October 16, 2012 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Suzy McKee Charnas (Nigeria 1961-63) Publishes on New E-Publishing Site

Oct 16 2012

A new e-pub venture opened this week in New Mexico. It is called, “Snackreads,” and their front page features a science-fiction short story by Suzy McKee Charnas (Nigeria 1961-63) entitled Scorched Supper on New Niger. It is Suzy’s only story that draws directly with her Peace Corps experience in Nigeria in the early sixties. The story is 17,000 words long, is available in the formats: Kindle, EPUB, and PDF. The publisher, SnackReads, says “if you like Science Fiction, women in space, high stakes intrigue, uplifted cats, just desserts” you will love Scorched Supper on New Niger.” The plot goes this way: Space pilot Dee Steinway has so far escaped the clutches of her empire-building brother-in-law; now he has her, her feline companion, and her uniquely valuable spaceship in his sights. Will her desperate landing at a colony of traders from Old Africa lead to an escape, a delicious comeuppance, or a trap? Here is . . .

The Peace Corps' Greatest Volunteers:Cuero de Paz

Oct 16 2012

I know I can generate a lot of ‘comments’ and ‘Com’on Coyne!’ complaints by picking out Volunteers who really did an amazing job overseas. Yes, we all did amazing jobs! However, there are many, many PCVs who away from their APCDs, or any host country attention, did wondrous working as teachers, nurses, community development workers in the barrios of Latin America, or digging fish ponds in Africa. Whatever! We all knew one or two Super Vols in our programs. Some of us, perhaps, were Super Vols. Still, on the national level, over the 50 plus years of the agency, there are several moments when the world as a whole paused and for a moment at least nodded in agreement and thought: ‘yes, this is what the Peace Corps is all about.’ One such moment occurred early on in Nigeria at the University of Ibadan when Trainee Maragery Michelmore dropped a . . .

Archive - October 16, 2012