Archive - January 2015

1
Former Director of Iowa Writers' Workshop Dies
2
Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet in MORE Magazine
3
A letter from Kristi Davis (Ethiopia 1969–72)
4
Posh Corps: Not Just a Film
5
Press News From The Peace Corps
6
To Review and Renew “The Towering Task” – a Peace Corps History Documentary
7
Richard Carroll (C.A.R. 1976-82) publishes 2,000 Miles around the Tree of Life
8
Early Peace Corps Regional Director, Robert White, Dies at 88
9
Mark Brazaitis (Guatemala 1991-93) Publishes Award Winning Short Story Collection
10
Patricia Garamendi's (Ethiopia 1966-68) 'Heads Up' About Living On A Dollar A Day
11
Ron Arias (Peru 1963-65) First Novel is Back as EBook
12
Lost Girl Found by Laura DeLuca (Kenya 1987-89) Picked by Kaci Hickox for WSJ's Book of the Year List
13
Best Politician in the McConnell House? It May Not Be Mitch
14
Review: UNDER CHAD’S SPELL by Michael Varga (Chad)
15
Review: Mongolia Monologues by Joanne Nussbaum (Mongolia 2010-12)

Former Director of Iowa Writers' Workshop Dies

The New York Times this morning ran an Obit on Jack Leggett, long time director of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. In the obituary, it quotes Leggett saying that when he took over the program in 1970 there were a lot of kids out of the army and the Peace Corps enrolling. “They were an undisciplined lot,” he told the Times in a 1979. “They’d say: ‘Don’t tell me about form.’” Among the RPCVs that I know of who attended the Iowa program (and I know there are many more) are Phil Damon (Ethiopia 1963-65); Kent Haruf (Turkey 1965-67); Richard Wiley (Korea 1967-69);Chuck Lustig (Colombia 1967-68); Bob Shacochis. In the TIMES article, Bob Shacochis is quoted, “If it can be said that any one person was responsible for Iowa City being celebrated as the center of gravity for the workshop culture in the literary life of America, that person was Jack . . .

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Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet in MORE Magazine

MORE, a magazine for women of style and substance, carries a monthly article entitled “Real-Life Reinvention Secrets” and in the February issue Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet (Western Samoa 1981-83) is featured as a  new leader with a new look. Carrie talks about dressing so that today she is “equally comfortable in a boardroom or a mud hut.” Carrie also talks about going from deputy director “where I wore pants, flats and ethnic jackets, with my hair in a ponytail” to meetings on the Hill or with ambassadors, “so I needed a more professional look.” Check it out on page 108 of the current issue of MORE. http://www.more.com/news/personalities/carrie-hessler-radelet-peace-corps-director

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A letter from Kristi Davis (Ethiopia 1969–72)

Kristi Davis was a TESL teacher in Debra Tabor, Ethiopia from 1969–70, and then a game warden at Lakes Shalla and  Abiata from 1970 to 1972. Here is a letter she wrote to her parents from Debra Tabor  Oct. 10, 1969 shortly after she arrived. • It’s more amazing here every day . . . the atmosphere, that is. I look out the window while I’m steaming plum pudding and see men riding by with capes flying back and scarves tied in back that look like white wigs, and I think I’m living in an early American time . . . or I can walk into the living room and it will be the old West with a large fireplace, skin rug, and kerosene lamp . . . or I can pull seeds out of cotton and become a pilgrim beginning to spin, or 1600 Salem and the witch scare when the wizard next door starts . . .

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Posh Corps: Not Just a Film

We heard recently from Alan Toth (South Africa 2010-12) about his new ventures with Posh Corps and I asked him to detail the developments of his very fine film ventures about Peace Corps work. Posh Corps: not just a film anymore Several months ago, Socorra Camposanto (Morocco 2010-12), the audio producer and composer at Posh Corps, Socorra Camposanto first approached me about the idea of doing a regular podcast of Peace Corps  stories. It was a great idea. What many people likely don’t realize, is that the Posh Corps team has shot about 100 interviews with returned volunteers over the last two years, for our web series, Posh Corps Shorts. Due to difficulties getting B-roll, or high quality photos, most of these interviews could not be used. Podcasting has no need for B-roll, so we finally have a forum for these volunteer stories. The next episode will feature interviews with evacuated volunteers from . . .

