Archive - August 15, 2011

Colombia: Pictures and Stories Sandy Fisher (Colombia 1962–64) Brookview Farm January, 2011 212 pages Hardback $60 (autographed) Order from TheMarket@brookviewfarm.com Reviewed by Lawrence F. Lihosit (Honduras 1975–77) THIS IS A VISUAL KALEIDOSCOPE of historical images and corresponding stories told by someone who went to serve, then stayed. A member of the second group of Peace Corps Volunteers to arrive in Colombia, Sandy Fisher and 59 other PCVs “sang out the Colombian national anthem (and) Alberto Lleras Camargo, the country’s president, cried.” A half century ago, the world was different and so was the Peace Corps. Like so many, Fisher was young — 21 — and inexperienced. His first mission was to “develop the community of Tenjo,” a village located in a valley between Andean mountain ranges in central Colombia. He “built a house, cleared a road, rescued machines,” worked on school water systems and helped organize a vegetable cooperative garden. . . .