Archive - August 2021

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RPCV Suanna Ausema (Guatemala) writes I SPY . . . ISLE ROYALE
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Sweet William (Peru) publishes JFK & RFK MADE ME DO IT: 1960–1968
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RPCV Author Madeline Ko-I Bastis, Editor, Artist and Buddhist Priest (Ethiopia)
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FIRST VOLUNTEERS TO SERVE: On this day — August 28, 1961
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Two Novels by Eric Madeen (Gabon)
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Winner of the 2021 Writers Short Stories: Joseph Monninger (Burkina Faso)
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I MISS THE RAIN IN AFRICA – by Nancy Wesson (Uganda)
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Winner of the 2021 Rowland Scherman Award for Best Photography Book (Iran)
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National Peace Corps Association Shows How to Help Haiti and Afghanistan
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Winner of the 2021 Young Adult Fiction–Bright Shining World by Josh Swiller (Zambia)
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At 60, Peace Corps plots return to world after virus hiatus
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Another Point of View of the Peace Corps in Afghanistan
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Peace Corps/Afghanistan Books
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RPCV Jeremy Black and staff member Dr. Robert Textor: A Peace Corps Story
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Review — ELISABETH SAMSON FORBIDDEN BRIDE by C.V. Hamilton (Suriname)

RPCV Suanna Ausema (Guatemala) writes I SPY . . . ISLE ROYALE

  U.P. Notable Book Club features Susanna Ausema, author of “I Spy🔎… Isle Royale” on Sep 9th 2021   The Crystal Falls  [MI] Community District Library, in partnership with the U.P. Publishers and Authors Association, has scheduled author events with winners of the U.P. [Upper Peninsula] Notable Book List. The ninth event is with U.P. author and park ranger Susanna Ausema (Guatemala 1988-91), who will present her award-winning children’s book “I Spy… Isle Royale.” The talk is set for 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 9, on the Zoom platform. To participate in the program, contact Evelyn Gathu in advance by email at egathu@uproc.lib.mi.us or call 906-875-3344. These talks are open to all U.P. residents free of charge. They recommend participants borrow a copy of the book from the local library or purchase from a bookseller in advance to get the most out of the events. Currently the book can be purchased from . . .

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Sweet William (Peru) publishes JFK & RFK MADE ME DO IT: 1960–1968

  In this fast-paced, fact-packed memoir of The Sixties, a veteran social activist (WM Evensen Peru 1964-66) recalls the idealism of the Kennedy Brothers’ push for peace and how it shaped him and others to become peacemakers. With eloquent words the brothers laid out their peace agenda — from JFK’s call in 1960 to join the New Frontier to RFK’s “End the War” Presidential Campaign of 1968.   In June of 1963, JFK’s “Strategy of Peace” speech given in response to the nuclear-war standoff with Russia, motivated a recently graduated UCLA couple to volunteer for the Peace Corps. They were assigned to serve in Peru. This richly informed memoir documents how these two Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs), and others, made a difference in U.S. international relations in ways that money could never buy.  The emotional heart of this book is the emergence of RFK. Following his 1964 election to the U.S. . . .

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RPCV Author Madeline Ko-I Bastis, Editor, Artist and Buddhist Priest (Ethiopia)

  Madeline A.Bastis from Jamaica, New York, joined Ethiopia One (1962-64) after graduating with a B.A. in art from the Catholic College Marymount Manhatten in New York City. She also worked part-time while in college for a print and lithographing company and in college was art editor of the school literary magazine and active in stage and set designing for student shows. In Ethiopia, she taught English and had an art club at Medhame Alem Secondary School in Harar. After the Peace Corps she was an editor of art books for Harcourt Brace and then had a landscaping business in the Hamptons. Then her life changed. “Like many people,” said Madeline, “I began my meditation practice when I didn’t know what else to do. There was a spiritual and emotional emptiness in my life.” After taking a simple adult education class in meditation, she started to see miraculous results. My . . .

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FIRST VOLUNTEERS TO SERVE: On this day — August 28, 1961

From National Peace Corps Association   FIRST VOLUNTEERS TO SERVE: On this day — August 28, 1961 — Peace Corps Director R. Sargent Shriver leads 80 Volunteers who are headed for Ghana and Tanganyika, now Tanzania, to the White House, where President John F. Kennedy will give them a personal send-off. JFK thanks them for embarking on their service, “on behalf of our country and, in the larger sense, as the name suggests, for the cause of peace and understanding.” On August 30, 1961, after a 23-hour flight form Washington, 51 Volunteers will land in Accra, Ghana, to begin their service as teachers. We’re grateful to them and the communities that have worked together with Volunteers over six decades. The mission of the Peace Corps, then as now, is to build peace and friendship. As if we needed reminding, that’s work far from finished. Photograph by Rowland Scherman, Peace Corps, . . .

