October 5, 2015 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Andrew Tadross (Ethiopia 2011-13) publishes The Essential Guide to Amharic

Oct 05 2015

Talk about the ultimate Third Goal Project! Andrew Tadross (Ethiopia 20011–13) writes about co-authoring language guides for two Ethiopian languages, Amharic and Tigriyya: The Essential Guide to Amharic: The National Language of Ethiopia [Peace Corps Writers, September 2015] is the second project I’ve worked on with my friend Abraham Teklu, the first being The Essential Guide to Tigrinya. I began both of these projects within a few months of arriving in Ethiopia as a Peace Corps Volunteer, not knowing that my ever-growing vocabulary list would become, what I believe now, are the best resources available on either language. I met Abraham, an outgoing Ethiopian man in his early 50s, on one of my first visits to Mekele in northern Ethiopia. His wife, Hruti, owned the simple hotel I wandered into one sunny day. Both had lived in America for many years and had returned to their homeland for a simpler . . .

IVS and the Foundation of the Peace Corps, Part 1

Oct 05 2015

A new book entitled The Fortunate Few IVS Volunteers From Asia to The Andes, written by Thierry J. Sagnier, novelist and former senior writer with the World Bank, has just been published. In the early chapters the author links the Peace Corps to this international volunteer organization. Created in 1953–eight years before the Peace Corps–International Voluntary Services (IVS) roots go back to the religious pacifism of Mennonites, Quakers, and Brethren organizations. Like the Peace Corps it had a small community of organizers, two in particular, Dr. Dale Clark and Dr. John Noffsinger. Clark was with the State Department and had aided the Arab Development Society setting up a dairy program in Jordan. He then went to the Mennonite and Brethrens with an idea: would they be interested in starting a voluntary organization using Marshall Plan funds to help other Middle-Eastern nations? After a series of meetings, the IVS was born . . .

Archive - October 5, 2015