We would like to remind you of this upcoming event.

Happy Hour

Date: Thursday, December 18, 2003
Time: 6:30AM - 8:30AM CST (GMT-06:00)

Happy Hour
Gloria's Restaurant
5100 Beltline Rd., Dallas
Contact: Roger Chapin,972-234-2190

We would like to remind you of this upcoming event.

Happy Hour

Date: Thursday, December 18, 2003
Time: 6:30AM - 8:30AM CST (GMT-06:00)

Happy Hour
Gloria's Restaurant
5100 Beltline Rd., Dallas
Contact: Roger Chapin,972-234-2190

We have the 2004 Peace Corps Calendars put out by the Madison RPCV
group now available.  The price is $10 each.  If you are interested
in getting one or more send a check made out to NTPCA to the North
Texas Peace Corps Assc., PO Box 720832, Dallas, TX 75372 along with
an address where you want the calendar sent.

Good Morning.

My name is Janet.  I am currently a PCV in Ghana.  I will COS in
August, and I'm trying to figure out what I will do when I come back
to the states.  I am currently on vacation, so I'm in north Dallas
until Jan 15.

My undergraduate degree is in Electrical Engineering, but I'm now
trying to change directions.  I want to pursue International
Development in graduate school (or else anthropology or
sociology...).  The only money I will have when I come back will be
the money that the PC gives me, so I need to find a way to pay for
school.  Then there is the issue that most international devel.
schools require fluency in a second language - which I don't have.
Plus I think I will have to wait until Fall 2005 to actually start,
so I need a relevant job for almost a year.  If any of you have any
advice for any of these areas, I would be extremely grateful.

Thank you.
Janet Robbins
tenja_timber@...

We would like to remind you of this upcoming event.

Steering Committee Meeting

Date: Monday, January 5, 2004
Time: 6:30PM - 8:30PM CST (GMT-06:00)

Steering Committee Meeting
Enchiladas, 7050 Greenville Ave., Dallas
Contact: Roger Chapin 972-234-2190

We would like to remind you of this upcoming event.

Steering Committee Meeting

Date: Monday, January 5, 2004
Time: 6:30PM - 8:30PM CST (GMT-06:00)

Steering Committee Meeting
Enchiladas, 7050 Greenville Ave., Dallas
Contact: Roger Chapin 972-234-2190

Hey Y'all !

I am posting some information about a STUDY GROUP that is forming
fast! Have you ever heard of Marshall Rosenberg?

There is a preview presentation of this Group taking place on
Monday, January 12th in Dallas (about a mile from Inwood Rd & Cedar
Springs.) I think I am going for sure…but wanted to share the info
with you - in case any of you would like to check it out too.

Looks like a good program for CAREER, RELATIONSHIPS, and SPIRITUAL
LIFE!

The details are below, if you are into it….

         --------------------------------------------
         NONVIOLENT COMMUNICATION: A Language of Life
         --------------------------------------------

Can you imagine connecting with the human spirit in each person in
ANY situation?

Can you imagine everyone's needs being met through compassionate
giving?

INTRODUCTION night - Monday, January 12, 2004, 7-8:30 pm
STUDY GROUP - begins Monday, January 26, 2004, 7-9:30 pm

12-week group, cost $150, payment plan and limited scholarships
available.

The workshop will be facilitated by Judith Stuart-Coale.
Source material is Marshall Rosenberg's book,
NONVIOLENT COMMUNICATION: A Language of Life

For more information visit

http://ww.clenrichment.org/calendar.htm

www.clenrichment.org

6115 Denton Drive
Dallas, TX 75235
(214) 351-9909
Need a Map

We would like to remind you of this upcoming event.

