The Peace Corps

By Oumie Mendy Peace Corps – The Gambia has Wednesday sworn in 22 agriculture and health volunteers from America in a ceremony held in the Lower River Region settlement of Massembeh training center. The oath taking followed an 8 weeks pre-service training in languages, cross-culture, medical, safety and security professionals. Kelleah B. Young, Peace Corps Country Director said Peace Corps’ founding mission of promoting world peace and friendship among all counties remains relevant, even after 55 years of service in the Gambia under the global COVID-19 pandemic. “Peace Corps have returned to the Gambia in a big  way this year, adding to global total today, over 950 volunteers are back in 41 countries and we are still aiming to return to our pre evacuation number of 7000 volunteers worldwide, even adding a few new counties to the mix. Our strength is to build on individual relationships, one connection and one . . .

 NPCA is Advocating for YOU! URGENT ACTION ALERT FOR THE PEACE CORPS COMMUNITY With only a few weeks remaining in the current Congress, we need all members and friends of the Peace Corps community to mobilize and rally to make sure key National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) legislative priorities are approved this year. Our top priority is to pass the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act (S. 4466; H.R. 1456). As more than 900 volunteers have returned to Peace Corps service, this is the moment to pass this once-in-a-generation legislation. Write to Republican Senators NOW: We need the bipartisan Senate bill (S. 4466) to be passed, and key to that is building further support of Republican Senators. If you are represented by one (or two) Republican Senators, please take this action now, and share it with others from your state. Other Senate Action: If you are represented by Democrats in the Senate, . . .

Here is our new list of RPCV & staff authors we know of who have published two or more books of any type. Currently, the count is 473. If you know of someone who has and their name is not on this list, then please email: jcoyneone@gmail.com. We know we don’t have all such writers who have served over these past 60 years. Thank you.’ Jerome R. Adams (Colombia 1963–65) Tom Adams (Togo 1974-76) Thomas “Taj” Ainlay, Jr. (Malaysia 1973–75) Elizabeth (Letts) Alalou (Morocco 1983–86) Jane Albritton (India 1967-69) Robert Albritton (Ethiopia 1962-65) Usha Alexander (Vanuatu 1996–97) James G. Alinder (Somalia 1964-66) Richard Alleman (Morocco 1968-70) Hayward Allen (Ethiopia 1962-64) Diane Demuth Allensworth (Panama 1964–66) Paul E. Allaire (Ethiopia 1964–66) Allman (Nepal 1966-68) Nancy Amidei (Nigeria 1964–65) Gary Amo (Malawi 1962–64) David C. Anderson (Costa Rica 1964-66) Lauri Anderson (Nigeria 1963-65) Peggy Anderson (Togo 1962-64) James Archambeault (Philippines 1965-67) Ron Arias (Peru . . .

Author Interview—Lucinda Jackson by Heili Eliason Lucinda Jackson (Palau 2016) is the author of two memoirs: Just a Girl: Growing Up Female and Ambitious, about her struggles to succeed in the male-dominated work world, and Project Escape: Lessons for an Unscripted Life, an exploration of freedom after leaving a structured career. Jackson is a PhD scientist and global corporate executive who features on podcasts and radio and has published articles, book chapters, magazine columns, and patents. She is the founder of LJ Ventures, where she speaks and consults on energy, the environment, and empowering women in the workplace and in our Next Act. Connect with Jackson or find her books at: www.lucindajackson.com. Interview Who or what inspires you to write? I get inspired by having something to say. I feel this burning concept or thought inside me and I just have to get it out! It is this need to express myself, to make sense . . .

Monday, November 21, 2022   The School of Global Studies at Oklahoma State University has introduced a prestigious fellowship program for college kids with a profession curiosity in international peace. The Fellowship, named after OSU alumni Charles “Chic” Dambach (Colombia 1963-65), will present funding for college kids in the graduate program of Global Studies and allow a brand new technology of peacemakers to graduate from OSU. Dambach started his tutorial profession at Oklahoma State University in 1962, when he got here to OSU on a soccer scholarship. After a shoulder damage rendered him unable to proceed enjoying soccer, Dambach had the alternative to discover different pursuits past the classroom, and interact in social, cultural and political points. He labored with different college students at OSU to deliver points of political and cultural significance to campus, typically placing them at odds with OSU directors. Inspired by the activism he skilled throughout . . .

