2020 – Page 26 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Review — POSTHUMOUS by Paul Aertker (Mauritania)

Mar 03 2020

Posthumous (Children: age range: 7–12 years, grade level: 2–6) by Paul Aertker (Mauritania 1988–89) Flying Solo Press 202 pages May 2018 $12.97 (paperback), $6.41 (Kindle) Reviewed by Thomas L. Weck (Ethiopia 1965–67) • Posthumous begins by revealing the resolution of the principal event of the story — the slow death of 12-years old Ellie’s mother, Etta, from cancer. Rather than focusing on the “suspense” of whether the Etta will live or die, it centers on the gamut of emotions that Ellie and her father, Calvert, experience as they watch Etta fight bravely against the inevitable. It is written with powerful emotion and compassion. It is almost impossible not to tear up on some of the truly magnificent prose that permeates the story. The bravery that Ellie and Calvert exhibit as witnesses to this tragic event mirrors the bravery of Etta’s fight against it. For any child who must bear . . .

NPCA is urging support for increased Peace Corps Funding

Mar 03 2020

House Peace Corps Funding Letter Circulating The co-chairs of the House of Representatives Peace Corps Caucus, RPCVs John Garamendi (D-CA) and Joe Kennedy (D-MA), along with Representative Garrett Graves (R-LA) are now circulating a letter that their colleagues can sign, asking that Peace Corps funding for the fiscal year that begins this coming October (FY 2021) be increased to $450 million. TAKE ACTION NOW! Read the letter here. Ask your House Rep to “sign the Garamendi – Graves – Kennedy Peace Corps funding Dear Colleague letter that is now circulating”. Write and Ask your House Representative to Sign the Letter Find the Phone Number of Your House Representative if you want to contact them by phone The deadline for members of the House of Representatives to sign this letter is Friday, March 13th. Our goal is to meet or surpass last year’s record-breaking 181 signatures. A similar Senate Dear Colleague letter will . . .

The Creation of the Peace Corps, March 1, 1961

Mar 03 2020

On March 1, 1961, President Kennedy signed the executive order to create the Peace Corps. Three weeks later, on March 22, he would name Sargent Shriver as its first Director. Sargent Shriver believed deeply that the Peace Corps was a cornerstone of peacebuilding, and that it needed to play a central role in our foreign policy and diplomacy. A disruptive, innovative idea at the beginning of the 1960s, the Peace Corps continues to play a significant role in allowing Americans to serve in communities abroad, bringing us closer to our brothers and sisters in developing countries. With new challenges coming about from the effects of climate change, war, pandemics, and other crises, Peace Corps volunteers could play an even bigger role in serving vulnerable communities everywhere — if our leaders would dare to innovate and evolve as President Kennedy and Sargent Shriver did. Below Sargent Shriver’s Remarks at the Peace . . .

Review — ALL THE DAYS PAST, ALL THE DAYS TO COME by Mildred D. Taylor (Ethiopia)

Mar 01 2020

All the Days Past, All the Days to Come Mildred D. Taylor (Ethiopia 1965-67) Viking Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House L.L.C January 7, 2020 483 pages $19.99 (Hardcover), $10.99 (Kindle) Reviewed by Marnie Mueller (Ecuador 1963-65) • Mildred D. Taylor’s ALL THE DAYS PAST, ALL THE DAYS TO COME is a young adult novel, the final book in a ten volume series for which Taylor has won innumerable awards, among them a Newbery Medal, four Coretta Scott King Awards, a Boston Globe—Horn Book Award, a L.A. Times Book Prize and the PEN Award for Children’s Literature. I have never before read a young adult novel as I have no children and during my teens so many decades ago, they didn’t call them by that name. When I was asked to review the novel, I Googled Taylor, and up came effusive accolades on literary sites followed by reader comments that . . .

Peace Corps Mongolia To Be Evacuated Due to Virus

Feb 29 2020

Philly-area Peace Corps volunteers are forced to evacuate due to coronavirus: ‘I wasn’t ready to leave’ by Ellie Silverman, Updated: February 28, 2020- 2:02 PM Courtesy of Kaelynn Williams Kaelynn Williams, 25, thought she had about six more months in Mongolia, where she has been working as a Peace Corps volunteer for almost three years. But this week all volunteers in her program were told they had to go home. For Williams, that means returning to Southwest Philadelphia and hoping she can get back to Mongolia. “We’re crossing our fingers to make sure, to see if that’s possible,” she said. There haven’t been any confirmed cases of coronavirus in Mongolia, but it has hit nearby countries hard. Mongolia borders China, where the virus began, and Mongolian Airlines has canceled flights to and from China, South Korea, and Japan. The Peace Corps is a service program run by the U.S. government . . .

