Tag Archives: friends of colombia

Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and the Third Goal

The Peace Corps has always operated with a three-point goal in mind: serve host countries, introduce host countries to Americans, and to help Americans better understand non-Americans. [1] Peace Corps Volunteers do not stop fulfilling this third goal when they finish their service. One of the ways that Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) have accomplished this goal is by establishing organizations that work to help their country of service.

The American University Archives features materials from these organizations, whether donated by a Volunteer or the organization itself. Returned Peace Corps Volunteers often founded these associations in the final decades of the twentieth century. Many have the title “Friends of [Country of Service].” These groups provide a way for members who served together or in the same country to keep in touch. However, they also have a central focus on providing resources to and keeping American attention on their country of service. As such, they continue to fulfill the third goal of the Peace Corps.

This flyer shows how the Friends of Costa Rica Organization clearly thought of themselves as fulfilling the Peace Corps’ third goal and wanted other RPCVs to do the same. Friends of Costa Rica, “Third Goal Forum!” 1996, American University Archives, Washington, D.C.

The Peace Corps Community Archive has materials from organizations for RPCVS from five countries: Colombia, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and the Dominican Republic. A former fellow has written an amazing post about materials from the Friends of Nigeria, but the other four groups’ collections are also fascinating. Of especial note is the Friends of Colombia, which has been donating material since before the Peace Corps Community Archive began. The archive now has several decades of the organization’s materials, as well as the collections of dozens of Colombia RPCVs. These boxes are filled with stories, such as the organization’s founding, Colombian RPCV reunions, and donations and events that the group facilitated to help Colombians. However, Friends of Colombia has also worked to make a wider circle of Americans become more familiar with Colombians, such as through their participation in President Clinton’s 1992 inaugural parade. [2]

The founders of the Friends of Colombia in the living room where they started the organization. Photo undated, circa 2000. American University, Washington D.C.

While the archives does not have as much material from the Friends of the Dominican Republic, Ghana, or Kenya, these collections are still incredibly interesting. The Friends of Ghana organization has donated materials including meeting notes, newsletters, and the donation information. Members of the Friends of the Dominican Republic donated materials from their time assisting the organization (a list of members and related blog posts can be found here). Robert Scully donated materials from the Friends of Kenya. These groups also helped to facilitate connections between RCPVs, the country in which they served, and other Americans. For example, Robert Scully’s collection features Friends of Kenya materials from the 1990s and early 2000s, when he served on the organization’s board. During his tenure, the group donated to causes such as fighting polio in Kenya. Similar to Friends of Colombia, the group also interacted with Kenyans at the highest levels of government. This included the Kenyan ambassador to the United States, as seen below.

This is Robert Scully’s invitation to the thirty-third anniversary celebration of Kenya’s independence, courtesy of the Kenyan ambassador to the United States. American University Archives, Washington, D.C.

All of these organizations have also continued to carry out the Peace Corps’ third goal. The Peace Corps Community Archive has information on dozens of charitable projects that these five organizations alone have assisted. As shown above, these groups frequently have a great deal of influence due to their ties to the Peace Corps and former country of service. Meetings with ambassadors or other high-ranking officials from their countries of service, such as Scully’s, are not uncommon. Such work has made it more likely that other Americans will learn about their countries of service. These groups have all helped Americans, whether or not they are RPCVs, better understand non-Americans, therefore fulfilling a key Peace Corps purpose.

 

 

 

 

[1]”2020 Fact Sheet,” Peace Corps, December 2019, https://files.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/pdf/about/pc_facts.pdf.

[2] “Friends of Colombia (FOC) Activities,” c. 1996. American University Archives, Washington, D.C.

John J. Lewis in Colombia

Country of Service: Colombia
Place of Service: Jardin
Dates in Service:  1962

Keywords: Correspondence, Photography

Accession Date: 2001; May 16, 2023
Access: No restrictions
Collection Size:  .01 linear feet (located in Friends of Colombia)

Document Types:

  • Correspondence
  • Photography 

Finding Aid:

  1. Letter from Lewis to the archives upon his initial 2001 donation
  2. Telegram from Sargent Shriver inviting Lewis for training.
  3. Account of Lewis’s experience when two fellow PCVs died in an April 1962 plane crash.
  4. Two photos of Lewis and his two friends the day before the crash.