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Press News From The Peace Corps

As the Ebola epidemic crept into Liberia in March 2014, a dramatic shift began to take place. In a matter of months, the widespread belief that Ebola didn’t even exist gave way to a gripping fear across Monrovia, the capital city. When the decision was made to evacuate Peace Corps volunteers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone at the end of July, the agency worked quickly to ensure each volunteer returned safely to the United States. This was not an easy operation as logistics and already-challenged roads had deteriorated with the full force of the rainy season. Once we, as American and Liberian Peace Corps staff members, achieved our goal of seeing all volunteers safely back home, we began educating ourselves on the potential impact the Ebola virus could have in Liberia. Click here for full story Virginia is the first state in nation to become employer of national service Augusta . . .

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To Review and Renew “The Towering Task” – a Peace Corps History Documentary

Alana DeJoseph is an RPCV (Mali 1992-1994) and an experienced professional producer of documentaries and is now undertaking the monumental task of creating a documentary on the history of the Peace Corps. The NPCA is supporting her effort, but it is, unfortunately, not an official program of the Peace Corps. To read about her work and make a contribution to support the effort as well as contribute your own memorabilia, here is the link: http://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/2015/01/a-towering-task-telling-the-peace-corps-story/ In Alana’s own words, from her article: Imagine a thorough, in-depth documentary about the whole history of the Peace Corps – not just the 60s, not just individual Volunteer experiences, but a thoughtful consideration of the agency’s past and its relevance in the future. Think of the discussions in line at the coffee shop going from “Didn’t the Peace Corps have something to do with Kennedy?” to “I understand that the Peace Corps was in Afghanistan, . . .

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Richard Carroll (C.A.R. 1976-82) publishes 2,000 Miles around the Tree of Life

Getting to Where I Am by Richard Carroll (1976–82) I walked the Appalachian Trail in 1975 in a journey that spanned five months and one day. I stepped across an engraved plaque set in stone at Springer Mountain, Georgia marking the southern terminus of the A.T. on April 14th, and climbed Mt. Katahdin, Maine, the northern terminus, on September 15th. I would have completed the climb the day before, but it had snowed on the mountain, and the park service closed the trail, thus I wound up experiencing all four seasons on the Appalachian Trail. That last night I rested in a shelter, let my guard down, and got a commemorative hole in my pack from a mouse rummaging around for the remnants of the food I carried. After five months of hanging my pack, boots, food bag, and anything edible or sweaty in trees to stave off bears, porcupines, . . .

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Early Peace Corps Regional Director, Robert White, Dies at 88

Thanks to Ken Hill (Turkey 1965-67) who brought to my attention the notice of the death of Robert White. As Ken wrote: A career foreign service officer, Bob White was brought to Peace Corps via Jack Vaughn who had also been a career foreign service officer. He was Deputy Regional Director for Latin America and then succeeded Jack Vaughn as Regional Director when Jack was named Peace Corps Director. After the Nixon Administration came to power Bob White was replaced, some say because he complained openly to Congress that the new Administration was ‘politicizing’ the Peace Corps. In 1971, of course, less than a year after Bob White left, the Peace Corps became part of the new ACTION Agency, Nixon’s creature designed to fold several “new frontier” anti-poverty programs into a new entity with the ultimate intent to eliminate them. White joined the Foreign Service in 1955 and served in . . .

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Mark Brazaitis (Guatemala 1991-93) Publishes Award Winning Short Story Collection

This month, Autumn House Press published Mark Brazaitis (1991-93) collection, Truth Poker: Stories that won its 2014 Fiction contest. Of his stories, Mark says, “Truth Poker is a collection of 15 stories whose outcomes hinge on how characters engage with a truth (about a situation, about themselves). In a crucial moment in their lives, will they tell the truth or conceal it? What will the consequences of their decisions be?” In the collection’s title piece, two boys play a real life version of truth poker. When a person loses a hand, he is required to answer his friend’s question. One of the boys, again the story’s main concern, has lost his mother and is living with his father. Through playing the game, he slowly finds connections between his mother’s suicide and his father’s relationship with an Ohio congressman. As it turns out, the boy’s playmate is the congressman’s nephew. Brazaitis’ . . .

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Patricia Garamendi's (Ethiopia 1966-68) 'Heads Up' About Living On A Dollar A Day

Patricia Garamendi (Ethiopia 1966-68) has brought to my attention a fascinating new book that anyone who served in the Peace Corps might find of value. The book Living On A Dollar A Day:  The Lives And Faces Of the World’s Poor was written by Thomas A. Nazario, with photographs by Renée C. Byer. The book features 215 images bvRenée C. Byer and has a forward by the Dalai Lama.  David Griffin the former director of photography at National Geographic helped photo edit and designed the book which recently was awarded 1st prize documentary book award at IPA (International Photography Awards.) Writer Thomas A. Nazario is the founder and president of The Forgotten International, a nonprofit organization that does poverty alleviation work in several parts of the world. Renée C. Byer is an American documentary photojournalist best known for her in-depth work focusing on the disadvantaged and those who otherwise would . . .