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Two Novels by Eric Madeen (Gabon)

  MIXING IT UP ON THE ASIAN TRAIL …”So I get up at dawn … marveling at fog burning off into mist tumbling down like the finest mosquito netting of silk … The hills beyond the confluence, like shoulders of a woman undressing, the way the shroud of mist lifts off feminine curves, higher and higher … I tingle all over, feeling there on Borneo the dream tug of Joseph Conrad’s fiction.” By turns pathbreaking and intimate, this smorgasbord of travel essays scales down the sprawl of Asia by focusing on the unique and revelatory in sharp, crisp prose. See up close and personal the razzmatazz of novice monks at play in northern Laos, the hustle of pedicab drivers in Ho Chi Minh City, the rainforests blazed on gutsy treks across Borneo and Thailand’s Elephant Island …Served up nice and spicy, Asian Trail Mix is travel at its most sumptuous. . . .

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Winner of the 2021 Writers Short Stories: Joseph Monninger (Burkina Faso)

A Cup of Stars (Short stories) Joseph Monninger (Burkina Faso 1975–77) Wood Heat Press May 2020 458 pages $10.99 (paperback), $4.99 (Kindle) Joe Monninger’s work has appeared in American Heritage, Scientific American, Reader’s Digest, Glamour, The Boston Globe, Sports Illustrated and Ellery Queen, among other publications. He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Upper Volta, now Burkina Faso, from 1975-77. Over his 30 years writing journey through multiple genres in fiction, nonfiction, and young adult novels, Monninger has attracted significant praise: Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Richard Eder, reviewing Monninger’s 1991 novel The Viper Tree, compared him to renowned author Graham Greene; in 2007, NPR’s Bill Littlefield said Monninger’s historical boxing book, Two Ton, deserves a spot among that sport’s classic literature. His young adult novel, Baby, was awarded the 2008 award for best children’s literature from the Peace Corps Writers.  It was also chosen as a top ten book by YALSA, . . .

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I MISS THE RAIN IN AFRICA – by Nancy Wesson (Uganda)

At a time when her friends were planning cushy retirements, Nancy Wesson instead walked away from a comfortable life and business to head out as a Peace Corps Volunteer in post-war Northern Uganda. She embraced wholeheartedly the grand adventure of living in a radically different culture, while turning old skills into wisdom. Returning home became a surreal experience in trying to reconcile a life that no longer “fits.” This becomes the catalyst for new revelations about family wounds, mystical experiences, and personal foibles. Nancy shows us the power of stepping into the void to reconfigure life and enter the wilderness of the uncharted territory of our own memories and psyche, to mine the gems hidden therein. Funny, heartbreaking, insightful and tender, I Miss the Rain in Africa is the story of honoring the self, discovering a new lens through which to view life, and finding joy along the path. The Author Writes: . . .

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Winner of the 2021 Rowland Scherman Award for Best Photography Book (Iran)

RPCV Dennis Briskin “The Face of Iran Before…” Palo Alto photographer publishes images of pre-revolution Iran by Karla Kane / Palo Alto Weekly September 3, 2020 Palo Alto resident Dennis Briskin (Iran 1967-69) has published two books of photographs he took while serving in the Peace Corps in pre-revolution Iran. Courtesy Dennis Briskin. When Dennis Briskin was preparing to move to Iran for a few years in the late 1960s, he had a thought: “Maybe I should get a camera.” Though he didn’t have any prior photography experience, he read up a bit, got a basic camera and, fresh out of college and inspired by Life and Look magazines, was on his way. “The best advice I got was, ‘Film is cheap; take lots of photos,’” he recalled. The Palo Alto resident has now compiled many of his favorite photos and published two books: “Iran Before” (released in 2019) and “The Face . . .

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National Peace Corps Association Shows How to Help Haiti and Afghanistan

  Right Now, We Need to Honor Peace Corps Ideals by Helping in Humanitarian Crises in Afghanistan and Haiti Here is what we’re doing to bolster efforts by the Peace Corps community. By Glenn Blumhorst It should strike us with no small significance that today, August 19, is World Humanitarian Day — a day to advocate for the survival, well-being, and dignity of people affected by crises. In just the past week, a devastating earthquake hit Haiti; thousands have been killed and injured. In Afghanistan, on Sunday the capital of Kabul fell to the Taliban. A chaotic U.S. exit and collapse of the Afghan military has created a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions — and fears of retribution and horrific treatment of women and girls under a new regime. Many of us in the Peace Corps community have deep personal ties to these countries. Volunteers served in both in years past. Many . . .

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Winner of the 2021 Young Adult Fiction–Bright Shining World by Josh Swiller (Zambia)

Winner of 2021 Young Adult Fiction Bright Shining World by Josh Swiller Bright Shining World by Josh Swiller (Zambia 1994-96) Knopf Children’s Book, grades 7-9 304 pages November 2020 $10.99 (Kindle); $14.99 (Hardcover) Reviewed by Peter Deekle (Iran 1968–70) • Josh Swiller credits his deafness for his resilience. A contributing asset — be it a reinforcement or trial — might be his service as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia that is evident in his perceptive insights into human nature. As a writer, Josh has demonstrated a “keen ear” for the internal motivations and interpersonal interactions of the characters in his new book. Bright Shining World (Knopf, 2020) is a novel about young people coming of age in a chaotic and disturbing world. Its publication could hardly be timelier, given the COVID-19 pandemic and the fraught social and political climate of today. The author recounts that “anyone could feel — how battered . . .

