The Peace Corps

  October 28, 2022 The arrival of this inaugural cohort of Trainees is a significant milestone for bilateral relations between the United States and Viet Nam. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Peace Corps has announced that 10 Peace Corps Trainees arrived safely in Hanoi, Viet Nam, in an historic first. Earlier this week, Peace Corps headquarters staff organized a sendoff event in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the landmark occasion. The Honorable Nguyen Quoc Dzung, Ambassador of Viet Nam to the U.S., offered the Trainees his support for their service. Next week, the U.S. Ambassador to Viet Nam, the Honorable Marc Knapper, will welcome the Trainees to Viet Nam at the Peace Corps office in Hanoi. “Formalizing our country partnership with Viet Nam began with discussions in 2002, which led to the signing of an implementing agreement in 2020, and culminated in yesterday’s joyous moment when the first Trainees stepped foot on Vietnamese soil,” said Peace . . .

The CorpsAfrica team comprises people from diverse backgrounds and experiences, bound together by our commitment to youth leaders and communities across Africa. We work across seven countries, supporting 600+ Volunteers and alums. To meet the needs of our growing organization, we are currently seeking several impact-driven, dynamic individuals who will be instrumental to the organization’s growth in the following leadership positions: At the Global Support Office: Chief Development Officer Chief Financial Officer Human Resources Manager In Senegal: Deputy Director of CorpsAfrica/Senegal Please apply and share these opportunities with anyone that might be interested. You can also find the position descriptions on the jobs page of our website here. Thank you for your ongoing support! Sincerely, Liz Fanning (Morocco 1993-95) Founder and Executive Director

from John Coyne —   I found this item on Library Thing   In 1959, a groundbreaking study of nonverbal communication, The Silent Language, was published to international acclaim. Written by Edward T. Hall, a cultural anthropologist, it was one of the first books to examine the complex ways people communicate with one another without speaking. More than thirty years later, The Silent Language has never been out of print, has been translated into several languages, has sold more than 1.5 million copies in the U.S., and remains the definitive book in its field. Today, Ned Hall is a world-renowned expert in intercultural communication, sought after by government agencies, businesses and universities throughout the world for his expertise in interpreting the hidden meanings behind what people are saying to one another. Now, in a remarkably candid and personal book, he tells the story of the first fifty years of his . . .

Christopher Martin kicks off the first Hyde lecture of the season at University of Nebraska–Lincoln By Kerry McCulloug… October 25, 2022 The College of Architecture is excited to announce Christopher Martin (Ghana 2008-10), nationally renowned furniture design-maker, will be giving a Hyde/ Kunzendorf co-sponsored lecture titled “Design Tangents; A Story of Exploration and Common Threads” at 4 p.m., October 28, in the Union Swanson Auditorium. Martin is founder of Christopher Martin Furniture and works as a furniture designer/ maker on commission work and produces a line of small batch furniture pieces for sale online. He also collaborates with traditional artisans in Ghana and India. Before opening his own business Martin taught furniture design in the Department of Art and Visual Culture at Iowa State University starting in 1999, retiring in 2022 as an emeritus professor. In 2008 Martin took leave from his teaching position to serve as a U.S. Peace Corps . . .

5 scandals that have put the Peace Corps in a negative light Nick Penzenstadler USA TODAY  Oct. 24, 2022 The Peace Corps, an independent federal agency, was founded by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to promote “world peace and friendship.” It has dispatched more than 240,000 American volunteers to 141 countries.   Despite its noble goals, the agency has been plagued by a series of scandals, sexual abuse and violence suffered by employees and volunteers. Here are a few examples: 1. Sexual assaults and the murder of Kate Puzey In May 2011, dozens of volunteers provided written testimony to Congress about problems with the Peace Corps’ handling of sexual violence, ranging from failures to train volunteers to mistreatment after assaults. In November 2011, President Barack Obama signed the Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act, named after a volunteer killed in 2009 after she reported sexual misconduct by a coworker and Peace . . .

