The Peace Corps

Mark your calendars for an April 11, 2024 at 7:00pm(et) set for a virtual program: In Conversation with Marnie Mueller (Ecuador 1963-65). Marnie’s new book is a stunning story, a combined memoir and biography (maybe a new genre?) about her own life and a life-changing friendship. The book, The Showgirl and the Writer: A Friendship Forged in the Aftermath of the Japanese American Incarceration, tells the remarkable true story of two women, one white and one Asian, who forged a deep friendship based on the secrets they carried. Marnie Mueller, a Caucasian, was born in a Japanese incarceration camp during World War II, because her parents had moved there to help make life more tolerable for the internees. Later, when the family moved to New England, Marnie was scarred by anti-Semitism and learned not to reveal her religion and her birth in the internment camp. Which of these experiences defined Marnie? It . . .

I am excited to write today with some great news on our latest fundraising effort. Last month we announced a $500,000 gift commitment for Peace Corps Park from Ms. Jacqueline Mars, provided that we raise an equivalent amount to match. In the four weeks since, we have met the first $250,000 of the challenge and are well on our way to matching Ms. Mars’ entire gift! The Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation board of directors and advisory board led the way, with dozens of others responding enthusiastically and giving our campaign heightened momentum. Meanwhile, Foundation board directors and our Peace Corps Park design team convened in Washington, D.C. with the National Park Service, as the final design is refined to perfection. Details like the placement of inscriptions on the granite benches, selection of lettering font, and accessibility measures are now nearly finalized. We anticipate approval of the final design by the National Park . . .

Peace Corps Pushes Expanded Overseas Voting Fred Lucas / @FredLucasWH / March 25, 2024 The Peace Corps says it will comply with President Joe Biden’s order for federal agencies to help get out the vote by boosting voting overseas in U.S. elections. Pictured: A Peace Corps contingency marches last June 25 during the 53rd annual San Francisco Pride Parade and Celebration in San Francisco. (Photo: Miikka Skaffari/WireImage/Getty Images) FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—To comply with an executive order from President Joe Biden, the Peace Corps pushed to make its headquarters a voter registration center, upped efforts to register U.S. citizens abroad, and moved to supply multilingual voter registration forms.  The Peace Corps, a federal agency, assigns volunteers to provide services and meet needs in over 60 countries. The agency released its plan to implement Biden’s order late last week in response to a request by The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project under the Freedom of . . .

A Conversation about The Call with Jamie Price & Judith Guskin     Join author Jamie Price and Judith Guskin in a dialogue followed by Q&A The Call looks at the role of the spirit in the life and work of one of the most accomplished American peacebuilders of the 20th twentieth century, Robert Sargent Shriver (1915-2011), founder of the Peace Corps and architect of the War on Poverty. Author Jamie Price knew Shriver personally and served as the Founding Director of several programs dedicated to understanding and advancing Shriver’s approach. On Monday, March 25 at 12:00 PM ET, we’re joining forces with Insight Collaborations International  for a conversation about SSPI Founding Director Jamie Price‘s latest book, The Call: The Spiritual Realism of Sargent Shriver. Try clicking https://icischedule.as.me/schedule/5ea46a71 Judith Guskin (Thailand 1961-64) Judith Guskin holds an MA in Comparative Literature and a PhD in Educational Psychology with a focus on history, anthropology, linguistics, and cultural . . .

How I Got Here: Shari Cohen Explores the World Through Seal & Scribe By Karen Dybis | March 20, 2024 Thanks to jet lag and a lifelong affection for antiques, Shari Cohen (Botswana 1987-89) made her way from a fine arts and consulting career that took her around the world into her own fine jewelry brand that turns intaglio seals into one-of-a-kind pieces. Cohen, who founded Seal & Scribe in 2016, says her foundation in art, photography, and storytelling helped her develop a thriving business. Her family, who also are jewelry lovers, also were significant influences on her interest in restoring and marketing heirlooms for another generation of owners. Her parents had an apparel business that frequently took them from their home in northwest New Jersey into New York City and on business trips to Asia. “My mother always had custom jewelry made when she was in Hong Kong,” says Cohen. “Sometimes we would put . . .

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

  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 . . .

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 . . .