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United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

An Agency of the US Department of Homeland Security

The Kendall (SW Miami Area) field office of USCIS is seeking Returned PCVs interested in the following three open career positions that are detailed in the below pdf's, which will open by clicking on the underlined text.

Immigration Services Officer I : ISO I InfoSheet - Peace Corp.pdf

Immigration Services Officer II : ISO II InfoSheet - Peace Corp.pdf

Immigration Services Assistant ( Office Automation ) : ISA OA InfoSheet - Peace Corp.pdf

The USCIS Kendall Field Office is located at: 14675 SW 120^th Street, Miami, FL 33186.

For more information, please e-mail: Kristian.parker@uscis.dhs.gov

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FIU is seeking a Peace Corps Recruiter

For information, please go to: careers.fiu.edu  Job ID: 517665

The role starts at $14/hour and is part-time requiring 20 hours per week.

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Development Officer - Project Medishare

For information, Please click: Project Medishare

The RPCVSF Trip to Thailand is a GO departing USA November 6, 2019.

There is still space available.

If you are interested, Please e-mail travel@rpcvsf.org NOW.

September 5, 2019 - RPCVSF Members Ana Ciereszko and Marvin Hancock visit with Ryan Hnatiuk, Regional Director at U.S. Senator Rick Scott's West Palm Beach Office to provide updates on Peace Corps.

August 28, 2019, RPCVSF Members Ana Ciereszko, Doris Vincent, and Marvin Hancock visit with Lea Padron, Regional Director at U.S. Senator Marco Rubio's Miami Office to provide updates on Peace Corps.

Miami Marlins vs Arizona Diamondbacks

July 27, 2019

RPCVSF July 2019 Board Meeting

Twenty-six RPCVs and guests enjoyed a delicious Georgian-Armenian lunch at Kavkaz Restaurant on Sunday, May 19^th.  In addition to the great fellowship and wonderful food, the attendees selected a Peace Corps Partnership Project to which the $260 collected and $260 RPCVSF match (a total of $520) was donated.

The project selected is in the Republic of Georgia (fitting) and is called “Growing Seeds & Skills: Teaching Business to Domestic Violence Shelter Residents.”  The program will teach 15-20 survivors of domestic violence marketable small-business skills and organic-growing practices through a series of 6 workshops at a new greenhouse.  In addition to the workshops, the project includes the purchase of necessary supplies and materials for the existent greenhouse structure.

Once the participants in the program are ready to transition from life at the shelter to independent living, they will possess the increased capacity to work in horticulture, at community markets, and may even feel confident enough to start their own small growing businesses.

Many thanks to those who attended the partnership lunch for contributing to this project and to the future of the beneficiaries of the donation!

Dear Doris,

Thank you so much for supporting my Peace Corps partnership project with the Anti-Violence Network of Georgia. We are gearing up to do some good work in the greenhouse later this month, and if you'd like, I'll keep you posted. AVNG's new website will be under construction for the summer, but you can also follow AVNG on Facebook.

We truly appreciate your support!

Best,
Katie

-- 

Katie M. Bercegeay

Development Management & Training Specialist
Peace Corps Response Georgia | 2019

7/2/2019

 

Returned Peace Corps Volunteers South Fl

Po Box 661001

Miami Springs, FL  33266

 

Dear Doris, 

 

On behalf of the Peace Corps, it is my pleasure to thank you for your contribution towards the mission of the agency and the critical work of Peace Corps Volunteers. Your support will enhance the agency’s efforts to promote peace, friendship and understanding between the United States and citizens of other nations.

 

We cannot thank you enough for your support! One hundred percent of the donations received will enrich Peace Corps’ work in communities all over the globe, whether we facilitate malaria prevention workshops, install clean cook stoves, lead mentoring programs for youth, or create a safe school environment for girls. In FY2018, Peace Corps funded 695 Volunteer-led projects in 56 countries, benefitting more than 1 million people. 

