July 30, 2022 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Development Is Down This Road

Jul 30 2022

by Abigail Calkins Aguirre (Cameroon 1987-90) In July 1992 we published this essay by Abigail. It remains one of my favorite essays by an RPCV writer. Note: JC FEW RECOGNIZE ME without my trademark Suzuki. Now I have this red Yamaha DT they gave me to replace it. I’m still white, though, or so they keep insisting as I pass by the shouting voices trying to get me to stop to do a favor, chat, or taste the latest in palm wine. I know I have a bike, but how do you say “I’m not a taxi” in the local language? I’m late, I’m in a hurry, I’ve got to help a women’s group plant rows of plantains and pineapple in their community farm. This road could jostle my insides right out of me. My thighs are sore from being abused as non-stop shock absorbers. Yet, nothing beats a . . .

Review — ASK NOT WHAT YOUR COUNTRY CAN DO FOR YOU by Carl Stephani (Colombia)

Jul 30 2022

Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You …: Peace Corps Remembered – Bogota 1962–64 by Carl Stephani (Colombia 1962–64) Independently published June 2022 237 pages $6.95 (paperback) Reviewed by John Chromy (India 1963–65) • Our 1960s Peace Corps colleague Carl Stephani has assembled a very interesting and readable screed that for first decade PCVs will bring back many memories, and for post-1970 PCVs. Ask Not . . . provides an interesting view of Peace Corps in the “Olden Days” The days when Peace Corps training included 2-3 months at a US University, a month of outward bound hiking/mountain climbing/river swimming and a week or two in the cross-cultural setting of a poverty ridden neighborhood, be it urban slum or rural Appalachia, migrant stream camp or Native American reservation. The arrival in country and three days later delivered to the village or neighborhood of your assignment. The days . . .

Peace Corps celebrates 60 Years in Belize

Jul 30 2022

Today, (July 29, 2022) the US Embassy swore in nine new Peace Corps Volunteers who will be serving in Belize. The Peace Corps project has been in Belize for the past 60 years and the group is a part of the first cohort of two-year Peace Corps Volunteers. The group is the first to be inducted since the COVID-19 pandemic, which compelled the prior group of volunteers to depart. The volunteers will collaborate with primary school principals and teachers under the Youth Health and Well-Being Project to co-plan and co-teach health and physical education. Since arriving in Belize in May 2022, the nine U.S. citizens have received comprehensive intercultural, language, and technical training to foster greater cross-cultural understanding and effective integration in the communities they will serve. U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires, Leyla Moses-Ones stated at this morning’s ceremony that “The swearing-in of volunteers this year reaffirms the enduring U.S. commitment to . . .

Review — NEVER THE SAME AGAIN: Life, Service and Friendship in Liberia edited by Susan Greisen, et al

Jul 30 2022

Never the Same Again: Life, Service, and Friendship in Liberia Editor Susan Greisen (Liberia 1971-73) & (Tonga 1973-74) Sidekick Press May 2022 254 pages $8.99 (Kindle); $20.95 (Paperback) Review by: D.W. Jefferson (El Salvador 1974-76; Costa Rica 1976-77) • Kudos to editors Susan E. Greisen, Susan Corbett and Karen E. Lange for putting together a wonderful collection of true stories about Liberia, Peace Corps and friendship. The book was published in honor of the 60th anniversary of Peace Corps in Liberia. All of the authors are members of Friends of Liberia (FOL), a nonprofit originally formed by returned Peace Corps Volunteers who served in that country. There are 63 stories in all, some are poems, though the majority are prose short stories. The book includes a map of Liberia, so you can see where each author lived and worked. There is also an abridged timeline which is . . .

Archive - July 30, 2022