The Colorful Life of RPCVs

01/21/2021

IMPORTANT!
We wanted to uplift a petition written by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) from Guinea to their current Peace Corps (PC) Country Director (CD), JoAnne Yeager.
This petition is in response to JoAnne’s email titled ‘CD Message on injustice and need for change’ in which she committed both herself and the Peace Corps Guinea program to finding solutions to better support and improve engagement with Black Volunteers, Volunteers from marginalized groups, and allies.
In this petition we are addressing five key areas:
1) Equity and Inclusion of Guineans
2) Work Culture and Support Network,
3) Training and Seminars
4) Hiring, Promotion and Recruitment
5) Sexual Assault Case Management.
These demands reflect the experiences of Guineans (Guinean) staff, Black Volunteers, and other Volunteers from marginalized groups who served in Guinea. We hope that this petition will catalyze some well-needed change.
This petition is in both English & French.

See the full petition here/ Voir la version complète de la pétition içi English (Version Anglaise): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U7Qn0vxXJUe_0ihu6wnYmKOe_lvwqcGRgNzrB9ICouk/edit?usp=sharing French (Vesion Française): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qtf7rW3Cx1h70eAknk1Gsok3CmAiOq13FLox...

12/17/2020

Thank you to all who joined us for our LGBTQIA+ panel yesterday evening, it was a very important and powerful discussion. And of course, thank you to our panelists for speaking your truths and sharing your stories. In case you missed the panel, you can watch the recording on our YouTube channel.

Join us as two Returned Peace Corps Volunteers from the Dominican Republic talk about the intersections of their identity.

12/16/2020

Join us TONIGHT for our third diversity panel as we celebrate and honor the experiences of LGBTQIA+ Volunteers of color.

Register here: https://asu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sdeuprjgjE9FHMIpf0dFN-k5gksJvwEj3

12/15/2020

Join us tomorrow at 5:30pm for our third diversity panel as we honor the experiences of LGBTQIA+ Volunteers of Color. https://fb.me/e/53XppyaUR

12/11/2020

As part of the work we do, we raise money to support panelists and future events. Local to Global Justice is the official fiscal sponsor of The Colorful Life of RPVCs. They help support our group, but cannot do so without your help. If you've attended some of our past panels and plan to attend our LGBTQIA+ panel on December 16th, please consider donating to Local to Global Justice so that we can continue to do the work we do and uplift the stories of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of color.

Additionally, as part of our panel this Wednesday one of our panelists, Selena/ will also be raising funds for her facial feminizing surgery. You can donate directly to her through Venmo (selenag2974), Cash app ($selenag2974), or GoFundMe. You can also donate to Local to Global Justice and comment when you'd like your donation to be directed to and the funds will be allocated accordingly.
✔Register here: https://asu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sdeuprjgjE9FHMIpf0dFN-k5gksJvwEj3
✔Donate here: https://www.localtoglobal.org/
✔Selena's GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/facial-feminizing-surgery

12/02/2020

Join us on December 16th at 5:30pm for our LGBTQIA+ panel! We have an amazing set of panelists who we're really excited to have share their stories, so we hope you'll tune-in.
Thank you to Nesha, Selena, and Bruno for participating in this event, we can't wait to hear from you!
Registration⬇️
https://asu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sdeuprjgjE9FHMIpf0dFN-k5gksJvwEj3

11/16/2020

As part of all of our work, we raise money to support future events and panelists. Local to Global Justice is the official fiscal sponsor of The Colorful Life of RPVCs. They help support our group, but cannot do so without your help. If you've attended some of our past panels and plan to attend our LGBTQIA+ panel on December 16th, please consider donating to Local to Global Justice so that we can continue to do the work we do and uplift the stories of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of color.
Additionally, as part of our upcoming panel, one of our panelists, Selena will be also be raising funds for her facial feminizing surgery. You can donate directly to her, or you can make a comment on where you'd like your donation to be directed and the funds will be allocated accordingly. Any amount is greatly appreciated, we look forward to seeing you on December 16th!

Donate here: https://www.localtoglobal.org/
Register here: https://asu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sdeuprjgjE9FHMIpf0dFN-k5gksJvwEj3

11/13/2020

We're excited to announce our second panelist for our upcoming LGBTQIA+ panel, born and raised in Arizona to a Mexican immigrant family, Selena Dagnino (she/her/hers) enjoys dancing to any and everything. From salsa to bachata, to voguing; Selena is super outgoing, and always has a smile on her face. She served her Peace Corps service in the Dominican Republic working on public health projects. Because she lived in such conservative places, she never really new if transitioning could be a safe reality, or even how to do it. On-site, people outside of the binary were harassed daily, so Selena remained closeted in fear. Selena found power in her trans identity by witnessing the resilience and strength of the q***r people around her. It’s actually where she was named Selena. She was so afraid of transitioning, but q***r people in DR showed her that we all have a right to exist.
Physical trauma to trans bodies through a transition, bullying in the streets, family abandonment, and just existing is exhausting. However, with abandonment has come new friends, connections, and support. Selena is 6 months into hormone therapy, and has never been happier. It’s too hard of a life if this isn’t exactly what someone wants to do. She is really excited about her facial feminization surgery (a $40,000 dollar cost) which is coming up in February. With no trans benefits at work this is being paid for out of pocket, and she is no where close to her goal.
Feel free to donate to Venmo: selenag2974 or cashapp: $selenag2974 to help support this cost, or share her GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/facial-feminizing-surgery?utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&rcid=9aa7bb390380416a86e5573189166a8b

11/12/2020

We're extremely excited to announce our first panelist for the LGBTQIA+ panel. Nesha Newton (she/her/hers), RPCV Dominican Republic!
Nesha was asked, "How did you find power in your LGBTQIA+ identity in Peace Corps?" Nesha said, "I found power in my q***r identity as a PCV through the ability to start with a clean slate. This gave me more confidence to explore and trust me".

11/09/2020

On December 16th at 5:30pm MST/AZ, we will be hosting our third diversity panel to celebrate and honor the experiences of LGBTQIA+ Volunteers of color.
Join us on Zoom! https://asu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sdeuprjgjE9FHMIpf0dFN-k5gksJvwEj3

10/14/2020

If you've enjoyed our last two panels on Allyship and Toxic masculinity and Misogyny and you believe in connecting academia to field work, then consider donating to Local to Global Justice. They're an organization committed to finding solutions to social justice issues through connecting those in academia to those in field. All donations will go towards supporting the panelists from the last two panels and funding Zoom services so that we can all stay safe during this time. Any amount is much appreciated!
Donate here: https://www.localtoglobal.org/

10/12/2020

Happy Indigenous People's Day!
May we continue to celebrate, support, and honor the contributions and talents of indigenous peoples.