Happy Hour

Date: Thursday, January 15, 2004
Time: 6:30PM - 8:30PM CST (GMT-06:00)

Happy Hour
Trinity Hall Irish Pub
5321 E. Mockingbird Lane, Dallas
Contact: Roger Chapin, 972-234-2190

This was sent to the NTPCA and I thought I would pass it along
to the members who might be interested in assisting Bob in this
project.  If you would like to contact Bob to discuss or meet with
him please contact him directly with a copy to me at
chapinr@....  If there are more than one person who would like to
meet with Bob perhaps we could arrange a joint meeting with him.
Roger Chapin

   Date:    1/20/2004 4:33:11 PM Eastern Standard Time
   From:    Bob Klein <ayzee@...>
   To:    <north_Texas_Peace_Corps@yahoogroups.com>, Roger Chapin
<chapinr@...>

Dear Roger,
    This is a request for your assistance in beginning
the process of establishing the Archival Project
(see below) in the Dallas area. I am planning a visit
to Dallas to meet with any RPCVs who might be
interested in participating in the Project. My proposed
dates are:  Tues 2/3 through Thurs 2/5
    I'd be happy to meet with individuals or a small
group.

Bob Klein (Ghana 1961-1963), Project Organizer

The RPCV Archival Project
    The Project works in cooperation with the Kennedy Library to
afford the greatest number of former Peace Corps Volunteers the
opportunity to include their stories in the National Archives and to
assure that these materials are properly preserved as part of the
public record. The Project organizes the taping of oral history
interviews and the screening for donation of
RPCVs¹ personal papers.
    The RPCV Collection of the Kennedy Library is the repository for
personal materials that relate to the individual and group
experiences of those who served as Peace Corps Volunteers from its
inception in 1961 to the present. It consists of papers, such as
letters, diaries, and journals, illustrative sets of photos, oral
history interviews, and other items of unique archival value. The
Collection is part of the National Archives and Records
Administration.
    The Project is endorsed by the National Peace Corps Association and
functions primarily through its geographic area Affiliates, with the
goal of having the archival activities become part of each Group. The
Project provides orientation and training in the techniques and
procedures needed.

We would like to remind you of this upcoming event.

Annual Meeting

Date: Saturday, January 31, 2004
Time: 4:00PM - 8:00PM CST (GMT-06:00)

NTPCA Annual Meeting
613 Harvest Glen Dr.,Richardson
Contact:Roger Chapin 972-234-2190
Bring a covered dish from your country of service & BYOB

The latest news from Turkmenistan from Sharon Sugarek.

