January 2018 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Reading and promoting Peace Corps writers

Jan 31 2018

From John Coyne: In this age of technology where we have fewer and fewer books and everyone walks around town with their eyes glued to iPhones, it does us all good to promote the books written by RPCVs about their experiences as Volunteers and as travelers in the world. To promote the story of the Peace Corps through nonfiction, fiction and poetry is the central reason why Marian Haley Beil and I started Peace Corps Writers & Readers back in the Seventies and continue that mission today on this website. I also take any opportunity I can to write about RPCV books. As a parttime travel writer for a Westchester, New York newspaper, I just published a short piece about five travel books by former Volunteers hoping to encourage sales and spread their knowledge of foreign counties. I’d suggest if you have a favorite RPCV book, try and get it . . .

Michael Meyer’s New Book Reviewed Sunday in NYTIMES (China)

Jan 30 2018

This is an edited version of a long review appearing this Sunday, February 4, 2018 in The New York Times Book Section. JCoyne China From the Ground Up By HANNAH BEECH Southeast Asia bureau chief of The Times. – THE ROAD TO SLEEPING DRAGON Leaming China From the Ground Up By Michael Meyer (China 1995-97) 296 pp. Bloomsbury. $28. Michael Meyer, a Minnesotan who went to China as one of the Peace Corps’ first volunteers there; and Xiaolu Guo, a writer and filmmaker who grew up in a salt-spattered Chinese fishing village, explore the meaning of home in a nation perpetually in transition. The China they describe in their memoirs no longer exists, covered by layers of concrete, glass and fiber-optic cables that have tethered even the most isolated farmer to the modern age. Still, it is the journey through heady, whiplash times that helps us understand where the nation . . .

PC/HQ Replies to to Dan Evon of Snopes

Jan 29 2018

Snopes.com formally known as the Urban Legends Reference Pages, is one of the first online fact-checking websites. It is a widely known resource for validating and debunking urban legends and similar stories in American popular culture. Dan Evon from Snopes received this email from Peter Ter at the Peace Corps Office when Snopes tried to find out if Kevin McQuillan was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal. Note: Jcoyne Dear Dan: My name is Peter Ter. I am the Certifying Officer at U.S. Peace Corps. I am writing to you this message regarding your message that you posted online. I did talk to a lady (your colleague) last week who said that she wanted to verify a former PCV. It usually takes only less than 3 minutes to verify a person’s Peace Corps service with or without a Social Security Number (SSN) Thus, I do have more than a remedy or knowledge to . . .

This is All that Karin McQuillan Has to Say (Senegal)

Jan 29 2018

I emailed Karin McQuillan several days ago asking if she wanted to reply to the comments made on our site about her blog item that appeared on American Thinker blog as well as elsewhere. I wanted to find out if she had ETed or had been medically separated from the Peace Corps or been terminated from service by the agency. She wrote back this note to me after Marian Beil, the publisher of our site, removed information, at Karin’s request, that listed her home address as it appeared, as public record, in two NPCA Directories. Note: Jcoyne Karin’s email to me. Thanks, John. There are so many really nasty people on the web, I am quite concerned about having references to my personal information. (Karin is right about ‘nasty people’ just look at the tweets from the White House.) As for your questions about my experience in the Peace Corps. I . . .

RPCV Joe Kennedy says what makes RPCVs special today

Jan 26 2018

RPCV Rep. Joe Kennedy Picked To Give Democratic Response To Trump’s State Of The Union • Rep. Joseph Kennedy III (D-Mass.) has been picked to respond to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address next week. The 37-year-old three-term congressman will appear on national TV following Trump’s speech on Jan. 30 to present the Democratic Party’s response, according to The Boston Globe. Thanks to the ‘heads up’ from Tom Hebert (Nigeria 1962-64) Take a moment to watch this brief video of Joe Kennedy (Dominican Republic 2004-06) speaking about RPCVs and the Peace Corps.

