From the Field January 2025
By Jeanette Gottlieb
2025 is here and the conference planning is taking shape. If your calendars have not been marked in BIG red letters for the final PCIA conference please mark them now. October 3–5, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Rooms can now be reserved at the Grand Hyatt at our conference rate. (https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/group-booking/WASGH/G-PEA5.
As a personal note, I know many of us now have mobility issues and you may be hesitant to commit but Washington is very easy to navigate. I attended the Board meeting in D.C. last October with my mobility device and found it very easy to access the hotel and the conference site. Uber drivers were super helpful. There are also electric scooters that can be rented. If you are on the east coast Amtrak is a great way to get to D.C, and avoid the traffic hassle.
If you missed the Dooreh or the discussion group this month, these two PCIA events offer discussion an insights on Iran today. The discussion group on the 4th Monday of each month allows us to approach issues from multiple perspectives. If you have never attended one of these sessions, contact [email protected] and he will add you to the email reminder list.
ON OUR WEBSITE
The PCIA website posts a collection of about 75 stories from volunteers. A single event, the August 31, 1968, Khorasan Earthquake, is described by many volunteers who assisted in the aftermath including Chris Klein (1967-69, Shahr-Kord, Khezri) who performed earthquake relief in Khezri in Khorasan. Tom Nelson (Gonabad, Kakhk 1968-69) focused most of his service on earthquake relief. As a volunteer in an engineering office, John Holehan (Mashhed, 1967-71) describes how they went about rebuilding one of the destroyed villages and provided many pictures of the devastation. Check it out at peacecorpsiran.org/stories/.
NPCA news
The in-person Peace Corps Connect conference will also be in D.C. this year July19 and 20 with a day of Advocacy on July 21. Go to peacecorpsconnect.org for details and registration.
A big THANK YOU to all who contributed to our end of the year fund raising. In order to make our last conference the best ever, we will need additional funds. We are seeking sources i.e. companies, foundations, or individuals who may be interested in becoming a sponsor. If you have connections or know of such sources, please contact me at [email protected] and I will pass then on to our fundraising sub committee.
We know that everything is more expensive but the conference committee is working to keep the registration as low as possible.
Download a PDF version of this article by clicking HERE.