Archive - November 14, 2013

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The Peace Corps Lends A Hand: Philippines Disaster Relief Effort
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Peter Hessler (China 1996-98) Letter from Abydos in New Yorker
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Where Were You When John F. Kennedy Was Shot? Kitty Thuermer (Mali 1977-79) Remembers

The Peace Corps Lends A Hand: Philippines Disaster Relief Effort

From The Peace Corps Press Office: WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 14, 2013 – In the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, the Peace Corps would like to thank all of the individuals and organizations that have expressed interest in working with the agency to offer support to those affected by this devastating storm. The Peace Corps and the Philippines have a long history. More than 8,700 volunteers have served in the Philippines since the Peace Corps was established in 1961 – more than any other country in the world. Below find ways you can support relief efforts to help those in need in the Philippines. The Peace Corps Philippines Country Fund helps fund volunteer and community projects through the  Contributing to this fund supports long-term development efforts throughout the country. One hundred percent of all contributions to the Philippines Country Fund are allocated to approved PCPP development projects that meet Peace Corps small . . .

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Peter Hessler (China 1996-98) Letter from Abydos in New Yorker

The Buried Excavating the Egyptian Revolution. by Peter Hessler The New Yorker, November 18, 2013 From Cairo, it’s only about three hundred miles to Abydos, in Upper Egypt, but the distance feels much greater. This region has been a world apart ever since Pharaonic times. The ancient Egyptians separated their land into Upper and Lower, a division that confuses moderns who orient themselves by the compass rather than by the Nile. Upper Egypt lies to the south, where the river has carved a deep gorge into the North African plateau. At Abydos, the gorge is about fifteen miles wide, flanked on both sides by high cliffs that are the color of sand. There’s no rain to speak of, and the surrounding desert is absolute: from the air, the narrow corridor of green along the Nile appears hopelessly isolated. Head due west and the next river you cross is in South . . .

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Where Were You When John F. Kennedy Was Shot? Kitty Thuermer (Mali 1977-79) Remembers

I was in the Atlantic Ocean, sailing on a ship back to Africa, and I was nine years old. Back in the day, when people asked each other where they were when Kennedy was shot, you heard riveting tales of mass hysteria, school shutdowns, weeping teachers, and long family vigils in front of the television as Walter Cronkite fought back tears while removing those stone-age black glasses as he officially announced to America that it was over. Some years later, when I would ask folks where they were when Kennedy was shot, there were two reactions: 1)  Ted Kennedy was shot? 2)  Uh…I wasn’t even born till 20 years later. Flash forward, and President Kennedy is to the Twitter generation what President Lincoln was to us: history! But back to that ship.  Ours was a nomadic Foreign Service family with my father serving in the U.S. Embassy in Ghana.  That . . .

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