Peace Corps Worldwide – promoting Peace Corps writers since 1989

New List of RPCV & STAFF Authors

Jun 06 2023

Here is our new list of RPCV & staff authors we know of who have published two or more books of any type. Currently—in June 2023–the count is 487. 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 . . .

Review | BIODIGITAL: A NOVEL OF TECHNOPOTHEOSIS by John Sundman (Senegal)

Jun 05 2023

Biodigital: A Novel of Technopotheosis John (F.X, Compton, Damien) Sundman (Senegal 1974-76) Rosalita Associates 2015 $5.99 (Kindle) Review by: D.W. Jefferson (El Salvador, Costa Rica) • This is a novel by a computer, biology, and sci-fi nerd for other nerds in particular, and for anyone who strives to understand the space between technology that we know exists and that which either may currently exist or likely soon will exist in some form. Most of us are likely in this latter category! Sundman states that he is especially interested in the convergence of biological and digital technologies. He has been a hardware, software and science technical writer, and a manager of information architecture in Silicon Valley and elsewhere. Biodigital is a sci-fi thriller about a fictitious Silicon Valley tech genius/messiah named Monty Meekman and the quasi-religious cult of transhumanist computer designers and brain hackers who are his devoted followers. It . . .

New books by Peace Corps writers | May — June 2023

Jun 05 2023

To purchase any of these books from Amazon.com — CLICK on the book cover, the bold book title, or the publishing format you would like — and Peace Corps Worldwide, an Amazon Associate, will receive a small remittance from your purchase that will help support the site and the annual Peace Corps Writers awards. We include a brief description for each of the books listed here in hopes of encouraging readers to order a book and/or to VOLUNTEER TO REVIEW IT. See a book you’d like to review for Peace Corps Worldwide? Send a note to Marian at marian@haleybeil.com, and she will send you a free copy along with a few instructions. P.S. In addition to the books listed below, I have on my shelf a number of other books whose authors would love for you to review. Go to Books Available for Review to see what is on that shelf. Please, please join in our . . .

The Volunteer Who’s Professional Career Focused on African Art, Architecture & Culture | Suzanne Preston Blier (Dahomey | Benin)

Jun 04 2023

by Jeremiah Norris (Colombia 1963-65) Suzanne Preston Blier is an American art historian who currently is a Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. Her interest in African art began when she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Save, a Yoruba Center in Dahomey (now Benin Republic) 1969-71. She began her professional career at Vassar College serving as a lecturer from 1979 to 1981. She then spent the following years at Northwestern University as an assistant professor. In 1983, she began work at her alma mater, Columbia University until 1993, subsequently transferring to teach at Harvard University. In 1988, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. Soon after, many other Fellowships followed, including from the American Council of Learned Societies, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Amidst all these professional engagements, Suzanne managed to write in 2019 Picasso’s Demoiselles, the Untold Origins of a Modern . . .

REVIEW — THE CALL by Jamie Price

Jun 03 2023

The Call: The Spiritual Realism of Sargent Shriver by Jamie Price, introduction: Charles Hefling 336 pages SSPI Press March 2023 $11.49 (Kindle); $22.00 (Paperback) Review by D.W. Jefferson (El Salvador 1974–76; Costa Rica 1976–77) • I think of Sargent Shriver as one of the all-time greatest examples of the truth of the saying, “If you want something done give the task to a busy person.” From his anti-racism work with the Catholic Interracial Council of Chicago, to his leadership role in designing and directing the Peace Corps, to his role in running the War on Poverty under President Lyndon Johnson, to his work with Special Olympics International, Shriver was always busy building peace. This book is not a biography or a historical account. This book attempts to answer the question of why he did what he did and how he discerned what could and should be done. The Call . . .

SOFTBALL, SNAKES, SAUSAGE FLIES AND RICE | Philip Fretz (Sierra Leone)

Jun 02 2023

Softball, Snakes, Sausage Flies and Rice: Peace Corps Experience in 1960s Sierra Leone by Philip Fretz (Sierra Leone 1962-64) Self Published January 2014 148 pages $0 (Kindle); $5.99 (Paperback) Just a few months out of student life on the rolling green lawns of Haverford College, Philip Fretz was living in a small, remote West African city amid insect invasions, deadly snakes and coups. It was the tumultuous 1960s, in both the United States and Africa, and he had become an early recruit to the Peace Corps, founded in 1961. He was the first volunteer to be sent to teach English at the Kenema Technical Institute in Sierra Leone, a former British colony that had been left in stark poverty and underdevelopment when colonialism ended. Half a century later, he began to pore through the diaries he had kept, sporadically, during those two years in Kenema. When his father died in . . .