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At 60, Peace Corps plots return to world after virus hiatus

At 60, Peace Corps plots return to world after virus hiatus By WILSON RING and ROY NKOSI Associated Press August 22, 2021 DEDZA, Malawi (AP) — More than a year after COVID-19 began sweeping the world, abruptly cutting short her Peace Corps stint, Cameron Beach is once again living in rural Malawi — this time on her own dime. The Peace Corps, a U.S. government program marking its 60th anniversary this year, boasted 7,000 volunteers in 62 countries in March 2020. They were given little time to pack before being put on a plane and sent back to the United States that month. “It was especially painful for me because I was given 24 hours to leave a place that I’d called home for almost two years,” Beach said during a recent video call from her home in Malawi, a landlocked country in southern Africa. Beach was trained to speak . . .

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Another Point of View of the Peace Corps in Afghanistan

by M. Jamil Hanifi The information and discussion about the activities of and the accumulation of various forms of capital by some Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs)—all in South America—is interesting (Anthropology News, December 2011, March 2012). President John Kennedy adapted the blast “ask not what this country can do for you, ask what you can do for this country” from his prep school headmaster’s command “ask not what this school can do for you, ask what you can do for this school”. The predecessor of the American Peace Corps (PC) project was the “Community Development” (CD) model housed in several American universities funded by the government and designed to coordinate various “development” projects in foreign countries and to cloak the real intentions of the American “foreign aid” program which was intervention in and control of the civil and political societies of the “Underdeveloped World”. During the 1950s the University of Wyoming was . . .

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Peace Corps/Afghanistan Books

  Lessons from Afghanistan David  Fleishhacker (Afghanistan 1962-64) DF Publications, 2002   Little Women of Baghlan The Story of a Nursing School for Girls in Afghanistan, the Peace Corps, and Life Before the Taliban Susan Fox (Afghanistan 1968-70) Peace Corps Writers, 2013   Lessons of Love in Afghanistan: A Lifelong Commitment to the Afghan People Susanne Griffin (Afghanistan Staff Spouse 1968-70), Peter Bussian (Photographer) Bennett & Hastings, 2014   Letters from Afghanistan Eloise Hanner (Afghanistan 1971-73) Branden Publishing Co., 2003   The Early Years of Peace Corps in Afghanistan: A Promising Time Frances Hopkins Irwin & Will A. Irwin (Afghanistan 1966-67) Peace Corps Writers, 2014   My Time in Afghanistan Henry Intili (Afghanistan 1968-three months ETed)   A Land Without Time: A Peace Corps Volunteer in Afghanistan John Sumser (Afghanistan 1977-78) Academy Chicago Publishers, 2006   Afghanistan at a Time of Peace Robin  Varnum (Afghanistan 1971–73); photographer: Juris Zagarins (Afghanistan, 1971-1974) Peace Corps . . .

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RPCV Jeremy Black and staff member Dr. Robert Textor: A Peace Corps Story

(Thank you to John Coyne and Marian Haley Beil for their advice and editing) Decades separated the Peace Corps service of Dr. Robert Textor (PC staff 1961-62) and RPCV Jerry Black (Comoros Island 1992-94, DC staff: OIG 2010-21). But they shared a special commitment to Peace Corps Sadly, neither are still with us. But their contribution to Peace Corps endures. Dr. Textor, age 89, died January 3, 2013. Tragically, Jeremiah Black was killed, caught in urban gun violence crossfire, in Washington, DC. June 29, 2021.   Their story begins In February of 2011, the Peace Corps Office of the Inspector General announced it would evaluate “Impacts of the Five-Year Rule on Operations of the Peace Corps.” The Five Year Rule is unique among Federal Agencies because it limits employment with Peace Corps to Five Years, with some critical exceptions. This evaluation was conducted under the direction of Jim O’Keefe, Assistant . . .

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Review — ELISABETH SAMSON FORBIDDEN BRIDE by C.V. Hamilton (Suriname)

  Elisabeth Samson, Forbidden Bride C.V. Hamilton (Suriname 1999-01) ‎Swift House Press June 2020 401 pages $17.95 (paperback), $3.99 (Kindle) Reviewed by Stephen Foehr (Ethiopia 1965-67) • Elisabeth Samson was a real person, a Free Negress. But members of her family remained in slavery, while others were bought out of enslavement, which is how Samson was born free in the 18th century Dutch colony of Suriname. The situation was ripe for drama and moral dilemma, especially with the addition of a Black/White love affair. And there is this twist: Elisabeth Samson was a rich plantation owner with hundreds of slaves, importer of luxury European goods, a Dutch colonial wannabe, whose greatest anguish was not being allowed to marry the love of her life, a white man, and that they had not conceived a child. C.V. Hamilton’s novel Elisabeth Samson, Forbidden Bride is based on Samson’s journals discovered by the author and . . .

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