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The logo seen here has an
interesting history. The first Peace Corps Director, Sarge Shriver, sent
small lapel pins to those PCVs who served during his directorship. The
stylized hands in the design we have used were inspired by that pin. C Leigh
(Purvis) Gerber designed the logo on this website from the original Shriver
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Bill and Annelise Schroeder
designed our new website. |
FON News
FON Wants Articles on Nigeria
Have you access to
interesting articles about Nigeria that most of us can't get? FON would like to
know about them for use in our newsletter or on the website. We plan to prepare
an annotated listing of such articles and even print some or all of some.
Contact Andy Philpot, editor, at awphilpot@mountaincable.net.
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FON Letter from Mel Schnapper
And,
now, after almost 40 years since I left my Peace Tour of duty in Ilorin, I've
been to Nigeria 3 times to work - September, 2003 (Abuja), March, 2004( Abuja),
August, 2004 (Kano, Abuja) and anticipate going back in the near future.
It's really a joy to work in Nigeria after all these years, as my Yoruba is
still pretty good and has even improved because of my recent trips. What's
really fun is to correct the Yoruba of non-Yorubas in Abuja who are just
learning some Yoruba, especially as they say "good afternoon" before
noon and I correct them with the proper greeting for "good morning".
It was amazing enough back in 1965-67 as a 20 year old Oyinbo (white)
kid speaking Yoruba, and it's even more amazing to people as a 62
year old!
Here's a few pictures of the new Kano wall,
new Kano gates with old Kano beyond for those who lived there or visited.
...and
me with drummers at a "turbaning" ceremony in Hadeija, Jigawa
State.
I've got more pictures for those who want to see the Emir of Hadeija's castle, and other scenes of Kano and the turbaning ceremony.
And, if anybody wants to renew contact with Nigerians they taught or worked with, just let me know, as I now have a newer Nigeria network.
About a year ago, because of a talk I gave at Peace Corps headquarters, I helped reconnect Ron Raphael with a former student of his, who has been living in the DC area for years, is a US citizen, is a DC Peace Corps staff member and whose daughter is a Peace Corps Volunteer in Africa! I was there at the reunion and I was really moved by the ceremony and that I had played a role in getting them reconnected.
I was back in DC for five weeks, after a year of being out of the States, mostly in Afghanistan for 8 months, 10 weeks in Nigeria, 6 weeks in Cairo (that's Egypt, NOT downstate Illinois, for those of you in Chicagoland!) and 4 weeks visiting my younger son in Shanghai. I’m now in Baghdad on a one year contract, for lots of money, but no life! Still learning about security issues and not sure what I am allowed to share regarding my existence here, so there’ll be no more about Iraq, for now. But do let me know if you want to know more about Nigeria.
Mel Schnapper
Washington, DC 20012
202-882-1066
www.schnapper.com
mel@schnapper.com
Here
is Mel in Baghdad, in armor no less! 
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FON VSO Pictures
>From
the FON "Keep the lorries rolling" project with VSO:
Irma Fortuin, one of FON's targeted VSO workers in
Nigeria, has a collection of interesting slides and photos online. Please take
a few minutes to visit www.irmafortuin.waarbenjij.nu
and immerse yourself in today's Nigeria. Irma works in Pankshin, on the Bauchi
plateau and her captions are in Dutch. For example:
<- Pankshin Market
Lucinda Boyd
VSO project co-chair
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WikiFON
Friends of Nigeria is launching
a project using the same tool that has changed encyclopedias from musty volumes
in the library to the interactive, reader driven tool called Wikipedia. Browse
to www.wikifon.org and see what a test
group of users have recorded. The sign
up for a userid and record the history of your own group. Translate the lore of our Peace Corps
experiences many years ago into a narrative that can be read by ourselves, our
families, our kids, grandkids, historians….
This new effort started as a history project suggested by Peter Hansen:
‘I envision the chapters as containing not
only "the facts" -- places, names, dates, etc. -- but also the
delightful anecdotes and Peace Corps lore that we re-tell whenever we come
together at reunions and other gatherings.’
