The Peace Corps

Published on Monday, October 2, 2023 By the A.M. Costa Rica staff The Peace Corps is celebrating its 60th anniversary in Costa Rica. Since 1963, Peace Corps volunteers have served at the invitation of the Costa Rican government to help fulfill the country’s development goals. “With nearly one-fifth of Costa Rica’s population living below the poverty line, concerning rates of unemployment, and a public education system stretching to meet the learning needs of every child, Peace Corps Volunteers see the version of Costa Rica that cannot be found in a tourism ad- its persistent pockets of poverty, the genuine needs that affect vulnerable communities and the stunning beauty of this diverse country,” the organization said in its statement. As part of the celebration, 26 new volunteers were sworn in, and they will serve in various communities around the country, as have over 3,900 Americans since 1963.  

The Peace Corps and Thai Collections at NIU: Fall 2023 Collections Colloquium Join the Northern Illinois University (NIU Library Special Collections and Archives Department and the Southeast Asia Library for the annual Fall Collections Colloquium featuring presentations on the impact of the Peace Corps on the NIU Community. Retired NIU Thai Studies professor and Peace Corps volunteer, Dr. John Hartman (Thailand 1964-67), will reflect on his involvement with the Peace Corps training program at NIU and his experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand. Southeast Asia Library Curator, Hao Phan, will present on the digitization of Thai Peace Corps materials in the Southeast Asian library holdings. Additionally, NIU School of Music Instructor, Chamni Sripraram, will perform selections of traditional Thai music with the Thai Music Ensemble. The Colloquium will be held in the Founders Memorial Library First Floor Gallery on October 19, 2023, from 4:30-6:00 pm. This event is . . .

In the news —   by Cigale Ahlquist     When Steve DeBoer (Ecuador 1978-80) crossed the finish line in Langford Park’s Fourth of July road race last month, he was mere blocks from his boyhood home on Raymond Avenue in St. Anthony Park in St. Paul, MN. But running has taken him so much farther. Not long after taking up the sport as a high school freshman in 1968 to get in shape for basketball, DeBoer focused on running. Since 1971, he has logged at least a mile for what is now more than 18,000 consecutive days. Back then he thought: Let’s see how many days I can do this. When people talk about streaks in athletics, Cal Ripken Jr.’s name comes to mind. The Baseball Hall of Famer known as “The Iron Man” played in 2,632 consecutive games for the Baltimore Orioles over 17 seasons. DeBoer’s streak hit . . .

    Legendary U.S. broadcaster Bill Moyers is set to join fellow journalist Judy Woodruff Thursday evening for a conversation and screening at the Library of Congress’ Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington, D.C. to celebrate a collection of his work spanning half a century. “They will discuss changes in the media and journalism over more than five decades, their experience covering America and foreign affairs, the Civil Rights Movement, race, and the clash of ideologies, including challenges to democracy from capital, extremism, and growing conflicts over the freedom of democracy,” according to the Library of Congress. Woodruff chairs the executive advisory council of the American Archive of Public Broadcasting—a collaboration between the Library of Congress and Boston’s GBH that pulled together more than 1,000 television programs for its recently unveiled Bill Moyers Collection, most of which is available online at AmericanArchive.org. “The Bill Moyers Collection offers a wealth of engaging . . .

A Towering Task Coming to PBS Nationwide A Towering Task: The Story of the Peace Corps is coming to PBS stations across the country. There will be a nationwide premiere of A Towering Task on the PBS World channel on Friday, September 29th at 8pm and Saturday, September 30th at 3am, 9am, and 3pm. In addition, individual stations are scheduling the film in local markets starting September 2nd. You can click this link to see the broadcasts that have been scheduled so far. And we are adding stations and dates every day. Here is the link to click for the broadcasts that have been scheduled thus far: https://www.peacecorpsdocumentary.com/broadcast And here is the link for more info: http://bit.ly/47SZP0J

