Archive - 2024

What’s Happening to the Peace Corps? As of July 8, 2024 there were roughly 2,840 Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) in service overseas. This figure includes Peace Corps Trainees (PCTs) and Peace Corps Response Volunteers (PCRVs). Those Volunteers are currently in 58 countries. What I’ve been hearing is that the agency is laying off host country staff as the Peace Corps cuts back on overseas employees. The agency doesn’t need staff. Fewer and fewer Volunteers are joining our Peace Corps. According to Lawrence Lihosit (Honduras 1975-77) informative book: Peace Corps Chronology 1961-2010 the last time we were as ‘close’ to these recent PCVs numbers was in June 1962 when there were even more PCVs– 2,940 in 27 countries. In the mid-sixties we had these numbers: 1966–15,556 1967–14,968 1968–13,823 By the year 2000 the number of PCVs grew to 7,164. The most PCVs for 10 countries back in the Sixties looked like this: . . .

Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) joined developer Gary Cohen to cut the ribbon at the Elle, which was formerly home to the U.S. Peace Corps. By Meagan Flynn July 11, 2024  The building had three lives, and Gary Cohen’s family had engineered all of them. His grandfather developed it into The Vanguard in 1965 — one of the first high-rise office buildings in the downtown neighborhood now known as the Golden Triangle. It housed the U.S. Department of Labor and then, until recently, the U.S. Peace Corps. On Thursday, Cohen ushered in its third life: a new 163-unit apartment building called the Elle — the first office-to-housing conversion project to be completed in the District. He joined Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) to cut the ribbon on the apartment building, which also comes with 8,000 square feet of retail space. A Canadian-based restaurant called Moxies is slated to move in, he . . .

The US Peace Corps has deployed 48 new volunteers who will collaborate with Filipino community members on local projects aimed at fostering relationships and exchanging knowledge and skills. Donald James Gawe, Executive Director of the Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency, extended a warm welcome to the 281st batch of US Peace Corps volunteers and expressed his optimism that they will “continue to serve as builders of hope and catalysts of change.” “U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers come from all over the United States and represent the diversity of the American people. They come with a variety of skills and experience to contribute during their service in the Philippines,” U.S. Ambassador MaryKay Carlson said.  

  The US Department of Veterans Affairs and an arm of the US State Department are among a growing list of Microsoft Corp. customers that have acknowledged they were impacted by a breach of the technology giant that was blamed on Russian state-sponsored hackers. The US Agency for Global Media, part of the State Department that provides news and information in countries where the press is restricted, was notified “a couple months ago” by Microsoft that some of its data may have been stolen, a spokesperson said in an emailed statement. No security or personally identifiable sensitive data was compromised, the spokesperson said. The agency is working closely with the Department of Homeland Security on the incident, the spokesperson said, declining to answer additional questions. A State Department spokesperson said, “We are aware that Microsoft is reaching out to agencies, both affected and unaffected, in the spirit of transparency.” Microsoft disclosed in January that a . . .

  Caleb Williams has spent the last two years teaching ninth graders in Richardson, Texas Independent School District. But this August, he will be traveling to Cambodia to teach English as part of The Peace Corps. Williams is originally from Oklahoma, but said he was drawn to Texas schools by better pay and more diverse schools. In his time at Richardson ISD, he’s taught students from all over the world, including Nigeria, Iraq and Burma. He’s also had experience teaching across different achievement levels, having taught on-level, special education inclusion and AP English classes. “It has been great getting to teach the full range of freshman students,” Williams said. “Different kinds of students use different parts of your energy, so it doesn’t feel like doing the same thing over and over again each period.” Of course, finishing out this past school year was bittersweet for Williams after committing to the . . .

After 60 years and almost as many books, the novelist and travel writer, 83, will stop when he falls out of his chair. Interview by Guy Trebay July 3, 2024 The Unstoppables is a series about people whose ambition is undimmed by time. Paul Theroux (Malawi 1963-65) explains, in his own words, what continues to motivate him. After 60 years of writing and publishing — and almost 60 books — I feel ordering my thoughts on paper to be not a job but a process of my life. You always hear writers complain about the hellish difficulty of writing, but it’s a dishonest complaint. So many people have it much harder — soldiers, firefighters, field workers, truckers. The writer’s profession is a life of self-indulgence. With luck and effort, you make a living. The only difficulty is its necessity for solitude. Writing is not compatible with anything — its utter . . .

  Sept. 26, 1967 Dear Walt, I figured you would be in that piss hole by now and would eventually write. Don’t sweat the year away from women. I’ve been away from the Canadian girl for a year now, and although at times frustrating, it’s gone quickly. Trouble is I’ve got another one now who is rather keen on getting married. Beautiful, brilliant and rich (irrelevant). Anyway, we’re travelling down to S. Africa together this December and on the way hope to find out if the match is feasible. (ed.  It wasn’t feasible.) Hope to see Neville, Dupe, and Ralph if we get into the country. (ed. The aforementioned were Oklahoma teammates from South Africa.) If you’re American, it’s tough, and if the South Africans find out you’re ex-Peace Corps, forget it. I’m getting a tourist passport now. We’ll buy a car here in Kenya and drive through Tanzania, Malawi, . . .

  About DAKAR 2000 In Senegal on the eve of Y2K, an idealistic Peace Corps Volunteer survives a mysterious car accident. An imposing State Department operative arrives at his hospital where she immediately takes command of the situation and his safety. Though they couldn’t be more different, they form an unlikely relationship. But when it becomes clear that they both have secrets, the volunteer is roped into a darker side of public service–one he can’t come back from. Unpredictable at every turn, this world-premiere thriller was commissioned by Manhattan Theatre Club. About Rajiv Joseph (Senegal 1996-98) Rajiv Joseph’s play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo was a 2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist for Drama. He has twice won the Obie Award for Best New American Play, first in 2016 with Guards at the Taj (also a 2016 Lortel Winner for Best Play),  and then in 2018 with Describe the Night.  Other . . .