June 29, 2015 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Winner of the 2015 Fiction Award — KILOMETER 99: by Tyler McMahon (El Salvador 1999–2002)

Jun 29 2015

First given in 1990, the Maria Thomas Fiction Award is named for the novelist Maria Thomas [Roberta Worrick (Ethiopia 1971–73)] who lost her life in August, 1989, while working in Ethiopia for a relief agency. • The winner of the 2015 Maria Thomas Fiction Award is Kilometer 99 — A Novel by Tyler McMahon (El Salvador 1999–2002) Quoting our review by Phil Damon (Ethiopia 1963–65): This is a gem of a book. It’s a coming of age saga that touches on visceral themes affecting numerous cultures in a disarmingly naïve narrative voice. Under the guise of a surfer’s escape fantasy gone haywire, author Tyler McMahon deftly enables his part-Hawaiian Peace Corps Volunteer engineer Malia to narrate her story in such a way that it unfolds on numerous levels of situation and meaning. At one level, it’s a fictional chronicle of the El Salvador earthquakes of 2001, limning the experiences of . . .

India, Eggs and Peace Corps: Why the loss of Peace Corps history is tragic

Jun 29 2015

Sunday, the New York Times published an article, “Saving the Cows, Starving the Children” by SONIA FALEIRO. The author contends that poor children in India are undernourished and one reason is the failure to use cows for beef and feed eggs to these children. To read the article, here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/28/opinion/sunday/saving-the-cows-starving-the-children.html?_r=0 From that article: “GANDHI famously denied himself food. And by starving himself to protest British rule, he ultimately made India stronger. But India’s leaders today are using food as a weapon, and they are sacrificing not themselves, but others. Their decisions threaten to make India’s children — already among the most undernourished in the world — weaker still. Earlier this month, the chief minister of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, struck down a proposed pilot project to introduce eggs in free government nursery schools in districts populated by economically disadvantaged indigenous groups. . . .

The Man Who Got Early RPCVs Jobs–Bob Calvert. His Obituary

Jun 29 2015

Bob Calvert was hired by Sargent Shriver in the early days of the agency to set up a Placement Office for RPCVs returning home. He was a wonderful man, low keyed with a great sense of humor. This office he created for the agency did not last, of course, and today as most newly returned PCVs quickly realize, the agency turns their back on RPCVs. It wasn’t so when Calvert was around. Obituary Robert Calvert Jr., decorated WWII veteran, Peace Corps administrator, publisher-advocate for women and minorities, and beloved family man, died on June 11, 2015 at his home in Silver Spring, MD. He had been a long-time resident of Garrett Park. Bob was born December 23, 1922 in Santa Barbara, CA to Robert and Mary Calvert, the oldest of their three children, and raised in Scarsdale, NY. World War II was a defining experience in Bob’s life. He scored . . .

PCV in Cambodia Hosted by Khmer Rouge War Criminal Meas Muth Family

Jun 29 2015

An article in today’s Phnom Penh Post states that Meas Muth’s son hosted a Peace Corps Volunteer in 2013-14 during In-Country Training. The Peace Corps in-country has confirmed that fact. The news article written by reporters Charles Rollet and May Titthara and was published today, Monday, June 29, 2015. This is the article: Meas Muth, a former navy chief of the Khmer Rouge and war-crimes suspect A current volunteer for the United States’ Peace Corps program in Cambodia lived with alleged Khmer Rouge war criminal Meas Muth for several months last year as part of his official service in Battambang’s Samlot district, the program has acknowledged. Muth, 76, lives freely despite being charged in Case 003 by the Khmer Rouge tribunal for allegedly executing, enslaving and torturing enemies of the regime, including many foreigners, during his time as one of the Khmer Rouge’s top commanders. But that history didn’t stop the Peace . . .

Archive - June 29, 2015