New Screenings Scheduled for “A Towering Task”

Feb 29 2020

Serra Mesa / Kearny Mesa Library San Diego Sunday, March 1, 2020 1:30 PM 3:30 PM VIEW EVENT → 0 Likes Share MAR 2 5:30 PM Florida State University Monday, March 2, 2020 5:30 PM 8:00 PM VIEW EVENT → 2 Likes Share MAR 3 6:30 PM University Of Wisconsin, Madison Tuesday, March 3, 2020 6:30 PM 9:00 PM VIEW EVENT → 0 Likes Share MAR 3 7:00 PM Silver Spring Town Center, Silver Spring, MD Tuesday, March 3, 2020 7:00 PM 9:30 PM VIEW EVENT → 1 Likes Share MAR 5 4:30 PM American Councils For International Education, DC Thursday, March 5, 2020 4:30 PM 6:30 PM VIEW EVENT → 0 Likes Share MAR 6 6:30 PM Colonial Heights Library, Sacramento, CA Friday, March 6, 2020 6:30 PM 9:00 PM VIEW EVENT → 0 Likes Share MAR 7 1:00 PM Shriver Circle Screening At Hilton Garden Inn, DC Saturday, . . .

Talking with poet Bill Preston (Thailand)

Feb 28 2020

The poems in Strange Beauty of the World invite readers to reflect on the ways the past impinges on the present, how events long ago continue to inform who we are now; to consider acts taken and not taken, and the way actions have unintended consequences; to bear witness to cruelty and injustice; to summon the creative imagination to resist the mundane, challenge the rehearsed response. In particular, they pay homage to beauty, and its weird, wonderful diversity and expression. As with many aspects of his life, Bill Preston never started out to be a poet. Nor does he really think of himself as one: Strange Beauty of the World is his sole collection of poems, and he currently has no plan to write another. Not that planning has ever been his particular strong point. In fact, Bill never planned on joining the Peace Corps, choosing to serve in VISTA first, . . .

A Writer Writes — “Africa Delivers” by Bob Criso (Africa)

Feb 27 2020

A Writer Writes Africa Delivers by Bob Criso (Nigeria 1966-67, Somalia 1967-68) My fascination with Africa began when my brother-in-law, Harry, gave me his old stamp collection after he married my sister, Mildred. I was nine years old. It was those East African stamps that fired my imagination at the time — giraffes, flamingoes, and exotic flowers on stamps from places like Tanganyika, Rhodesia, and Madagascar. It sent me to the encyclopedia for my first independent study of geography. In high school, it was the independence movements of the late fifties and early sixties that caught my interest. European colonies in Africa struggling for autonomy and self-government. I was rooting for Kwame Nkrumah and Ghana all the way. Back to the encyclopedia for another independent study, this time in history. Years later, I realized how much these movements paralleled my own struggles for independence at home. After I . . .

Peace Corps announces 2020 top volunteer-producing schools

Feb 27 2020

Peace Corps News Press Release Peace Corps announces 2020 top volunteer-producing schools WASHINGTON – Peace Corps announced today its 2020 ranking of top volunteer-producing colleges and universities. The schools are classed in large, medium or small categories, as well as a graduate school and an all-time category, which ranks the top Peace Corps volunteer-producing schools since 1961, the year of the agency’s inception. “These schools are institutions that emphasize being global citizens and service-minded students,” said Peace Corps Director Jody Olsen. “I am excited to know the graduates coming from Peace Corps’ top colleges are using their skills to make a positive impact on their communities at home and abroad.” In the large school category, the University of Wisconsin–Madison continues to hold the No. 1 spot. After placing ninth in 2019, the University of Florida is now in . . .

New book by Evelyn Kohl LaTorre (Peru)

Feb 25 2020

Between Inca Walls: A Peace Corps Memoir to be published by Evelyn Kohl Latorre At twenty-one, Evelyn is naïve about life and love. Raised in a small Montana town, she moves at age sixteen with her devout Catholic family to California. There, she is drawn to Latino culture when she works among the migrant workers. During the summer of her junior year in college, Evelyn travels to a small Mexican town to help set up a school and a library — an experience that whets her appetite for a life full of both purpose and adventure. After graduation, Evelyn joins the Peace Corps and is sent to perform community development work in a small mountain town in the Andes of Perú. There, she and her roommate, Marie, search for meaningful projects and adjust to living with few amenities. Over the course of eighteen months, the two young . . .

