When 7300 Peace Corps Volunteers were abruptly evacuated in March, a common first reaction was to mourn the untimely end of service. But across the decades, Peace Corps Volunteers learn the importance of being flexible.
Elyse Magen's evacuation created two economic hardships: loss of a critical Small Projects Administration grant, end of plans for a yet unfunded loan program.
Not one to be deterred by a 3000 mile separation or a pandemic, she reached out to the RPCV community and secured funding through Friends of Colombia and the National Peace Corps Association to replace the SPA grant. Her successful campaign to replace the lost SPA funding is included below. Then she worked with TCP Global to get loan funds to her site despite a quarantine and a bank that had initially sent the TCP Global funds back to the U.S.
Within two months of arrival back home Elyse and four other Colombia evacuees are working together to continue their service on a global scale. They had witnessed the positive impact of TCP Global loans on small, underserved rural communities and jumped at the chance to help TCP Global replicate its success around the world.
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