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.
Talking with Fran and Will Irwin About Their Book: The Early Years of Peace Corps in Afghanistan: A Promising Time - Posted 4 hours ago to Peace Corps Writers
What happens with two young kids who meet, say, in a place like Kabul, Afghanistan, when they are 23 or 24, as Volunteers in the Peace Corps? Let's say they're PCVs helping to develop a city newspaper; let's call it the Kabul Times, and then they fall in love. (Sounds like a movie, right?) They finish their tour and marry, and have long and productive years together, one with a career as an NGO.. (Read More)
Matt Gould (Mauritania 2001-02) Co-Creater of New Musical Witness Uganda - Posted 1 day ago to Peace Corps Writers
Witness Uganda, currently being performed at Harvard's American Repertory Theater in Boston, is a musical co-created by composer Matt Gould (Mauritania 2001-03) and Griffin Matthews. It is directed by Diane Paulus, the A.R.T. Artistic Director, and the 2013 Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical (Pippin). And it is a smash hit at the Loeb Drama Center from February 4th to March 16th. A good friend of.. (Read More)
Memorial Service For Hal Fleming, Early Peace Corps Staff - Posted 1 day ago to John Coyne Babbles
Hal Fleming, who headed the Peace Corps Public Affairs and Recruitment in the mid-'60s and later was the Country Director in Cote D'Ivoire, died suddenly of heart failure on February 4, 2014 at his home in Great Falls, Virginia. As a Peace Corps writer, he published several short stories, poems, and two novels: The Brides' Fair, set in Morocco, and Once Upon A Storm, a Civil Rights era mystery. In 1978.. (Read More)
To what extent is memorizing dialogs useful? - Posted 1 day ago to You Call Yourself A Teacher?!
I spent the last day of February and the first day of March at Illinois TESOL. After my plenary, I had a session with teachers who wanted to discuss some of the activities I introduced in my plenary. I followed my usual practice of handing out 3 by 5 cards and asking teachers to write questions they wanted me to discuss with them. If I ask teachers to say aloud what they want to discuss.. (Read More)
Putin The Magician - Posted 2 days ago to Your Money: In the New Economy
I wrote here about Vladimir Putin and his foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's brilliant diplomatic coup in coaxing President Obama and his Secretary of State Kerry into a box in Syria and then rescuing Obama and Kerry from their self-imposed dilemma by offering to have Syria give up its "weapons of mass destruction." Â Next Putin successfully held what were the most impressive Winter Olympics ever seen - in a summer resort! Â He is definitely on.. (Read More)
Self-Reliance for Community - Posted 3 days ago to Homesteading: Starting from Scratch
What makes a community a community and what makes it flourish? Certainly shared interests and/or proximity are foundational, as are shared customs or mores, along with a level of interdependence and moral cohesion. We wouldn't call a country a community, because there are too many competing interests to incorporate these essential features. Both the Left and the Right of the social spectrum believe they have the upper-hand in all things communal. The Leftists think those on.. (Read More)
Carrie Hessler-Radelet Talks Turkey & Technology At Senior Staff Conference - Posted 3 days ago to John Coyne Babbles
Carrie Hessler-Radelet (Western Samoa 1981-83), Acting Director of the Peace Corps, on the 5th and 6th of February, held the first Senior Staff Meeting of this new Administration. Aaron Williams (Dominican Republic 1967-70) did not hold any such meetings in his tenure (August 24, 2009 - September 17, 2012) as Director. Fifty plus Peace Corps 'Directors' met for two days in Eastern Maryland to chart the future of.. (Read More)
Marnie Mueller (Ecuador 1963-65) The Fickle Voter - Posted 4 days ago to John Coyne Babbles
Marnie Writes: The Fickle Voter In late December 2013, I received an invitation to meet and greet the Mayor-elect of New York City, Bill de Blasio, in his new home-to-be, Gracie Mansion. I almost deleted the invite because I was still smarting over the fact that my first choice for Mayor hadn't made it through the primary. I had voted for Christine Quinn because I thought, even though she was more conservative than I am, she'd.. (Read More)
Janet Yellen’s Nemesis—The Great Moderation - Posted 4 days ago to Your Money: Popular Freakonomics
Popular Economics Weekly New Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen has a great task ahead of her. How to combat the results of the Great Moderation, as it was called, that period of low inflation with moderate economic growth that prevailed from 1985 to 2007, according to Paul Krugman. But why, when lots of jobs were created, particularly the 22 million jobs created during Clinton’s presidency? It was a period, “…that.. (Read More)
Crimea 3 - Posted 4 days ago to Your Money: In the New Economy
So now the parliament of the semi-autonomous Crimea has decided to hold a referendum on staying in Ukraine or going on its own, which presumably means some type of union with Russia. Â Why the uproar from the "West," the model was the Ukraine parliament itself that has tossed out its president and installed an un-elected government in his place? To understand what is going on one has to understand that one condition of Ukraine gaining its.. (Read More)
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Recent Comments
- mishelle: thanks Leo, much appreciated. [more...]