 

We appreciate your commitment to the important work of the Peace Corps and look forward to keeping you updated on our work. If you would like any additional information about agency programs, please do not hesitate to contact our office at donate@peacecorps.gov.  

 

Thank you again for your support of our work and our Volunteers.

 

Sincerely,

 

Karen J. Roberts

Director 

Office of Gifts and Grants Management

1111 20th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20526

 

 

Contribution Amount:                                      $520.00

Directed to:                                                      Growing Seeds & Skills: Teaching Business to DV Shelter Residents 

Country Served:                                               Georgia

Donation Date:                                               5/21/2019

Thanks to the Park Rangers and Fire Rangers, the Biscayne Bay Kiwanis, our wonderful teams, 51 RPCVs & their families, and the organizing by Genevieve Bazer for our 20th Annual Outing to the Everglades National Park as well as the post event wrap up at the home of RPCV David Garcia in Homestead.

Lots of Guests, Guides, Park Rangers and Chaperones

And Lots of Official Resident Greeters !

A Very Handsome Anhinga on The Anhinga Trail

The anhinga(/ænˈhɪŋɡə/; Anhinga anhinga), sometimes called snakebird, darter, American darter, or water turkey, is a water bird of the warmer parts of the Americas. The word anhinga comes from the Brazilian Tupi language and means devil bird or snake bird. The origin of the name snakebird is apparent when swimming: only the colored neck appears above water so the bird looks like a snake ready to strike. They do not have external nares (nostrils) and breathe solely through their epiglottis.

Like other darters, the anhinga hunts by spearing fish and other small prey using its sharp, slender beak.

Hello, my name is Ali and that's Ms Ali chatting in the next photo

City of Houston Proclamation:

March 19th the Mayor of Houston presented the Houston RPCV group with an official proclamation for Peace Corps Week.  See the video here.

This project was fully funded by the end of April, 2019!

Behind these students are the remains  of a science lab and a computer lab that burned in 2016 in their senior high school in the rural Volta area of Ghana. PCV Chelsea Currie, their physics teacher from Ft. Lauderdale, has invited us to be part of the reconstruction of the labs by contributing through the Peace Corps Partnership program at:

Hello from Ghana!

My name is Chelsea Currie and I am an Education volunteer with Peace Corps Ghana working as a physics teacher in a Senior High School in a rural town in the Volta Region. I am from Fort Lauderdale and graduated from the University of Miami and I was able to attend two RPCV events before I left for my service in May of 2017. 

I am in my final term in school and our grant was just approved, so I am reaching out to the South Florida community for support in funding the project.

The top need and priority for the school is rebuilding of the science and computer lab which suffered a fire during Christmas of 2016. Since that time, the almost 500 students of the school have been lacking in their science and ICT practical aspects. A completed lab facility will allow the student to be prosperous in their courses, exams and future careers. 

I am asking if there is a way for this to be shared with the RPCV community so that anyone who feels compelled or is able to support the project can do so. Our goal is to begin building in May to please consider donating soon! Thank you in advance for your support! 

A program of Returned Peace CorpsVolunteers of South Florida, Inc.

Trip Leader: Greg Zell (travel@rpcvsf.org)   Facilitated through Gate 1 Travel

The trip leader is not compensated. This is not a fund raiser.

September 16 through September 24, 2019

Travel and companion will be following a basic itinerary designed to appeal to a person with little knowledge of French history, the French language, or of Paris. Travelers have the option to customize the trip as to sights, hotels, and out of town excursions for a more comprehensive experience with Travel’s assistance.

Travel and companion will be staying in the 4 star hotel in the best location available at the time of booking. As of now, this is the Villa Beaumarchais in the Marais home of the Picasso Museum and Place des Vosges and Victor Hugo museum. Double occupancy with single supplement.

