2014 – Page 11 – Peace Corps Worldwide

The Peace Corps Community Archive at American University Seeks Your Story

May 29 2014

The Peace Corps Community Archive at American University Library is actively seeking the ‘histories’ of RPCVs. The Kennedy Library in Boston has a ‘Peace Corps collection’ from the first years of the agency, i.e., during JFK’s presidency, and there are other collections, including the official records of the Peace Corps at the National Archives in Washington. RPCVs funded one collection of objects in Portland, Oregon, and various libraries have the papers of former students, but American University’s venture is new, impressive, and expanding. Unlike the Peace Corps agency, which appears to deliberately want to ‘bury its past’ having done little over the years to document the successes and failures of the Peace Corps, RPCVs have taken it upon themselves through their writings, films, photos, and organizations to put together the history of their experiences, and now universities and libraries are becoming aware of the valuable items that RPCV have in . . .

Review — I Climbed Mt. Rainier with Jimi Hendrix’s High School Counselor by Rick Fordyce (Ghana)

May 29 2014

I Climbed Mt. Rainier with Jimi Hendrix’s High School Counselor, and Other Stories of the Pacific Northwest by Rick Fordyce (Ghana 1978-80) Merrimack Media $12.00 (paperback) 125 pages 2014 Reviewed by Don Messerschmidt (Nepal 1963-65) If you grew up in Seattle in the ’60s or ’70s, you’ll appreciate this little book. You might even understand some of the teenage jargon. Groovy! Cool! There are twelve stories here, about adolescents in the city trying hard not to get busted for pot; about camping out in the North Cascades with a bunch of friends trying hard to like it; about making friends and comparing notes about urban high school life; about flying off to Europe with other teenagers, smoking cigarettes in flight (before the ban), and kissing the girl sitting next to, though you’d only just met; and, among others, the title story about climbing Mt. Rainier with the guy who . . .

Peace Corps Doctor Talks Mental Health and Elliot Rodger

May 28 2014

Fuller Torrey was the Peace Corps Doctor in Ethiopia -1964-66-and today is a well known psychiatrist and schizophrenia researcher. He is the executive director of the Stanley Medical Research Institute (SMRI) and founder of the Treatment Advocacy Center(TAC), a nonprofit organization whose principal activity is promoting the passage and implementation of outpatient commitment laws and civil commitment laws and standards in individual states that allow mentally ill people to be forcibly committed and medicated easily throughout the United States. He is well known as an advocate of the idea that severe mental illness is due to biological factors and not social factors. He has received two Commendation Medals by the U.S. Public Health Service and numerous other awards and tributes. Torrey is on the board of the Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC), which describes itself as being “a national nonprofitadvocacy organization.[5] TAC supports involuntary treatment when deemed appropriate by a judge (at the urging of the . . .

Kinky Friedman (Borneo 1967-69) Loses Again in Texas

May 28 2014

Texas rancher Jim Hogan has defeated singer and humorist Kinky Friedman to claim the Democratic nomination for Texas agriculture commissioner. Hogan, of Cleburne, topped Friedman in Tuesday’s runoff after no candidate won more than 50 percent in the three-way March primary. The agricultural commissioner oversees the school-lunch program in Texas while more broadly handling farming issues. Friedman ran unsuccessfully as an independent for governor in 2006 and lost the Democratic nomination for agricultural commissioner in 2010. Hogan made it to the runoff despite minimal campaigning. Agriculture Commissioner – Democrat 99 % Precincts Reporting Jim Hogan 103,88354% Kinky Friedman 89,30546%

Review — CANNONS FOR THE CAUSE byMartin R. Ganzglass (Somalia)

May 28 2014

Cannons for the Cause: A Novel of the American Revolution by Martin R. Ganzglass (Somalia 1966–68) A Peace Corps Writers Book $11.69 (paperback) March 2014 340 pages Reviewed by Thomas E. Coyne Martin R. Ganzglass has been a Peace Corps Volunteer, a lawyer, a non-fiction author and is now a novelist who believes “thoroughly researched, well-written historical fiction will attract readers who otherwise would not read straight history books”. And he is right! The ranks of those who are turned off from the knowledge of days and decades gone by because of over emphasis on dates and place names would probably fill several armies. They never get to savor the meat and potatoes of past events; the unlikely stew of people, prejudices, truth and lies that are in our past and have shaped our present. Cannons for the Cause begins a tale that, if the author has his way (and . . .

