The Peace Corps

Agency history, current news and stories of the people who are/were both on staff and Volunteers.

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Feud’s Truman Capote by Larry Grobel (Ghana)
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Which RPCV Writer Tells the Best “Peace Corps Story”?
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Peter Navarro (Thailand) going to jail
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Review | YET TO BE REVEALED by Geri Marr Burdman (Bolivia)
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WORDMAN by P.F. Kluge (Micronesia)
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Returned Peace Corps Volunteers visit Belize
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A Journey of Resilience: Bishnu Maya Pariyar (Nepal)
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Interview with Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn
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Review | BURMA SAHIB by Paul Theroux (Malawi)
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Peace Corps Volunteers sworn in, marking historic return to Sri Lanka
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CoastLine: How Peace Corps service influenced four volunteers . . .
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Peter Hessler Sells His Car in China
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The Volunteer Who Became the U. S. Ambassador to Finland | Charles C. Adams, jr. (Kenya)
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The Volunteer who became a noted playwright | Rajiv Joseph (Senegal)
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Peace Corps Week features film screening Feb. 29 at University of Nebraska

Feud’s Truman Capote by Larry Grobel (Ghana)

Feud’s Truman Capote Doesn’t Shine Like the Man I Knew Yes, he was a lonely, tormented alcoholic at the end, but he was also a riveting dinner companion and a transcendent writer. by Lawrence Grobel (Ghana 1968-71) MARCH 13, 2024 Capote does his version of a fan dance to the disco beat at Studio  Aminute before the Today show’s cameras rolled in February 1985, Jane Pauley smiled and said, “I’ll begin by asking you about Truman’s hate list.” My own smile disappeared, and my eyes widened in fright. I was about to go on national television to promote my first book, Conversations with Capote, and she wanted me to talk about some of the two thousand people Truman Capote claimed to have on his “hate list.” In the seconds before the camera’s red light turned green, my mind whirred through some of those people, and I didn’t feel confident that I’d get his dislikes right. . . .

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Which RPCV Writer Tells the Best “Peace Corps Story”?

Which Peace Corps writer in the 62+ years of the agency  has made the biggest impression on you by what they have written about their Peace Corps tour? You pick your writer from the book (s) she or he has written. The winner will  be awarded a special ‘Peace Corps’ prize Peace Corps Writers and we’ll profile who it is on our site. Post on our website your ‘best’ Peace Corps writer and email me the writer’s name: jcoyneone@gmail.com Also tell why you think your person is the best of all our wonderful writers in the Peace Corps. Thank you, John & Marian

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Peter Navarro (Thailand) going to jail

In the news   WASHINGTON (AP) — An appeals court denied Trump White House official and RPCV Peter Navarro’s (Thailand 1965-68) bid to stave off his jail sentence on contempt of Congress charges Thursday. Navarro has been ordered to report to a federal prison by March 19. He argued he should stay free as he appeals his conviction for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

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Review | YET TO BE REVEALED by Geri Marr Burdman (Bolivia)

  Yet to be Revealed: Finding Paths to Meaning by Geri Marr Burdman, Ph.D. (Bolivia 1962-64) GeroWise Books November 2023 124 pages $16.95 (Paperback) Reviewed by Gary D. Robinson (Colombia 1962–64; El Salvador staff 1967–68; DC staff 1969-71)  • • •  In Yet to be Revealed: Finding Paths to Meaning, Dr. Geri Marr Burdman takes the reader on an enlightening journey to discover meaning and purpose in life. This exploration, she suggests, becomes increasingly important as we age. The book encourages readers to reflect deeply on when they last contemplated what gives their lives significance, introducing the idea that the quest for meaning is a lifelong journey for some. In contrast, others may not embark on this path until a personal or family crisis strikes. Drawing on her extensive experience in health and gerontology education, as well as her international efforts starting with her time as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bolivia . . .

