The Foreign Service Journal, October 2008

A s former Peace Corps Volunteers from Bulgaria and Mauritania, respectively, FSOs Tyler Sparks and Erik Schnotala both feel a strong connection to the Peace Corps and believe that returned volunteers within the State Department can and should communi- cate and network more effectively, to the benefit of both the department and the Peace Corps. That’s why, in part spurred by the FSJ ’s focus on the Peace Corps in this month’s issue, they have started Returned Peace Corps Volunteers @ State (RPCVs@State), a registered community within the State Department, to serve as a focal point for RPCVs in the Foreign Service who are interested in keeping a connection with their colleagues and supporting Peace Corps activities in the field. They’ve laid out the basic goals of the organization as follows: 1) To publish information and news about development issues and other issues of interest to the returned Peace Corps community within State; 2) To stimulate discussions about development issues and other issues of interest to the returned Peace Corps community within State; and 3) To develop and strengthen the network of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers within State. The group hopes to encourage more former volunteers to join the Foreign Service, to promote the Peace Corps abroad and at home as an excellent opportunity to serve our country, and to support projects through the Peace Corps Partnership program. This could include, for example, organizing mem- bers to speak at local schools at home or abroad during National Peace Corps Week in February, promoting member- organized fundraising activities for PCV projects at post or in nearby countries, or hosting speaker events on Third World democracy-building and devel- opment issues. The Web site for this new organization is https://www.intelink.gov/communities/ state/RPCV/. Please visit the site and consider joining the community if you are a RPCV at State, and send your thoughts on where you’d like to see this new community go from here. Contact Tyler Sparks at SparksTK@state.gov, or Erik Schnotala at SchnotalaEJ@state.gov. Both are currently vice consuls at Embassy San Jose. CFC for the Foreign Service Youth Foundation The Foreign Service Youth Foundation is a proud participant in the Combined Federal Campaign of the National Capital Area. Support the Foreign Service community by donating to the FSYF, #39436. OC T OB E R 2 0 0 8 / F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L 67 A F S A N E W S AFSA NEWS BRIEFS AFSA Offers $149,800 in College Scholarship Aid A FSA will award need-based college financial aid scholarships to 69 chil- dren of Foreign Service employees totaling $150,000 for the 2008-2009 school year. In August, $74,000 was sent to colleges and universities to help defray costs for the fall 2008 semester. For more information on the AFSA Scholarship Program, go to www.afsa.org/scholar , or contact Scholarship Director Lori Dec at dec@afsa.org or (202) 944-5504. AAFSW Book Fair 2008 Opens Oct. 17 The 48th annual Book Fair — brought to you by the Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide — will open at 2 p.m. on Oct. 17 for all badge holders and escorted guests. It will remain open until 5 p.m. that day. The Book Fair continues through Oct. 26. From Oct. 20-24, it is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for this same group. During the weekends of Oct. 18-19 and 25-26, the sale is open to everyone, the public included, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event takes place in the Exhibit Hall of the Harry S. Truman Building. Access is through C Street. VISA, MasterCard and personal checks are all accepted. By special arrangement, Silk Road Imports and Imperio Ottomano will sell a variety of imports and fine Oriental carpets on behalf of the AAFSW. Returned Peace Corps Volunteers @ State