Review of Rhoda and Earle Brooks' (Ecuador 1962-64)The Barrios of Manta: A Personal Account of the Peace Corps in Ecuador
The Barrios of Manta: A Personal Account of the Peace Corps in Ecuador by Rhoda and Earle Brooks (Ecuador 1962–64) Untreed Reads $4.99 (Kindle) 324 pages (estimated print length) July 2012 Reviewed by Jeff Fearnside (Kazakhstan 2002–04) Originally published by New American Library in 1965, The Barrios of Manta was republished last year as an eBook in honor of the Peace Corps’ 50th anniversary. It remains not only an important document of the Peace Corps’ first work in Ecuador but also an engaging portrait of a fascinating couple, Rhoda and Earle Brooks, the married Volunteers who lived in one of the poorest barrios in the drought-stricken fishing port of Manta from 1962 to 1964. The problems the Brookses faced, the many resourceful ways they solved them, and the occasional failures they met are all relevant to the work of Volunteers today, and should be of interest to anyone who has . . .
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I recently acquired an original hard-cover copy of The Barrios of Manta published in 1965. What a treasure! Everything Jeff…