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WORDMAN by P.F. Kluge (Micronesia)

  Wordman by P.F. Kluge (Micronesia 1967-69) Peace Corps Writers Publishers January 2024 204 pages $22.00 (Paperback) • • •  The summation of a distinguished career in writing fiction, writing for film, travel writing, and teaching, P.F. Kluge’s Wordman is a source book for emerging writers and a memorable set of reflections upon a life spent as a journalist, author, and teacher. Kluge’s service in the Peace Corps in the early 1960s provided an unexpected geographic focus that has accrued to a lifetime of novels and creative nonfiction. Of the many successful Peace Corps writers, P.F. Kluge (Micronesia 1967-69) is recognized as one of our most accomplished, having published seven novels, two books of nonfiction, and countless articles for The Wall Street Journal, Life, Playboy, Rolling Stone, and Smithsonian. With his Master of Arts degree and a PhD from the University of Chicago, he has been for the last ten years the . . .

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Returned Peace Corps Volunteers visit Belize

BELMOPAN, BELIZE March 7, 2024 Seven Returned Peace Corps Volunteers visited the Peace Corps headquarters March 6, 2024. They are in country to visit decades after having served as volunteers and to learn about the work that Peace Corps Belize is currently doing in the education and youth development sectors. The group was led by former Ambassador Frank Almaguer. Frank Almaguer is an American retired diplomat and career Foreign Service Officer. Almaguer served in the Peace Corps as a volunteer in Orange Walk Town, Belize from 1967 to 1969. In 1999, Almaguer served as United States Ambassador to Honduras from August 1999 to September 2002.       The returned Peace Corps Volunteers had worked in the education sector during 1960s and 1970s. Since President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps by executive order on March 1, 1961, more than 240,000 Americans have served in 143 host countries. Peace . . .

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A Journey of Resilience: Bishnu Maya Pariyar (Nepal)

After overcoming caste-based discrimination in her early years, Bishnu Maya Pariyar is now known for tireless efforts in uplifting marginalized communities. by Jagdishor Panday Katmandu Post 3/8/2024   Bishnu Maya Pariyar was born and raised in a supportive home in Shahid Lakhan Municipality Ward 4 in Gorkha District. She calls herself fortunate not to have experienced gender violence in her younger years. However, being born into a Dalit family, she faced caste-based discrimination.  Her parents, farmers by profession, were also not financially well off. She remembers that her mother, like many Nepali women of her time, never learned to read. “Growing up, girls—especially ones from the so-called ‘lower castes’—weren’t sent to school. Even when we did go, we were teased and bullied by other kids,” she recalls. Despite these challenges, she remained resilient and continued her education. Pariyar considers herself fortunate to have a father who recognised that education was . . .

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Interview with Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Dale Gilles (Liberia 1964-66)   In this episode of ‘@ HydePark with Indeewari Amuwatte,’ Carol Spahn, the Director of Peace Corps, who is in Sri Lanka, to oversee the swearing in of 20 Peace Corps Volunteers from the United States, discuss the educational program that is set to be implemented in the country. The 25th group  of Peace Corps volunteers to be posted there, are set to embark on a two-year service journey as English teachers in the Central and Uva provinces. The Director of the Peace Corps, Spahn said that Volunteers will work alongside their Sri Lankan counterparts, including English teachers and principals, to deliver English language instruction to Sri Lankan school children. Further, she also discusses the challenges and opportunities experienced by the Peace Corps while commending the support of the local authorities and added that the Peace Corps is willing to . . .

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Review | BURMA SAHIB by Paul Theroux (Malawi)

  Burma Sahib by Paul Theroux (Malawi 1963-65) Mariner Books February 2024 400 pages $14.99 (Kindle); $30.00 (Hardback);  1 Credit (Audio book) Reviewed by Mark D. Walker (Guatemala 1971-73)   • • •  Here one of the more prolific, best-known Returned Peace Corps Volunteer authors reimagines one of English literature’s most controversial writers in his early, formative years. Theroux leads us on the journey of Eric Blair, a British Raj officer in Colonial Burma to his transformation to George Orwell, the anti-colonial writer. Blair set sail for India shortly after graduating from the same prestigious private school of Eton whose alumni included Boris Johnson and nineteen other British prime ministers. Despite his young age (19), he would oversee local policemen in Burma and deal with his fellow British’s racial and class politics while trying to learn new languages. His father, a middling official in Britain’s opium trade, had served in India, and . . .

