Marian Haley Beil – Page 3 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Review | TALES OF AN IKUT SWAMI by Cristina Kessler (Honduras, Kenya, Seychelles)

Mar 25 2024

Tales of an Ikut Swami Cristina Kessler (Honduras 1973–75, Kenya 1975–76, Seychelles 1976–78) [Cover design Frank Welffens; Photographs by Cristina Kessler] Self-published $12.00 (paperback) Reviewer — Leita Kaldi Davis (Senegal 1993–96) • • • Cristina met her husband, Joe, in 1973 during training in Puerto Rico. As a volunteer, he was assigned to Peru and she to Honduras. Six months later he transferred to Honduras. Peace Corps told them they could only serve together if they were married, so they agreed to risk it for a year. That was 50 years ago this August! They served from 1973 to 1978 in Honduras, Peru, Kenya and the Seychelles. Joe was later hired by CARE and they were sent to Sierra Leone. As an Ikut Swami — Malay for one who follows her husband — Cristina . . . and Joe spent twenty years in Africa, seven years in Latin America and two years in Asia, living . . .

The Volunteer Who Has Been Highly Recognized for His contributions to the Creative Arts | Tony D‘Souza (Cote d’Ivoire)

Mar 16 2024

Profile in Citizenship by Jeremiah Norris (Colombia 1963-65) • • • Tony D’Souza served as a Volunteer in Cote d’Ivoire from 2001 to 2002, chronicling his life in a small African village, before, during, and after a Civil War. He was born in Chicago to an RPCV mother (India 1966-68) and Indian father. After graduating from high school, he rode a bicycle across Alaska, then went on to earn a BA in English in two and a half years at Carthage College. Afterwards, he earned a MA in English at Hollins University in Virginia, and then a Master’s in Fine Arts (MFA) at the University of Notre Dame. Tony feels that this degree gave him two years to surround himself with people who loved books, commenting that “most of life isn’t as pleasant as that. Before his time in the Peace Corps, Tony managed to work in a kibbutz in Israel, and . . .

“Photos from Afghanistan” from Juris Zagarins

Mar 09 2024

Picture the way it was — My wife Robin Varnum showed me your article suggesting that she send you eight photos to share. Since I am the family photographer, I am sending you eight photos chosen by me and Robin, also a recent head-shot of myself. I worked for two years with Afghan “counterparts” in the Ghazni office of the National Science Center 1972-1973, visiting all the secondary schools in Ghazni province to help improve science instruction. Then I extended my tour for a third year, 1974, teaching physics and such at Kabul University Faculty of Engineering, as did my friend Guy Toby Marion. I took many, many photos, so it was very hard to pick eight. Robin and I decided mostly on images of individual Afghans. • • • • • •

Review | AFGHANISTAN: CROSSROADS AND KINGDOMS by Guy Toby Marion

Mar 05 2024

Afghanistan: Crossroads and Kingdoms — My 1970s Peace Corps Service and Recent Afghan History by Guy Toby Marion (Afghanistan 1971-75) Peace Corps Books January 2024 280 pages $21.95 (Paperback); $8.95 (Kindle) Reviewed by Robin Varnum (Afghanistan 1971-73) • • • In 1974, after serving for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Afghanistan, Guy Toby Marion (known to his friends as Toby), returned to New York on home leave and was greeted by a family friend, who said, “welcome to civilization.” Toby smiled politely, but he thought privately that, “despite its poverty, Afghanistan was cultured and civilized.” Toby’s Afghanistan: Crossroads and Kingdoms (Peace Corps Writers, 2024) displays its author’s deep appreciation of Afghanistan’s culture, Islamic religion, poetry, and history. Sadly, that history has often been violent, since as Toby points out, “from ancient times Afghanistan has been an historical crossroads, seeing many wars and changes of empire.” When Toby arrived . . .