Malawi RPCV Christine Farber Passed Away in May

Jun 02 2023

Christine C. (Milliken) Farber, 98, of Hyannis, MA, passed away peacefully on May 23, 2023 surrounded by her family. She was predeceased by her daughter Diane Carr, and is survived by her daughter, Gale Carr of Hyannis MA, grandchildren Niisa (Rick) Morton of Falmouth MA, Catherine (Donald) Wygal of Sherman Oaks CA, Christian Tyler (Robin) Olander of Portsmouth RI, and Matthew Busek of Las Vegas NV, her great grandchildren Alexia and Christian Tucker Morton, and many nieces and nephews. Christine graduated from Bourne High School in 1942 and from Sargent College, Boston University in 1946 where she was crowned Miss Sargenta. In 1955 she opened and headed the Cape Cod Hospital Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Department for 32 years. Upon her retirement in 1987, Senator Edward M. Kennedy said “For many of us who live here on Cape Cod, Christine has been THE Cape Cod Hospital. Christine was always there, . . .

The Peace Corps experience changed lives (Burkina Faso)

Jun 01 2023

Peace Corps experience changed lives Scooter MacMillan, Editor MAY 25, 2023They came from all over the United States and were going to live in a foreign country for two years where most of them didn’t speak any of its languages. They were enthusiastic and idealistic. They were in their early 20s and had recently graduated, lots from Ivy League Schools. Some of them had teaching, clerical or administrative work experience. A few had done manual labor. In their bios for the Peace Corps, lots of them said they liked tennis and skiing. It wasn’t in their bios, but it goes without saying: They all were going to change the world. Maybe they did. It’s interesting to ruminate on how the world might be different if there had never been a Peace Corps. Jim and Susan Hyde of Charlotte were part of a group of 40 Peace Corps volunteers who were . . .

KEEPER OF THE STARS by Don Dirnberger (West Indies)

May 31 2023

Keeper of the Stars is the first volume of poems from the series Making My Dreams Reality by Donald Drinberger. The words began before his trip to El Salvador but continued and finished while doing a Global Village Build with Habitat for Humanity International and HFH El Salvador. The members of the team, the people of the country of El Salvador, the families who wanted to construct their new homes with the understanding that a home is the starting point of a better life and a better world, to them and for them. In these words, these poems may you also share time with fellow human beings in changing this world for the betterment of all, one home at a time. The author, Donald Dirnberger (West Indies 1977-79), lives now on the Grey Wolf Resort and Ranch near Victor, Colorado where he enjoys gardening, raising animals, along with writing. . . .

Peace Corps ranks UC Berkeley as No. 1 volunteer-producing university

May 30 2023

The Peace Corps ranks UC Berkeley as No. 1 volunteer-producing university With more than 3,750 alumni volunteers from UC Berkeley, the Peace Corps recognized UC Berkeley as the university that sent the most volunteers over the last two decades. The Peace Corps identified UC Berkeley as its top volunteer-producing university over the past 20 years, with a total of 3,763 alumni volunteers. Kerry Carmichael (Ecuador 1992-94), senior recruiter and UC Berkeley representative for the Peace Corps, was unsurprised by this news, noting campus’ long-standing relationship with the organization. Given the Peace Corps’ emphasis on serving communities, Carmichael also pointed to campus’ history of social justice activism as an important factor in its involvement. “UC Berkeley students have, through their education and their individual experience, a perspective of the world that’s bigger than just their campus,” Carmichael said. “Also ingrained in students at UC Berkeley is that ethic of service, volunteering . . .

