October 2023 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Opening of Peace Corps Tribute Garden on Colorado State University Campus

Oct 31 2023

CSU Photographer On Sunday, Oct. 15, the Colorado State University campus played host to an extraordinary gathering of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs), alumni, faculty and community members to mark the grand opening of the Peace Corps Tribute Garden. The event, organized by CSU’s Office of International Programs, was a celebration of the visionary stalwart Rams who in 1961 conducted a robust feasibility study which would lay the foundation for what we now know as the Peace Corps. The Tribute Garden, a serene and contemplative space nestled within the heart of campus, is a poignant reminder of this rich history. It is also a standing testament to the university’s ongoing dedication to promoting international cooperation and understanding. RPCVs from across the country gathered at CSU to commemorate the occasion. The event included a lineup of distinguished speakers who shared their experiences and insights into the profound impact of the Peace . . .

Bring Peace Corps Stories to Life on Stage in Washington, D.C.

Oct 30 2023

Growing Together: Stories from the Peace Corps Calling all RPCVs! Join us as we celebrate Peace Corps Week 2024 with a memorable storytelling contest that will illuminate the amazing work and spirit of RPCVs and the entire Peace Corps network. On March 1st, 2024, contest winners will have their stories performed by local students on the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage in Washington D.C. Winners will receive public recognition from the Peace Corps and be invited to attend the in-person storytelling event. For those who are unable to make the trip, the event will be livestreamed. The theme of the Storytelling Contest is Growing Together: Stories from the Peace Corps and we hope to capture stories about the shared progress, relationship building, and intercultural exchange that happens between all members of the Peace Corps community. Eligibility: Individuals from across the Peace Corps network are eligible to submit a story, including: Counterparts Current Peace Corps or . . .

Nyle Kardatzke (Ethiopia) meets President Kennedy at the White House, Summer ’62

Oct 30 2023

In summer 1962, six hundred Peace Corps volunteer trainees were in Washington, DC, preparing for assignments around the world. A visit to the White House was a highlight of our training time. When our Ethiopia group returned from lunch that day, several buses were waiting in front of the dorms. We boarded the buses and waited about an hour until motorcycle policemen arrived to lead us to the White House. They started their thundering motorcycles and turned on their sirens and led us out onto quiet Georgetown streets. Other police were at every intersection, and we zoomed through traffic lights at highway speeds. We were, after all, going to see the President. At the White House, staff members arranged the Peace Corps people into a semicircle on the south lawn, facing the White House. We chattered quietly out of respect for where we were. (My roommate Danny Langdon was . . .

“What JFK had to say to us on the White House lawn” by John Coyne (Ethiopia)

Oct 29 2023

A police escort with sirens blaring led our dozen Peace Corps buses in one long continuous caravan through every downtown light in Washington, D.C. It was high noon in the District the summer of 1962, less than a year after the famous postcard dropped by a PCV had been found on the Ibadan campus that almost doomed the Peace Corps and we–the 300 Ethiopia-bound Peace Corps Trainees at Georgetown University–were on our way to meet John F. Kennedy at the White House There were other Peace Corps Trainees as well meeting the President that afternoon. Peace Corps Trainees at Howard, American, Catholic, George Washington universities, and the University of Maryland, over 600 in all, gathered in the August heat and humidity on the great lawn below the Truman Balcony. Arriving at the White House, I walked with the others up the slope with the Washington Monument behind me . . .

Florence Phillips (Guatemala, Jamaica, Kenya) is still volunteering. You can too!

Oct 28 2023

Born in New York to Jewish parents who fled Europe before the holocaust, RPCV Florence Phillips knows firsthand what is like to be the child of immigrants who don’t speak English. “My parents could not talk to my teachers; my parents could not help me with homework,” said Phillips. But all of that would change when she joined the Peace Corps. Florence served three tours of duty as a Peace Corps Volunteer in three different countries. 1988 – 1989 PCV Guatemala Organized 12 Mayan Indian women in a small village and assisted them in forming a cooperative weaving business. Established local and tourist markets for their products. 1990 – 1992 PCV Jamaica Small Enterprise Development and Business Advisor. Secondary projects established included teaching remedial reading and tutoring at primary school level; organized sport activities; taught adult literacy. 1997 – 1999 PCV Kenya Small Enterprise Development and Business Advisor. Taught . . .

