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“What am I doing in Paraguay?” by Troy Schneider
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“Overcoming Grief and Assault With 29 Marathons” by Summer Willis (Mexico)
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Charles Murray (Thailand) . . . “The Most Dangerous Conservative.”
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Review | FACE TO FACE WITH WAR by Leo Cecchini (Ethiopia)
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Peter Navarro (Thailand) sentenced to prison
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“RPCVs discover cohousing” by Evelyn Kohl LaTorre (Peru)
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Georgia among top 10 Peace Corps volunteer states in US
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AFGHANISTAN: CROSSROADS AND KINGDOMS by Guy Toby Marion (Afghanistan)
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Review | GROWING MANGOS IN THE DESERT by Katherine Baird (Mauritania)
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The Volunteer who became a National Presidential Campaign Manager | Timothy Kraft (Guatemala)
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Bruce Corker (Colombia) wins coffee case
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AMERICAN SEASONS by Mark Brazaitis (Guatemala)
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Professor Thomas Pearson (Nicaragua) | Research on Racial and Ethnic Exclusion
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Jamelyn Ebelacker (Eastern Caribbean) | MBA candidate: Arizona State University
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THE CHINESE DETECTIVE by Joseph Theroux (Samoa)

“What am I doing in Paraguay?” by Troy Schneider

  by Troy Schneider (Paraguay 2024-)   At this point, I’ve probably been asked the question “Why did you join the Peace Corps?” a hundred times. Yet each time, I think I’ve given a different answer or at least a variation of an old answer. Truth is, there was no one reason why I sent off that application back in December of 2022. There was quite the variety. Peace Corps Volunteer Recipe: 2 cups of wanting to help people and make myself feel good (by the way, I’ve decided I’m going to be very honest in this blog) 1 cup of adventurous desire to see the world 1/2 cup of ability to be uncomfortable (add more later) 1 tbsp of restless spirit syndrome 1 tbsp of wanting to experience new cultures and ways of existing 1/2 tsp of language skills 3 cups of not wanting to get a 9-5 job . . .

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“Overcoming Grief and Assault With 29 Marathons” by Summer Willis (Mexico)

. . . and Now Helping Others Do the Same   Hello! Who are you? Hello, I’m Summer Willis (Mexico 2019-20). My journey has taken me from meeting my husband in the Peace Corps in Mexico, where we both served as volunteers, to impactful experiences in Teach for America in New Orleans. My passion for teaching also led me to Tanzania and Chile. Currently living in Lexington, Virginia, with my husband and two sons, Alfred and August, my life is a blend of family, adventure, and commitment to values like faith, health, and service. My endeavors have recently taken an exciting turn with a newfound joy in running. This year, I’m undertaking a remarkable challenge of running 29 marathons. As the founder of the nonprofit Strength Through Strides and a soon-to-be-published children’s book author, my life is a testament to pursuing passions and living by one’s values. My favorite cuisine, Mexican food, . . .

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Charles Murray (Thailand) . . . “The Most Dangerous Conservative.”

  The New York Times put Charles Murray on the cover of its Sunday Magazine, calling him “The Most Dangerous Conservative.”   That was after he co-wrote the book, The Bell Curve, which argued that different ethnic groups have, on average, different IQs. As Murray puts it in my video this week, “Blacks on average have a lower IQ than whites. However, whites are not at the top. East Asians, on average, have a higher IQ than whites. Ashkenazi Jews have higher IQs.” Other researchers agree. An article in ScienceDirect journal puts it this way, “East Asians and their descendants average an IQ of about 106, Europeans and their descendants about 100, and Africans and their descendants about 85.” But many people don’t believe it. Many don’t even want such topics discussed. Last time Murray tried speaking to college students, a mob shouted him down. “They’re angry at you because you’re . . .

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Review | FACE TO FACE WITH WAR by Leo Cecchini (Ethiopia)

  Face to Face with War by Leo Cecchini (Ethiopia 1962–64) Independently published October 2022 254 pages $15.00 (paperback), $9.00 (Kindle) Reviewed by Mike Donovan   • • •  Leo Cecchini, the author of Face to Face With War, has lead the kind of life most of us can only imagine. His book takes us from his Peace Corps experience as a geography teacher and soccer coach in Asmara, Ethiopia at the beginning of the 30 year struggle for Eritrean independence to his many experiences in the U.S. foreign service. His first assignment in the foreign service was in Panama where he met some decidedly shady characters trying to run weapons to Biafra during the breakaway war with Nigeria. He outsmarted them! From Panama he was sent to Vietnam during the period of heaviest fighting. He was part of a joint military/civilian program designed to help stabilize the country. Each of his new . . .