January 24, 2004
  Dear friends and family,
  Hope you had a nice holiday season and that the New Year has been
good for you. All is well here and I guess I have been doing a bit of
globetrotting since my last update.
  I went to Thailand for two weeks in December; it was delightful. I
was able to convince our Medical Officer to go with me (It wasn't
hard!). She and I spent ten days on the beaches of Koh Lanta, a
beautiful island in the Andaman Sea. It was quiet, not too crowded and
there wasn't a lot to do. It was a perfect place to just get away
and
relax.  Walked on the beach a lot and did a little snorkeling. Read
lots of books and generally lounged about! We did go and ride on an
elephant. It was an interesting experience! Their gait is rather
lumbering and comfortable but I really had to hang on when we were
going down slopes! It was great fun!
  Then we spent four days in Bangkok, which is a huge, busy city with
lots of traffic and noise. But I enjoyed that as well. It has a
Skytrain that allows you to get around without getting in the
automobile traffic and there are water taxis that go up and down the
river. Between the two we never took regular taxis. Went to the Grand
Palace, which was quite interesting, also saw the Emerald Buddha (very
sacred to Buddhists) and went to another temple that held a huge, gold
reclining Buddha.  The last night of the trip, we went to The Oriental
Hotel to have dinner and see a performance of traditional Thai dances.
It was quite interesting and enjoyable and I highly recommend it if
anyone ever gets to Bangkok. Also I saw three movies, had a couple of
really American good dinners and enjoyed a trip to the grocery store.
  So it was a terrific break.
With 90 Volunteers, we are as busy as ever. But I an enjoying getting
to know the new PCVs who are dedicated and working hard to adjust to
their new surroundings!  Since we require everyone to live with a host
family for six months, they must all become part of their host
families. That can be challenging when the PCVs are not yet fluent in
Turkmen or Russian. But they are doing just fine.  I hope to start
doing some site visits in the next couple of months. Meanwhile we are
planning for Peace Corps Day events on March 1 and starting to think
about the next group to come in September.  With the Federal budget
such as it is, it will be a tight year for Peace Corps and we will be
tightening our belts as mush as we can. However, Peace Corps never has
much fat in their budget so this will hit pretty hard. But I guess
Peace Corps is all about doing more with less—or with nothing-- in
many cases.  I know it will be challenging as we look for ways to do
the things we need to do with less funding. Guess if it were easy they
wouldn't need the staff!
I am starting to think about the end of my tour. I have been here 19
months and I have 11 months left on my contract. It is hard to
believe;it seems like I just got here yesterday. I still have lots of
things left on my list of things to do and see while I'm here in
Turkmenistan. Some are in the country and some are in nearby
countries. For example there are a couple of nature reserves here that
are supposed to be very interesting. Hope to visit them in the spring.
Since they are in restricted areas one never knows about getting
permission to go. But the local tour companies seem to be able to
handle getting permissions.  Plus there are still things I haven't
gotten around to seeing and doing right here in Ashgabat just because
I kept thinking that I have plenty of time!  You all know how that
is.
We have had a bit of excitement in the last couple of weeks here.
Probably the biggest news was that the Turkmen government has lifted
the requirement for Turkmen citizens to obtain an exit visa to leave
the country. As many of you might know, most countries regard
preventing citizens from traveling freely as a huge violation of human
rights.  And there has been a lot of pressure on Turkmenistan to lift
the exit visa requirement. So now Turkmen citizens are freer to travel
outside their country.
With respect to more mundane matters, I recently learned that there is
a new shop in Ashgabat that sells good cheddar cheese and fresh bread
from England.  And today I actually found the shop!  Good cheese is
hard to come by and good sandwich and toast bread is also hard to find
here. The second big piece of food news is that someone here has gone
into business making peanut butter. These will be tremendous news for
the Volunteers. We have a number of vegetarians but there really is
not much available in the way of nutritional vegetable protein here.
So peanut butter will be a great addition to their diets. From
everything I hear so far, it will be affordable for them.
One of the perks of living here is our central location and cheap
airfares! So last weekend two of us went to Dubai in the United Arab
Emirates for the weekend. It is only a 2 ½ hour flight from
Ashgabat
and US citizens do not need a visa. It is a city built in the last
30-35 years so it is very modern, clean and pleasant.  And it has
gorgeous beaches. It is an amazingly diverse place with all kinds of
people from all over the world. We stayed at a hotel in the city
across the street from a nice park, near to shopping and movie
theaters. It was also a short taxi ride to most other places. Dubai
has an interesting history museum inside an old fort and we saw the
remnants of other old structures that predate modern Dubai.
My impression is that before the mid 1960's they did not have
much and
it was a fairly poor country. With the discovery of oil offshore,
things changes a lot. Today they are aiming to become the
entertainment and vacation destination of choice for the region and
the world. They are building lots of expensive hotels, shopping malls
and amusement parks.  We really enjoyed the weekend and are planning
to go back in May if we can. It was just a little too cool to swim
when we were there and we would like to go back to the beach. The
place is impressive because the development seems to be thoughtful,
the city is very clean and very safe and again we enjoyed movies, good
food, and a nice grocery store as well as people who were friendly and
happy to see us.  We did not make it to the Camels races but may try
to go if I make it back there in May.
Some of you may have caught the 60 Minutes segment on Turkmenistan a
few weeks ago. The crew was here last June! But it finally made it
onto US TV this January. If you saw it, you have an idea now of what
it is like here: a challenging environment to say the least. But at
the local level where PCVs are working, the people are happy to have
them.
So that's about it for this update. I am always delighted to hear
from
you about what is happening back home. But I have to admit I am not
going to miss the endless political campaigning that has started in
earnest now. So have a great 2004. And stay in touch.