Can you help out Snopes: Was Karin McQuillan a real PCV? (Senegal)

Jan 25 2018

Yesterday I received this email from Dan Evon of the social media site Snopes Hey John, This is Dan Evon from the fact-checking web site Snopes. I’m trying to verify that Karin McQuillan was a member of the Peace Corps and I saw that you posted about her on Peace Corps World Wide. I tried reaching out to the Peace Corps but they wouldn’t verify if McQuillan was ever a member. Thank you very much for your time, Dan Snopes has published this account: Did a Former Peace Corps Volunteer Defend Trump’s Sh*thole Comments? An opinion piece arguing that “Trump is Right” about African countries was written by Karin McQuillan. A chain email circulated in January 2018, spreading an opinion piece which argued that President Trump was right when he reportedly categorized African countries as “shitholes” during a meeting on immigration. Although the versions of this email that we encountered . . .

Review — HOT MILK ON MY CORNFLAKES (India)

Jan 24 2018

Hot Milk on My Cornflakes: Peace Corps India-33 Remembers, A Collection of Vignette by Donald Clement (India 1966-68), editor; and authors: Judy Barille (1966-69), Neal Barille (1966-69), Tom Carter (1965-67), Mike Thorburn (1966-68), Ken French(1966-68), Ruth Kister-Berry (1966-68), Tom McGarry (1966-68), Carol Reichert (1966-68), Katy Peek (1966-68) Createspace 173 pages September 2017 $4.95 (Kindle), $29.95 (paperback-color) Reviewed by Bob Arias (Colombia 1964-66) • DONALD CLEMENT AND THE TEN co-authors of Hot Milk On My Cornflakes, were members of India 33, from 1966-1968 during the biggest movement of Peace Corps Volunteers. Jack Hood Vaughn was the Peace Corps Director at that time. In the book I like the memories of getting ready to report for Training before you leave home. Going to Philadelphia for staging where you meet your friends for life, and then leaving for Camp Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands where India 33 Trainees will spend three months. During 1966-1968, I was across the islands in Puerto Rico at Camp Radley as the Language . . .

A Writer Writes: “Digging to China” a short story by Mark Jacobs (Paraguay)

Jan 23 2018

Digging to China by Mark Jacobs (Paraguay 1978-80) A feeling of déjà vu nagged Hunter Durrell as he crossed the Xaneria lot. It seemed like a dumb thing to be feeling. Of course he had been there before. Twice a day for three years, going to and coming from the cube farm. Then it hit him. Spring. The smell of turned over earth. Dogwood blossoms. A trace scent of last night’s rain. In the sky-blue distance, a tractor downshifted, and Hunter’s eyes teared. He had forgotten the world, and here it was forgiving him, reminding him it was still there. He had to get out more. Inside the cube farm, breathing institutional air, he was ambushed by Prudence raising a pallid hand as she rolled her chair into the aisle. “Stop in the name of Howard Roark.” Prudence needed to get out more, too. And quit dreaming in . . .

Watch Namibia’s tourism industry cash in on Trump’s diplomatic blunders (Namibia)

Jan 20 2018

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Mark Wentling ((Honduras 1967–69, Togo 1970–73; PC Staff/Togo, Gabon, Niger 1973–77) Watch Namibia’s tourism industry cash in on Trump’s diplomatic blunders

Who is Karin McQuillan? (Senegal)

Jan 19 2018

Karin McQuillan (Senegal 1972) writes, I was looking for a new hobby to balance out my work as a psychotherapist. I was an avid mystery reader, and I had two subjects I very much wanted to write about – Africa and wildlife. I’d been in the Peace Corps, and just come back from a wildlife safari, which was a joyful experience, and thought it would be fun to put all those things together. My only problem was that I had never written anything and didn’t have a clue how to write a mystery – so first I had to learn how to write. I was in the Peace Corps in West Africa, and then went to Kenya three times on safari. I read hundreds of books on Africa – culture, history, wildlife, anthropology, fiction. And I subscribed to the Nairobi daily paper, to get detailed local color. As a result, . . .

