Saturday, June 6, 2009: Koh Samui, Thailand

Well here goes,
I guess I am going to write a little bit about why the Congress needs to vote "yes" on the expanded Peace Corps budget. Not to be too much of an understatement, Peace Corps is the best spent money in the budget. These programs that go all over the world are bare bones so as a result the Peace Corps is not as successful as it should be. We should be able to say that our initiatives are a resounding success, but this is not the case. Some of the programs that are building and technology are most successful; the programs that work for social change are not nearly so successful. I say a partial reason for this is because the budget needs to be more generous; to show more conviction that it will be a success. I have come to the conclusion, that one of the reasons why some of the programs are lagging behind is because of all of the double messages. Oh yes, we love the Peace Corps, but lets try and get by with as little an expenditure as possible. With a bigger budget, the Peace Corps can put more class and conviction into the initiatives. This is just one reason why a vote "yes" is needed for the revised budget.

Of course, another reason is to expand some of the more successful programs into new countries or going back into old countries with a new found wealth. I think it is a good idea to try and grow the Peace Corps and this, again, is another way of showing conviction and commitment. I am not talking about the volunteer. The volunteer always just works with whatever is given them and tries to make a success out of it. It is the Congress that needs to come up with the more reasonable budget, one that adequately funds the programs in the field.

Of course, some people might say that having the Obama's in the White House is success enough; but I think this is just a beginning.

These are my thoughts for today.