Sharon
sharonsugarek@...

Thanks for those who have responded to Bob Klein and  his archival
project visit next week (see the message of Jan 22). Bob sent an
additional message which reads: "Do you know anyone who might offer
me accommodations? This Project is an interesting, but bare-bones,
operation. I'm a non-smoking 74 year old who can tell endless stories
and legends about the first group of PCVs to go overseas in 1961
(Ghana I).
If there is anyone interested helping Bob out please contact him at
ayzee@.... Also, if there are others who wish to meet with Bob on
the Archive project please be sure to contact him before he comes to
coordinate his meetings.

We would like to remind you of this upcoming event.

Annual Meeting

Date: Saturday, January 31, 2004
Time: 4:00PM - 8:00PM CST (GMT-06:00)

NTPCA Annual Meeting
613 Harvest Glen Dr.,Richardson
Contact:Roger Chapin 972-234-2190
Bring a covered dish from your country of service & BYOB

For those of you who expressed interest in the oral history/archival
project of the Peace Corps experience, Bob Klein will arrive in
Dallas on Tuesday and stay through Thursday to meet and discuss the
project. We will meet in the coffee shop area of Borders Book store
located on the corner of Lovers Lane and Greenville, immediately east
of Hwy. 75. Bob will be there both Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. If
that does not work out for you please contact Bob directly at
ayzee@... or call him at 520-977-2120 to make other
arrangements.  Hope to see you there.
Roger Chapin

Sorry, I forgot to mention the time is at 7:00p.m.

For those of you who expressed interest in the oral history/archival
project of the Peace Corps experience, Bob Klein will arrive in
Dallas on Tuesday and stay through Thursday to meet and discuss the
project. We will meet in the coffee shop area of Borders Book store
located on the corner of Lovers Lane and Greenville, immediately east
of Hwy. 75. Bob will be there both Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. If
that does not work out for you please contact Bob directly at
ayzee@... or call him at 520-977-2120 to make other
arrangements.  Hope to see you there.
Roger Chapin

Attached is the Spring 2004 Newsletter.  If you have
any questions, comments, suggestions, please send them
to Garrett Sauvé at gcsauve@....

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Finance: Get your refund fast by filing online.
http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html

The second in a nationwide series of NPCA/PC career fairs will take
place in Austin, TX on March 25 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.  NPCA is
collaborating with the University of Texas Coalition for Careers in
the Non-Profit Sector and the RGK Center for Philanthropy and
Community Service for this event.

The career fair is open to the public and RPCVs are encouraged to
attend. More information is available at
http://www.rpcv.org/career_fairs

We would like to remind you of this upcoming event.

Happy Hour

Date: Thursday, February 19, 2004
Time: 6:30PM - 8:30PM CST (GMT-06:00)

The Old Monk
2847 N. Henderson Ave
Dallas
Contact: Roger Chapin
972-234-2190

We would like to remind you of this upcoming event.

Happy Hour

Date: Thursday, February 19, 2004
Time: 6:30PM - 8:30PM CST (GMT-06:00)

The Old Monk
2847 N. Henderson Ave
Dallas
Contact: Roger Chapin
972-234-2190

We would like to remind you of this upcoming event.

