Archive - 2024

New Peace Corps Team Lands in Moldova to Boost English Education The 36th group of Peace Corps volunteers from the United States has arrived in Moldova. Twenty-three volunteers landed today at Chișinău International Airport. Prior to commencing their service, the volunteers will undergo a ten-week training program. This program will focus on Romanian language acquisition, Moldovan culture immersion, and technical skill development. Following the training, the volunteers will be deployed to schools, town halls, and community centres throughout Moldova. The Peace Corps program was first established in Moldova by the Chișinău government in 1993. The program’s primary objective is to enhance the English language teaching capabilities of Moldovan educators within the existing educational framework.

— First Published on our site in June 2016 The Peace Corps is always accused of being overrun with ‘bleeding heart liberals” since the first days of the agency when Eisenhower declared  the agency was a “juvenile experiment,” and Richard Nixon said it was another form of “draft evasion.”  This was when the Daughters of the American Revolution warned of a “yearly drain” of “brains and brawn”…for the benefit of backward, underdeveloped countries.” However, the following year, Time magazine declared in a cover story that the Peace Corps was “the greatest single success the Kennedy administration had produced.”  Still we had many good Americans who hated the agency. Here in this short piece, Leo Cecchini (Ethiopia 1962-64) wrote for our site back in June 2016. Leo is a good friend and a very good writer. He wrote a wonderful piece about how his father deserted the Italian army during the North African . . .

  About Creative Associates International Creative Associates International is a social-impact company that works collaboratively to deliver locally led, sustainable solutions to take advantage of development opportunities and to address today’s most pressing challenges.   Drawing on nearly five decades of experience in more than 90 countries, Creative has developed a reputation for technical excellence, innovation and flexibility. Creative has worked extensively in non-permissive environments, giving it the tools and expertise to keep our partners and beneficiaries safe while achieving maximum impact for our clients.  Practice Area Director, Conflict Prevention & Stabilization Tom Bayer (Mali 1984-88) leads Creative’s programming focusing on fragility, conflict prevention and transitioning communities to peace. As part of Creative’s Communities in Transition division, the practice area’s team supports the integration of conflict awareness and sensitivity across Creative’s programs worldwide. The Conflict Prevention & Stabilization practice area currently manages programming in West Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, as well as two indefinite quantity contracts— Programming for Prevention and Peacebuilding (P4P2) and . . .

  If My HAIR had a VOICE (Children’s Book) by Dana Marie Miroballi (Uzbekistan); Patricia Grannum. illustrator May 2024 40 pages $15.58 (Kindle); $16.40 (Hardcover)     “If your hair had a voice, it would sing of diversity and identity. It would tell you stories of our history.” In her debut children’s book, Chicago writer Dana Marie Miroballi tells the story of a young Black girl who learns to love her natural hair — and the rich culture and history that come with it. The book follows a young girl as she embarks on a journey to learn more about her afro-textured hair and its various styles, from braids that are decorated with beads like the Fulani from Western Africa to Bantu knots like the Zulu from Southern Africa. The girl soon discovers that while her hair doesn’t have a voice, she does — and she uses it to share . . .

  Quests: Searching for Heroes, Scoundrels, Star-Gazers, and a Mermaid Paul Spencer Sochaczewski (Malaysia 1969-71) Explorer’s Eyes Press May 2024 276 pages $17.95 (Paperback) • • • QUESTS ENRICH OUR LIVES Quests are the backbone of all the great fables. And they are key elements in leading a satisfying and enriching life. This volume of 24 quests — at times audacious, touching, and ridiculous — are some highlights of Paul Spencer Sochaczewski’s purposeful investigative travel. He… seeks out, and meets, a female vampire ghost in Borneo who wants to follow him home is invited on a date by the Mermaid Queen of Java interviews the last elephant hunter of Vietnam travels to meet the humble villager in Laos who captured a precious white elephant that was then hijacked by the country’s First Lady visits the purported “lost Jews” of an isolated Indonesian island meets a homeless Hawaiian-wannabe Chinese emperor conducts the first . . .