April 11, 2022 – Peace Corps Worldwide

SO FAR by Kamaka Dias (Madagascar)

Apr 11 2022

So Far is a collection of writings, poems, pictures, and nonsense from Kamaka Diasʻs (Madagascar 2016-19) three years living in Madagascar serving in the Peace Corps. In this book, Kamaka shares his unique experiences and perspectives through his blog-style writing and brutal honesty. He promises to never use big words, only his big heart. As soon as you pick up this book youʻll be embarking on a journey unlike any other. No matter what walk of life you come from, youʻll find something that will resonate with you in So Far. Kamaka is a native Hawaiian from Hilo, Hawaii. He grew up on the Big Island of Hawaii and attended a Hawaiian immersion school all of his life until his senior year when he moved to Oʻahu and graduated from Kaiser High School. He attended The University of Hawaii at Mānoa and studied abroad in Spain and Argentina. Immediately . . .

The Lion in the Gardens of the Guenet Hotel (Ethiopia)

Apr 11 2022

by John Coyne (Ethiopia 1962–64) • In the final days of our in-country Peace Corps training in Ethiopia, we had a celebration dinner at the Guenet Hotel in the Populari section of the capital, Addis Ababa. The Guenet Hotel, even in 1962, was one of the older hotels in Addis Ababa. It wasn’t in the center of town, but south of Smuts Street and down the hill from Mexico Square, several miles from where we were housed in the dormitories of Haile Selassie I University. While out of the way, this small, two-story rambling hotel, nevertheless, had a two-lane, American-style bowling alley, tennis courts, and a most surprising of all, an African lion in its lush, tropical gardens. At that time in the Empire, no Ethiopian was allowed to keep a lion, the symbol of the Emperor, Haile Selassie, whose full title was “By the Conquering Lion . . .

Review — NEIGHBORS: Oral History from Madera, California, V.3 by Lawrence R. Lihosit (Honduras)

Apr 11 2022

Neighbors: Oral History from Madera, California – Volume 3 Lawrence F. Lihosit (Honduras 1975–77) Independently published February 2022 150 pages $16.00 (paperback) Reviewed by Stephen Foehr (Ethiopia 1965–66) • Madera, in California’s San Joaquin Valley, does not seem exceptional at first glance. The city (pop. 65,860) twenty-five miles north of Fresno straddles Rt. 99 on the flat plains of the Central Valley. There are no natural wonders or exceptional architecture. The population is a mix of Anglo-American, African, Native American, Asian, with Hispanic (78.4%) being the largest group. The median household income is $16,00 below the national average. But peel back the ordinary, and you find “bravery, loyalty, patience, persistence, what boxers call heart – the sheer will to get back up,” writes Lawrence Lihosit in his three-volume Madera trilogy. Lihosit, former Peace Corps volunteer (Honduras 1975-77) and travel writer, has lived in Madera since 1995. For the trilogy . . .

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