Senator Chris Dodd will serve as Special Presidential Advisor for the Americas, following up on his role as Special Advisor for the Ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles in June.  Senator Dodd will help advance the implementation of key initiatives President Biden announced at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, spanning economic cooperation, migration, health, human rights, food security, as well as other priorities. He will also support the work currently being done by Vice President Harris, the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, USAID, and others. Additionally, he will support preparations for the upcoming Cities Summit of the Americas in Denver in April 2023. In his decades as a dedicated public servant, starting as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic and through his time on the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Senator Dodd has built trust with many . . .

  by John Coyne (Ethiopia 1962-64)   There was an almost perfect copy of Papa: Hemingway in Key West 1928-1940 by James McLendon who I knew when I lived briefly in Key West. Tucked inside this Popular Library paperback [which, by the way, sold for .95 cents when it was published in 1972] was an article about Hemingway from an April 12, 1999 Newsweek. It was about the publication of True at First Light, the last writings of Papa edited by his son Patrick. I also picked up a brand new copy of The Sportswriter, a novel by the Pen/Faulkner winning writer Richard Ford, as well as a collection of short stories, The Next New World written by one of my favorite Peace Corps writers, Bob Shacochis (Eastern Caribbean 1975-76). None of these books were library marked. They had, however, been given to the library. And they were now stacked on . . .

  Dick Celeste has released a book In the Heart of It All, An Unvarnished Account of My Life in Public Service published by Kent State University Press By Sabrina Eaton, cleveland.com    LAKEWOOD, Ohio – Democratic former Ohio Gov. Dick Celeste feels like he’s one of the last people in his family to write a book. His wife, Jacqueline, is already a published author. When Celeste was U.S. ambassador to India, she collaborated with their toddler son, Sam, on a children’s book about a mouse living in the U.S. Embassy. At age 85, the Lakewood native has released his first book, a memoir titled “In the Heart of It All: An Unvarnished Account of My Life in Public Service,” published by Kent State University Press. It follows his life from his childhood through his university days at Yale and Oxford, covering his Ohio political career, diplomatic service, and presidency of Colorado . . .

The Fabulous Peace Corps Book Locker, Part I For a short period of time in the very first years of the Peace Corps all Volunteers were given book lockers by the agency. The lockers were to be left behind in schools, villages, and towns where PCVs served as seeds for future libraries. There is some mystery of who first thought to give PCVs these lockers and one rumor has it that the idea came from Sarge Shriver’s wife, Eunice. The first locker was put together by a young foreign service officer who left the agency in the very early days of the agency to teach at Claremont College in California. In a letter that Shriver wrote to the early PCVs about the locker, he said, “We know you need books. This Booklocker of paperbacks and inexpensive publications is designed to meet that need. It includes classics and contemporary writing by . . .

Museum of the Peace Corps Experience Hires Director WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Museum of the Peace Corps Experience has selected Dr. Zack Klim as its director. He joins the Museum from his current role as Executive Director of Global Affairs and Experiential Learning at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development at New York University (NYU). His new appointment will begin on January 2, 2023. Klim has been in leadership at NYU’s Global Programs division since 2008. Throughout his tenure at NYU, he interfaced with colleagues around the world to develop learning and research opportunities, fundraise, and foster understanding across cultural and socioeconomic divides. In his role as Executive Director, he successfully procured funding to ensure international learning opportunities would be accessible to all. His collaboration with faculty in the Visual Arts Administration program were vital to the launch of an international leadership Program in Visual Arts Management . . .

The Story of a Year by John Coyne (Ethiopia 1962-64)   The other weekend when visiting a small used bookstore appropriately named the “BookBarn” in rural Columbia County, New York, I spotted on a shelf of the cluttered shop a copy of Carlo Levi’s Christ Stopped at Eboli. It is a book I haven’t seen in some sixty plus years. In fact, I hadn’t seen a copy since I was a PCV in Ethiopia. This book was one of appropriately 75 paperback books Sarge Shriver and the first administration of the Peace Corps put together in the ‘booklocker’ for Volunteers to read and leave behind in their villages as seeds for new libraries. The copy I found was first published in  the early Sixties. A trade paperback edition with a new preface, while the book was the same and what a body of prose it is.   First some background . . .

Strengthening National Security through Global Water Security By Kelly Parsons (Guatemala 1993-96)  How would your day go without drinking water? How safe would you feel if you knew every day meant having to find water and coping with no toilet? A country’s ability to effectively provide and manage water and sanitation services profoundly shapes its communities, socio-economic and political stability and national security. However, as shared water resources between countries and communities become scarce, competition for water increases, raising tensions and the likelihood of conflict while contributing to poverty, infectious disease outbreaks and malnutrition. And there is growing evidence suggesting that climate change is playing an ever-increasing role in the global resurgence and spread of cholera and other waterborne diseases. In June, the White House announced the Action Plan on Global Water Security. For the first time, this plan directly links access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) around the world to . . .

  College Corps could be the model for higher education America desperately needs By Gavin Newsom,  Governor of California • Today, our country appears more divided than ever. College Corps is an antidote to this crisis of isolation, a down payment on the reconstruction of our society and the preservation of our democracy. Recently, I had the privilege to swear in the first ever College Corps fellows, a legion of more than 3,000 students spread across nearly 50 college and university campuses who have committed to supplement their studies with community service. In exchange for their service, California is offering $10,000 per school year to help each of them pursue a debt-free education. For those from families with modest incomes, it is enough to meet the personal financial obligation expected of Pell Grant recipients, a financial gap most often closed by student loans. College Corps is more than just another government program. With these new fellows, California’s service corps . . .