Steering Committee

Date: Monday, March 1, 2004
Time: 6:30PM - 8:30PM CST (GMT-06:00)

Two Rows Brewery
5500 Greenville Ave
Dallas
Contact: Roger Chapin
972-234-2190

Event: Grand Opening of a Recruitment Office at the University of
North Texas
When:  Peace Corps Day: Monday, March 1, Noon to 3 p.m.
Where: Reception (Dress is casual and open to the public)
Chilton Hall, Room 274, located on Chestnut @ Avenue C
UNT Campus, Denton, TX 76203
Meet UNT Peace Corps Recruiter Ms. Betiel Hailemichael.
Come hear a Panel Discussion featuring RPCVs
View Peace Corps' latest film featuring current Volunteers.
The new office will be located in Chilton Hall, Room 238R.
Office Phone: 940.891.6716 Office Email: peacecorps@...
Ms. Hailemichael will host an evening hour-long "Coffee Talks" with
UNT and Texas Woman's University students throughout the spring. She
invites NTPCA members who want to share their Volunteer experience to
participate. This is a great way to give back. If you are interested,
please call or email her.

Greetings from the Southwest Regional Recruitment Office!



Next week Peace Corps turns 43!  To celebrate, the Southwest Regional
Recruitment Office is having a reception on Friday, March 5, 2:30 to 4
p.m, in its downtown Dallas Office Building. Former Volunteers, Peace
Corps Nominees about to depart and Peace Corps Recruiters will be on
hand to celebrate four decades of humanitarian service and
cross-cultural exchange.  Join us for refreshments and snacks and
informal roundtable discussion about Peace Corps service.  The public
is invited. Bring a friend!



Friday, March 5, 2:30 to 4 p.m.
Federal Annex Building*
207 S. Houston St., Mezzanine Room

(Houston @ Commerce) Parking is available two blocks south at Houston
@ Reunion for $3)
Dallas, TX 75202

*Must have proper ID to enter federal facility. (Leave any objects you
wouldn't take on a plane at home).

To attend, reserve a seat at RSVP@... "Peace Corps Party"

Jesus Garcia
Public Affairs Specialist
U.S. Peace Corps
207 S. Houston St. Room 527
Dallas, TX 75202

We would like to remind you of this upcoming event.

Steering Committee

Date: Monday, March 1, 2004
Time: 6:30PM - 8:30PM CST (GMT-06:00)

Two Rows Brewery
5500 Greenville Ave
Dallas
Contact: Roger Chapin
972-234-2190

We would like to remind you of this upcoming event.

Happy Hour

Date: Thursday, March 18, 2004
Time: 6:30PM - 8:30PM CST (GMT-06:00)

Flying Saucer
14999 Montfort Rd
Addison
Contact: Roger Chapin
972-234-2190

Save the Date: Thursday, March 25, 2004

Returned Peace Corps Volunteers are invited to two exciting events in
Austin, Texas!

Nonprofit and Public Sector Career Fair

10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Texas Union Ballroom * UT Austin Campus
* Meet employers who are looking for entry- and mid-level candidates.
* Participate in interviewing and résumé workshops.
* Hear from a panel of experts who have been successful in the
nonprofit sector.

Peace Corps Reception
5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Texas State Capitol
* Peace Corps officials will recognize the University of Texas as the
#2 recruitment school for Volunteers.
* Meet National Peace Corps Association officials and RPCVs from
Texas and neighboring states.
* Meet Peace Corps applicants who have been nominated and are
preparing to depart for service later this year.
PLEASE RSVP with Toby Schaeffer at the National Peace Corps
Association: toby@... or 202-293-7728 ext. 24.
Details regarding both events will updated on
www.rpcv.org/career_fairs

Thank you,

Jesus Garcia
Public Affairs Specialist
U.S. Peace Corps
207 S. Houston St. Room 527
Dallas, TX 75202
Phone: 214.253.5418
Fax: 214.253.5401
jgarcia2@...

Do you have a chronic illness or disability related to your Peace Corps
service?  Are you dealing with OWCP to obtain medical benefits or
disability payments?  If so, the following group may be of interest to
you:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/owcp

A group of RPCVs with OWCP claims are banding together in an attempt to
get better service from OWCP, PC Medical Office, etc.

Please feel free to join us!