Picture the Way It Was

Mar 03 2024

After seeing the photos Guy Marion (Afghanistan 1971–75) shared at “Photos from Afghanistan” that showed what it was like for Guy in-country, I thought “that’s what we need!” John agreed! So if you would like to share what it looked like where you were and what you were doing, send me — a maximum of 8 in-country photos with a caption for each — your work, your living quarters, your town, etc, a recent head-shot of yourself and a paragraph about what you did, and when it was. Marian marian@haleybeil.com

The Volunteer Who Became the U. S. Ambassador to Finland | Charles C. Adams, jr. (Kenya)

Mar 01 2024

by Jeremiah Norris (Colombia 1963-65) Charles C. Adams, jr. was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the son of a career diplomat in the U. S. Department of State. He was raised in the countries of his father’s assignments, including Canada, France, Germany, Ghana, Morocco and Senegal, including Washington, D. C. Charles attended Dartmouth College, receiving a BA degree in 1968. From 1969 to 1970, he was a Peace Corps Volunteer, serving in Kenya, where he taught French, German and Swahili. Following his service, he attended law school at the University of Virginia, and received his J. D. degree in 1973. Thus was he was prepared to undertake a professional life focused on international Humanitarian activities and foreign service. He became a partner in an international law firm based in the U. S. and he lead the firm’s international arbitration practice, with a focus on high-value disputes, and serves . . .

New books by Peace Corps writers | January — February 2024

Mar 01 2024

To purchase any of these books from Amazon.com — CLICK on the book cover, the bold book title, or the publishing format you would like — and Peace Corps Worldwide, an Amazon Associate, will receive a small remittance from your purchase that will help support the site and the annual Peace Corps Writers awards. We include a brief description for each of the books listed here in hopes of encouraging readers to order a book and/or to VOLUNTEER TO REVIEW IT. See a book you’d like to review for Peace Corps Worldwide? Send a note to Marian at marian@haleybeil.com, and she will send you a free copy along with a few instructions. P.S. In addition to the books listed below, I have on my shelf a number of other books whose authors would love for you to review. Go to Books Available for Review to see what is on that shelf. Please, please join in our Third . . .

The Volunteer who became a noted playwright | Rajiv Joseph (Senegal)

Feb 27 2024

Jeremiah Norris Colombia 1963-65. Rajiv Joseph served for three formative years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal, 1996-98. About his time there, he wrote: “Being in Senegal, more than anything else in my life, made me into a writer.” His time there helped him develop the discipline of daily writing and inspired “his fascination with the power of language.” After Peace Corps, Rajiv earned a Master in Fine Arts in Dramatic Writing from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2004. His first play, Huck & Holden, debuted at the Cherry Lane Theater in January 2006. The play also had a West Coast run in the Black Dahlia Theater in Los Angeles the following year. Rajiv stated that the story about an Indian college student arriving in the United States is based on his father’s experience coming to the U. S. Rajiv’s mix-race background has given . . .

Review | A BOUQUET OF DAYS by Fran Palmeri (Benin)

Feb 25 2024

A Bouquet of Days: Rambles through the Natural Beauties of Florida by Fran Palmeri (Benin 1967–68) Blurb 200 pages January 2024 $32.87 (paperback) Reviewed by Leita Kaldi Davis (Senegal 1993-96), • • • Fran Palmeri and her husband Bob, who was with the USIA, were assigned to Dahomey (now Benin) in 1967/68, and helped set up the Peace Corps program there. She is a member of the RPCV Gulf Coast Florida group. An award-winning writer/photographer, Fran has been exploring natural Florida for fifty years. A Bouquet of Days is divided into four chapters, one for each season. Fran guides us through the manifestations of Florida’s seasonal changes as they affect the weather, plants, animals, insects, birds, trees and whatever else lives on this tiny tongue of the planet. She also tells you through her expressive words and color-splashed photographs how the changes affect her. “Sometimes when winter overstays its welcome a . . .

“Photos from Afghanistan” from Toby Marion

Feb 23 2024

Picture the way it was — At the end of 1971 at age 22, Toby Marion went to Afghanistan to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer, where he worked as a high school science teacher trainer in Kapisa Province for two school years, followed by teaching at the faculty of engineering of Kabul University for three semesters. His recently published book published by Peace Corps Writers “Afghanistan: Crossroads and Kingdoms: My 1970s Peace Corps Service and Recent Afghan History,” is available on Amazon. Toby gives talks about his work in the ’70s and the difficult past fifty years of history in Afghanistan. In Kabul, he lived through the 1973 coup d’etat against Afghan King Zaher, the Soviet invasion in 1979, the mujaheddin resistance of the 1980’s which defeated the Soviets, the 1990’s civil war, the American and NATO nation building from 2001 after 911, and the ultimate victory of the . . .

