April 29, 2015 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Don Messerschmidt (Nepal 1963-65) With Nepal Relief Contact

Apr 29 2015

Don Messerschmidt (Nepal 1963-65) is in touch with the Gorkha Foundation that is working to get relief supplies and services to communities at the Nepal Earthuake epicenter. Here is a link to that site: April 28 2015 Friends, Many villagers in Nepal are under siege, struggling to survive from the earthquake and aftershocks that have struck the Himalayas. Most of the media and relief attention, so far, has been centered on Kathmandu Valley and Mt Everest… But it is now very clear that remote mountain communities at the epicenter – the Gorkha region, including both Gorkha and Lamjung Districts – have equally if not more serious issues. Whole villages have been devastated and recent and ongoing rains have triggered destructive landslides and threaten of more danger to health and habitation. The Director of a Nepalese NGO (non-governmental organization), The Gorkha Foundation (of which I am an advisory board member), is . . .

Anti-Malaria Medication and the Peace Corps

Apr 29 2015

In a medically hostile environment, malaria is one of the fiercest enemies. Peace Corps has been fighting it for over fifty years; not only to help the people Volunteers serve, but to protect Volunteers, who are also targets of the disease. From 1961 to 1990, Volunteers in malaria areas, took chloroquine, brand name, Aralen, to protect against malaria. There was a increase in the incidence of malaria among Volunteers in West Africa beginning in the mid-80s due to the development of Chloroquine-resistent malaria. In 1989 thru 1992, Peace Corps Volunteers in West Africa participated in research studies for a relatively new anti-malaria drug, mefloquine, (for a time, the drug was marketed under the brand name, Lariam). The drug was effective against the chloroquine-resistent form of malaria, but was not without its adverse side effects. RPCV Sara Thompson has filed suit charging that Peace Corps failed to adequately inform her of . . .

Brownie Lee (Togo 1962-64) passed away in Benin after a brief illness

Apr 29 2015

Brownie worked in many Peace Corps countries and at many levels of the agency, first as a PCV. She lived in West Africa for over forty years. Brownie Lee passed away on April 27, 2015 (Togo Independence Day) in Benin after a brief illness. Brownie Lee was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the first Togo group from 1962-64, and in Guinea, 1964-1966. She then taught for twenty years, in Eastern and Western Africa, the U.S., and Jamaica. In 1984, she returned to Peace Corps as APCD for Education in Niger 1984-89, APCD for Education and Water Sanitation in Mauritania, 1989-91, and APCD for Education and SED in Ghana, 1991-93. In 1994 she joined Africare as a Project Coordinator for an NGO strengthening program in Benin. In 1995, Brownie came back to Peace Corps as the Sub-Regional Programming and Training Coordinator for Coastal West and Central Africa. In this latter position, . . .

Archive - April 29, 2015