January 2021 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Peace Corps Lions of Ethiopia

Jan 31 2021

by Ted Vestal (Ethiopia Staff 1964-66) • The pilot, Captain Paul Wuhrman, was glad to be back over Europe. On the horizon he could see some of the snowcapped mountains of his native Switzerland, neutral, alpine orderly. It had been a long haul flight in Globe Airlines twin-engine turboprop Dart Herald. Before starting with an early morning departure in “the Big Rains” of Addis Ababa in the highlands of Ethiopia, Wuhrman had looked in at the neatly stacked cargo in the fuselage and assumed all was in order. He took his place in the cockpit and started up the Dart 527 engines. The engines roared and the winds buffeted, and he took off from the runway of Haile Selassie I International Airport, popularly known as “Bole” sitting at an altitude of 7,500 feet. Wuhrman flew over the rocky north of the country following the path of the Blue Nile, a route . . .

Scott Beale (CEO of Atlas Corps) — new Associate Director for Global Operations at Peace Corps

Jan 29 2021

Scott Beale started three nonprofit organizations. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Atlas Corps, a leadership development program for nonprofit professionals. Sometimes called a “reverse Peace Corps,” Atlas Corps brings leaders from all around the world to serve in cities across the United States. Scott writes: I am honored to share that I will soon join the Biden Administration to serve as the Associate Director for Global Operations at the Peace Corps. After 15-years at Atlas Corps, I’m so proud of what we have accomplished building a community of over 1,000 leaders from 103 countries. The Peace Corps is celebrating its 60th year of operations and yet the 7,000+ volunteers who serve in more than 60 countries have all been brought home due to COVID. It is a huge opportunity to help build the Peace Corps back up, particularly in a way that takes into consideration racial justice & equity, that is . . .

Danny Langdon (Ethiopia) — THE GOOD HUSBAND

Jan 29 2021

While becoming a husband often begins with an overflow of loving feelings and the anticipation of a fabulous future, actually living with your soul mate, best friend, or spouse brings many challenges! Sure, you might have gotten some inkling from your dad — if he was any good at husbanding himself. But, for the most part, you are on your own to figure out how to be one. So, how can a novice become a good husband? Based on numerous interviews with exemplary husbands and their partners, plus the author’s own practical experience through trial and error, the book is filled with good practices that you can replicate. The 50 practices are presented as a first-hand account of the author and his marvelous relationship with his wife, Kathleen. Mixed with humor, each practice is illustrated with real-life examples. Each shows a way to foster being “in sync” with one’s . . .

Dissertations relating to the Peace Corps

Jan 28 2021

Dissertations relating to the Peace Corps From Peace Corps Wiki The following theses and dissertations were written about research on either: The Peace Corps organization itself, or Studies of the volunteers themselves – either in country or after they returned from service. 2008 A participatory approach in practice: Lessons from a Peace Corps experience by Arnold, Amy, M.A., University of Wyoming, 2008, 118 pages; AAT 1457055 Abstract (Summary) Selai atau selei (bahasa Inggris: jam, bahasa Perancis: confiture) adalah salah satu jems makanan awetan berupa sari buah atau buah-buahan yang sudah yang sudah dihancurkan, ditambah gula dan dimasak hingga kental atau berbentuk setengah padat. Selai tidak dimakan begitu saja, melainkan untuk dioleskan di atas roti tawar atau sebagai isi roti manis. Selai juga sering digunakan sebagai isi pada kue-kue seperti kue Nastar atau pemanis pada minuman, seperti yogurt dan es krim. Selai yang di dalamnya masih ditemukan potongan buah . . .

The Volunteer Who Opened Doors to a Wider World of Opportunities — Maureen Orth (Colombia)

Jan 27 2021

The Volunteer Who Opened Doors to a Wider World of Opportunities By Jeremiah Norris Colombia (1963-65) • Maureen Orth attended the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 1964, then became a Peace Corps Volunteer in a rural site outside of Medellin, Colombia, 1964-66. After Colombia, she became a Peace Corps recruiter in the Midwest and then headed the Peace Corps west coast Office of Public Affairs, then earned a graduate degree in journalism at the University of California, Los Angeles. In an essay titled as “Twice in My Life,” she recorded an early experience as a Volunteer when on one memorable Sunday afternoon a dramatic posse of five men on horseback, dressed in black fedoras and wearing traditional ruanas galloped up to her front door in the barrio. They were leading an extra horse for her. They rode straight up into the mountains for about three miles to meet an isolated . . .

