04.16.09
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Young Professionals of the Indian Diaspora Contribute Skills and Time to India

picture-101The Indian service program that recruits people of Indian family background, from all around the world, has launched a program to offer shorter-term opportunities specifically for young professionals.

Indicorps invites young Indian professionals to commit their time and skills to India through the Young Professionals Initiative (YPI), a new sabbatical program that allows people to meaningfully bring their knowledge and talents to India.

YPI, still in pilot phase, offers new experts in a variety of fields the opportunity to participate in half-year, goal-oriented service projects that can have an enormous impact for good on Indian communities.

The program will run between July 1 and December 1, 2009.

Associates will take on these projects (see full project descriptions):

04.15.09
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Global Citizen Year Searching for its Founding Class of Fellows

picture-81Guest contributor Wil Keenan is a program associate at Global Citizen Year.

Global Citizen Year (GCY) is building a new generation of Americans to lead the fight against global poverty. Each year, we select and train a diverse cohort of emerging leaders who will participate in a transformational “bridge year” between high school and college.

With our support, GCY Fellows defer their college enrollment and spend a year living with families and working as apprentices with community organizations in Asia, Africa, or Latin America — learning a new language, re-shaping their sense of themselves in the world, and preparing to begin college with global perspective and a clearer sense of purpose.

GCY is currently conducting a national search for its founding class of Fellows. We are looking for a diverse group of Continue reading →

04.15.09
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Celebrating People in Action for National Volunteer Week (April 19-25)

National Volunteer Week 2009 is April 19-25. This year’s theme is “Celebrating People in Action.” Below are three new stories of service members or volunteers with disabilities in action, “honoring the individuals who dedicate themselves to taking action and solving problems in their communities.”

People First logoTiffany Hunter, AmeriCorps VISTA
People First of Nevada-Carson City Chapter, 2006-present
Quadriplegia and TBI

“The Carson City Chapter of People First [of Nevada], began with 10 people. In three years, we’ve doubled,” says Tiffany. Meeting monthly, she tracks and facilitates PFN-CC meetings and encourages those in attendance to determine the thrust of the chapter. The experience of working as a VISTA has also allowed Tiffany to increase the network of partners connected to PFN-CC. “We had a barbecue social, but we didn’thave very much money to hold the event. I looked around for donations, but wasn’t having much luck until I talked to the manager at the local grocery chain where I shop. She originally offered to donate $20, but when I went back to the store to pick up the donation, she had increased the donation to $50. With that I was able to buy everything I Continue reading →

04.15.09
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The Return of Peace Corps Rwanda

Map of Rwanda32 Peace Corps Volunteers will be sworn-in today in Kigali, marking the return of the Peace Corps Rwanda program after a 15-year absence.

According to the Peace Corps, its presence in Rwanda ended 15 years ago when “the the civil unrest that resulted in the genocide” began. (Read more about the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.)

The new group of Volunteers, who have been in pre-service training in Rwanda since January, will work on health and community development assignments, including collaborating with the Rwandan government and its U.S. government partners  to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Like the United States, every Peace Corps host country has its unique history and psychological scars from past Continue reading →

04.14.09
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College Cost Reduction Act – Basic Facts and New Resources to Help You

Campus building

Update, July 1, 2009! Check out this post about applying for Income-based repayment from your lender!

This July 1st, the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA) of 2007 will take effect and includes provisions to make undergraduate and graduate education more affordable for aspiring social-impact professionals.

The CCRAA is a complicated piece of legislation that, if you take advantage of it, can help you retire college and grad school debt early.

The main programs that the CCRAA has created include:

Income-Based Repayment (IBR) — Caps monthly direct and guaranteed (FFEL) student loan payments based on the borrower’s income and family size. According to IBRinfo, “For most eligible borrowers, IBR loan payments will be less than 10 percent of their income – and even smaller for borrowers with low earnings. IBR will also forgive remaining Continue reading →