The Peace Corps

  David E. White Jr. currently serves as Special Assistant to the President in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel (PPO). Prior to this role, he served on the National Security Council as Senior Advisor to the White House Coordinator for Operation Allies Welcome, where he facilitated whole-of-government efforts to provide housing, health care, education, employment, and other resources at scale for nearly 90,000 Afghan allies resettled in the United States. An attorney by training, White joined the Biden-Harris Administration as Deputy Associate Counsel in PPO. He was previously a member of the Biden-Harris Transition Team and an attorney at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in New York City. White began his career in public service as a cavalry officer in the U.S. Army. He served on active duty in a variety of domestic and overseas assignments, including as a Scout Platoon Leader in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in support of . . .

Calling all RPCV Writers Are you writing a novel, a memoir, a scholarly essay, poems, and/or short stories? Whether what you’re working on is about the Peace Corps or not, you are invited to the Second Peace Corps Writers Workshop this October on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. The Workshop—open to a maximum of 15 RPCV writers—will be held from Thursday, October 5, to Sunday, October 7, at Shore Retreats on Broad Creek. The cost ranges from $100 to $500, depending on the applicant’s economic circumstances, and includes shared living quarters and most meals. If interested, please contact Matt Losak (Lesotho 1985-87) at: tokamaphepa@aol.com. The Workshop, organized by Peace Corps Worldwide and supported by the Peace Corps Fund, will be led by Mark Brazaitis (Guatemala 1991-93), an English professor at West Virginia University, where he directs the Creative Writing Program and the West Virginia Writers’ Workshop. The author . . .

To publish with Peace Corps Writers imprint Peace Corps Writers — a component of Peace Corps Worldwide —  publishes a line of books by writers who have served with the Peace Corps either as Volunteers or staff members. These books — fiction, non-fiction, travel, memoir, poetry, etc.— are printed by Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), a print-on-demand (POD) company and subsidiary of Amazon.com, carry the logo of the Peace Corps Writers imprint, are sold through Amazon.com, and are featured on Peace Corps Worldwide with an announcement of publication in addition to listing in “New Books by Peace Corps Writers,” an interview with the author(s), and a review, should the authors choose to have them. Books need not be about the Peace Corps, the author’s Peace Corps experience, or be set overseas in the country where served. Books by the family and friends of PCVs are also welcome to submit proposals if the . . .

Participatory Interfaith Dialogue     By Yossef Ben-Meir (Morocco 1993-95 & APDC 1998-99) Twenty-nine years ago, I was a Peace Corps Volunteer living in a mountainous High Atlas village called Amsouzerte, near the southern side of Morocco’s Toubkal National Park. Back then, the journey from the village to the nearest city centers took almost 20 hours along unpaved roads and mountain passes. At the foot of a mountainside, fifty kilometers from Amsouzerte, I would sometimes catch sight of an old, white mausoleum that seemed misplaced among the earth-brick homes characteristic of rural Moroccan landscapes. Looking upon this eroding mountain area, I could envision huge swaths of terraces constructed above the mausoleum for the local Muslim community to build tree nurseries and derive generational benefits. Tree nurseries are very valuable for Moroccan farming communities because 70 percent of agricultural land in the country generates only 10-15 percent of agricultural revenue. Fruit tree cultivation . . .

She’s secretly burned for him for years. Derek Severson left his career as a firefighter after tragedy shook him to his soul. Running his uncle’s beachside bar on a south Texas island gives him the chance to heal, find peace, and avoid entanglements. That is, until Macey, his childhood friend, tracks him down. After two years abroad in a developing country, Macey Locke is ready to dive in to her Peace Corps-inspired foundation. But when she learns Derek is suffering, she can’t turn her back. Six weeks on a tropical island to help the guy she’s loved for years? No-brainer. Derek can’t help but notice she’s not the same girl he used to know. She’s more. More self-assured, more determined, more irresistible. But is she enough for him to let go of his newfound fragile peace and give in to the passion sparking between them? Playing with Fire is a . . .

June 14, 2023 Twenty-one new Peace Corps Volunteers arrived in Kathmandu this week. After completing an intensive 11-week Pre-Service Training, these trainees will swear-in as the 208th group of Peace Corps Volunteers to serve in Nepal since the U.S. program’s founding in 1962. They are the first group to arrive since the global evacuation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The new volunteers join nearly 4,000 volunteers who have previously come to Nepal to serve since 1962. Speaking at the training center in Bhaktapur, U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Jason Meeks said, “With the more than 60-year partnership between the Government of Nepal and Peace Corps, we are pleased to welcome this first batch of volunteers to return to service in Nepal after more than three years. Peace Corps Volunteers working in rural locations throughout Nepal and in partnership with their communities demonstrate the strong and growing bonds between our two countries.” . . .

PCEC incoming volunteers, PCVs and staff The Peace Corps Eastern Caribbean (PCEC) islands of Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines are buzzing with preparations for the second batch of incoming Peace Corps Volunteers, since their initial return to the region in 2022, after the pandemic. The Volunteers will continue the important work of supporting the Education institutions of our host countries under the English Literacy in Primary Schools project. The project places Literacy Resource Volunteers in primary schools across the four islands, with the goal of helping students attain literacy skills to increase their academic and life opportunities. Prospective Volunteers are excited about getting to work with students, teachers, and their community members. Peace Corps provides an intense 9-week training program for the incoming Volunteers. Shirley, a Volunteer who first started her career with Peace Corps in the late 1970’s in Africa, is serving again and . . .

Melissa Tanji Staff Writer Wailuku resident and Seabury Hall graduate Renae “Bella” Lallo stands at El Cajas National Park in Ecuador. The 21-year-old is no stranger to visiting foreign countries and will soon embark on her Peace Corps mission in Panama later this month, making her among the first Peace Corps volunteers heading out for overseas service since the agency pulled many of its volunteers from the field at the start of the pandemic. While in college she stayed with a host family in Ecuador. — Photos courtesy Renae “Bella” Lallo For a 21-year-old, Wailuku resident Renae “Bella” Lallo has already seen more places than most would in a lifetime, traveling to Zambia and Iraq for medical missions, living with a host family in Ecuador and vacationing in countries such as Spain and Germany, to name a few.And, later this month, she will soon embark on another quest, perhaps more challenging . . .