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--- Dane Smith <dane at rpcv.org> wrote:

> From: "Dane Smith" <dane at rpcv.org>

> To: "NPCA Advocacy" <npca-h at list.vita.org>

> Subject: Decision to Postpone Conference; Volunteer

> Day and a Peace Vigil to Go Forward

> Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2001 20:05:04 -0400

> 

> Dear Friends of the Returned Peace Corps Community:

> 

> The attacks on the World Trade Center and the

> Pentagon have been a terrible

> shock for our nation, including our community.  We

> believe it is important

> for Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, staff and

> friends of the Peace Corps to

> continue to convey their message of peace and

> positive engagement with the

> developing countries.  We had therefore hoped to

> continue with our

> Conference in Washington DC, making necessary

> adjustments for security.

> 

> 

> 

> Extraordinary Tension in Washington

> 

> While our goal has not changed, the situation of

> uncertainty and the local

> circumstances in Washington DC have forced us to

> reexamine the nature of our

> plans:

> 

> --The situation in Washington is extraordinarily

> tense.  The security

> perimeter around the White House has been greatly

> extended in the last day.

> Much of the area to be used by the Conference,

> including the Hotel

> Washington and the Mall, the American Red Cross,

> Department of Commerce, now

> falls within a greatly widened security perimeter. 

> All persons entering the

> perimeter have to show ID's and are subject to

> search.

> 

> -- Military Police manning HUM-V vehicles are on

> every street downtown,

> including on L Street in front of the NPCA.  Traffic

> is being directed by

> the National Guard, and there have been frequent

> bomb scares and evacuations

> of buildings.  There have been statements from the

> Administration suggesting

> that military action might occur during the period

> in question.  There is

> uncertainty about the availability of government

> buildings now scheduled to

> host meetings.

> 

> --Despite a resumption of commercial flights, Reagan

> National Airport is

> closed indefinitely.  Many of our registrants were

> scheduled to arrive at

> National.  Reroutings and reservation changes are

> extremely difficult at

> this time.  More than half of our registrants are

> coming from far away.  It

> will be extremely difficult to ensure that even

> those registrants willing to

> come could get to the city without difficulty.

> 

> --President Alejandro Toledo has reaffirmed his

> willingness to appear at the

> Conference.  At the same time the Secret Service has

> informed the Peruvian

> Embassy that the presence of foreign dignitaries in

> Washington DC is not

> recommended.  The Peruvian Foreign Ministry is

> concerned about his security

> and the logistics of the visit.

> 

> --The Conference would likely be occurring at the

> same time as large numbers

> of funerals for those lost in the Pentagon attack. 

> Some have expressed

> concern that such a juxtaposition would be

> inappropriate.  The festivities

> usually associated with Country-of-Service reunions

> will not be appropriate

> to the occasion and would need to be scaled back.

> 

> 

> 

> Postponement of the Conference; Volunteer Day and a

> Peace Vigil to Go

> Forward

> 

> Under these circumstances, the NPCA Board and I have

> reluctantly concluded

> that we have no choice but to postpone the

> Conference to an appropriate time

> in the spring or early summer of next year. 

> (President Toledo has indicated

> his availability to come to a rescheduled

> Conference.)  At the same time, we

> are not abandoning our plans to convey our special

> outreach to the people of

> the developing countries.  We will go forward next

> week with at least two

> events that convey our message of peace and service:

>  these are Volunteer

> Day on Saturday morning, September 22 and a Peace

> Vigil with country of

> service flags that evening at the Washington

> Monument.   Those participating

> in these events will largely be RPCVs from the

> Washington

> DC/Virginia/Maryland areas.

> 

> 

> 

> Suggestions for Registrants

> 

> Most of the planning has already been done for a

> Conference and much of that

> planning will be applicable to the event that will

> be held at a future date.

> We hope that as many as possible of you will decide

> to maintain your

> registration for the rescheduled Conference.  We

> will refund registration

> fees for those who request it.  However, it is

> important that you be aware

> we have already sustained substantial costs in

> connection with the 40th

> Conference, and the financial position of the

> organization would be

> jeopardized if everyone demands his/her money back. 

> We therefore appeal to

> you to keep faith with us and to plan to come to our

> rescheduled Conference,

> if you possibly can.

> 

> You should be able to cancel your hotel

> registrations without penalty.

> Please let us know if there are difficulties with

> respect to those hotels

> previously posted on our website (with which we have

> contracts).

> 

> We will be in touch with you as soon as possible

> about future plans and

> registration fees.  We wanted to get this message

> out as quickly as possible

> so that you could reexamine your travel plans this

> week-end.

> 

> 

> In peace and with great regret,

> Dane Smith, President

> 

> 

> 

> 

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=====
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