Archive - August 2023

By Susan E. Greisen (Liberia 1971-73, Tonga 1973-74) 26 August 2023     I have always been skeptical of habituating wild animals to humans. I’ve seen the damage this has done to the bears in the National Parks in the 60s when I vividly remember traveling in Yosemite as a 12-year-old with my family. Dad encouraged us to crack our car windows to feed bread to the bears…and, so we did. We have home movies of this insanity. Over ten years later when I tent camped there again as an adult, bears were rummaging campgrounds to access the campers’ delicacies. That night armed rangers roamed our campsite tranquilizing the bears as they ripped open a Fiat convertible seeking store-bought food. The damage humans have done is evident. My third blog on Rwanda provided me with another great lesson about humans and wildlife.   Now, 60 years later, what good would . . .

  Ursula Foster (Uganda 2001-03 & 2010-12) will read from her book, From Gulu With Love, and share about her time working with the Peace Corps in Uganda at 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 1 at Revelation Vineyards, located at 2710 Hebron Valley Road in Madison, Virginia. The native of Esslingen, Germany, now a resident of Madison, has traveled the world to create “Völkerverständigung” (understanding between nations). She firmly believes “if we get to know each other, we would see each other as fellow humans and not as enemies,” according to a business release. This belief led her to spend time, in her retirement, as a Peace Corps volunteer in Uganda.  “As a Peace Corps volunteer I had the opportunity to live alongside Ugandans pretty much in the same way they live, to become a part of their everyday life,” she said.  The things she values most from her time in . . .

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Dale Giles (Liberia 1964-66)   Peace Corps Liberia Empowers Educational and Health Sectors as 12 new Volunteers Assigned to Margibi, Bong and Grand Bassa By Gerald C. Koinyeneh August 21, 2023   MONROVIA – In a concerted effort to boost Liberia’s educational and health sectors, Peace Corps Liberia welcomed a new group of volunteers into its ranks for a two-year service in Liberia.  The 12 new volunteers are the first batch of volunteers to return to Liberia since 2020 when the Peace Corps evacuated volunteers because of COVID-19. After 11 weeks of language and cultural training, the volunteers were sworn-in on Thursday, August 17, 2023, by USAID Mission director Jim Wright, who is also serving as acting deputy chief of mission at the United States Embassy in Monrovia. Wright urged the volunteers to exemplify the highest standards that the United States has to offer the world, . . .

Bishkek, August 25, 2023 – Twenty-six newly sworn in Peace Corps Volunteers will co-teach English with local teachers in secondary schools across Chui, Naryn, Issyk-Kul, Talas, Osh and Jalal-Abad regions over the next two years. This is the 29th group of Volunteers to serve in the Kyrgyz Republic.  In attendance at the ceremony were U.S. Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic Lesslie Viguerie, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aibek Moldogaziev, Head of the international cooperation and investment department of Ministry of Education and Science Aizada Apysheva, Peace Corps Regional Director for Europe, Mediterranean and Asia Rebecca Sharp, and representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, former Volunteers, as well as local teachers and directors of schools where the Volunteers will serve as co-teachers.  “For 30 years, Peace Corps Volunteers and the communities in which they serve have collaborated to increase student and teacher capacity in English and have built relationships that continue long . . .

Ex-Peace Corps Volunteers Deserve Recognition by Victor Barbiero (Ethiopia 1973-75) ”We do not want a war. We do not now expect a war. This generation of Americans has already had enough — more than enough — of war and hate and oppression. We shall be prepared if others wish it. We shall be alert to try to stop it. But we shall also do our part to build a world of peace where the weak are safe and the strong are just. We are not helpless before that task or hopeless of its success. Confident and unafraid, we labor on, not toward a strategy of annihilation, but toward a strategy of peace.” President John F. Kennedy June 10, 1963, American University Candidate John F. Kennedy spoke to a crowd of 10,000 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and challenged the students to work and live overseas. He implored . . .

