The shutdown...

Going to pause this week from storytelling to share some links out there explaining how the government shutdown impacts the Peace Corps.

-- The National Peace Corps Association is doing a great job covering this, and they shared this piece from 2011, looking at how that then-looming shutdown would impact volunteers.

-- Unofficial Peace Corps Handbook also shared this posting from Peace Corps Facebook page: "Apologies, but we will not be posting updates or responding to comments during the government shutdown. All overseas Peace Corps operations are continuing without interruption to ensure the ongoing health, safety and security of Volunteers and the protection of property."

-- Here's Peace Corps' actual plan in case of a government shutdown.

-- And CNN shares this full chart of who's impacted, with a quote saying that Peace Corps abroad is generally OK, but staff in this country are furloughed. 

-- Finally, one volunteer in Kyrgyzstan breaks down what it's like to be in service and watching all this from the sidelines here: "For the Peace Corps, that means hundreds of potential recruits who will have to wait longer for their process to continue, contributing to a higher drop-out rate of potential volunteers. New trainees will have to wait longer to begin their service. It means suspending new training for volunteers and staff that will make programs more effective or transitioning to evaluations-based development interventions. It means trying to explain over a chai break at my office why one of the most influential governments in the world can’t even keep its doors open."