October 2023 – Page 3 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Jonathan Zimmerman (Nepal) | WHOSE AMERICA?

Oct 07 2023

Whose America? Culture Wars in the Public Schools by Jonathan Zimmerman (Nepal 1983-85) University of Chicgo Press August 2022 $22.94 (Paperback), In this expanded edition of his 2002 book, Zimmerman surveys how battles over public education have become conflicts at the heart of American national identity. As the headlines remind us, American public education is still wracked by culture wars. But these conflicts have shifted sharply over the past two decades, marking larger changes in the ways that Americans imagine themselves. In his 2002 book, Whose America?, Zimmerman predicted that religious differences would continue to dominate the culture wars. Twenty years after that seminal work, Zimmerman has reconsidered: arguments over what American history is, what it means, and how it is taught have exploded with special force in recent years. In this substantially expanded new edition, Zimmerman meditates on the history of the culture wars in the classroom—and . . .

Founder of Timbuktu Center for Strategic Studies on the Sahel with Peter Chilson (Niger)

Oct 06 2023

In the news Foley Institute hears about effects of climate crisis overseas Founder of Timbuktu Center for Strategic Studies on the Sahel recounts experiences facing climate and migration crises AIMEE SULIT, Evergreen reporter October 4, 2023 Washington State University English professor Peter Chilton (Niger 1985-87) shared that the United Nations High Commission for Refugees has found that almost 100,000 people try to leave Africa within West Africa every month and the population of displaced persons in places such as Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger reach about 3.2 million people at Tuesday’s Foley Talk. El Hadj Djitteye, Timbuktu Center for Strategic Studies on the Sahel’s Founder and Executive Director also spoke and discussed the climate and migration crisis in the West African Sahel as well as the conflicts that result from them. Djitteye gave his presentation alongside Chilson, who has been traveling to West Africa since 1985 and was . . .

THE COUSCOUS CHRONICLES by Azzedine T. Downes (Morocco

Oct 05 2023

The Couscious Chronicles: Stories of Food, Love, and Donkeys from a Life Between Cultures by Azzedine T. Downes (Morocco 1981-85) (PC Staff 1991-95) Disruption Books 328 pages June 2023 $12.99 (Kindle); $18.02 (Paperback) Azzedine Downes moves between cultures, places, and time in this wryly comedic, at times mysterious, and always curious memoir of a lifelong nomad. The best strategy was to drink tea, smile, and enjoy the frustration of not knowing where the story leads. If time is endless, why rush to the point of a story? Now an international leader in the fight for animal welfare, Azzedine began his career as a volunteer teacher and later was appointed to leadership in the U.S. Peace Corps. An American Muslim with Irish roots, he’s a natural cultural shape-shifter, immersing himself in the cultures of Morocco, Eastern Europe, Northwest Africa, Israel and his native United States. Along the way he befriends . . .

IMMENSE MISSED OPPORTUNITIES — IMO Helen Dudley (Colombia, Slovakia)

Oct 05 2023

Immense Missed Opportunities —IMO by Helene Ballman Dudley (Colombia 1968-70; Slovakia 1997-99) Peace Corps Writers Press 246 pages September 2023 $10.00 (Kindle); $22.00 (Paperback) Immense Missed Opportunities – IMO draws on the author’s 23 years of experience building sustainable micro-loan programs in marginalized communities around the world. Based on her experience, and backed by research and recommendations from renowned experts, IMO identifies the vast and largely untapped potential for high-impact, low-cost interventions to reduce poverty, food insecurity, economic migration and gender-based violence. Extreme poverty has marginalized people who are living on the front lines of those problems and who have, perhaps the greatest potential to help solve those problems. People living on under $2 per day require all their energy and problem-solving skills to meet the most basic needs for their families. IMO offers examples of what they can accomplish when they are freed from abject poverty. The . . .