Review of Arthur J. Frankel's (India 1966-68) Indian Summer: A Love Letter to India and the Story of India 29

May 27 2014

Indian Summer: A Love Letter to India and the Story of India 29 by Arthur J. Frankel (India 1966-68) AuthorHouse $29.95 (hardback),20.66 (paperback), $7.99 (Kindle) 299 pages 2014 Reviewed by Tony D’Souza (Ivory Coast 2000-02, Madagascar 2002-03) ARTHUR J. FRANKEL’S Indian Summer: A Love Letter to India and the Story of India 29 tells the tale of the Peace Corps experience during one of its earliest periods, when the agency was just figuring out how best to prepare Americans for two years abroad, as well as place them once in country. Frankel’s group, which served in India from 1966–1968, coincidentally included my mother, then Alice Neuendorf, age 27. Though she’s never mentioned in the book, her blurry picture appears in the black and white photo section, standing in a white dress with other Volunteers in front of a Bangalore guesthouse. She’s told me stories about that guesthouse all my life, . . .

Ernesto Butcher (Korea 1968-70) Unsung by the Peace Corps

May 26 2014

You most likely have never heard of Ernesto Butcher unless you were a PCV in South Korea in 1968-70, or you worked for the New York Port Authority in the days of 9/11. I never heard of him until Dick Lipez (Ethiopia 1962-64) alerted me to Ernesto Butcher’s obituary in The New York Times on Saturday, May 24, 2014. Ernesto Butcher died on May 15 in Maplewood, N.J. He was 69. He apparently had a heart attack while jogging according to his wife, Kristen Peck Butcher. Most RPCV operate (with some exceptions) in the shadow of fame or notoriety and are content on getting the job done. Perhaps it is a hangover from working in totally obscurity in faraway villages of the world and just being satisfied with what can be accomplished without a lot of fanfare. Ernesto Butcher appears to have been that sort of guy, and it has . . .

Remarks in Bonn at the Signing of a Charter Establishing the German Peace Corps, 24 June 1963 – President Kennedy

May 26 2014

On Memorial Day, the nation pauses to remember and honor those who died defending this country in War. President Kennedy honored those not merely by recognizing their sacrifice but by working to make such sacrifices not necessary. In his last summer in his office, he signed the Test Ban Treaty with Russia and toured Europe, making his famous “Ich Bin a Berliner” at the Berlin Wall.Perhaps his most eloquent speech on behalf of peace, is the one he made in Bonn, Germany, heralding the beginning of the German Peace Corps. I think it is fitting to listen again to him. The President speaks of the conflict with Communism, a conflict that is now won and done. But we face new threats and challenges,” including the common enemies of mankind.” Kennedy’s words still ring true. Here is this gem: Kennedy speaking about the creation of the German Peace Corps. It is . . .

Maureen Orth's (Colombia 1964-66) Son, Luke Russert, Gives A 'Shout Out' for The Peace Corps

May 22 2014

Keeping America’s Peace Corps tradition alive NBC News’ Luke Russert discusses his personal connection to the Peace Corps program, and the program’s increasing importance in the new millennium. http://www.msnbc.com/the-cycle/watch/keeping-the-peace-corps-tradition-alive-262602819832 Thanks Luke!

RPCV Writer Stephan Hirst (Liberia 1962-64) is Winner in Arizona

May 21 2014

RPCV Writer Stephan Hirst (Liberia 1962-64) is Winner in Arizona The winner of the adult category 2014 ONE BOOKAZ is Lauren Greasewater’s War by Stephen Hirst (Liberia 1962-64). The “One Book” movement began in 1998 when Nancy Pearl, executive director of the Washington Center for the Book in the Seattle Public Library, initiated “If All Seattle Read the Same Book.” With funding from the Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Fund and several local sponsors, she invited members of the public to read The Sweet Hereafter by Russell Banks, and brought the author to Seattle for three days in December to discuss his book in a series of free public programs. In 2001, the Library of Congress’s Center for the Book took the One Book Project nationwide, inviting states and cities to choose books for everyone in their area to read and discuss in book clubs and libraries during One Book month (April usually). The number of projects grew rapidly, from 63 in 30 states in June 2002 to more than 350 . . .

