Book Review: Head Strong, by Christy Bailey (Honduras 2002-04)

Robert Thurston (Venezuela, 1968-70) reviews Christy Bailey’s Head Strong. This memoir, published posthumously, is available on Amazon.

Title: Head Strong: Embracing Alopecia and Becoming Pañuelo Girl

Author: Christy Bailey / Editor: Susana Donato

Published: April 27, 2025 (Kindle Direct Publishing)

Review by Robert Thurston (RPCV Venezuela, 1968-70; PC Staff, 1972-77)

When I was asked to review Head Strong: Embracing Alopecia and Becoming Pañuelo Girl by Christy Bailey, I thought there must have been a mistake, as I had agreed to review works of fiction that draw on Peace Corps experiences.

Bailey’s superbly written memoir of her life-long personal struggle with alopecia and the transformational challenges she experienced as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras had me questioning how I could do justice to her powerful account.

Sure, I’d managed Peace Corps programs in Honduras, but I worked with forestry and agriculture volunteers, almost all of whom were young men working in a stereotypically macho work world and society. Dealing with transmissible venereal diseases I knew something about, but not alopecia. But I have a lot of respect for the female volunteers who did their work while facing formidable challenges and restrictions that their male counterparts did not. “The “toughest job you’ll ever love” was doubly so for women volunteers, and even more so for Bailey, whose very visible condition made integration even more challenging.

Her efforts to adjust to her hair loss, and to the social pressure to conform to a well-coiffed image, are constant themes in her book. She describes her many efforts, starting at a very young age, to conceal her condition and conform to societal expectations, and shared the story of her failed marriage with impressive vulnerability.

Bailey goes on to describe the next chapter of her life, as she decided to challenge herself by training for and participating in a marathon. This gave her the additional confidence to take on, at age 35, a Peace Corps assignment in Honduras, which also meant abandoning her beloved wig for a kerchief or, in Spanish, pañuelo. One of the most excruciating moments she relates was when the photographer taking photos for her Honduran government ID insisted that she remove her pañuelo, something she hadn’t done even for her closest friends.

If life in the Peace Corps wasn’t challenging enough, she was assigned to work on the hellishly hot backwater community on Amapala Island, a place I know from my own visit there. Her efforts to adjust to the community and its gossipy locals, and to get things done in the face of skepticism and indifference are the stuff of many volunteer experiences. Referred to as “pañuelo girl”, she made headway and did her best.

Despite her efforts, her ability to fully engage the community fell short and she describes the next phase of her Peace Corps service, with a new assignment near the Nicaraguan border. Her self-image and self-confidence grew along with a romantic attraction and, ultimately, a new relationship.

Bailey’s journey, well-written and highly personal, reveals the complicated self-awareness and self-confidence that she ultimately achieved with her time in the PeaceCorps and carried back to her life in the US.

While she is not here to enjoy the praise – she died on June 12, 2015 – the efforts of her editor Susana Donato to bring her story to light enriches our community and I highly recommend this memoir and the powerful journey it describes.

Robert Thurston (Venezuela 1968-70) received an undergraduate degree in political science at the University of Oregon and a master’s degree in agricultural economics and rural sociology at the University of Tennessee. He was an associate Peace Corps Director in Belize and Honduras (1972-76) and served with USAID in Honduras, Bolivia, India, Nepal and Indonesia (1976-1994). He subsequently worked as a consultant to USAID programs in Malawi, Bolivia, and throughout Central America and the Caribbean region. Rob completed his karmic cycle by helping Oregon college students engage with the wider world through the Oregon State University system’s ie3 international internship program. Rob has written a memoir, Life’s Treks and Trails: My Journey from Vale to Kathmandu; and a novel of dark intrigue called Devil’s Breath.