WE SHALL VISIT the Louvre; Musee d’Orsay; L’Orangerie; Rodin Museum; Place des Vosges and Victor Hugo museum; Arc de Triomphe; Latin Quarter; Napoleon’s tomb; Notre Dame to the extent allowed.

OUR BIG SPLURGE lunch at Restaurant Jules Verne in the Eiffel Tower ($120 without wine). Your life is incomplete until you have been fed by a Michelin 3 star chef. Includes admission to the tower though.

Optional DAY TRIPS AVAILABLE TO Versailles (required if you have never been there); Giverny; Normandy; Fontainebleau; Malmaison

Land package: $2400pp; Air from MIA: $850pp You may book air on your own and use miles or go through the travel agency. Prices for air change slightly almost weekly.

If you are interested in this trip, email travel@rpcvsf.orgbefore Monday July 29. Your deposit will be your final commitment.

RPCVSF  ANNUAL  GENERAL  MEETING

OCTOBER 20, 2018  -  94th AeroSquadron Restaurant  -  Miami Int'l Airport

Our annual Spirit of Service Learning Award event, held on Saturday, October 6th, at the Miami Springs Lions Club, was well-attended by RPCVs, awardees and friends.  After some mingling and a scrumptious, potluck meal, awards were given to the following people:

Finalists - Aileen Ochoa, Fundamentals of Speech Communication, Miami Dade College - Kendall Campus; Carlos Gonzalez, English Composition, Miami Dade College - Kendall Campus; and Susannah Brown, Art Education in Elementary & Secondary Schools, Florida Atlantic University.

Winners - Dr. Ann Graziotti, Community Health Nursing Practicum & Advanced Concepts Practicum, Miami Dade College - Medical Campus; Dr. Joshua Schriftman, ENG/SOC Publishing, Justice & the Freedom of Speech, University of Miami; and Dr. Pamela Hall, Senior Seminar - Psychology Capstone Course, Barry University.

One additional finalist, Liza Greenberg, College Prep Reading and Writing & English Composition, Miami Dade College - InterAmerican Campus, and one other winner, Dr. Jan Sokol-Katz, Juvenile Delinquency, University of Miami, were unable to attend.

All recipients expressed gratitude to RPCVSF for the award and recognition they received.

Front row - Finalists and Winners - Dr. Ann Graziotti, Susannah Brown, Dr. Joshua Schriftman, Carlos Gonzalez, Aileen Ochoa

Back row - RPCVSF SSL Committee Members - Mary Lamberts (Thailand, 70-72), Dave Garcia (Kenya, 88-90), Linda Whitmyre (Malaysia, 67-69),  Josh Young (Malawi, 84-86 & Paraguay, 88-90), Ana Ciereszko (St. Vincent & the Grenadines, 69-71)

Dr. Pamela Hall

RPCV Josh Young welcomes attendees

We had 6 attend the Yellow-Green Farmers Market on Sunday, September 30th, where we found RPCV Linda Alvarez selling honey from Florida Keys' bees.

From left: Michelle Kelsey, Barb Junge, Linda Alvarez, Ann Gleeson, Seamus Gleeson, Lenore Sek. Not pictured: Sharon Alvarado.

Friday - Dinner at the Tower of Pizza, Key Largo

Saturday - September Meeting of the RPCVSF Board of Directors

Dear Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of South Florida,

My name is John DeLeo Jr, and I am a PCV from Fort Lauderdale, FL, currently serving in the TEFL program in Kyrgyz Republic. I have attached a picture of me wearing my 2017 Everglades Outing t-shirt while volunteering at a kindergarten in Osh City, Kyrgyzstan, during my school break. Thank you..

RPCVSF's Donation through the Peace Corps Partnership Program helped build this school!

For More Photos of the Construction, Please see Our Photo Album to the left.

July 28, 2018 - Marlins vs Washington Nationals

 

We had a turnout of 19. Great game (2-1 Marlins in 10) plus post-game fireworks.

For more photos, please see "Our Photo Album" on the left side of this page.