2022 – Page 5 – Peace Corps Worldwide

WHEN CHRIST STOPPED AT EBOLI by Carlo Levi

Nov 16 2022

The Story of a Year by John Coyne (Ethiopia 1962-64) The other weekend when visiting a small used bookstore appropriately named the “BookBarn” in rural Columbia County, New York, I spotted on a shelf of the cluttered shop a copy of Carlo Levi’s Christ Stopped at Eboli. It is a book I haven’t seen in some sixty plus years. In fact, I hadn’t seen a copy since I was a PCV in Ethiopia. This book was one of appropriately 75 paperback books Sarge Shriver and the first administration of the Peace Corps put together in the ‘booklocker’ for Volunteers to read and leave behind in their villages as seeds for new libraries. The copy I found was first published in the early Sixties. A trade paperback edition with a new preface, while the book was the same and what a body of prose it is. First some background . . .

25 Memoir Publishers That Accept Direct Book Submissions

Nov 15 2022

by Emily Harstone 25 Memoir Publishers That Accept Direct Submissions Memoir publishers that don’t require an agent to submit are few and far between. However, there are still options out there. Some are old and respected, others are new and still figuring things out. Not all the publishers on this list are currently open to submissions, but most are. Persea Books Persea Books is an independent book publisher based out of New York that was established in the 1970s. Since then they have gained a reputation for publishing thoughtful books in a variety of literary genres, including memoir. Chicago Review Press Chicago Review Press was founded in 1973. They are an established independent publisher of literary fiction and nonfiction. They were founded by Curt Matthews and his wife, Linda Matthews. Curt was the former editor of the literary journal the Chicago Review. Currently, one of their editors, Kara Rota, is open . . .

Friends of Liberia: Celebrating 60 Years of Peace Corps Service

Nov 15 2022

Friends of Liberia celebrates the 60th anniversary of Peace Corps service in Liberia. In honor of this banner year, Friends of Liberia has curated activities spanning storytelling in the anthology, Never the Same Again: Life, Service, and Friendship in Liberia edited by Susan Greisen with Susan Corbett and Karen E. Lange, return to in-country service; embassy events; a member engagement series at Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C.; a year-long auction of Liberian artifacts with all proceeds going to programmatic support in Liberia; and more. For more information about these incredible stories and anniversary activities that capture the spirit of service for so many who have answered the call to Liberia in the last six decades and beyond, visit Friends of Liberia’s website.

Strengthening National Security through Global Water Security

Nov 14 2022

Strengthening National Security through Global Water Security By Kelly Parsons (Guatemala 1993-96) How would your day go without drinking water? How safe would you feel if you knew every day meant having to find water and coping with no toilet? A country’s ability to effectively provide and manage water and sanitation services profoundly shapes its communities, socio-economic and political stability and national security. However, as shared water resources between countries and communities become scarce, competition for water increases, raising tensions and the likelihood of conflict while contributing to poverty, infectious disease outbreaks and malnutrition. And there is growing evidence suggesting that climate change is playing an ever-increasing role in the global resurgence and spread of cholera and other waterborne diseases. In June, the White House announced the Action Plan on Global Water Security. For the first time, this plan directly links access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) around the world to . . .

The “next” Peace Corps–College Corps

Nov 13 2022

College Corps could be the model for higher education America desperately needs By Gavin Newsom, Governor of California • Today, our country appears more divided than ever. College Corps is an antidote to this crisis of isolation, a down payment on the reconstruction of our society and the preservation of our democracy. Recently, I had the privilege to swear in the first ever College Corps fellows, a legion of more than 3,000 students spread across nearly 50 college and university campuses who have committed to supplement their studies with community service. In exchange for their service, California is offering $10,000 per school year to help each of them pursue a debt-free education. For those from families with modest incomes, it is enough to meet the personal financial obligation expected of Pell Grant recipients, a financial gap most often closed by student loans. College Corps is more than just another government program. With these new fellows, California’s service corps . . .