The Peace Corps’ Catch-22

Oct 04 2023

“Under Conditions of Hardship”: The Peace Corps’ Catch-22 for Survivors of Sexual- and Gender- Based Violence by E.L. Tremblay The Peace Corps’ treatment of Volunteers and trainees, particularly with regard to the policies and permissiveness surrounding sexual- and gender-based violence, reflects and perpetuates workplace sex discrimination. Because the agency fails to collect adequate data, it is impossible to determine the precise nature and degree of the problem, but it is likely worse than what annual reports have described as a persistently growing crisis despite twenty years of criticism, activism, and reform efforts. Without legally enforceable accountability mechanisms — the simplest and most effective of which would be to recognize Volunteers and trainees as federal employees — the discrimination is likely to continue. Continue reading “Under Conditions of Hardship”: The Peace Corps’ Catch-22 for Survivors of Sexual- and Gender-Based Violence

WHAT’S GOTTEN INTO YOU by Dan Levitt (Kenya)

Oct 03 2023

What’s Gotten Into You: The Story of Your Body’s Atoms, from the Big Bang Through Last Night’s Dinner by Dan Levitt (Kenya 1981-83) Harper Publisher January 2023 400 pages $12.99 (Kindle); $5.95 (Audiobook) $15.99 (Hardcover); $21.99 (Paperback) For readers of Bill Bryson, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Siddhartha Mukherjee, a wondrous, wildly ambitious, and vastly entertaining work of popular science that tells the awe-inspiring story of the elements that make up the human body, and how these building blocks of life travelled billions of miles and across billions of years to make us who we are. Every one of us contains a billion times more atoms than all the grains of sand in the earth’s deserts. If you weigh 150 pounds, you’ve got enough carbon to make 25 pounds of charcoal, enough salt to fill a saltshaker, enough chlorine to disinfect several backyard swimming pools, and enough iron to forge a . . .

Lillian Kidane (Morocco) new Dalberg Advisor for Africa region

Oct 03 2023

In the news DALBERG ADVISORS APPOINTS LILLIAN KIDANE AS NEW REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR AFRICA ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Oct. 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ Dalberg Advisors, a global impact consultancy committed to building a more inclusive and sustainable world, is pleased to announce the appointment of Lillian Kidane as the new Regional Director for its Africa region. “Lillian’s appointment marks a significant milestone in Dalberg’s commitment to Africa. Her extensive experience across the continent in public health systems, climate, trade, and digital transformation will be invaluable in contributing to shaping the continent’s development trajectory,” says Gaurav Gupta, Global Managing Partner of Dalberg Advisors. Lillian has two decades of experience working with governments, foundations, corporates, and NGOs both on the continent and from the United States to support systems transformation and access to medicines in Africa. Lillian’s recent accomplishments include serving as a senior advisor to the COVID Vaccine Delivery Partnership (CoVDP) leadership in Geneva, tasked with overseeing the allocation and disbursement of vaccines across . . .

Peace Corps celebrates 60 years in Costa Rica

Oct 02 2023

Published on Monday, October 2, 2023 By the A.M. Costa Rica staff The Peace Corps is celebrating its 60th anniversary in Costa Rica. Since 1963, Peace Corps volunteers have served at the invitation of the Costa Rican government to help fulfill the country’s development goals. “With nearly one-fifth of Costa Rica’s population living below the poverty line, concerning rates of unemployment, and a public education system stretching to meet the learning needs of every child, Peace Corps Volunteers see the version of Costa Rica that cannot be found in a tourism ad- its persistent pockets of poverty, the genuine needs that affect vulnerable communities and the stunning beauty of this diverse country,” the organization said in its statement. As part of the celebration, 26 new volunteers were sworn in, and they will serve in various communities around the country, as have over 3,900 Americans since 1963.

Northern Illinois University Peace Corps Thai Collection

Oct 01 2023

The Peace Corps and Thai Collections at NIU: Fall 2023 Collections Colloquium Join the Northern Illinois University (NIU Library Special Collections and Archives Department and the Southeast Asia Library for the annual Fall Collections Colloquium featuring presentations on the impact of the Peace Corps on the NIU Community. Retired NIU Thai Studies professor and Peace Corps volunteer, Dr. John Hartman (Thailand 1964-67), will reflect on his involvement with the Peace Corps training program at NIU and his experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand. Southeast Asia Library Curator, Hao Phan, will present on the digitization of Thai Peace Corps materials in the Southeast Asian library holdings. Additionally, NIU School of Music Instructor, Chamni Sripraram, will perform selections of traditional Thai music with the Thai Music Ensemble. The Colloquium will be held in the Founders Memorial Library First Floor Gallery on October 19, 2023, from 4:30-6:00 pm. This event is . . .

Archive - October 2023