Westbury Imagined: Based on True Stories by Arthur Dobrin (Kenya 1965-67) Nsemia Publishers August 2023 $9.99 (Kindle); $32.00 (Paperback)   The first encounters between Indigenous people and Europeans, the enslavement of Africans and their fight for freedom, fox hunting millionaires and Italian immigrants, and the development of suburbia until the present day—all this is presented in Westbury Imagined, a book of history, fiction, memoir and poetry that celebrates this diverse Long Island community. Arthur Dobrin (Kenya 1965-67) has lived with his family in Westbury since 1969. He is Professor Emeritus of University Studies at Hofstra University and Leader Emeritus of the Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island. His books have been translated into Japanese, Chinese, Bangla, Dutch and Spanish.

by Becky Wandell (Ecuador 2018 –20)   One afternoon, I overheard Margarita, my host-mom, talking on the phone. I usually didn’t understand much of what she said — or much of what anybody said during my first weeks living in Ecuador — but on this day, I clearly heard “Becky is a good baker, she can make the cakes.”  Ummm… Margarita? What am I going to do? After finishing her conversation, she pulled me over to the table and patiently explained that her husband Jose’s Dad, Victor, was having a birthday this weekend and they needed some cakes for the celebration. I had been around long enough to know that usually the family just goes to Tio Sam’s bakery for saccharine sweet gelatinous cakes, so if they were asking me to bake them, this was a big deal! And besides, I would do anything for Victor who had welcomed me to . . .

Help Ensure A Towering Task Airs Nationwide A Towering Task: The Story of the Peace Corps is coming to PBS stations nationwide, starting September 2. But your help is needed to make sure this documentary airs in your region. With PBS stations sometimes scheduling programming two to three months before airdate, now is the time to reach out to your local station. The PBS World channel will host a nationwide broadcast premiere on Friday, September 29 at 8 p.m. Eastern with repeats on Saturday, September 30 at 3 a.m., 9 a.m., and 3 p.m. Eastern. Your local station program managers will decide whether to schedule the film and how often over the next three years. View a list of confirmed stations and air times so far.That’s where you come in. CALL your station today and ask that A Towering Task, which is distributed by NETA, be included in the line-up. Then, help get the word . . .

  Who Stole My Bible: Reclaiming Scripture as a Handbook for Resisting Tyranny by Rev. Jennifer Butler (Belize 1989-91) Faith in Public Life Publisher October 2020 180 pages $9.99 (Kindle); $15.99 (Paperback); (Audio book) The Bible has been hijacked. We’ve all seen examples of sacred scripture being used and abused to justify racism, sexism, reactionary politics, and even violence. If you have ever found yourself wondering what Bible some of your fellow believers are reading, if you’ve ever asked yourself “Who Stole My Bible?”, then you are not alone. With a foreword from Brian McLaren, Who Stole My Bible?: Reclaiming Scripture as a Handbook for Resisting Tyranny shows how the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is an inspiring handbook for resisting tyranny. Jennifer Butler loved the Bible and her Christian faith, but then was disillusioned when it was used against her as a woman. Instead of leaving religion, she found a fresh . . .

  “There’s no success like failure and failure’s no success at all.” Bob Dylan • I ignored the summons the draft board sent to my remote Ethiopian village midway through my second year of Peace Corps service, and dropped its greetings down the shintabet (the long-drop) hole, sending it to fester with the rest of the used toilet tissue. And I did not inform the Peace Corps staff in Addis Ababa that I had been drafted. The police curfew that kept Goba locked down while Haile Selassie’s troops fought pitched battles with rebel shifta in the nearby mountains had finally lifted, the unending rainy season that hijacked two consecutive dry seasons had finally abated, and after eighteen months of mud and fear, I could finally hike and ride in the gorgeous Bale Province countryside. But end of service was near. In 1968, the Viet Cong’s Tet Offensive had driven America . . .