the State Department. Foreign policy updates on Tumblr—how cool is that?

Today’s Document: Highlighting interesting documents the National Archives’ holdings—both the well-known and the obscure—to observe historical events (usually the significant events but sometimes just the curious ones).

USA.gov: Government made easy. On Tumblr. Enough said.

US National Archives Exhibits: Images and stories from the National Archives related to “Searching for the Seventies: the DOCUMERICA Photography Project,” the newest exhibition on display at the Archives’ facility in Washington, DC.

The White House, Tumbling Things

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 12:30:19 -0400

whitehouse:

We see some great things here at the White House every day, and sharing that stuff with you is one of the best parts of our jobs. That’s why we’re launching a Tumblr. We’ll post things like the best quotes from President Obama, or video of young scientists visiting the White House for the science fair, or photos of adorable moments with Bo. We’ve got some wonky charts, too. Because to us, those are actually kind of exciting.

But this is also about you. President Obama is committed to making this the most open and accessible administration in history, and our Tumblr is no exception.

We want to see what you have to share: Questions you have for the White House, stories of what a policy like immigration reform means to you, or ways we can improve our Tumbling. We’re new here, and we’re all ears.

So give us a follow, send a post our way using the submission tool, and stick around to see some things you won’t want to miss.

And yes, of course there will be GIFs.

You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and WhiteHouse.gov.

Welcome, Welcome!

I <3 maps and you will too!

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:30:14 -0400

malawhee:

I taught my Form One’s their first geography lesson today. I’m not sure if they learned geography in primary school, so maybe it was their first geography lesson ever.

To start, I had them draw a map of the world in their exercise books. The results were… interesting. Haha. I mean, they don’t see images constantly like kids growing up in America do… they don’t watch TV, they have limited textbooks, etc. So most of them didn’t really know what it was supposed to look like. Some of them just drew a map of Malawi, which I thought was interesting.

Anyway, one popular Peace Corps activity undertaken by volunteers is the World Map Project. I am definitely going to try and do this at my school with my new geography students. By the end of this term these kids will KNOW that America is not in Europe.

Peace Corps Burkina Faso’s Gender and Development Committee...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 21:01:10 -0400

Peace Corps Burkina Faso’s Gender and Development Committee (GAD) recently held its first annual Women’s Health and Leadership Conference. The conference focused on gender empowerment, leadership, and common health issues faced by women in Burkina Faso.

Not too long ago, Margaret Banda’s daughter had a dangerous...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:01:06 -0400

Not too long ago, Margaret Banda’s daughter had a dangerous rendezvous with malaria. Her newborn twins waited at home for her as she was rushed to the hospital with a high fever. Since then, Margaret has completed ANAMED (Action for Natural Medicine) training. Here, she is pounding morgina leaves into a powder for cooking which is essential when battling disease and infection.

Peace Corps Health Volunteer Alisa Langfords shares with ONE a...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:00:43 -0400

Peace Corps Health Volunteer Alisa Langfords shares with ONE a story about a young boy in her village for World Malaria Day

In the end, Justice was fine, but it turns out that he had contracted malaria. Malaria is a disease that kills nearly 650,000 people in Africa every year, most of them children under five. With limited immunities to the disease, young children are more likely to develop cerebral malaria, which can lead to severe developmental issues and even death.

But there are the “strong men” in my community who believe they have little to worry about. While Gifty and her family sleep under a bed net every night to protect against malaria, many people brush off its importance, saying it is too hot and they aren’t worried about malaria. After all, they’ve had it several times before, and they’ve survived.

But this is not always the case for the children. Many Ghanaians do not understand that if they are infected, a mosquito can bite them, and re-infect someone else, including someone vulnerable to malaria’s harsher effects. In short, Justice’s malaria came from somewhere, and it was probably an adult who didn’t use their net.

In honor of Malaria Month, 20 Peace Corps Volunteers from Sierra...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:01:04 -0400

In honor of Malaria Month, 20 Peace Corps Volunteers from Sierra Leone rode their bicycles 55 miles, from Kamakwie to Panlap, as part of the Stomp Out Malaria Initiative. They stopped at villages along the way and did activities aimed at improving the villagers’ knowledge of malaria transmission, prevention, and treatment. To help spread the message, the volunteers wrote malaria-related slogans on white t-shirts.

Check out this video for the facts about malaria in Africa and...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:05:31 -0400

Check out this video for the facts about malaria in Africa and the grassroots efforts of Peace Corps Volunteers to save lives in the communities where they serve.

Angelina’s Smile Angelina comes running up after school...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:30:17 -0400

Angelina’s Smile

Angelina comes running up after school yelling ‘Sister Johanna, Sister Johanna!’. I smile and can’t help laugh as she looks up at me in her faded school dress. She smiles the biggest smile you’ve ever seen and grabs a stack of nets to carry on her head to help. We’re in the middle of a net distribution as part of Ghana Health Service’s ‘Roll Out Campaign’.

As we distribute and hang net in every household, one per married couple and one for every two children, Angelina runs back and forth from where we store the nets, making the process go a little quicker. She’s one of my most favorite people in my village but her name can be deceiving. Asking for a coin to buy a water sachet because she’s thirsty, she comes back smacking on a piece of bubble gum. My counterpart George Atoanan and I try to scold her but end up laughing instead! Even though she’s devious, she our little helper for the day and puts a smile on our face.

I’ve visited with her family since the campaign and see that the treated mosquito nets are still hung and I can rest assured she’s sleeping safe every night. Because she’s healthy and malaria-free, she can continue to smile her mischievous smile every day.

- Peace Corps Health Volunteer Johanna Twiford

Collaborate. Share. Act. End it.

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:00:42 -0400

Collaborate. Share. Act. End it.

Happy World Malaria Day!

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 09:00:59 -0400

Happy World Malaria Day!