“The Pope’s Astronomer” Guy Consolmagno (Kenya)

Feb 24 2020

Brother Guy Consolmagno (Kenya 1983-85) was appointed Director of the Vatican Astronomical Observatory by Pope Francis in 2015. His books include Brother Astronomer: Adventures of a Vatican Scientist and Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial?: and Other Questions from the Astronomers’ In-box at the Vatican Observatory. He is known as “The Pope’s Astronomer.” In a radio interview on NPR recently he spoke of his Peace Corps experience and astronomy: Interviewer: And then you went into the Peace Corps and you’ve said that you couldn’t see the point of studying stars when people were dying of hunger. So I want to ask you how you saw the point of studying stars differently when you went back to astronomy after Kenya? Br. Consolmango: Well, I joined the Peace Corps with the attitude I’ll go wherever they ask me to go because they know better than me where they can use me. And after . . .

“Ending the Peace Corps program in China is not smart”

Feb 23 2020

Thanks to Alana deJoseph for referencing this article. Author Lex Rieffel is a RPCV, India 1965-67 https://thehill.com/opinion/international/483437-ending-the-peace-corps-program-in-china-is-not-smart#bottom-story-socials BY LEX RIEFFEL, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 02/21/20 01:00 PM EST 40 THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND NOT THE VIEW OF THE HILL © Getty Images Last month, before the corona virus outbreak, the Peace Corps informed the Congress that it would begin terminating its program in China in 2020. Sen. Marc Rubio (R-Fla.) applauded the decision, noting that China no longer is a developing country and, echoing the sentiment, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) told reporters: “I’m glad the Peace Corps has finally come to its senses.” I beg to differ. I was a Peace Corps volunteer in India (1965-67) and I’ve done research on what America gains from allocating funds in the federal budget for the Peace Corps. Measured against our country’s long-term national interests, pulling the Peace Corps out of China now . . .

A TOWERING TASK presentation March 1st at the JFK Library

Feb 23 2020

https://www.peacecorpsdocumentary.com/screenings-event/2020/3/1/john-f-kennedy-presidential-library “In Celebration of the Anniversary of the founding of the Peace Corps, please join us at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum on Sunday, March 1st for a free showing of the documentary film “A Towering Task: The Story of the Peace Corps.” Watch the trailer at: https://vimeo.com/363392905. This event is free to the public, co-hosted by the Boston Area Peace Corps Volunteers (BARPCV), the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA), and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Please reserve a ticket here in order to attend. We are also raising funds to offset the costs of the film showing. If you are able to make a donation you can do so here. Schedule of events: 1:00 pm – Free admission to JFK Library and Museum, including Oral History Project 2:00 pm – A Towering Task Documentary Showing 3:30 pm – Q&A panel session hosted by Alan Price, . . .

Purchase PEACE CORPS CHRONOLOGY by Lawrence F. Lihosit (Honduras)

Feb 21 2020

As we slide towards March 1, 2020, fifty-nine years since JFK signed an Executive Order creating the Peace Corps, I have a suggested for all RPCVs who want to hold onto the history of the agency. Buy a copy of Larry Lihosit’s chronology of the agency that covers the years 1961-2010. This is, I think, the only source of dates and facts on how the agency grew and developed, listing the Peace Corps changes that happened in every country where Volunteers served from 1961 to 2010. For example, here are three examples of what you’ll find in the book. Aug. 28, 1961 The first groups of Peace Corps Volunteers sent to Ghana and Tanzania, Africa. Summer, 1967 Volunteers in Chile circulated a petition to protest the Vietnam war. Jack Vaughn, Director, sent a letter to all countries assuring volunteers that they had the right to free speech but . . .

Sarasota Observer recognizes Gulf Coast of Florida RPCVs

Feb 20 2020

Returned Peace Corps volunteers continue service at home SARASOTA OBSERVER by: Amanda Morales Staff Writer Years after serving abroad, Peace Corps volunteers work on projects throughout Sarasota. • Jan Mazer, who served in Uganda from 1993 to 1995 for the Peace Corps, remembers how difficult it was to transition back to American society when she returned. “It changes you so much,” she said. “That’s the one thing we all share with the Peace Corps; we are not the person who went in. We come back an entirely different human being.” More than 20 years later, Mazer admits that when it rains, she has the urge to stick a bucket outside to catch water, a habit she formed while serving in Nejje, Uganda, as an education teacher trainer. The other habit she and fellow returned Peace Corps volunteers can’t shake is the call to help. In 2006, the Returned Peace Corps . . .

Archive - 2020