October 9, 2023 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Second RPCV Writers’ Retreat is Productive, Fun, Fulfilling

Oct 09 2023

Eight RPCVs–Ethiopia. Uzbekistan. El Salvador. Morocco. The Philippines. Cameroon. Nepal.–traveled a long way to participate in the second Peace Corps Writers’ Retreat October 5-8 on the Eastern Shore of Maryland—at least as measured by the distances between their countries of services and the Chesapeake Bay. Whatever their actual commutes—one participant came from as far as central Florida—they said the trip was well worth it. Working with RPCV Mark Brazaitis (Guatemala 1991-93), the author of eight books, including the Iowa Short Fiction Award-winning The River of Lost Voices: Stories from Guatemala, the eight participants shared their creative work in a pair of two-and-a-half hour workshop sessions, participated in two craft talks about effective storytelling, wrote pieces in response to writing prompts, and learned how and where to publish their work. A reading by the participants capped off the four-day retreat. “As someone who completed her service in 2015, it was a . . .

“Improbably Grateful” by Michael Varga (Chad)

Oct 09 2023

In the news — Improbably Grateful by Michael Varga (Chad 1977-79) ’85 M.A. Notre Dame Magazine In 1995 the doctors told me I would probably be dead of AIDS by April 1997. I had retired early from the U.S. Foreign Service, and AIDS patients were dying rapidly. There was no effective treatment for AIDS or HIV. It was a grim time, and I had no reason to think I would be any different than the hordes of patients who had already succumbed, who were deprived of a normal life span and the opportunity to grow old. I imagined some fairy-tale scene where my friends would gather around my deathbed as I took my last breath. Spurred by that image, I told my friends to come to visit “before it was too late.” I pressed them to understand the urgency of my situation and said I needed their support in . . .

Archive - October 9, 2023