Author - John Coyne

Up Close with RPCV Mark Ford John ThomasonOctober 18, 2024 Mark Ford at Paradise Palms, photo by Aaron Bristol For the past 11 years, Mark Ford has been building his personal Eden in western Delray Beach. Situated on secluded Half Mile Road, the 20 accessible acres of Paradise Palms contain 600 species of palm trees among more than 2,000 different specimens, organized in their own mini-biomes, from rainforest to desert. Visitors wend their way through countless palms—exotic plants from New Guinea, Borneo, Thailand, Australia—and toward burbling fountains, a meditation garden framed by the creaking sway of bamboo, a koi pond and a hedge maze that’s so byzantine that visitors have reportedly lost themselves within it. There’s a children’s play area, an Asian tearoom, a yoga house, and a private residence with pool, hammocks and fire pit. Sculptures from Central and North American artists dot the property in strategic spots—metal and . . .

October 18, 2024 Vietnam has welcomed its largest group of US Peace Corps volunteers since the programme began, with 20 volunteers arriving this month to support English education in Vietnamese high schools. This milestone follows the 2020 Implementing Agreement between the US and Vietnamese governments, with Peace Corps and the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) as the implementing entities. The volunteers will be based in high schools across Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City starting in December 2024. They will work alongside local teachers to develop Vietnamese students’ English skills, creating greater access to educational and employment opportunities. Some volunteers will co-teach in schools where current volunteers are now concluding their service. “This is the largest group of Peace Corps volunteer trainees arriving to serve in Vietnam. It heralds continued goodwill as Peace Corps builds relationships and trust with our partners,” said Mikel Herrington, Peace Corps Vietnam Country Director. . . .

Where Have all the Peace Corps Volunteers Gone? By Ambassador Mark A. Green  on October 15, 2024             John F. Kennedy greets Volunteers on August 28, 1962. I often trace the beginnings of my foreign policy and international development work back to the village school in Kenya where my wife Sue and I served as WorldTeach volunteers. That work presented many challenges, but the village was also ahead of many others in the area because a Peace Corps Volunteer served there before us. I often point to my time as US ambassador to Tanzania as the high point of my career in foreign policy. When I entered the State House to present my credentials to President Jakaya Kikwete in 2007, a Tanzanian protocol officer proudly took me aside and related how he had once been taught by a Peace Corps Volunteer. When President John F. Kennedy established . . .

Josefina “Joey” Guerrero, as this author writes, was an incredible, formidable, brave, and humble woman who deserves to be recognized and celebrated. She faced hardships her entire life—being orphaned, getting diagnosed with Hansen’s Disease, watching her home country fall into the chaos and destruction of war, living under forced quarantine in Louisiana, facing racism and discrimination in the United States. But she always believed that she was here for a greater purpose, and her faith never wavered. Rather than wallow in illness, she took advantage of her diagnosis to spy for the Allies. Rather than wither away in leprosariums, she shined a light on the disease to advocate for better care and treatment for others. Rather than let her life drift away, she held it with both hands; she went to college in her 40s, got a master’s degree, joined the Peace Corps. She was truly an astonishing woman. From . . .

Korean War Veteran, Peace Corps Volunteer, American Legion Member and Teacher Percy Gerald “Gerry” Shogren honored at Shoreline Veterans Recognition Plaza Tuesday, October 15, 2024 Flag presented to Gerry’s wife Kim, sons Alex and Andrew, daughter Dae and a host of  grandchildren. Photo by Doug Cerretti. By Doug Cerretti Gerry Shogren of Shoreline, WA passed away August 21, 2024 at 91-years of age. On September 27, 2024 TSgt. Gerry Shogren was honored with a memorial service at Shoreline Veterans Recognition Plaza under the direction of MG Raymond Coffey, LAC USV-JSC (Legislative Affairs Command U. S. Volunteers-Joint Services Command). MG Raymond Coffey, LAC USV-JSC (third from left) directing the ceremony. Photo by Ron Jones Gerry was honored for his service to his country, enlisting during the Korean war, and his service to the community. We recognize that service to our Country and her causes does not end with termination of Military . . .

Thanks for the ‘Heads Up’ from Karl Drobnic (Ethiopia 1966-68) Yachats-area “cozy mystery” writer adds new book to his body of work October 8, 2024 Quinton SmithDoug Yunker is a regular at the Beach Daisy wine shop in Yachats, whose (fictitious) owner and business plays a central role in his new book, “Happy Endings.” By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews Doug Yunker has been a small town paperboy, conscientious objector, Peace Corps volunteer, social worker and college professor and administrator. Now, the soon-to-be 82-year-old resident of Tenmile is a mystery writer. Yunker recently self-published Happy Endings: A Yachats Cozy Mystery, the inaugural book in a potential series that kills off an elderly resident of Yachats within its first three pages. It’s not Yunker’s first book. Another self-published novel, Pimento Cove, is about his four years in Jamacia during the Peace Corps. A memoir, A Paperboy’s Own Story, is drawn from a boy’s conversations . . .

Glenn Writes: As I take the reins of Peace Corps Worldwide it is with immense appreciation for John and Marian’s tireless efforts to advance the Peace Corps’ Third Goal through Peace Corps Worldwide, Peace Corps Writers, and Peace Corps Imprint. It is my intention to continue the good work that they have done for more than three decades and honor their exemplary legacies of service. We stand on their shoulders as we move forward. For now I will be assuming John’s responsibilities for posting news, updates, and analysis from around the Peace Corps community, while coordinating with Marian, who will continue managing the Peace Corps Writers publishing arm of Peace Corps Worldwide. I’m grateful that Noah Beil will continue to provide indispensable IT support for the website. I look forward to working in partnership with them and welcome your suggestions and assistance for the future of Peace Corps Worldwide. Personally, . . .

  Bob Shacochis (Eastern Caribbean 1975-76) pinpoints how Peace Corps writers are in step with great writers from previous generations. “We are torchbearers of a vital tradition — that of shedding light in the mythical heart of darkness. We are descendants of Joseph Conrad, Mark Twain, George Orwell, Graham Greene, Somerset Maugham, Ernest Hemingway, and scores of other men and women, expatriates and travel writers and wanderers, who have enriched our domestic literature with the spices of Cathay, who have tried to communicate the ‘exotic’ as a relative, rather than an absolute, quality of humanity.” What America has gained through the writings of these Volunteers are methods of understanding the parts of the world and the cultures most Americans never see. By writing about the developing world and emerging democracies, Peace Corps Writers have broadened the landscape of American literature, enriching the national cannon with internationally flavored prose and poetry. . . .

Former Peace Corps Volunteers return to Hawaii after 60 years By John Burnett Hawaii Tribune-Herald Today   The cohort of about 100 completed training on the island before deploying to Malaysia, some as teachers, others as nurses and all with a mindset to make the world a better place, one community at a time. A dozen or so of those people, now in their 80s, returned to the island with family members to reminisce. The Hawaii Tribune-­Herald talked to four of them at the Grand Naniloa Hotel Hilo. “The Peace Corps, I would say, was at the height of its popularity, a couple of years after (President John F.) Kennedy got it started,” said John Knopp of Milwaukee, who volunteered as a secondary school biology and chemistry teacher. “We were part of a massive positive response to that idea. I think most of us were freshly graduated from college as . . .