Welcome
- John Coyne and Marian Haley Beil are happy to present Peace Corps Worldwide, an online community and resource for Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs), Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs), their friends and families, and all who share a desire for international understanding. Peace Corps Worldwide is in no way associated with the Peace Corps or the National Peace Corps Association.
Benghazi - Posted 18 hours ago to Your Money: In the New Economy
Benghazi has a special place in my family's history. Â My grandfather, Nicola Cecchini, was stationed at a desert post in the Italo-Turkish War for Lybia in the early 20th Century. Â He did so well in what was considered to be a certain death post he was given a pass to visit Benghazi. Â As soon as he got to the port he changed his militry garb for civilian clothes, took a job on a boat.. (Read More)
Laura DeLuca (Kenya 1987–89) publishes YA novel set in the Sudan - Posted 20 hours ago to Peace Corps Writers
In March co-authors Leah Bassoff and Laura DeLuca (Kenya 1987–89) published the young adult novel entitled Lost Girl Found. The story revolves around a young girl — Ponti — whose life in her small village in southern Sudan is simple and complicated at the same time. But when the war comes and there is only one thing for Poni to do. Run. Run for.. (Read More)
What do you wish Americans knew about your Peace Corps country? - Posted 1 day ago to John Coyne Babbles
I got an e-mail today from the Peace Corps' lovely and talented Eileen Conoboy (Mali 1995-97), Director of Office of Third Goal and Returned Volunteer Services. She wrote that her Third Goal office had put together the Agency's first video challenge for this year's Peace Corps Week. They asked one simple question: What do you wish Americans knew about your Peace Corps country? Eileen wrote, "We received 80 video submissions from.. (Read More)
Capitalism in 21st Century - Posted 1 day ago to Your Money: Popular Freakonomics
Popular Economics Weekly All the hullabaloo re Thomas Piketty’s master economic work, Capitalism in the 21st Century has overlooked its real importance. Economics is finally becoming a science, rather than just social science based more on theories and formulas (such as mathematical models), than empirical research until now. T Piketty and friends have collected 2 centuries of economic data—such as tax returns—to verify what was suspected but not known. That returns.. (Read More)
The Peace Corps to Host World Malaria Day Google+ Hangout - Posted 1 day ago to John Coyne Babbles
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, April 23, 2014 CONTACT: Press Office 202.692.2230 *MEDIA ADVISORY* The Peace Corps to Host World Malaria Day Google+ Hangout with Volunteers and Community Members Leading the Fight Against Malaria in Africa WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Friday, April 25, Peace Corps volunteers and their community counterparts will share their experiences collaborating to combat malaria across Africa during a Google+ Hangout On Air for World Malaria Day. The panelists were chosen through Stomping Out Malaria in Africa's "Malaria.. (Read More)
Chasing Misery: An Anthology of Essays by Women in Humanitarian Responses - Posted 1 day ago to Peace Corps Writers
Chasing Misery: An Anthology of Essays by Women in Humanitarian Responses Edited by Kelsey Hoppe With essays by Miranda Bryant (Kazakhstan 2000-02), Caryl Feldacker (Ecuador 1999-01), Emilie Greenhalgh (Cameroon 2007-09), Carmen Sheehan (Ecuador 2000-03); and photographs by Jenn Warren (Jordan, 02) CreateSpace $10.25, Kindle $6.99 318 pages 2014 Reviewed by Susi Wyss (Central African Republic 1990-92) All of the two dozen essays in Chasing Misery are written by women-including four recent RPCVs-who are attempting.. (Read More)
Surprise, Rebellion Brings Grief - Posted 2 days ago to Your Money: In the New Economy
Rebellion and its brother revolution, which is defined as a successful rebellion, are serious business. Â They incur loss of power, position, wealth and ultimately blood. Â Our Founding Fathers pledged their "lives and sacred honor" to our revolution knowing full well that they would probably be hanged for treason if they failed. With this in mind I am amazed at those who in today's world launch rebellions and then recoil in shock when there is great bloodshed... (Read More)
Opposing the Bully Mentality—Part II - Posted 2 days ago to Your Money: Popular Freakonomics
