The Peace Corps experience – Peace Corps Worldwide

Review | FROM MOUNTAINS TO MEDICINE by Erica M. Elliott, MD (Ecuador)

Aug 24 2024

Review — From Mountains to Medicine: Scaling the Heights in Search of My Calling Erica M. Elliott, M.D. (Ecuador 1974–76) Lammastide Publishing January 2024 383 pages $19.95 (paperback), $16.99 (Kindle), 1 credit (audiobook– author narrator Reviewed by Sue Hoyt Aiken (Ethiopia 1962-64) . . . This is a remarkable memoir with vivid descriptions that confirmed how happy I , as the reader, was to be safely at home and not dangling from a rope at a very high altitude! It is fair to say her story takes us to the depths of despair, confusion, darkness and up to the highest peaks, exhilaration, pure joy and onward to many life accomplishments. As a Peace Corps Volunteer and Returned Peace Corps Volunteer she takes the life lessons learned while in these roles into a variety of situations. But before the Peace Corps there was a teaching experience with the Navaho in New Mexico, complicated . . .

Remembering RPCV Dennis Grubb (Colombia 1961-63)

Aug 18 2024

One of the youngest and first Peace Corps Volunteers, Dennis Grubb began serving in Colombia at age 19 in 1961. He was a sophomore at Penn State when President John F. Kennedy mentioned the idea of a Peace Corps; Grubb left school and became part of the first group of Volunteers. It changed his life. He trained several hundred future Volunteers, and he literally became the Peace Corps poster boy, his face appearing on a flyer displayed in post offices across the U.S. He served as an aide to Sargent Shriver, who esteemed him “one of the first and one of the best” Volunteers. He was a great advocate for Peace Corps on Capitol Hill. Equipped with degrees from the Southern Illinois University School of Law and American University, he went to Tunisia on a Fulbright. His international experience translated to work with the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and USAID, introducing reforms . . .

New books by Peace Corps writers | November — December 2023

Jan 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 . . .

William Hershey’s (Ethiopia) book on his Peace Corps experience

Dec 10 2023

by Michael Douglas Beacon Journal editorial page editor (retired) William Hershey admits to “a touch of idealism” in joining the Peace Corps nearly six decades ago. He also had in mind avoiding the draft. As a twentysomething completing graduate school, he easily could have found himself on a path to joining the massive American military deployment in Vietnam. Thus, a persistent tension informs his engaging and insightful new book, “Taking the Plunge into Ethiopia: Tales of a Peace Corps Volunteer.” American idealism contends with indelible realities. In telling his story, Hershey also helps us understand our own time and dilemmas, from the plight of refugees to the Russian aggression in Ukraine. The book is part of the indispensable (to followers of Ohio political life) Bliss Institute Series, published by the University of Akron Press. Hershey has made multiple contributions, including an entertaining biography of Ray C. Bliss, “Mr. Chairman,” written with . . .

Lizzie Heilmann (Zambia) awarded Domer Dozen

Nov 11 2023

In the news — Lizzie Heilmann, daughter of Dr. Timothy and Sue Heilmann, graduate of Loyalsock Township High School and 2015 graduate of the University of Notre Dame has been award the “Domer Dozen” award for her work promoting better health care and prevention in Africa. The Domer Dozen program, according to a news release, is the signature initiative of YoungND, the Alumni Association’s young alumni group. The 2023 honorees have displayed extraordinary dedication to the Alumni Association’s mission and have excelled in public service, health care, immigration, church life and entertainment, among other areas. Heilmann was chosen by a selection committee consisting of the YoungND board, university officials and Alumni Association staff, which considered 182 nominees this summer and evaluated them based on a weighted ranking system and their contributions in their respective fields. “Taking to heart the call to serve those most in need across the world, Lizzie . . .

Florence Phillips (Guatemala, Jamaica, Kenya) is still volunteering. You can too!

Oct 28 2023

Born in New York to Jewish parents who fled Europe before the holocaust, RPCV Florence Phillips knows firsthand what is like to be the child of immigrants who don’t speak English. “My parents could not talk to my teachers; my parents could not help me with homework,” said Phillips. But all of that would change when she joined the Peace Corps. Florence served three tours of duty as a Peace Corps Volunteer in three different countries. 1988 – 1989 PCV Guatemala Organized 12 Mayan Indian women in a small village and assisted them in forming a cooperative weaving business. Established local and tourist markets for their products. 1990 – 1992 PCV Jamaica Small Enterprise Development and Business Advisor. Secondary projects established included teaching remedial reading and tutoring at primary school level; organized sport activities; taught adult literacy. 1997 – 1999 PCV Kenya Small Enterprise Development and Business Advisor. Taught . . .