Ultimately, we would like to
have the project result in a book. But
before we have a book, we need stories, information, and we need some smart
eyes to fill in blanks, sharpen facts, and bundle the project into a cohesive
narrative. Various people suggested
using a wiki as this first step, a community information collection tool. We have tested the concept using a free site,
and we are rolling WikiFON out on a professional site.
What is a wiki, and what do
we want to collect on our wiki? Here is
how Wikipedia describes a wiki:
‘A wiki is software
that allows users to create, edit, and link web
pages easily. Wikis are often used to create collaborative
websites and
to power community websites. They are being installed by businesses to provide
affordable and effective Intranets and for Knowledge Management. Ward
Cunningham, developer of the first wiki, WikiWikiWeb,
originally described it as "the simplest online database that could
possibly work". One of
the best known wikis is Wikipedia.’
One
of the key ideas about a wiki is that any authorized user can contribute to any
topic. So, if someone says your group
trained in Kalamazoo, and you know for a fact that your group trained in Ann
Arbor, you can make the correction and provide additional information as
appropriate. Generally, there is an
overall editor to prevent disputes from getting out of hand or users with an ax
to grind disrupting the information collection process. The editor can also strive to provide
consistent formatting and style. We have several excellent professional editors
in our FON community who have volunteered to help us sharpen our narrative,
culminating, perhaps, in an actual printed book we can sit by the fire and
read. Authors Bob Veatch (05) and Sarah Medvitz (27) have already volunteered,
but if you would like to add your editing skills, please feel free to volunteer.
The
goal of WikiFON is twofold. First, we
would like to gather information about individual training groups. Where they trained, if there were in-country
gatherings, any recent reunions. Second, each of us has anecdotes or
recollections that could capture the flavor of Peace Corps service in
Nigeria. That box of letters and photos
up in the attic your mother saved 40 years ago could be the source of some
great stories. As each of us presents
our stories, they may spark recollections by others and evoke material none of
us knew was there.
We
have chosen to make WikiFON updateable only by people to whom we have assigned
user IDs and a password. This way we can
track the usage and prevent malicious entries.
But what we create can be viewed by anybody on the internet. Please sign up to be a WikiFON
contributor. Then you can review what
other people have entered already, enter your own material, and interact with
others on the site. We hope to hear from
you soon.
Access wikifon at www.wikifon.org. Contact Greg Jones at gregory.j@comcast.net or Chris Collman at chris.collman@gmail.com to get a user ID. Then you are good to go! Thanks in advance for your efforts.
Training Group Directories
As an outgrowth of the WikiFON effort, Len Lyons has
contributed the Group X Training Group Directory. We have not yet figured out how to upload the
file format (.pdf) to the wiki site, so we are adding a link to it on this
site. Click here: Nigeria
X Training Directory to get it. If
you have the directory of your own training group (or can find it in your
parents’ attic) please consider adding it to our collection. Here is Group XX's
Training Directory, courtesy of Bob Craycroft. Click here: Nigeria
XX Training Directory to get it. Contact Greg Jones or Peter Hansen to
submmit your own group's directory.
General Announcements
Donation Sites
Members have
suggested adding links that enable people to make charitable donations. Here
are a few:
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Websites for finding volunteer work in US and abroad
www.cie.uci.edu/iop/voluntee.html www.idealist.org www.crossculturalsolutions.org www.servenet.org NPCA Advocacy Network:
For those interested in taking action to
support various causes, the NPCA Advocacy network offers a training guide and
other support. The legislation for the New Peace Corps and other issues need
supporters. Dave Hibbard (Nigeria 1) was recently appointed to the NPCA Board
to help increase advocacy efforts. To register as an advocate
go to www.rpcv.org/pages/survey.cfm?id=33. To see the training guide
go to www.rpcv.org/pages/sitepage.cfm?id=730. Grassroots Empowerment Network
We are an NGO working with street children, victims of child
labour and trafficking. We are developing a regional rehabilitation centre in
the Niger Delta region to accomodate returnee victims, victims of organised
and gender based violence, AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children in the
region. The purpose is to aid the rehabilitation and reintegration needs of
victims and their families. We are looking for volunteers and NGOs working in
the field of advocacy, low cost housing, agriculture and vocational training
to work with our volunteers on the project and would appreciate any help from
your organisation in facilitating contacts with prospective NGOs and
volunteers likely to be willing to work with us Thank you. Israel Ekanem A RPCV from Mozambique needs your help
Please forward this
to any friends, RPCVs, etc. to tell them about this wonderful project. Also
if you can please put links to your RPCV sites and or personal sites that
would be awesome. We need your help to get the word out on this worthwhile
project to see that it doesn't stop in mid-stream. Also photographs taken by
the kids are available for sale on the site in our "sales gallery".
