HBCU Emergency Management Consortium members:
Opportunities abound outside of the U.S.
BEMA.
National Peace Corps Association
http://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/2014/05/minorities-in-the-peace-corps-panel-coming-to-nashville/=
Opportunities abound outside of the U.S.
BEMA.
National Peace Corps Association
http://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/2014/05/minorities-in-the-peace-corps-panel-coming-to-nashville/=
Minorities in the
Peace Corps Panel Coming to Nashville
By Teniola Ayoola on Wednesday, May 21st, 2014
Ever wondered about the diversity of Americans
who have served in the Peace Corps over the past 53 years?
If you asked today,
only a very rough estimate would be available. Herman DeBose and J. Henry
“Hank” Ambrose are two Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) who are out to
change that. During the upcoming Peace
Corps Connect conference in Nashville this June 19 -21, they
will host the session Minorities in the Peace Corps.
The goal of the panel is first, to bring
together a spectrum of minority RPCVs and discuss their experiences after
completing their Peace Corps service and returning to the United States.
Secondly, because of the very low historic data on minority service in the
Peace Corps, DeBose and Ambrose are more specifically seeking ideas on how to
expand and build the database of African American RPCVs. For Ambrose, “it
seemed like a good idea to involve the broader minority community in the
discussion while kicking off the research project on African American RPCVs.”
Friendship Forged in Kenya
Ambrose served over 40 years ago as a lecturer
in the mathematics department at Kenyatta College from January 1971 through
June 1973. His personal experience sheds some insight into the service
distribution among different racial groups in the past. “I was the only
African American in Group III, for the Peace Corps/College degree program. I
thought for sure I would have other African-Americans in the training program
for Kenya, but again I was the only one.”
According to the Peace
Corps, as of February 2014 over 215, 000 Americans have served in the Peace Corps. Of
that number, it is estimated that approximately 3% (6,300) to 5% (10,500) have
been African Americans. A search of the existing literature on the subject
matter shows that at this time there has not been a comprehensive study of the
overall experiences of African Americans who have served in the Peace Corps.
Herman DeBose, who
served as an education Volunteer in Kenya 1969 to 1972 for a total of 33
months, and as an Associate Peace Corps Director in Kenya from 1985 to
1987, is currently the chair of the sociology department at California
State University, Northridge (read his bio here).
He provides an answer as to why it is important and beneficial to have knowledge
on the experience of African Americans in the Peace Corps:
“As the American population becomes more
diverse, it is important for an organization such as the Peace Corps to have
its Volunteers represent and reflect the population of the United States. If
the estimates cited above are correct, more African Americans need to be
encouraged to serve as Peace Corps Volunteers. The project will provide
information from African American RPCVs to Peace Corps on how to more
effectively recruit them to the service of Peace Corps and maintain and support
them while serving as Peace Corps Volunteers.”
Continued service to Peace Corps ideals
Both men have strong
ties to the National Peace Corps Association. Ambrose, now retired from a
long career in the telecommunications industry, currently serves on the NPCA
board of directors (read his bio here). DeBose was anNPCA
founder (pictured right, second from the right).
“My experiences in Peace Corps changed my
life…” says DeBose. “The educational and employment opportunities presented to
me after my Volunteer services were things that I could not imagine. I would
like to have the opportunity to share my Peace Corps Volunteer experiences and
the different opportunities it presented to me with other minorities.”
The discussion around
this panel is sure to be fascinating, and it will serve as the kick-off for
this long overdue research topic. Don’t miss the opportunity to be a
part of change-in-the-making at thePeace Corps Connect conference this June 19th -21st in Nashville,
TN!
