March 17, 2015 – Peace Corps Worldwide

“Let Girls Learn” has the support of the Commander in Chief of the World’s Most Powerful Military

Mar 17 2015

President Obama promised the world, in his March 7th Saturday address that any “country who wants to be our friend or is our friend” will “Let Girls Learn.” Obama stressed that the barriers to the education of girls and women are not merely the lack of access or the money for uniforms, but can also include the risk of being hurt, kidnapped or worse for girls who want to learn. This is where the prestige and the power of the United States are critical. It is the essential piece to make this campaign successful. Peace Corps can provide the teachers and the advocates, the “boots on the ground.” But, Peace Corps Volunteers cannot intervene politically in a country, nor do they have much power to protect girls. It will take the governments of our host countries, supported by the United States to eliminate these barriers. And Obama has declared: “Let . . .

Review of In Manchuria by Michael Meyer (China 1995-97)

Mar 17 2015

In Manchuria: A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China by Michael Meyer (China 1995-97) Bloomsbury Press, $28.00 365 pages 2015 Reviewed by Arnold Zeitlin (Ghana 1961-63) Foreigners, especially Americans, living for a spell in China, often are overcome with an irresistible urge to explain China and the Chinese to their countrymen, especially Americans, who may ask a question about how much of a threat China is, then nod politely and change the subject to the latest baseball scores. Many of these same foreigners, especially Americans, after their first year of living among the Chinese, enthusiastically conclude, “why they are just like us.” Then, a year later, they conclude, “they are not like us at all.” Among the latest Americans to tell us about the Chinese is Michael Meyer. He is a writer who first went to China in 1995 as a member of the Peace Corps to . . .

Archive - March 17, 2015