- Leo Cecchini: The Foreign Service way to teach languages is to have you listen to a dialogue and repeat it in class. the theory behind this is that children learn language by listening and repeating what they hear. It is the most successful method for learning f [more...]
- Leo Cecchini: Good piece. [more...]
- Leo Cecchini: Great start. Of all the problems facing New York City de Blasio begins by calling for an end to horse drawn carriages in Central Park. What next, banning soft drink machines from public buildings? Good to know that a man with the "big picture" is [more...]
- mary-ann tirone smith: What a classy couple. Yea, Marnie. Your story reminded me of my experience amongst the mass of people on the Washington mall at Obama's inauguration. More than anything else, it was like a family reunion. The crowd had become one immediately. I [more...]
- Barbara Joe: Thanks, Bob, sounds like you are already commenting on my new book before reading it. Hope you have a copy soon or do I need to send you one? We had a lively discussion at my book presentation at Books & Books in Coral Gables, where 4 people who [more...]
- Joanne Roll: Correction: “T’rffic! [more...]
- Joanne Roll: I welcome so much the dedicated efforts of the Peace Corps Director to continue to bring resources to the grassroots communities. I wish Carrie well. As a health education volunteer fifty years ago, the problems we faced were a lack of resources; a l [more...]
- Geraldine Kennedy: Marnie, You rock! Love the photo and the telling. Hugs from Santa Monica. Geraldine [more...]
- FlacoBob: John...this is excellent! I believe we see the value that Barbara brings to her efforts, she is looking for the truth. Barbara was clear in thought and full of experience when she said that the true criminal in Cuba is Fidel. Yet the beauty of Cuba a [more...]
- David L. Egger: What a finely wrought description of the power of the Peace Corps and the effects multiplied a hundred fold by one volunteer who lives among the host country population and joins the community - heart to heart! Nicely done Carrie, thanks for laying [more...]
- Rowland Scherman: Honor is due to John Coyne. Not only because he announced the arrival of my picture book, Timeless--for which great thanks--but for his being the virtual Boswell for the Peace Corps, preserving and organizing our history all these years. Thanks, ma [more...]
- FlacoBob: Thank you my friend Brandon...you are Peace Corps! [more...]
- Joanne Roll: This is beginning to remind me of 1968, when "revolution" was breaking out all over and ended with a Nixon presidency and Russian tanks rolling into Prague. [more...]
- Harlan Green: When all wages and benefits added together, public employees paid the same when allowed collective bargaining (i.e., union representation), but paid collectively less without coll. bargaining. That's not really the issue, though. Wisconsin Gov Walk [more...]
- Leo Cecchini: I don't think anyone would call Wisconsin public employees poorly paid. I have a good friend who was a school teacher there who made very good wages and has a very good retirement. And remember, the Federal government does not allow unions to use th [more...]