Jason Carter Wins in Georgia

May 21 2014

RPCV Jason (South Africa 1998-2000) author of Power Lines, his Peace Corps memoir published by the National Geographic Society in 2002, has won the Democrat nomination for governor of Georgia. Jason is the great-grandson of RPCV writer Lillian Carter (India 1967-69) who wrote Away From Home: Letters to My Family, published by Simon & Schuster, 1977. Jason is a state senator Georgia and the grandson of former President Jimmy Carter. Carter, 38, was first elected to the Georgia Senate in May 2010 and has been at the forefront among Democrats on issues like education and redistricting. While Democrats once dominated state politics, the Republicans have been the party in power since 2002 when Sonny Perdue became the first Republican governor of Georgia since Reconstruction. The state has voted for every Republican presidential nominee since 2000, although President Barack Obama garnered 47 percent of voters in 2008. Last year, Obama received . . .

Review: Lost Girl Found by Leah Bassoff and Laura DeLuca (Kenya 1987-89)

May 20 2014

Lost Girl Found by Leah Bassoff and Laura DeLuca (Kenya 1987-89) Groundwood Books $16.95 (hard cover); $9.99 (Kindle) 192 pages 2014 Reviewed by Alana DeJoseph (Mali 1992–94) The book Lost Girl Found begins with a scene of two southern Sudanese girls, Poni and her friend Nadai, eating mangos. It is the time before the second Sudanese Civil War has reached the town of Chukudum in what is now the country of South Sudan. For all of us Peace Corps volunteers who served in a country that had mango trees, I don’t need to explain the visceral memories the words mango season conjure up. For those who have not had the experience, let it suffice to say that mango season is as close to Candy Land as one can get. And with this first scene in the book Leah Bassoff and Laura DeLuca had me instantly hooked. Although Lost Girl Found . . .

The Peace Corps Now Accepting Applications for Global Health Service Partnership Volunteers for 2015

May 19 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 19, 2014 The Peace Corps Now Accepting Applications for Global Health Service Partnership Volunteers for 2015 Volunteers train a new generation of physicians and nurses in Africa WASHINGTON, D.C., May 19, 2014 – Today the Global Health Service Partnership program begins accepting applications from physicians and nurses interested in serving as healthcare educators in Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda starting summer 2015. Volunteers serve one-year assignments at medical and nursing schools working alongside local faculty to strengthen the quality of their education and clinical practices. The Global Health Service Partnership is a collaboration of the Peace Corps, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and the non-profit Seed Global Health. The program presents an opportunity for American physicians and nurses to make a tangible difference in communities abroad by addressing the known shortage of skilled physicians, nurses and clinical faculty in resource-limited countries. The first-ever group of . . .

Renewable Resources–The Second Generation

May 18 2014

[This “A Writer Writes” was published back in the Nineties and is a amusing and touching tale by a ‘second generation’ PCV, Adrienne Benson Scherger (Nepal 1992-94).] A Writer Writes Renewable Resources Growing Up with “Sarge” Shriver’s Biggest Fans by Adrienne Benson Scherger (Nepal 1992-94) MY BROTHER IS THE BLACK SHEEP of the family. He married a year out of college and went to law school, which he loved. Soon afterwards he became a lawyer and a father. I admire his rebellious spirit. I, on the other hand, split up with my college boyfriend just before graduation. He went back home to Alaska, and I packed a backpack and headed for the Himalayas to work as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nepal. I always was the dutiful daughter. Ever since I can remember, Sargent Shriver’s name has been a household word. Often, one or the other of my parent’s would . . .

“Development Is Down This Road” by Abigail Calkins Aguirre (Cameroon)

May 16 2014

[Winner of the 1992 Peace Corps Experience Award was this excellent essay by Abigail Calkins Aguirre (Cameroon 1987-90) entitled, “Development Is Down This Road.” Peace Corps writing and remembering doesn’t get much better than this.] • A Writer Writes: Development Is Down This Road by Abigail Calkins Aguirre (Cameroon 1987-90) FEW RECOGNIZE ME without my trademark Suzuki. Now I have this red Yamaha DT they gave me to replace it. I’m still white, though, or so they keep insisting as I pass by the shouting voices trying to get me to stop to do a favor, chat, or taste the latest in palm wine. I know I have a bike, but how do you say “I’m not a taxi” in the local language? I’m late, I’m in a hurry, I’ve got to help a women’s group plant rows of plantains and pineapple in their community farm. This road could jostle my . . .

Archive - 2014