The Volunteer who wrote songs for Korean children — Mary Kim Joh (Liberia)

Oct 27 2023

Mary Kim Joh, also known as Che Sik Chu, was a Korean-American music composer and medical research specialist. She is best known for writing “School Bell” in 1945. This children’s song is taught to pre-school students in South Korea. It is often referred to as a “Korean National Anthem”. Joh was born in Seoul in 1904. She was the daughter of Kim Ik-seung, founder of Korea’s first joint stock companies, and a niece of Kim Kyu-sik. She graduated from Ewha Women’s University in Seoul, South Korea, and in 1930, she was awarded a Master’s degree in music at the University of Michigan. Later, while teaching in the music department at Ewha, she was asked by the South Korean government to compose children’s songs after the end of Japanese rule over her country in 1945. At the end of WW II, the Koreans had no Korean-language school materials. Her 1950 . . .

Andy Trincia (Romania 2002-2004) publishes travel story on Romania in The New York Times

Oct 27 2023

In the news — I’d never heard of Timisoara either when I arrived in 2002 as a wide-eyed Peace Corps volunteer. I stayed two years, fell in love, returned to get married and made annual trips from America, when Timisoara tugged at me like an old friend. My wife and I moved back six years ago. I’ve witnessed an evolution from the glum post-revolution years to today’s cosmopolitan vibe, thanks to a booming tech sector, significant foreign investment and youthful energy from 40,000 university students. For me, Timisoara’s appeal is twofold: its architecture, which jumps out immediately, and its authenticity, which sinks in gradually. This is no tourist trap with trinket shops galore, but a genuine, livable and multicultural city that moves at a measured pace and offers just enough for visitors to fill two or three days — perhaps surprising them with a taste of Romania, a country still enduring . . .

Second group of Peace Corps Volunteers arriving in Viet Nam

Oct 26 2023

OCTOBER 26, 2023 HANOI, October 24, 2023 – The second cohort of U.S. Peace Corps volunteers have arrived in Hanoi to further support the Ministry of Education and Training’s (MOET) national priorities for English Language Education and demonstrate our bilateral commitment to education and training cooperation under the U.S. – Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The U.S. Peace Corps volunteers will be the first group to serve at high schools throughout Ho Chi Minh City starting in January 2024. Volunteers will work alongside local teacher to co-teach English classes to help Vietnamese students develop their English skills to access studying and employment opportunities. Peace Corps Vietnam fully aligns with MOET’s objectives and is enabled by the Implementing Agreement signed in 2020 between the U.S. and Vietnamese governments with Peace Corps and the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) as Implementing Entities. “The geographic expansion of the program to Ho Chi Minh City . . .

If You’re Writing Your Peace Corps Book

Oct 25 2023

The Writer’s Workshop Lecture Series Dear Writers, You’re invited to a free talk tomorrow with author and editor Emily Harstone. During the talk, Emily will share tips and strategies that many authors have used to build successful publishing careers. These are the things almost every successful author does to build a foundation for long-term publishing success. The talk will be held online, and is entirely free to attend. Register to Attend the Talk (Free) You’re welcome to forward this to a friend, but please do so right away, so they don’t miss out on the live event. Sincerely, Jacob Jans Authors Publish

On TikTok — Diana Steinberg (Haiti) Dancer & Jamaica Plain Mom!

Oct 25 2023

On TikTok, an RPCV Mom dances through life Diana Steinberg (PCV Haiti ) has been filming her daily dance improvisation for years. More people have started to notice. By A.Z. Madonna Globe Staff,Updated October 24, 2023, See this entire article — with music — on the Boston Globe Today

PCVs — 60 Years in Costa Rica

Oct 24 2023

Peace Corps Celebrates 60 Years in Costa Rica with New Volunteers The new U.S. volunteers will serve for two years in rural communities in Puntarenas, Guanacaste, Heredia, Cartago, Alajuela, and San José. The group includes people between the ages of 22 and 70, with degrees in Economics, Business, Education, Law, Psychology, Communication, and Sociology, among others. Cynthia Telles, U.S. Ambassador U.S. Ambassador Cynthia Telles highlighted Peace Corps contributions to community capacity building and local economic development over six decades. “This ceremony marks the commitment of Peace Corps volunteers to continue in this exemplary and mutually cooperative work between our countries,” said Ambassador Telles. The Peace Corps arrived in Costa Rica in January 1963. Since then, more than 3,900 volunteers have served in projects that currently focus on English language learning, local economic development, and strengthening the well-being and participation of youth and women.