Women Who Travel . . . in The Peace Corps

Jan 26 2021

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Bea Hogan (Uzbekistan 1992-94) What It Was Like to Serve in the Peace Corps, According to 6 Generations of Women No matter when and where they served, volunteers agree: The experience will change your life. BY ASHLEA HALPERN Conde Nast Traveler — January 15, 2021 If you’ve ever known someone who served in the Peace Corps, you’ve probably heard the phrase, “When I was in the Peace Corps . . ..” That’s how universally impactful the experience is. Established by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, the agency has sent more than 240,000 volunteers to 141 nations around the world. Six decades on, its mission remains largely the same — to work with local communities to develop sustainable solutions for challenges in the healthcare, education, economic development, agriculture, and environmental sectors. The Peace Corps will commemorate its 60th anniversary with a themed celebration, “Peace Corps . . .

Carl Murry has published THE G-K PROJECT: A PEACE CORPS EXPERIENCE

Jan 26 2021

The G-K Project is chronological account of my personal experiences in choosing to serve in the Peace Corps, my selection, training and placement in the beginning years of 1960 to 1964 as the new institution evolved via trial and error and added depth to the term “flexibility.” It also includes an introduction to the highly populated Islamic nation of East Pakistan before its independence to become Bangladesh. For many years I have wanted to write about events that were special in my life but found it easier to work on my small ranch, travel, backpack, and enjoy my family and friends. Now, at age 81, COVID-19 has provided me an opportunity to sort through my journals, letters, records, mementos and try to summarize and explain their significance before dumping them. The Ganges-Kobadak (G-K) Project is a large-scale irrigation plan developed and implemented in cooperation with the United Nations. The . . .

Steve Kaffen(Russia) — THE 2019 EUROPEAN GAMES IN MINSK

Jan 26 2021

The European athletic games took place in Minsk, Belarus, in June 2019. About 3,600 athletes competed in 15 sports, many of which were qualifiers for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Using over 200 original photographs and descriptions, the author showcases the host city and the Games’ exciting activities including four final events and the spectacular closing ceremony. Attend the European Games and experience the people, sights, and local color of historic and surprising Minsk. Minsk is a picturesque city that straddles the meandering Svislach River. Its historic area is a maze of narrow streets filled with restaurants and cafes, historic monuments, and the city’s Town Hall, which hosts jazz on summer weekends. The city has a renowned opera and ballet theater situated in its own park, one of Europe’s oldest resident circuses, and a youthful population that exudes an energy and exuberance that pervades the city. • The . . .

Carrie Hessler-Radelet on Apple Podcast

Jan 25 2021

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Bruce Schlein (Papua New Guinea, 1990-92) The Oath with Chuck Rosenberg is a Podcast on MSNBC. In this, the fourth season, he interviews leaders who worked in government. On January 19, 2021, Carrie Hessler-Radelet was his guest. To hear the podcast, clink on this link. ‎The Oath with Chuck Rosenberg: Carrie Hessler-Radelet: Choose Optimism on Apple Podcasts “Carrie Hessler-Radelet – a native of Michigan and the former Director of the Peace Corps – and her extended family have a remarkable and unique relationship with that storied organization. They hold the distinction of being the only Peace Corps family to have four generations serve as volunteers, including both of her grandparents, her aunt and her nephew. In fact, Carrie’s aunt, Virginia Kirkwood – who served in Turkey and was the 10,000th volunteer – inspired Carrie to join the Peace Corps.” Here is a link . . .

My Sister, A Journey to Myself by Peter Breyer (India)

Jan 24 2021

My Sister, A Journey to Myself by Peter Breyer (India 1965-67) Miah Books 263 pages 2010 $11.50 (paperback) Reviewed by Stephen Foehr (Ethiopia 1965-67) • Peter Breyer wrote this family memoir when he was a fifty-nine-year-old American white male with a professional career, former Peace Corps volunteer in India, a family man, a Christian who attended Bible study classes at his wife’s Black church. The story recounts his search for a German half-sister he never knew he had, and how the journey brought him face-to-face with the conundrum — how can we do this to each other? Breyer’s parents were German. His mother was well educated from an upper-middle-class Jewish family. His father came from the working class and was a vocal anti-Hitler critic, which brought him to the attention of Nazi authorities. His parents, Max and Marcelle, fled Germany in 1936, when the crackdown on Jews and dissidents . . .

