Peace Corps has unfortunately been thrust into the news here in South Africa thanks to the abhorrent acts of a former volunteer. Last week a volunteer who began his service one year before us (and resigned early last May for reasons now obvious) was arrested at his home in Connecticutt for child molestation. While serving at an AIDS center for young children he molested at least five girls under the age of six, one of them over the course of five months. Here's a link to a cnn.com article, and if you google his name you'll find countless more news stories: http://articles.cnn.com/2011-08-05/justice/peace.corps.sexual.abuse_1_peace-corps-volunteer-sexual-abuse-sexual-conduct?_s=PM:CRIME
In response to this mess, Peace Corps has called for an all-volunteer meeting this Saturday in Pretoria. These meetings NEVER happen, so it's going to be interested to see what happens with some 150 volunteers.
Sara is currently in Pretoria this week because she is on the Volunteer Support Network and they had training this week. Essentially, Sara is going to be a mentor to a group of new volunteers who are currently training near Pretoria. So the meeting doesn't inconvenience her in any significant way. I (Matt) on the other hand am disappointed. I had grand plans for Dorkfest 2011 (Star Wars and Lord of the Rings marathons) but, alas, they must remain on hold. . . .
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