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Ron Arias (Peru 1963-65) First Novel is Back as EBook

The Bilingual Press at Arizona State University has released 11 of its titles as ebooks, including Ron Arias’, The Road to Tamazunchale. The ebooks are available through Amazon, Apple iTunes Store, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Overdrive, and can be linked to ebook versions from the Bilingual Press website. The project to convert the titles to ebook formats was supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.” When the book was published, Library Journal wrote, “The Road to Tamazunchale is one of the first achieved works of Chicano consciousness and spirit.” Of the book, the Midwest Book Review said: “This skillful and imaginative Chicano novel (nominated for the National Book Award) tells the story of Don Fausto, a very old man on the verge of death who lives in the barrio of Los Angeles. Rather than resigning himself, he embarks on a glorious journey in and . . .

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Lost Girl Found by Laura DeLuca (Kenya 1987-89) Picked by Kaci Hickox for WSJ's Book of the Year List

The Wall Street Journal asked 50 of 2014’s most influential people for their book picks. Kaci Hickox, a Doctors without Borders nurse who treated Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, selected Lost Girl Found, and this is what she had to say about it. (You may remember Kaci Hickok as the nurse who refused Ebola  quarantine in Maine and New Jersey.) Although this year seemed to be filled with oldies but goodies, at the top of my list of new books is Leah Bassof and Laura DeLuca ‘s (Kenya 1987–89) “Lost Girl Found.” Having read many books about the “lost boys” of Sudan, this was a refreshing piece of fiction highlighting the struggles and triumphs of a young female Sudanese refugee. Poni, the main character, describes her life of extremes, saying: “When I dance, I can jump out of my pain for just a moment.” Here’s an excerpt from my May . . .

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Best Politician in the McConnell House? It May Not Be Mitch

Best Politician in the McConnell House? It May Not Be Mitch by Sheryl Gay Stolberg, The New York Times Senator Mitch McConnell is a skilled politician. But he may not be his family’s best. That honor might go to his wife, Elaine Chao. As the sometimes-dour Mr. McConnell took command of the Senate yesterday, Ms. Chao roamed the corridors of the Capitol, happily shaking hands with veteran members, welcoming freshmen and their spouses (all of whose names she seemed to know) and parrying with reporters. “Today is not so much about my husband becoming majority leader — today is the day that, I hope, the country will take a new direction,” she said. Asked why her husband never sought to be president, she had an explanation at the ready: “He’s always been a creature of the Senate.” If that sounds practiced, there is a reason: Ms. Chao has deep experience in Washington, . . .

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Review: UNDER CHAD’S SPELL by Michael Varga (Chad)

Under Chad’s Spell (Peace Corps novel) by Michael Varga (Chad 1977–79) CreateSpace August 2014 378 pages $16.99 (paperback), $9.99 (Kindle) Reviewed by John Kennedy (Ghana 1965–68) • Under Chad’s Spell is a fine book. I enjoyed reading it from start to finish. It’s an easy read. Michael Varga’s story kept me entertained on many levels. I recommend this book to all over the age of eighteen. Read this book and you will know more about Chad, the people of Chad, and the experience of being a Peace Corp Volunteer in Chad. I also believe that if you are open to exploring the possibilities of how your life might have been different if you had been a PCV in Chad, you will learn something about yourself, your past and possible future by reading this book. That’s a heavy burden to place on a book, but for me, Under Chad’s Spell did . . .

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Review: Mongolia Monologues by Joanne Nussbaum (Mongolia 2010-12)

Mongolia Monologues: The Trials, Tribulations, Triumphs and Truths of a Feisty, Fifty-Something Peace Corps Volunteer by Joanne Nussbaum (Mongolia 2010–12) BookBaby November 2014 103 pages $3.99 (Kindle) Reviewed by Bob Arias (Colombia 1964–66) Age is just a Number! Young at heart, Joanne, a mother,  sets out to become a Peace Corps Volunteer in 2010 at the age of 53. “Can I make it,” she asks herself, “and Peace Corps wants to send me to Mongolia . . . where is that?” Training is rough and so are her first six months in beautiful Mongolia. Joanne tries, but the Mongolian language is difficult and she never is able to master it. But her heart is with her new community, and is full of the Peace Corps spirit to learn from others. Her students see her as a true friend and someone they trust, and they enjoy spending time together. These are HER students! . . .

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