Financial FAQs How does one stop the bullies? Put simply, find a way to stand up to them. Economic bullies behave no differently than individuals when confronted by a person or organization stronger than them. But how are the 80 percent who are wage and salary earners to do that whose income has been whittled away since the 1970s by anti-union legislation and outright banning of collective bargaining in many of the right.. (Read More)
Novelist Hilary Mantel Slams Botswana PCV Teachers Then ETs Herself - Posted 2 days ago to John Coyne Babbles
[Thanks to Mary-Ann Tirone Smith (Cameroon 1965-67) for bringing this to my attention. And thanks to RPCV Jason Gross (Botswana 1987-1989) for putting Hilary Mantel in her place with his Comment about being a PCV teacher in Botswana.] June 2, 2012 I Taught Shakespeare in Botswana By HILARY MANTEL Budleigh Salterton, England "THOSE who can, do; those who can't, teach." That's what adults said when I was growing up,.. (Read More)
Charles B. Kastner's (Seychelles 1980-82) The 1929 Bunion Derby - Posted 3 days ago to Peace Corps Writers
The 1929 Bunion Derby: Johnny Salo and the Great Footrace across America by Charles B. Kastner (Seychelles 1980–82) Syracuse University Press $24.95 (hard cover) 304 pages April 2014 Reviewed by Thomas E. Coyne WOULD YOU RUN across the continental United States? Would you run across the continental United States . . . twice? You will notice that I did not ask if you COULD run across the country twice. In his book, The.. (Read More)
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Recent Comments
- jane: Fabulous. I put the link on my Facebook page. Hope it reads. I am so happy to be part of all this. [more...]
- Joanne Roll: Very interesting, Leo. Name the Admiral. The reason I ask is that my father was retired regular army. He was an "after dinner" speaker after his retirement. However, he was required to have all his speeches cleared through the military at Fort Car [more...]
- Joanne Roll: Thank you very much, Lorenzo, for the information. Do you remember which professors were actually including Peace Corps in their curriculum? I see Peace Corps literature as a genre all by itself, such as Chicano literature,etc. Contacting hund [more...]
- Leita Kaldi Davis: A marvelous review, Susi, which compels me to recommend it to my UN Women Book Club. Leita [more...]
- Lawrence F. Lihosit: Joanne- Actually, John might have more information on this. I contacted several hundred professors around the country, asking whether they taught a history course which included the PC. Very few were doing this and the few who did were generally RPCV [more...]
- Joanne Roll: Now, a request for Lawrence F. Lihosit. Didn't you do an informal survey of colleges to determine if any were featuring the Peace Corps in their American Studies, History and/or Literature courses? If so, would you be willing to write about that exp [more...]
- Joanne Roll: I would like to add to the list: "The Making of an Un-American" by Paul Cowen, published in 1970. Cowen describes his tour in Ecuador in rough and realistic terms. I believe he was profiled on Peace Corps World Wide. I will search for the link. [more...]
- Lawrence F. Lihosit: Thank you, John. I'll read your suggestions. [more...]
- John Coyne: Larry Lihosit is right about many things but I'll have to disagree with him regarding early Peace Corps books written by PCVs. What he calls accounts to 'sway' the public were written by writers outside of the agency, and writers who had little kn [more...]
- Lawrence F. Lihosit: Most early commercially published PC descriptions written by volunteers were purposefully Pollyanna edited in order to sway American opinion. The majority are now forgotten. Moritz Thomsen's "Living Poor" still sells because he reported a clear pictu [more...]
- Edward Mycue: Wow. Do you have other RPCV siblings? Ed Mycue [more...]
- Lawrence F. Lihosit: A version of this unusual historical tale is included in California third grade social studies texts. It is fascinating. [more...]
- Ronald A Schwarz: Tony captures the painful reality a returning volunteer will experience in all corners of Africa today. His tale poetically captures the human dimension of war, rule by the Big Men and the devastation wrought by HIV/Aids. Tony’s wonderful story is [more...]
- Leo Cecchini: I appears that President Obama does not read my blogs. He has just announced that he wants to go back to our "containment policy" of post WWII that sought to "contain" the spread of Communism Soviet Style. That policy eventually led to the war in V [more...]
- Will Lutwick: Imagine the potential paternity suits. [more...]
- Leita Kaldi Davis: Congratulations,Bob! You're a great writer, and could hold out for the Nobel Prize. Fond regards, Leita [more...]