Thanks for your time
and help, Blake H. Schmidt,
RPCV, Mozambique 2001-2003 PS I am a member of
the Columbia River PC Association. Seeking Nigerian Language Interpreters to support medical
community
Pacific Interpreters is a
primary provider for many hospitals in the United States and due to recent
expansion are in need of several African language interpreters to provide
telephonic interpreting services on a contract basis. We are currently
seeking bilingual phone interpreters in several African languages including
Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa. We will test for medical knowledge for those who
have no medical certifications but medical knowledge. Who is eligible? Candidates
must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents (eligible to work in US with
valid work permit). Certified or applicants with prior interpreting experience
will take priority. Contractors of Pacific Interpreters work and are paid as
independent contractors (unless otherwise specified), therefore the number of
assignments offered depends on the need for each language. We support the
medical community so this job requires the ability to interpret between
foreign patients and English speaking doctors. Rates for these languages
start at $.75 per minute for telephonic interpreting. Please note that phone
interpreters can be located anywhere in the US. We are currently recruiting
interpreters for the US only. Interested parties may
reach Sandy Banister at sandrab@pacificinterpreters.com or
contact me directly at 1-800-311-1232 or (503) 445-5644. Thank you! Sandy Banister Call for Recipes
Dear
RPCV's: We need your help with our Peace Corps Cookbook. Many of you have already heard of the
efforts to establish a Museum of the Peace Corps Experience in Portland,
Oregon. The Committee for a Museum of the Peace Corps Experience (CMPCE) is
involved in these efforts and is currently seeking funding to proceed with
the project. One of our ways to do this is to develop a cookbook made up of
recipes from countries of service sent in by RPCV's. Once we prepare this
cookbook we will sell it and use any profits for the museum. Please help us
with this goal. If you are not familiar with our work please look at our
website for further information: www.peacecorpsmuseum.org
Part of what made your service in your
host country special was the food you encountered. Share recipes for some of
those special dishes with the rest of us so we can get a glimpse of your
experience and share a bit of the culture of a different part of the world.
We plan to compile a cookbook that will enable thousands of Americans to
experience some of what you encountered; along with your stories telling
about the role this food played in your experience of the host country. This
cookbook, tentatively entitled A World of Food: the Peace Corps Experience,
will then be published, and as mentioned above, the proceeds will benefit
CMPCE's efforts to establish a Museum of the Peace Corps Experience. Along with each recipe please share
some background information so the reader will gain better understanding of
the food item and its place in your experience. Please explain any uncommon
ingredients and suggest how to obtain them. Be sure to give us your name,
country and years of service. Also classify each dish as to type, e.g.
appetizer, beverage, dessert, soup, main dish, main starch, vegetable, or
side dish. Be clear about amounts, times and temperatures. If an ingredient
is very difficult to obtain can you advise about a substitute or the impact
of omitting it? By sending us this recipe you agree to permit us to use the
information you send for the Museum cookbook at no charge. No personal
information will be divulged to others for any other purpose. Send your recipe and accompanying
information to: pcmuseum@comcast.net NPCA Microenterprise Program
Guinea Worm Eradication
Duties: Qualifications: Honorarium provided. Send
CV and availability via email to Aryc Mosher at: awmoshe@emory.edu. The
Bight of Benin
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