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Peter Navarro (Thailand) sentenced to prison

In the news —  Ex-Trump adviser sentenced to 4 months in prison   Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro (Thailand 1965-68) speaking outside a federal court in Washington, D.C., in September 2023. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro was sentenced to four months in prison on Thursday for defying a 2022 congressional subpoena from the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Why it matters: Navarro is now the second Trump adviser to receive a prison sentence for refusing to testify before the panel and provide it documents related to attempts to overturn the 2020 election. In addition to his prison sentence, Navarro was ordered to pay a $9,500 fine. Catch up quickly: Navarro was accused by the Jan. 6 committee of working with fellow Trump adviser Steve Bannon and others to develop a plan to delay Congress’ certification of the 2020 election. Bannon was the first high-ranking Trump official to be sentenced . . .

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“RPCVs discover cohousing” by Evelyn Kohl LaTorre (Peru)

  What is it about Cohousing Communities that attract so many RPCVs to live in some of the 200 cohousing developments in the US? Scores of  Returned Peace Corps Volunteers have joined this growing movement toward a friendly, community-oriented, democratic lifestyle?  They gravitate to these purposeful neighborhoods designed for human interaction after having resided for two years in developing countries. Mission Peak Village cohousing For example, one-third of the current members of Mission Peak Village Cohousing (MPV) in Fremont, California (missionpeakcohousing.org) are RPCVs who joined other like-minded people and purchased 1.25 acres in the suburban setting, 25 miles south of San Francisco. They are designing the kind of supportive neighborhood of singles, families, and elders where they hope to live for the rest of their lives. “I didn’t understand what the word “community” meant until I was assigned to a village on a small island,” says Maria, who was in . . .

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Georgia among top 10 Peace Corps volunteer states in US

Georgia among top 10 Peace Corps volunteer states in US By WSBTV.com News Staff January 24, 2024 at 12:29 pm EST ATLANTA — Georgia as a state has a long history of service in the U.S. Military. In addition to its large population of service members, Georgia is also among the top 10 states for volunteering with the Peace Corps. According to the federal organization, Georgia and Pennsylvania are tied for No. 8 for states with the most volunteers for the Peace Corps. In 2023, both states contributed 54 volunteers each. The Peace Corps said close to 4,000 Georgians have volunteered since its founding in 1961. “I am grateful to all the states and communities across the U.S. represented on this list for inspiring the powerful sense of service that has led so many to join the Peace Corps,” Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn said in a statement. “While abroad, Peace . . .

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AFGHANISTAN: CROSSROADS AND KINGDOMS by Guy Toby Marion (Afghanistan)

  Afghanistan: Crossroads and Kingdoms — My 1970s Peace Corps Service and Recent Afghan History by Guy Toby Marion (Afghanistan 1971-75) Peace Corps Books January 2024 280 pages $21.95 (Paperback); $8.95 (Kindle)   In 1971, at age 22, Guy Toby Marion joined the Peace Corps. He was tasked with training high school science teachers in rural Afghanistan, and later with teaching in the Faculty of Engineering in Kabul. In text rich with description and detail, Toby relates his experiences living among a Farsi-speaking Muslim people, learning their language, their culture, their literature, their food. At the time Afghanistan was desperately poor, characterized by an ancient Islamic culture, a Pashtun monarchy and Farsi-speaking minorities descended from ancient Central Asian empires. The people readily accepted and welcomed American support. However, at this time towards the end of the Cold War, a revolution under the influence of the USSR was at hand. Toby’s . . .

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Review | GROWING MANGOS IN THE DESERT by Katherine Baird (Mauritania)

  Growing Mangos in the Desert: A Memoir of Life in a Mauritanian Village by Katherine Baird (Mauritania 1984–86) Apprentice House Press 2022 380 pages $19.99 (paperback), $32.99 (hard cover), $6.49 (Kindle) Reviewed by Bonnie Lee Black (Gabon 1996-98)   If I were still teaching Creative Nonfiction Writing at the University of New Mexico in Taos, I would assign this book to my students to read and study carefully, because I think it’s an excellent example of contemporary memoir writing done well. Some people confuse memoirs with autobiographies. To clarify: Autobiographies are stories of a life – written by, or ghost-written for, famous people who have a built-in following. Their fans have a deep-seated curiosity: How did she (or he) become so famous? So they’re willing to follow that person’s story from cradle to however close to the grave this celeb might now be — all the ups and downs . . .

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The Volunteer who became a National Presidential Campaign Manager | Timothy Kraft (Guatemala)

  by Jeremiah Norris (Colombia 1963-65) • • • Timothy Kraft graduated from Dartmouth College in 1963, then went on to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala, 1963-65. After graduate studies at Georgetown University, he began a long career of professional involvement in state and federal political campaigns, beginning as Executive Director of the New Mexico Democratic party in 1974. In 1975, he connected with then-Governor Jimmy Carter who came to New Mexico to campaign for the election of a Democratic governor. In 1975, Timothy connected once again with then-Governor Jimmy Carter’s national presidential campaign as its National Field Director and then as its National Field Coordinator. In the Democratic presidential campaign, he worked to solicit contributions from ten Western states so that candidate Carter could qualify for federal matching funds under the Federal Election Campaign Act. After then-president Jimmy Carter won the presidency, he named Timothy as his Appointments . . .