Peace Corps Volunteer Does 180 After Living in Africa: ‘Trump Was Right”

Jan 19 2018

Thanks to the ‘heads up’ from Bob Arias (Colombia 1964-66) I emailed Karen for her comments but have not heard back from her. • Peace Corps Volunteer Does 180 After Living in Africa: ‘Trump Was Right’ CONSERVATIVE TRIBUNE BY CHRIS GOLDEN JANUARY 19, 2018 AT 3:25AM We’re just a little over halfway through the month of January, but I think we’ve pretty much established what the “covfefe” of 2018 is going to be: “s***hole countries.” It’s not even clear whether or not the president actually said those words, mind you, but it’s sparked a debate about the diversity lottery and other forms of visas for individuals from nations that wouldn’t ordinarily qualify for migration to the United States. Oh, and it’s also given the left an opportunity to vehemently declare the president a flaming racist, but they’ve also utilized taco salads for that selfsame purpose. (Seriously.) There have been plenty of . . .

The Peace Corps Plan In The Event of a Government Shutdown

Jan 18 2018

Update: As of today, January 18, 2018, Peace Corps has published its Operations Plan in the Absence of Appropriatons. It would appear that the policy to maintain Volunteers in the field, at least in the short term, is still policy as is printed below. Read the plan here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.peacecorps.gov/documents/open-government/Peace_Corps_Operations_Plan_in_the_Absence_of_Appropriations.pdf If by midnight, January 19, 2019, Congress fails to pass a budget or a Continuing Resolution to continue funding for the federal government, then there will be a Government Shutdown. Peace Corps issued a plan to show how it would continue operations if there were to be a government shutdown in December of 2017. In December, Congress avoided a government shutdown by passing a Continuing Resolution which is set to expire on January 19, 2019, at midnight. Here is the important policy statement from the plan published November 2017. 5. POLICY A. Any lapse in funding is expected to be temporary and . . .

New books by Peace Corps writers — December, 2017

Jan 17 2018

To purchase any of these books from Amazon.com — Click on the book cover, the bold book title, or the publishing format you would like — and Peace Corps Worldwide, an Amazon Associate, will receive a small remittance from your purchase that will help support the site and the annual Peace Corps Writers awards. We are now including a one-sentence description — provided by the author — for the books listed here in hopes of encouraging readers 1) to order the book and 2) to volunteer to review it. See a book you’d like to review for Peace Corps Worldwide? Send a note to peacecorpsworldwide@gmail.com, and we’ll send you a copy along with a few instructions. • Dusty Land: Stories of Two Teachers in the Kalahari John Ashford (Botswana 1990–92) Peace Corps Writers December, 2017 260 pages $13.00 (paperback) Although theses stories took place in the ’90s, they have a timelessness that sheds light onto our current times . . .

VULGAR FAVORS by Maureen Orth(Colombia)

Jan 15 2018

American Crime Story: Author Maureen Orth On the “Fact-Based Reporting” of Her Book Vulgar Favors Before Andrew Cunanan shot designer Gianni Versace on the front steps of his Miami home in July 1997, Vanity Fair contributor Maureen Orth (Colombia 1964-66) was already steeped in the mind of the serial killer. That murder is portrayed in the upcoming FX series American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, which is based on Orth’s book Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History. At the time of the murder, Orth had spent two months reporting for Vanity Fair on Cunanan and the events that might have led to him to kill four other people before finally targeting Versace. Even before law enforcement announced that Cunanan was a suspect, Orth and the fact checkers at Vanity Fair had a hunch they knew exactly who had pulled the trigger at Ocean Drive. The full story at: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/01/still-watching-versace-episode-2-maureen-orth

“Bitter Vengeance: A Mystery Short Story” by Carole Sojka (Somali)

Jan 15 2018

Carole Sojka (Somali 1962-64) is the author of two mystery novels set in Florida featuring a female police detective named Andi Battaglia and her male partner, Greg Lamont — A Reason to Kill, and So Many Reasons to Die. She has also published a stand-alone mystery novel, Psychic Damage, set in Southern California. She has had a number of short stories published in various venues and is also on the board of Sisters in Crime/Los Angeles. You can read her most recent story, “Bitter Vengeance ” at Kings River Life.

Archive - January 2018