Who We Are:

Sick and Injured Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
 not adequately cared for by the
Peace Corps & related agencies upon return from overseas

We have lost careers and the lives we envisioned living because we became sick and have had no one to advise us when we have tried or failed to navigate the complexities of the Federal systems. Far too many of us have fallen through the cracks. Some of us have struggled for years to obtain healthcare or disability benefits to which we are entitled by law. Many have merely given up in defeat. Others are left uninsurable in America. A few have ended up homeless. (see "Testimonials" tab for stories)

This is wrong

This site is dedicated to seeking necessary change within the Peace Corps and the US Department of Labor (USDOL) crucial for us to heal. As the Peace Corps expands, it must also protect those of us who have served, in order that we can continue to nourish ourselves and give to the world.

To many, the Peace Corps represents the democratic vision that JFK had in 1961 -  a way to promote world peace with integrity and help those in need globally.  It was to be a truly international representation of the American dream. When he pleaded: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country, he envisioned a life-defining leadership experience for Americans. He believed that the exchange between "us" and "them" would bring the world together.

What JFK did not envision, and what other Americans will be shocked to know, is that over 200,000 volunteers have answered this call to action and that approximately 10-30% of all of these 200,000 who have served overseas return with some health issues resulting from their service. No one, when the Peace Corps was founded, had the foresight to create an appropriate infrastructure to care for the acutely or chronically ill or injured.

When our Americans went to the front lines to help improve the lives of others in impoverished areas of the world, the fact that they could return home broken from diseases such as tuberculosis, parasites, meningitis, encephalitis, malaria, side effects from anti-malarial medications and other rare tropical and infectious diseases that exist in the 139 countries in which volunteers have served, seems not to have been considered.

When Peace Corps Volunteers join this government agency, they receive documents stating that in the case of illness or injury, they will be cared for by the US government for as long as those health issues persist and they will be compensated for loss of wage earning capacity resulting from such impairments. Those who ventured out thought they had some peace of mind about the care they would receive as they went out to the "toughest job they'd ever love."

We are a group of Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCVs) who are seeking increased medical and disability support from both the Peace Corps and the US Department of Labor. Unlike veterans, we don't have the VA to care for us, we have no one in Washington to lobby for us, and the Peace Corps has not taken our demands seriously. The legacy of service in the cause of peace to create a better world for all, is what JFK and Sargent Shriver envisioned when they created the Peace Corps. Would they have allowed us, who served the world, to continue to live a life of poverty, pain and sickness after returning to the United States?

Alexis de Tocqueville