“On Essential Islands” by Nathan Fitch (Micronesia)

May 30 2023

In 2018, at the invitation of the college there, I traveled to the Federated States of Micronesia (“FSM”) to screen a documentary that I had made called Island Soldier. The film explores the service of Micronesian citizens in the United States armed services during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Peace Corps (1967–2018) As I arrived in the islands, bleary from my long flight (more than twenty hours of travel with layovers), the United States Peace Corps program was about to end after 60 years of continuous operation. The program has long been a visible symbol of the relationship between independent countries in the Western Pacific. A few days after I arrived, I spoke to Peace Corps Volunteer Sorcha Vaughan as she was preparing a farewell speech that she would be delivering to the state legislature and governor to close out the program on the island of Kosrae. Sorcha said, . . .

Indiana University — Bloomington | An historically top producing PCV school

May 27 2023

IU Bloomington was the training site for Thailand V. Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Bob Gurevich (Thailand 1963-65) Since 2003, Indiana University Bloomington has produced the 12th largest number of Peace Corps volunteers among the agency’s list of historically top volunteer-producing colleges and universities. IU ranks sixth in the Big Ten in terms of alumni who are volunteering around the world through the Peace Corps. • Twenty-five applicants from IU Bloomington are serving or will serve abroad in 2023. Since the agency’s founding in 1961, more than 1,762 IU alumni have served abroad as Peace Corps volunteers. “Demand for Peace Corps volunteers is high given setbacks in development progress following the COVID-19 pandemic,” Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn said. “Peace Corps service is the beginning of a lifetime of global connection and purpose for those bold enough to accept the invitation.” While IU Bloomington has had a tradition of . . .

What Kimberly Branam (Burkina Faso) wants for Portland

May 26 2023

May 25, 2023 Written by Britany Robinson It often seems the longer a person has lived in Portland, the more cynical they become about the city’s evolving character and challenges. Kimberly Branam (Burkina Faso 2002-05) is a third-generation Portlander — she grew up in Northeast Portland’s Irvington neighborhood, left for 10 years and has been back for 16 — but she leans against that curve, with grounded optimism about her hometown. As the executive director of Prosper Portland, it’s part of Branam’s job to be optimistic. Prosper Portland, formerly the Portland Development Commission, is the city’s economic and urban development agency. With a “focus on building an equitable economy by carrying out a comprehensive range of economic development programs,” Prosper Portland’s success in large part depends on growth: Its stated priorities include growing family-wage jobs, creating vibrant neighborhoods and communities, and advancing opportunities for prosperity. With growth comes growing pains. Portland . . .

Obituary | Patricia Wand (Colombia)

May 26 2023

Born in 1942 to Ignatius Bernard Wand and Alice Ruth Suhr Wand, Patricia (Pat) was the third child of eight siblings. Raised on a farm in the hills of the Columbia River Gorge between Troutdale and Corbett, OR, she attended Corbett Grade School and was a member of the first graduating class and student body president of Marycrest High School in Portland, OR. In childhood, Pat was a ten year 4H club member in clothing, sewing, and style revue. Her first project was sewing a pair of pajamas at age nine. As a teenager she won a trip to the National 4-H Club Congress in Chicago. Upon high school graduation, she accepted an Honors Scholarship to Seattle University, and after obtaining her Bachelor’s degree, immediately joined the second cohort of Peace Corp volunteers sent to Colombia, South America. While there, among many other accomplishments, she and other volunteers were . . .

Peace Corps Namibia Swearing-in Ceremony For Response PCVs

May 25 2023

Ambassador Randy Berry Remarks Peace Corps Response Swearing-In Ceremony Good morning! It is a great pleasure and honor to welcome you to this special ceremony commemorating the arrival of three dedicated Peace Corps Response Volunteers — the first of many as Peace Corps prepares to bring in additional groups of Volunteers to serve throughout Namibia. Peace Corps makes a significant contribution to building international understanding, peace, and friendship by its unique people-to-people connections. To our soon-to-be Response Volunteers, Alan Marks, Lauren Pinkerton, and Robert Kankelborg, I would like to extend a warm welcome to Namibia. Thank you for your dedication and commitment to Volunteering with the Peace Corps. In April, U.S. President Joseph Biden celebrated national Volunteer week, reflecting on the self-less spirit of Volunteers, he said, ”Volunteering brings people together, uniting us around our common belief in the dignity and equality of every person and giving us . . .