John Caracciolo in the Philippines and Colombia

Countries of Service: the Philippines and Colombia
Service Type: Socio-Economic Studies and Research (in Colombia)
Dates in Service: July 25, 1975-August 6, 1977 (Philippines)
September 30, 1977-January 3, 1980 (Colombia)
Keywords: Agriculture

Accession Date: November 30, 2021
Access: No restrictions
Collection Size: 0.25 linear feet

Document Types

  • Correspondence
  • Reports

Finding Aid

  1. Personal Correspondence (hand-written letters) sent by Donor and addressed to Donor’s late Father (Henry Caracciolo) during the period of Donor’s two U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer tours of service in the Philippines (July 25, 1975 – August 6, 1977), and Colombia (September30, 1977 – January 3, 1980) 
  2. Completion of Service – Description of Peace Corps Volunteer Service in the Philippines and Colombia. 
  3. Miscellaneous photographs and images  

Andrew A. Carrasco in Colombia (Friends of Colombia)

Country of Service: Colombia
Service Type: Education, Physical Education and Sports Development
Dates in Service: 1963-1964

Keywords: Education

Access: No restrictions
Collection Size: 1 dissertation

Document Types

Paul Robert Willey in Colombia (Friends of Colombia)

Country of Service: Colombia
Dates in Service: 1962-1964
Service Type: Education, physical education teacher
Keywords: Physical Education, Newspapers

Access: No restrictions
Collection Size: 84 files and .01 linear feet

Document Types

James (Jim) C. Todd in Colombia

Country of Service: Colombia
Service Project: Educational Television Utilization Volunteer
Dates in Service: 1963-1965
Keywords: Architecture, Business, Community Development, Education, Environment, Health, Information Technology, Libraries, Literacy, Urban Planning, Youth

Accession Date: April 16, 2021
Access: no restrictions
Collection Size: 1 linear foot (located in Friends of Colombia Boxes 62 & 63)

Document Types

  • Correspondence
  • Photographs
  • Reports
  • Publications
  • Training Materials

Finding Aid

Box 62 

  1. Correspondence, January 4, 1964-May 26, 1964 
  2. Correspondence, June 3, 1964-December 30, 1964 
  3. Correspondence, January 6, 1965-December 8, 1965 
  4. Correspondence, February 1, 1966-December 1, 1966 
  5. Photographs: Peace Corps Education Television Project, 1963-1965 
  6. Publication: “El Grito!” June, 1964 
  7. Bound Report: “The First Year of Peace Corps Educational Television in Colombia,” January, 1965 

Box 63 

  1. Bound Reports: Numbers 3 and 8 (November, 1966), “The Peace Corps Volunteer and Achieving Educational Change with New Media” (August, 1969) 
  2. Field Utilization Reports, September 16, 1963-December 21, 1963 
  3. Paper Reports: April 1964-June 1972 
  4. Paper Report: “The Peace Corps Educational Television (ETV) Project in Colombia—Two Years of Research: Overview of Research Reports No. 1-10,” November 1966 
  5. Bound and paper reports: no date 
  6. Training Materials and Handwritten Notes 

Jim M. Brown in Colombia (Friends of Colombia)

Country of Service: Colombia
Place of Service: Bucaramanga
Service Type: Physical Education Teacher & Coach
Dates in Service: 1963-1964
Keywords: Community Development, Education, Health,  Sports, Youth

Accession Date: January 27, 2021
Access: No restrictions
Collection Size: .5 linear feet

Document Types

  • Correspondence
  • Photographs
  • CDs

Related Items in Other Repositories

Finding Aids

  1. Correspondence, August 9, 1962-September 7, 1964 
  2. Photographs and Business Card, January 1963-Spring 1964 

Helene Dudley in Colombia, Albania, and Slovakia

Country of Service: Colombia; Albania; Slovakia
Place of Service: Barranquilla (Colombia); Presov (Slovakia)
Service Type: Urban Community Development (Colombia); Training (Albania); Small & Advanced Business Development (Slovakia)
Dates in Service: 1968-1970 (Colombia); 1997 (Albania); 1997-1999 (Slovakia)
Keywords: Agriculture, Architecture, Business, Community Development, Education, Information Technology, Urban Planning

Accession Date: January 27, 2021
Access: no restrictions
Collection Size: .5 linear feet

Document Types

  • Correspondence
  • Photographs
  • Reports
  • Publications
  • Articles
  • Newsletters

Finding Aid

  1. Ballman, Helene A.
  2. Correspondence, September 16, 1968-January 8, 1969 
  3. Correspondence, January 9, 1969-March 28, 1969 
  4. Correspondence, April 5, 1969-June 6, 1969 
  5. Correspondence, June 10, 1969-November 30, 1969 
  6. Correspondence, December 6, 1969-April 20, 1970 
  7. Correspondence, April 28, 1970-October 22, 1970 
  8. Photographs, 1968-2000 
  9. Photographs & Ephemera, no date 
  10. Reports & Publications, 1969-1970 
  11. Correspondence, March 12, 1997-December 31, 1997 (Albania & Slovakia) 
  12. Photographs & Ephemera (Slovakia) 
  13. Publications & Reports, 1997-2002 (Slovakia) 
  14. Training Materials & Status Reports (Slovakia) 

Fortune Zuckerman in Colombia

Name: Fortune Zuckerman
Country of Service: Colombia
Place of Service: Antioquia, Bolivar, Atlantico Department
Service Type OR Service Project Title: Associate Peace Corps Director
Dates in Service: 1974-1980

Accession Date: July 31, 2019
Access: No Restrictions
Collection Size: 1 folder (located in small collections)

Document Types

  • Reports

Finding Aid

  1. Peace Corps Volunteers and Staff, 1980