Jed Meline (Micronesia) writes: Intervention needed now in Haiti

Nov 11 2022

Foreign entities must work with Haitians by Jed Meline (Micronesia 1990-92) THE HILL 11/02/22 The situation in Haiti is deteriorating rapidly. While no stranger to catastrophe, Haiti may be facing its worst situation in at least a decade. The country’s rapidly spiraling decline is due to multiple crises occurring simultaneously: political strife, civil unrest, rampant poverty, gang violence, a recent earthquake and now, a deadly cholera outbreak. Despite the vast humanitarian needs, a blockade is preventing the delivery of essential humanitarian and civilian supplies into the capital city of Port-au-Prince, further endangering the lives of millions of Haitians. The U.S., collaborating with the Haitian community, needs to set a new policy for Haiti. And it should start now. In order to stave off the worst, the global community must establish an enforced humanitarian corridor to enable the effective and safe transport of medicine, water, food, sanitation supplies, and fuel to the . . .

“Peace Corps and Beyond: A Fordham University English Alum Shares Her Story”

Nov 10 2022

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Barry Hillerbrand (Ethiopia 1963-65) “AlumAdvice” from Amy Glasser (Tanzania) Nov 4 By Elissa Johnston Just a month and half after graduating from Fordham in 2016, Amy Glasser packed her bags and went to teach math in Tanzania with Peace Corps for two years. She had come into Fordham fully expecting to pursue a career in publishing, but at the very beginning of her senior year — fall 2015 — she had a conversation that suddenly changed her career trajectory. At a back-to-school barbecue, Amy found herself talking to the new graduate assistant for the honors program, who had just returned from working with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. “It had never occurred to me that this kind of work was an option,” said Amy in our interview. “I went back to the dorm that afternoon and immediately looked up the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. . . .

“The Elephant in the Room” — Kelsey Sabo (Uganda)

Nov 10 2022

On the Pulse Johns Hopkins Nursing Magazine Kelsey Sabo (Uganda 2014-18) now a nurse in training at John Hopkins Nursing was a new PCV when she began to notice in roughly one-week, unexplained, undiscussed absences of female students and teachers each month. Of course they involved the menstrual cycle, in communities where sanitary pads were scarce and girls and women were often bullied for the sudden appearance of blood on skirts. Rather than face the shame and ridicule as well as physical discomfort, they stayed home until the period passed. This meant missed school, missed work — “about 25 percent of the year or about 9 years for the average menstruating woman’s lifetime,” explains Sabo — and missed opportunities to advance toward self-sufficiency. The answer wouldn’t be as simple as helping women and girls learn to make, and eventually sell, sustainable, reusable menstrual pads (RUMPs). But for “Teacher Ayikoru” . . .

Phil Olaleye (Philippines) wins Georgia 59th District seat

Nov 09 2022

Phil grew up in a working class family in Stone Mountain, GA, the son of immigrants. As a youth, Phil had to travel two hours one-way to school each day to receive a decent public education. As soon as he was old enough, Phil began working at Waffle House and Best Buy to help support his single mother and family. These childhood experiences cemented values of sacrifice, dignity in work, and the value of a quality education. Phil attended Duke University as a working student, spending school breaks studying predatory lending policies across Georgia and the Southeast. After working at Citigroup to pay off college loans, Phil left to serve his country in the United States Peace Corps. After three years of supporting an indigenous community in the Philippines, Phil returned to the U.S. to study at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and organize in the Mississippi Delta (Baptist . . .

A True Love of Literature by Richard Wiley (Korea)

Nov 09 2022

By Richard Wiley (Korea 1967-69) A couple of weeks ago I was invited to (and attended) a book club here in Los Angeles … the oldest book club, I later found out, in a part of L.A. called Westchester, not far from Marina Del Rey and Venice Beach … really just an couple of hour’s hike, if you were in the mood and had good shoes, from the western shores of our continent. So you could go down there and try to find Catalina Island on the horizon (which many of us know is ‘twenty-six miles across the sea’). I was invited to the book club because its members had chosen my own recent novel The Grievers’ Group to read last month, and they had questions. By that I don’t mean questions like “How dare you write about grief? You don’t know grief from shinola!” but well-thought-out, literary-minded questions regarding my collection . . .

