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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social work > Charities & voluntary services
History and Future of Peace Corps Programming in Zambia Rural
Aquaculture Promotion (RAP) Project Volunteers are helping the
Department of Fisheries to develop fish-farming projects that will
improve livelihoods in rural communities. After determining rural
farmers' needs and resources, Volunteers provide technical
assistance in establishing dams, furrows, fishponds, and integrated
agriculture. In addition to providing an excellent source of
nutrition for rural families, surplus fish and agricultural
products are sold to provide substantial supplementary income.
Volunteers provide training in small agribusiness skills to assist
farmers in applying a business orientation toward their farming
activities. Volunteers also help build the organizational
development capacity of fish-farming associations.
Disaster has become big business. Best-selling journalist Antony
Loewenstein trav els across Afghanistan, Pakistan, Haiti, Papua New
Guinea, the United States, Britain, Greece, and Australia to
witness the reality of disaster capitalism. He discovers how
companies cash in on or ganized misery in a hidden world of
privatized detention centers, militarized private security, aid
profiteering, and destructive mining. What emerges through
Loewenstein's re porting is a dark history of multinational corpo
rations that, with the aid of media and political elites, have
grown more powerful than national governments. In the twenty-first
century, the vulnerable have become the world's most valu able
commodity.
There are three major linguistic families in Uganda and about 50
distinct languages divided among them. Languages also tend to
define the boundaries of cultural differences. In the late 1980s,
Ugandan officials estimated that 66 percent of the population
consisted of Christians (almost equally divided among Protestants
and Roman Catholics), approximately 15 percent were Muslim, and
roughly 19 percent were adherents of local religions or not
affiliated with any religion. World and local religions have
coexisted for more than a century in Uganda, and many people have
established a coherent set of beliefs about the nature of the
universe by combining elements of the two. Except in a few areas,
world religions are seldom viewed as incompatible with local
religions. Education is highly valued in much of Uganda. As a
result of the government's commitment to universal primary
education, primary enrollment jumped from 2.7 million children in
1996 to 6.5 million in 1999. These numbers continue to grow, with
nearly 7.4 million students enrolled in 2004
Since 1963, more than 3,000 Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) have
served in Costa Rica in a variety of projects in the areas of
health, education, the environment, community development,
agriculture, small business development, and youth development.
Throughout the program's existence, Volunteers have been
consistently well received by the Costa Rican people and local
partner agencies. The children, youth, and families (CYF) project
was the primary sector of the Peace Corps/Costa Rica program from
1998-2002. In 2003, a second project in rural community development
(RCD) began, which focuses on the poorest rural communities in the
country. In 2005, a third project in Community Economic Development
(CED) began. In 2010, a fourth project began in teaching English as
a foreign language (TEFL). History and Future of Peace Corps
Programming in Costa Rica: Peace Corps/Costa Rica (PCCR) celebrates
Peace Corps 50th anniversary in Costa Rica in 2013. PCCR has been
operating continuously since January 23, 1963, with the arrival of
the first group of 26 PCVs who were assigned as English and science
teachers to public schools
For much of its post-contact history, Guatemala was a colonial
state, in which kingdoms and the church were the sole sources of
legitimate power. The compensation for colonial administrators was
in the form of land grants and control over the people living on
those lands. Colonial administrators were expected to collect taxes
on behalf of kingdoms, and the expectation was that a portion of
the taxes collected would be used by the administrator for personal
expenses. Guatemala gained independence from Spanish colonial rule
on September 15, 1821. During the second half of the 20th century,
Guatemala experienced a variety of military and civilian
governments, as well as a 36-year guerrilla war, which led to the
massacre of more than 200,000 people and created approximately 1
million refugees. Ninety-two percent of the deaths were attributed
to the Guatemalan military. In 1996, the government signed a peace
agreement formally ending the conflict. Although the signing of the
peace accord ended the internal armed conflict, the causes of the
war are deeply rooted and tenaciously resistant. Former combatants
and perpetrators of the massacres often live side by side with the
victims and their families. A continued high level of violence and
crime is an unfortunate part of the ongoing struggle of all
Guatemalans to recover from the trauma of war. Guatemala is a
constitutional, democratic republic. The current constitution
became effective in January 1986. It was suspended by President
Jorge Serrano from May 1993 until his ousting in June of that year.
The executive branch consists of the president and vice president,
elected through a popular vote every four years, and cabinet
members appointed by the president. There is a unicameral congress;
members are elected by popular vote every four years. Supreme Court
members, who serve five-year terms, are appointed by the president
of Guatemala and the outgoing president of the court. Suffrage is
universal for Guatemalans over the age of 18, excluding soldiers on
active duty in the armed services. The country is divided into 22
departments. Guatemala held general elections in November of 2011
and chose a new president, congress, and municipal authorities. The
election process was carried out peacefully and transparently and
President Otto Perez Molina took office on January 14, 2012. New
municipal governments have also taken office at the local level.
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