March 6, 2022 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Review — THE UNHEARD by Josh Swiller (Zambia)

Mar 06 2022

The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa by Josh Swiller (Zambia 1994–96) Henry Holt Paperback 2007 265 pages $18.59 (paperback), $11.99 (Kindle) Reviewed by Christine Herbert (Zambia 2004–06) • I’ve read numerous memoirs by Peace Corps volunteers, and I can honestly say I’ve never read one as unabashedly gritty and truly eye-opening as this one. Unrelenting in its honesty, Josh Swiller’s narrative takes the reader on a tour of discovery: the life of a deaf Peace Corps volunteer serving in Africa. What can I say about the writing? In short, it is astounding. The narrative drifts between incisive prose, bite-size history lessons, quippy dialogue, sweeping poetry, locker room trash talk and back again with the nimbleness of a flying trapeze artist. Sometimes lilting like a lullaby, sometimes booming like a howler monkey, the words call you to experience his story with all your senses. Every scene is cinematic in . . .

John Garamendi Speaks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Mar 06 2022

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Marnie Mueller (Ecuador 1963-65) On Saturday, Rep. John Garamendi (Ethiopia 1966-68), a senior member of the armed services committee spoke with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss Russia’s invasion. He joined a one-hour briefing with 50 members of Congress. Garamendi, who represents parts of Northern California between Sacramento and San Francisco, shared his candid conversation with Zelenskyy. “He knows that he is at the top of the kill list, and he knows that his life is in jeopardy but he has pushed that aside to lead this nation. An incredible man of courage and leadership,” Garamendi said. Garamendi said Ukraine’s president emphasized that Russian forces are moving away from targeting the Ukrainian military and are now attacking communities. “He went into detail about high schools, kindergarten schools, apartment buildings, government buildings, presumably with the intent of breaking the wheel of the Ukrainian people,” Garamendi . . .

Review — TROPICAL ECSTASY by Norman Weeks (Brazil)

Mar 06 2022

Tropical Ecstasy: A nostalgic trip to Brazil Norman Weeks (Brazil 1968-70) Independently published 2020 282 pages $12.00 (paperback); $4.99 (Kindle) Reviewed by Michael Varga (Chad 1977–79) • How many RPCVs would like the opportunity to return to their place of service and survey the changes? That’s the premise of Norman Weeks’ memoir, Tropical Ecstasy. He returns to Brazil (in 1995) 25 years after his years as a Peace Corps Volunteer to his small city of Penedo. Language is an important part of his return, and he tries to communicate as often as he can in his dusty Portuguese. He wants to increase his encounters with locals, and knows that relying on English will not allow for a very deep understanding of the country so many years later. As he travels through Brazil — Manaus, Olinda, Recife, Maceio — on his way to his town, he laments that an oil slick, . . .

Peace Corps to start sending volunteers overseas again

Mar 06 2022

By LISA RATHKE Associated Press, March 5, 2022 The Peace Corps will start sending volunteers overseas again in mid-March after it evacuated them from posts around the world two years ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government program announced Thursday. An initial group of new volunteers and those who were evacuated in March 2020 as the coronavirus began to spread across the globe will go to Zambia and the Dominican Republic this month, according to a Peace Corps statement. The Peace Corps plans to return volunteers to their posts throughout the year, based on the number of COVID-19 cases and hospital capacity in the host country and the Peace Corps’ ability to transport volunteers to medical evacuation centers if there’s an emergency. It is currently recruiting for 24 posts. Besides their primary work on local issues, volunteers will be involved in COVID-19 response and recovery, the Peace Corps . . .

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