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Bruce Corker (Colombia) wins coffee case

  RPCVs in the news — Long ago in the green mountains of Colombia a young Peace Corps volunteer dreamed of one day owning a coffee farm. Rancho Aloha is the result of that dream, and its name honors both the Latin American inspiration of our farm and its magical Hawaiian location. High above the Kona coastline, abundant rainfall, rich volcanic soils and a natural afternoon cloud cover produce a rich and mellow bean. The harvest is picked by hand and dried in the sun. How Coffee Farmers in Hawaii Fought Counterfeit Kona Beans A testing method borrowed from geology helped farmers sue a slew of stores selling supposed “Kona” coffee. By Virginia Hughes, NY Times Jan. 18, 2024     On the volcanic slopes of Hawaii’s Big Island, hundreds of farmers in the Kona region produce one of the most expensive coffees in the world. Those farmers recently won a . . .

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AMERICAN SEASONS by Mark Brazaitis (Guatemala)

  American Seasons by Mark Brazaitis (Guatemala 1991-93) Main Street Rag Publisher 228 pages June 2024 $18.95 (Paperback)  (*Buy now at a pre-publication discount of $10.95)   Mark Brazaitis’ third novel and ninth book, American Seasons, will be published as a paperback original in June by Main Street Rag. • • •  American Seasons is about a small college basketball team in the early 1960s, its ambitious coach, his young, idealistic, beautiful wife, the team’s two star players (one black, one white), and the sports editor who hopes to chronicle a championship season. All goes well  . . . until it doesn’t. Past secrets and present tensions threaten to upend the team’s magical season — and explode the lives of everyone connected with it. American Seasons, Brazaitis says, began as a play, “but with all the ambitions I had for it, it would have run nine hours.” In addition to basketball, the novel is about . . .

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Professor Thomas Pearson (Nicaragua) | Research on Racial and Ethnic Exclusion

RPCVs in the news—   Maxwell Professor’s Research on Racial and Ethnic Exclusion Supported by Russell Sage Foundation Grant Syracuse News January 19, 2024, By Jessica Youngman   Thomas Pearson, assistant professor of economics in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, is part of a team of scholars who have been awarded $195,000 from the Russell Sage Foundation to study the exclusion and expulsion of the minority groups from U.S. towns and cities between 1850 and 1950.Their project, “The Geography of Race and Ethnicity in the United States: Uncovering a Hidden History of Expulsion and Exclusion,” will result in a nationwide dataset detailing the expulsion and exclusion of minority groups that occurred locally, even if illegal at the federal level. The team aims to identify understudied forms of exclusion such as “sundown towns” to characterize both the causes of racial/ethnic exclusion and its consequences for . . .

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Jamelyn Ebelacker (Eastern Caribbean) | MBA candidate: Arizona State University

Forte: More Women Leading by Meredith Hunt Jamelyn Ebelacker MBA Candidate W. P. Carey School of Business, 2024 Jamelyn Ebelacker has taken a circuitous route to her current position as a full-time MBA student at Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business. After a childhood toggling between Eagle River, Alaska, and Santa Clara Pueblo in northern New Mexico, Jamelyn chose to study New Media Arts at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. Coming from generations of Pueblo potters who make traditional “red and black” pottery, she chose a more modern path – a decision encouraged by her elders. “They wanted me to broaden my horizons as much as possible and learn new things to be able to survive in a non-Indigenous world,” Jamelyn explains. After college, Jamelyn joined the Peace Corps. “I also come from a long line of warriors and military service people,” she . . .

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THE CHINESE DETECTIVE by Joseph Theroux (Samoa)

  The Chinese Detective: Hawaii’s Real Charlie Chan by Joseph Theroux (Samoa 1975-78) Kilauea Publications January 2024 228 pages $5.00 (Kindle); $12.00 (Paperback) Reading Age 15 and up .  .  . Honolulu, 1920 — Lloyd Osbourne witnesses the remains of a body that has washed up on the Waikiki shore, and soon finds himself working alongside a remarkable local Chinese detective. Other dead bodies appear and the detectives draw up a list of missing men in the city. Writer Earl Derr Biggers is also vacationing at Waikiki and one morning his wife suddenly disappears. A search for her results in the kidnapping of Lloyd, and a massive opium enterprise is uncovered. A scandal at the Customs House involves the suicide of a cashier named William Wilder. Is Honolulu Sheriff Charles Rose merely incompetent or is he an active conspirator in the opium ring? And how is the violent murder of . . .

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