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Peace Corps Volunteers sworn in, marking historic return to Sri Lanka

    Colombo, March 06, 2024 – In a ceremony held in Colombo on March 6, Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn, U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung, First Lady Professor Maithree Wickremesinghe, and Minister of Education Dr. Susil Premajayantha officiated the swearing-in of 20 Peace Corps Volunteers from the United States. This marks the 25th group of Peace Corps Volunteers to serve in Sri Lanka since 1998. The cohort of skilled, diverse Trainees arrived in November 2023 to begin 12 weeks of training. Following three months of intensive training in language, culture, and effective engagement within Sri Lankan schools, these Volunteers will now embark on a two-year service journey as English teachers in the Central and Uva provinces. They will work alongside their Sri Lankan counterparts, including English teachers and principals, to deliver English language instruction to Sri Lankan school children. Addressing the swearing-in ceremony, U.S. Ambassador Julie Chung . . .

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CoastLine: How Peace Corps service influenced four volunteers . . .

In the news By Rachel Lewis Hilburn WHQR, Wilmington, NC February 26, 2024 . . . they worked in Ukraine, Namibia, Armenia, and Tonga   Since 1961, the Peace Corps, envisioned and created by President John F. Kennedy, has sent volunteers around the globe to help developing countries.  The obvious aim is to meet the goals identified by the host country – not the Americans.  But just as important are the relationships that develop from this work, promoting world peace and friendship. “How many of you who are going to be doctors, are willing to spend your days in Ghana?… on your willingness to contribute part of your life, I think will depend the answer whether a free society can compete.” Those are the words of then-Senator John F. Kennedy, delivered in a 2 AM impromptu speech at the University of Michigan. It was October 14, 1960, during his presidential campaign, when . . .

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Peter Hessler Sells His Car in China

CENSORED ESSAY: PETER HESSLER SELLS HIS CAR Posted by Alexander Boyd | Feb 29, 2024   Acclaimed writer Peter Hessler (China 1996-98) is selling his car in Chengdu, after leaving China in 2021 when his teaching contract was abruptly terminated. Online, the sale of his Honda CRV has spurred a series of reflections on Hessler’s impact on China and on the closing of a chapter in U.S.-China relations. Hessler wrote three famous books on China: River Town, on his Peace Corps service in rural Chongqing; Oracle Bones, a portrait of China past and present with the recurring eponymous motif of China’s oldest recorded writing system; and “Country Driving,” a travelogue detailing his journeys across China. (A fourth, Other Rivers, is on the way.) Some of the reflections on Hessler have proven politically sensitive. In an essay that was later censored, the writer Zhang Feng took to WeChat to lament Hessler’s departure as a . . .

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

  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 . . .

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

  ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­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 . . .

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Peace Corps Week features film screening Feb. 29 at University of Nebraska

    A screening of the documentary, “A Towering Task: The Story of the Peace Corps,” will be presented at 5 p.m. Feb. 29 in the Nebraska Union’s Swanson Auditorium at the University of Nebraska. In the film, host country nationals, Peace Corps Volunteers and staff, and scholars and journalists take a closer look at peace building, economic development, and political independence through the Peace Corps’ more than six decades of trials and transformations. “A Towering Task” asks what role should the Peace Corps play in the 21st century? Sponsored by the Global Experiences Office, School of Global Integrative Studies, and Forsythe Family Program on Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, the screening is free and open to the public. Popcorn and soda will be served. Learn more on the events calendar and RSVP by Feb. 28. This event takes place during Peace Corps Week (Feb. 25 to March 2), which commemorates March 1, 1961, . . .

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