July 12, 2020 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Julie Dargis wants your words of wisdom (Morocco)

Jul 12 2020

The last day of my Peace Corps training, I entered the main hallway of the high school where I had spent the past three months. Each day, Craig Storti, an RPCV, and the Director of our training in Morocco, had posted an inspirational quote. As I prepared to set off on an overnight bus to the southern town of Taroudant, I stood before the corkboard, pondering the last bit of advice that I would receive before my journey: “Always remember, no-one is going to look out for you out there, except for Jiminy Cricket. You can be as good a Volunteer or as bad a Volunteer as you want. And chances are, after two years, the way that you feel about your Peace Corps service will be the way that you feel about yourself.” Words, like an inner symphony, that still resonate with me today. This week, I began . . .

Ross Pritchard, former Peace Corps official, dies at 95 (Turkey)

Jul 12 2020

by Bill Bowden Arkansas Democrat Gazette • Touring the backcountry of Turkey, a Peace Corps group came upon a man with a dancing bear. “This is our newest Volunteer,” Ross Pritchard told Sargent Shriver. Then Pritchard made up a name for the bear. “Daddy had a wicked sense of humor,” said Irene Pritchard. Ross Joseph Pritchard, 95, of Fayetteville died Wednesday after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. The bear incident took place in 1964, when Pritchard was the Peace Corps’ representative in Turkey and Shriver was the organization’s first director. Pritchard was born Sept. 3, 1924, in Paterson, N.J. At the age of 17, he enlisted in the Navy to fight in World War II. While Pritchard was playing football during officer candidate school, Coach George Cole told him that he should enroll in the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville after his discharge and play for the Razorbacks. So he did. In . . .

Archive - July 12, 2020