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from John Pettit (Ethiopia 1965-67) & Matt Losak (Lesotho 1985-87)   Applicants have challenged the Peace Corps practice of rescinding invitations to applicants on the basis of mental health conditions. by Ellen Barry the New York Times Sept. 27, 2023 Lea Iodice was thrilled to hear that the Peace Corps had accepted her application and was sending her to Senegal as a community health care worker. She shared the good news with her roommates, her family and her favorite professor and daydreamed about her last day at her job, managing a gym called SnapFitness. She was crushed, about a month later, to receive a letter from the Peace Corps Office of Medical Services saying that her offer was being rescinded because she was in treatment for anxiety. Though she had been in therapy to manage occasional panic attacks, she had never taken any psychiatric medication, . . .

  The WOW Factor: Words of Wisdom from Wise Older Women By Bonnie Lee Black (Gabon 1996-98) At the beginning of each new semester when I taught English 101 at UNM in Taos, New Mexico, I would draw a huge circle on the front board, while the semicircle of first-year students sat and stared. “This is the world,” I’d say, patting the circle. “And these . . . ” I quickly marked the circle with lots of short, horizontal dashes “— are problems in the world. As I see it, our job as individuals – our personal purpose – is to seek out one of those little negatives and turn it into a positive, using all the intelligence, talents, heart and soul we’ve been given.” I scanned the room to read the students’ reactions. Their faces looked blank —what we used to call “subway faces” in New York — registering . . .

Marian Haley Beil, publisher and John Coyne, editor – both Ethiopia PCVs 1962-64 Together we are currently responsible for the blog Peace Corps Worldwide and the Peace Corps Writers Imprint. Our efforts are at the heart of the Third Goal of the Peace Corps — to “bring the world back home.” We support the writings of RPCVs and PCVs in a positive way to educate Americans about the world and share with all who have a desire for international understanding. Since 1989 John and Marian have been publishing about the many PCVs and RPCV writers. We have promoted their books, essays, poetry and stories; we have interviewed them; announced their new book publications; reviewed their books; published their books, and made it easy for our readers to obtain their books. John is the schmoozer/editor/writer who gathers, and many times writes, the material; and Marian, the publisher, edits, designs, and distributes. In . . .

Here is a short video of Marian Haley Beil talking about creating Peace Corps Writers website with John Coyne.The link to the video: https://youtu.be/y7lLWyXQ_zw?si=fVXR7IQ8lJqE2ztq

    Turning outward bound into homeward bound; that’s an unforgettable experience that took place at The University of New Mexico in Albuquerque on Sept. 19, 2023. Decades in the making, members of the UNM Peace Corps Outward Bound Training 1963 class, known as Colombia VIII, reunited at UNM. Now retired with families and memories, these Peace Corps alumni were able to relive their lives from years ago. Thanks to the College of University Libraries & Learning Sciences (CULLS), and its archives these former students were able to recollect through old photos of their time training for the Peace Corps at UNM. “It was such a pleasure seeing the Peace Corps reunion today. I’m impressed that so many people traveled from around the country to be here. It just shows how important the Peace Corps were to everyone’s lives,” University Archivist Portia Vescio said. Vescio, Graduate Student Amber Lane and Macon McCrossen led the . . .

In the news —     New USAID mission director Reed Aeschliman (Thailand 1981-83) on Thursday said the agency followed three principles in its activities in Bangladesh as its “development assistance” program had now turned into a “development partnership.” “The first principle is to be a good partner,” he said while meeting journalists at the American Center for the first time since his arrival in Dhaka on August 20. Principle number two is to expand USAID’s investments to local institutions, and the third is to harness the power of the private sector fully in achieving development goals. “We have moved from development assistance to development partnership. Fifty years ago we were development assistance. Now we want to be a good trading partner. That’s win-win,” he said. “USAID will continue to invest in the Bangladeshi people – whether it’s building the skills of farmers, doctors, nurses, school teachers or emergency responders . . .