US Ambassador-Designate, RPCV Mark Toner (Liberia)

Oct 23 2023

In the news— US Ambassador-Designate to Fight Corruption, Lawlessness, in Liberia Front Page Africa – 10/23/2023 The newly nominated U.S. Ambassador to Liberia, Mark Toner, has said that the George Weah government has recognition for corruption and lawlessness and that he will do all in his power to fight against these vices during his assignment here. Addressing the U.S. Congressional Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing on Friday, October 20, Toner said progress made in Liberia since the end of the war in 2003 has been eroded by corruption and lawlessness in the current administration. “The United States is the largest bilateral donor to Liberia, with more than US$5 billion in bilateral assistance since 2003. That assistance has paid concrete dividends in the economic, education, security, and public health sectors,” Toner told the committee. “But that progress has also been heavily eroded by growing lawlessness and corruption within the present administration.” If . . .

First-Ever Loret Miller Ruppe Lifetime Achievement Award

Oct 22 2023

Peace Corps Worldwide’s Marian Haley Beil and John Coyne Honored with first-ever Loret Miller Ruppe Lifetime Achievement Award Since 1989, Peace Corps Worldwide and the Peace Corps Writers Imprint have supported the writings of the Peace Corps community to promote international understanding—the essence of the Third Goal. The longevity and reach of the work by Marian Haley Beil, publisher, and John Coyne, editor, prompted NPCA to recognize their impact with the first-ever Loret Miller Ruppe Lifetime Achievement Award, presented at this year’s Peace Corps Connect on September 9, 2023. For nearly 35 years, Marian and John, both “Ethie One,” have worked to “bring the world back home” by shining a light on PCV and RPCV writers: publishing, reviewing, and promoting their books, essays, poetry, and stories. John researches, compiles, and often writes, material on their website. Marian design sites, edits articles, and maintains databases including one with . . .

NPCA OUTSTANDING COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD

Oct 21 2023

OCTOBER 12, 2023 The National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) is pleased to announce the Friends of Liberia (FOL) as the winner of the 2023 Loret Miller Ruppe Award for Outstanding Community Service. NPCA members selected FOL for this year’s prestigious award, recognizing the group’s publication of Never the Same Again: Life, Service, and Friendship in Liberia. Chief editor, Susan Greisen (Liberia 1971-73) & (Tonga 1973-74) and co-editors, Susan Corbett (Liberia 1976-79) and Karen E. Lange (Liberia 1984-86) collaborated with more than 100 people across seven time zones via Zoom, email, text, WhatsApp, FaceTime, and phone to realize their final publication in less than two years – all during the COVID pandemic. The proceeds from this powerful anthology benefit educational, social, health, economic, and humanitarian programs in Liberia. WATCH our 5-minute Friends of Liberia Ruppe project video to learn about these programs and why we won. Here is Susan Greisen with his Excellency George S.W. . . .

Playwright Tom David Barna (Burkina Faso)

Oct 18 2023

The Minnesota Playwright Born in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania-USA, Tom David Barna is a graduate of Kaiserslautern American High School in Germany and New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico-USA. A a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Burkina Faso (1979-80) and a retired Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel. His paternal grandparents immigrated from Russia. Tom’s father, Thomas Barna was the first family member born in the United States and buried at Arlington National Cemetery having served in the Korean Conflict and the Viet Nam War. Tom David Barna, playwright, has penned more than forty-two full length plays, forty-nine short plays, co-author for a 13-part radio series and author of four children’s books (Cantata Publishing) and several eBooks (Rakuten Kobo Publishing). He has been commissioned for projects as varied as episodic radio and children’s musicals and recently collaborated on a new full-length musical with Melody Bay Productions/Publisher, a . . .

Archive - October 2023