Gregory Jackmond (Samoa) | archaeologist in Samoa

Nov 08 2022

Gregory Jackmond (Samoa 1974-76) carried out extensive archaeological field work in Samoa during the 1970s when he was a PCV in the islands. He surveyed pre-historic ruins from Sapapali’I and another large settlement in Palauli district where the Pulemelei Mound is situated. The features visible include platforms (for houses), star mounds, terraces, walls, walled walkways, elevated walkways, large earthen ovens (umu ele’ele or umu ti), drainage channels, large pits, forts and just piles of stone. Umu ele’ele, according to Jackmond, were large earth ovens which were used about 500 to 1000 years ago to make sugar from ti trees. “The ti root apparently was cooked for about 10 hours in a lot of heat. The result was sugar for the people at the time,” he said. He found remnants of stone structures that dated back hundreds of years and upon his return to California in the U.S. at the . . .

ST. PETERSBURG BAY BLUES by Douglas Buchacek (Russia)

Nov 08 2022

St. Petersburg Bay Blues is Douglas Buchacek’s account of serving in Western Russia from 2001 to 2003, in what ultimately turned out to be the final Peace Corps cohort to serve in the country. He has documented his service, which began three weeks before 9/11, up through the ultimate closing of the program in February 2003, amidst accusations of espionage against Peace Corps Volunteers. The Russia he lived in was a world caught between worlds — the after effects of the end of the Soviet Union, the chaos of the 1990s, the beginnings of Putinism — and that struggle affected his service, and everyone he encountered . . . Russian and American. The book is also a story of youth, of growing up, of friendship, of curiosity. It is a meditation on the joy of adventure, as well as on sadness and loneliness, and a portrait of a society . . .

Mark Gearan gives talk on National Service

Nov 08 2022

Former Peace Corps Director Mark. Gearan will join the Harvard-Radcliffe Club of Rochester’s (NY) Fall Forum series, delivering a guest presentation on the state of public service in the U.S. and possibilities for its future. Gearan is nationally known for his tenure in higher education and national service. His public talk, “National Service in the 21st Century,” will be held in-person and online beginning at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at the Rochester Academy of Medicine. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR PRESIDENT GEARAN’S TALK AT THE HARVARD-RADCLIFFE CLUB OF ROCHESTER. Mark Gearan, president again of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, recently served as Vice Chair of the National Commission on Military, National and Public Service created by the U.S. Congress. Gearan is a past chair of the Board of Directors of both National Campus Compact and the Corporation for National and Community Service.The event is hosted by the Rochester-area . . .

Review — WHILE I WAS OUT by Jerry Redfield (Ecuador)

Nov 07 2022

While I Was Out: Two Years That Changed America — A Peace Corps Memoir by Jerry Redfield (Ecuador 1963-65) Peace Corps Writers Imprint 292 pages July 2022 $22.00 (paperback) Reviewed by Cynthia Nelson Mosca (Ethiopia 1967-69) • Shortly before “Hell no, we won’t go!” there was the Peace Corps. While I Was Out by Jerry Redfield, takes place during the years 1963 to 1965. Early years for the Peace Corps, turbulent years for our country. This book is a real story taken from the author’s journals and letters home. Our hero, Jerry, vacillates between confusion, frustration, and impatience. Will he be able to put aside his attitude in time? Will he fall in love? Will he develop long term friendships? And ultimately will he fall in love with the people of Ecuador? In the ’60s we were nothing if not assured. Half of the youth of our country was absolutely certain . . .

A Towering Task: The Story of the Peace Corps

Nov 07 2022

Film Screening & Discussion Mon Nov 07 2022 at 05:00 pm to 08:30 pm DePaul University – Richard M. and Maggie C. Daley Building | Chicago, IL What role should the Peace Corps play in the 21st century? Come view the film and share your thoughts about the future of the Peace Corps. A Towering Task is an independent documentary produced and directed by Alana DeJoseph (Mali 1992-94), a returned Peace Corps volunteer and documentary filmmaker. She has been a member of the production teams that produced The Greatest Good: A Forest Service Centennial Film and Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for our Time. She works alongside Dave Steinke (film producer, cameraman and former Forest Service public affairs director) and Shana Kelly (screenwriter and book editor). All three strongly believe in the urgent need for an objective, in-depth look at the history and future of the Peace Corps. . . .

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