DYLAN by David J. Mather (Chile) — A story of relationships

Feb 16 2024

Dylan David J Mather (Chile 1968 – 70) Peace Corps Writers, 2024 306 pages $14.95 (paperback), $7.99 (Kindle) • • • Donald MacGregor is a writer who values his freedom above all else. He wants no responsibilities. He travels to the quiet Honduran Bay Islands to finish writing a blockbuster novel. On New Year’s Eve, however, he makes a big mistake with his beautiful neighbor and a year later a black baby boy is delivered to his doorstep. The baby’s eyes are as blue as Donald’s. Both commercial fiction and family saga as well as multicultural, Dylan will appeal to anyone who has raised or tried to raise a child. It is a novel of 91,000 words about a white man raising his black son alone on an island off Honduras. Several islanders become surrogate family and rally around Donald and his son Dylan. However, Donald’s father, James . . .

Review | THE MYSTICAL LAND OF MYRRH by MaryAnn Shank (Somalia)

Feb 15 2024

The Mystical Land of Myrrh (short stories) MaryAnn Shank (Somalia 1967–69) Dippity Press February 2019 222 pages $13.99 (paperback), $3.99 (Kindle), $13.97 (audiobook) Reviewed by Eugénie de Rosier (Philippines 2006-08) • • • MaryAnn Shank has brought us a fictionalized tale of her time in Somalia, working as a teacher of middle-school children in the rural bush country of Baidoa. The author was 50 years distant from her tour when she published The Mystical Land of Myrrh, and thanked those who refreshed her memory of life there. The tantalizing use of the word myrrh drew me in, and how appropriate, as myrrh originates from the commiphora tree of Somalia. The author unspooled her stories and vignettes with a goddess, and circled to the gripping end, when Moria, Shank’s narrator, beseeched Arawello to assist its women. Teaching is an honored profession in Somalia. Peace Corps brought English to, and built schools . . .

FROM MOUNTAINS TO MEDICINE by Erica Elliott (Ecuador)

Feb 12 2024

From Mountains to Medicine: Scaling the Heights in Search of My Calling Erica M. Elliott, M.D. (Ecuador 1974–1976) Lammastide Publishing January 2024 383 pages $19.95 (paperback), $16.99 (Kindle) Erica Elliott resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she has a busy medical practice. Erica was born into a large family with a Swiss mother and an American father. Throughout her childhood, Erica moved with her family from one part of the world to another due to her father’s work. She began her schooling in England, graduated from high school in Germany, and then studied art in Florence, Italy, before returning to the States to attend college. The seeds for becoming a medical doctor were first sown when she spent a summer in Switzerland learning from her uncle, an eccentric and brilliant medical doctor. It took many years before those seeds sprouted. Erica came to medicine later than most . . .

Review | FACE TO FACE WITH WAR by Leo Cecchini (Ethiopia)

Jan 25 2024

Face to Face with War by Leo Cecchini (Ethiopia 1962–64) Independently published October 2022 254 pages $15.00 (paperback), $9.00 (Kindle) Reviewed by Mike Donovan • • • Leo Cecchini, the author of Face to Face With War, has lead the kind of life most of us can only imagine. His book takes us from his Peace Corps experience as a geography teacher and soccer coach in Asmara, Ethiopia at the beginning of the 30 year struggle for Eritrean independence to his many experiences in the U.S. foreign service. His first assignment in the foreign service was in Panama where he met some decidedly shady characters trying to run weapons to Biafra during the breakaway war with Nigeria. He outsmarted them! From Panama he was sent to Vietnam during the period of heaviest fighting. He was part of a joint military/civilian program designed to help stabilize the country. Each of his new . . .

The Volunteer who became a National Presidential Campaign Manager | Timothy Kraft (Guatemala)

Jan 22 2024

by Jeremiah Norris (Colombia 1963-65) • • • Timothy Kraft graduated from Dartmouth College in 1963, then went on to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala, 1963-65. After graduate studies at Georgetown University, he began a long career of professional involvement in state and federal political campaigns, beginning as Executive Director of the New Mexico Democratic party in 1974. In 1975, he connected with then-Governor Jimmy Carter who came to New Mexico to campaign for the election of a Democratic governor. In 1975, Timothy connected once again with then-Governor Jimmy Carter’s national presidential campaign as its National Field Director and then as its National Field Coordinator. In the Democratic presidential campaign, he worked to solicit contributions from ten Western states so that candidate Carter could qualify for federal matching funds under the Federal Election Campaign Act. After then-president Jimmy Carter won the presidency, he named Timothy as his Appointments . . .

Author - Marian Haley Beil