As we know the image of the United States overseas continues to deteriorate. Nevertheless people continue to separate the Government of the US from the American people. Travelers to foreign countries often hear "we like Americans but we do not like what the US Government is doing." There are shades of India in the early 1970s during the Indo-Pakistani conflict that led to the birth of Bangladesh. Indians would accept Peace Corps Volunteers but were dismayed with the US tilt towards China and the presence of our 7th fleet in the Bay of Bengal.

I know we are old goats, at least the India RPCVs, but we still need to stay in touch with what our political leaders are proposing domestically and internationally, and let our views be known by voting. We can encourage others, especially our grandchildren and other young people to do the same. As individuals who have lived and worked overseas we have insights worth sharing.

We may also wish to encourage placement of more PCVs and Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) overseas. My statistics are old but a few years ago the percent of FSOs who were RPCVs was about 50 in the US Agency for International (USAID) and about 33 in the State Department. Through the years PCVs have been excellent "ambassadors" for our country during and after their service. This year the National Peace Corps Association (www.rpcv.org), a non-profit network comprised of 90,000 Peace Corps alumni, began promoting the doubling of the budget and size of Peace Corps. The www.morepeacecorps.org is encouraging Americans, young and old, to publicly support this effort. See www.FOIndia.org for more information.

All of the FOI charities, including the new Manvi Ambulance and the Kolar clean water activities did very well in 2007. Thank you all for your generous support. See Charities for more details. Letters and Short Stories: Inside is a letter from an Indian about how a former PCV influenced his life; at www.foindia.org there is a short story, An Indian Wedding, by a former Indian PCV.

We now have the Beginning of our Updated FOI Directory with 100 plus entries. Those who completed the directory form and are registered members can find it by logging in at the Member Center. You will then be at the Member Information Page where you see a button for FOI Directory. Click on it. Presently, the directory is printable using a browser but later there will be a more print friendly version.

Dues for FOI are $15 per year. These cover administrative costs with the remainder going to FOI charities. FOI sends out over 800 newsletters four times a year. FOI receives dues and donations from about 250 of our members. If you are not paying dues, please consider doing so as it means more funds can be given to our charities. Also let's hear from you about some ideas the board recently thought about:

1. A Newsletter sent 3 times a year instead of 4, and perhaps expanded from 8 to 10 pages?
2. An E-Newsletter sent by email, maybe in color, content same as hard copy sent by mail. Hard copies would still be sent to those who wanted them. If interested in receiving the E-Newsletter, send me an email and we will send May's Newsletter to you as part of a trial.

Enjoy your spring and summer!