“An Education of Sorts” by Keith Quatraro (Tanzania)

Jan 23 2021

At the age of 31, the Peace Corps lured me in with their soul-taunting mantra “Life is Calling.” Before I joined, I was comfortably numb with my lifestyle. I volunteered at an after-school tutoring center, helped with various writing projects at local schools, and tended bar full-time to support my fledgling teaching habit. The Peace Corps sent me to Tanzania and I couldn’t have been happier. After nine weeks of extensive in-country language and cultural training, my classmates and I were sent to live in different villages throughout Tanzania. I said goodbye to my gracious Tanzanian family who let me live and learn with them near the coastal town of Muheza. Still naïve, a tad idealistic, and quite culturally dumb, I set out for Matui, a waterless village in the center of Tanzania. Western culture and ideologies were only pondered and fantasized in Matui. Dazed and confused, frustrations and . . .

Passing of a Great Peace Corps Writer & Editor — Aaron Barlow (Togo)

Jan 23 2021

by Jane Albritton (India 1967-69) • Aaron Barlow (Togo 1988-90) has died. His life had many chapters in it, including owner of the bookstore/café Shakespeare’s Sister; Fulbright Lecturer in American Literature at the University of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; cultural studies scholar and professor of English at New York City College of Technology; and Peace Corps Volunteer. There will be others who will memorialize Aaron’s life as a mentor, writer, and professor. What I want to recount here is how Aaron Barlow saved my bacon as I tried to navigate the narrows of publishing the four books in the Peace Corps at 50 Story Project. Begun in 2007 for the 2011 50th Anniversary, the story project seemed to me a slam dunk for publication. What house would not want a ready audience of 200,000 RPCVs? Zero, as it turned out, until Traveler’s Tales agreed to publish the work. By . . .

Time in a Bottle by Jamie Kirkpatrick (Tunisia)

Jan 22 2021

by Jamie Kirkpatrick (Tunisia 1970-72; APCD 1974-76) October 27, 2020 • It’s a sobering thought but I’ve reached the point in my life where I can count time in half centuries. To wit, it was fifty years ago almost to the day that I arrived in Tunisia. I was on my way to becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer: the first six weeks of my service had been spent in intensive language and cross-cultural training in America. For the next six weeks, I would be in total language immersion in my new host country. Did I mention that was fifty years ago? Sigh. Looking back, those fifty years have flown by. Four of them were spent in Tunisia, the first two in the Kasserine, a small town in the rugged mountains hard by the Algerian border and famous for a pivotal battle in World War II. Then there were two . . .

Janelle Jones (Peru) joins Biden Administration as Chief Economist at DOL!

Jan 21 2021

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Monica Mills (PC/HQ 1995-2000) “I’m very excited to announce I have joined the Biden Administration as the Chief Economist at the Department of Labor! I am excited to help build back a better economy where workers, especially those usually left behind, are safe, secure, & empowered at the workplace. Let’s get to work!” Janelle Jones was an economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute through 2018. She is an economic analyst working on a variety of labor market topics within EPI’s Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy (PREE) and the Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN). She was previously a research associate at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), where she worked on topics including racial inequality, unemployment, job quality, and unions. Her research has been cited in The New Yorker, The Economist, Harper’s, The Washington Post, The Review of Black Political Economy, and other . . .

Samra Brouk (Guatemala) Is newly elected to the New York State Senate

Jan 19 2021

From Spectrum News in New York State: “State Senator Samra Brouk is a freshman Democrat from Rochester who has spent much of her life working on behalf of others. After graduating from Williams College, Brouk volunteered with the Peace Corps in Guatemala, where she was a health educator. After her return to New York, she founded a non-profit, which enables seniors to age in place. Most recently, Brouk raised money for Chalkbeat, a grassroots journalism organization devoted to education.: Brouk spoke with Capital Tonight host Susan Arbetter about what she hopes to bring to Albany. Here is the interview: https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/ny-state-of-politics/2021/01/04/meet-new-state-senator-samra-brouk–sd—55 • Please note: Thank you to the group RPCVs for Political Action for this important news. They posted on their Facebook page a link to the ZOOM ceremony in which Senator Brouk was sworn to office. I believe it is also noted in the ceremony that Senator Brouk is . . .

Archive - January 2021