  Steven Boyd Saum, Director of Strategic Communications at National Peace Corps Association and Editor of WorldView magazine has resigned from the National Peace Corps Association. Steve writes…. After serving as editor of WorldView magazine and directing strategic communications for National Peace Corps Association for the past several years, this is my last week wearing both of those hats. I’ll be sharing more news shortly on the new role I’ll be taking on in California. It’s been a privilege to work with stellar colleagues and to lead a hard-working and creative team during this unprecedented time. An incredible community-driven effort animated the “Peace Corps Connect to the Future” town halls, summit, and report — and laid the groundwork for the most sweeping Peace Corps legislation in a generation. Thanks to contributions of partners and interns and folks across the Peace Corps community, the stories and images that populate WorldView have shaped a magazine . . .

I am sorry for the aging information.  I received the final response to my original August 5. FOIA request on October 7, 2022. The FOIA request is 22-0141. I do not know what caused the long delay,  In June, I had made a FOIA request for the number of serving Volunteers and received a prompt and detailed response. (https://peacecorpsworldwide.org/number-of-peace-corps-voluntees-serving-as-of-june-28-2022/) This is what I had requested, anticipating the same kind of response I had received earlier.  “Documents which show how many more Volunteers entered service after June 28, 2022 and were in service as of August 4, 2022;” and on August 30, 2022, you clarified your request to indicate you would, “like to know the number of Volunteers as of  August 23, 2022.” ” A search conducted by the Office of the Chief Financial Officer provided the following information: between the dates of June 28, 2022 and August 23, 2022, an additional . . .

A spiritual memoir and travelogue, God through Binoculars: A Hitchhiker at a Monastery is about where you go when you have nowhere left to go. After a difficult childhood and a series of tragedies and misfortunes, author Danusha Goska finds herself without hope for the future. Supported by her passion for travel and discovery, as well as her commitment to Catholicism, Goska decides on a retreat at a remote Cistercian monastery. What results is a story about family, friends, nature, and God; the Ivory Tower and the Catholic Church. God through Binoculars is utterly naked and, at times, politically incorrect. Some readers will be shocked. Others will be thrilled and refreshed by its candor, immediacy, and intimacy. Her previous, highly-rated book, Save Send Delete, was enormously well-received, and readers will find that Goska’s ability to tell a masterful story with a powerful message continues in God through Binoculars. God Through . . .

Air Mail “My dad thinks it a good idea to take all the leaves off the tree and rake up the yard. I think he’s crazy.” Banana bikes, top, and a Tupperware party, above, photographed by Bill Owens. “Tupperware is a homemaker’s dream,” said one subject. “I enjoy cooking, dogs, cats, kids, soccer, and living here.”  Keeping Up with Bill Owens The chronicler of small-town America is out with a new book, corresponding to the 50th-anniversary exhibition of his seminal work, Suburbia OCTOBER 8, 2022 “I’m always interested in the story behind the story about what America is about,” the photographer Bill Owens has said. “Not the superficial images of America.” Born in San Jose in 1938, Owens was raised on a farm, then joined the Peace Corps, shipping out to Jamaica (1964-65). He took a camera with him and learned how to use it. When Owens returned to Northern California to study visual anthropology, . . .

  Former Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet Steps into New Role as Global Communities’ President & CEO (Western Samoa)   Global Communities’ President & CEO, Carrie Hessler-Radelet Silver Spring, MD, Oct 03, 2022 — Carrie Hessler-Radelet (Western Samoa 1981-83) stepped into a new role as President & CEO of the international nonprofit organization Global Communities. Hessler-Radelet has served as the organization’s President since April 2020, a position she assumed following a merger with Project Concern International (PCI). “I could not be prouder and more honored to represent the thousands of Global Communities team members in more than 30 countries working every day to save lives, advance equity and secure strong futures,” Hessler-Radelet said. “We are incredibly well-positioned to advance our mission by connecting decades of proven programming with an adaptive mindset and fresh perspective as we stand with communities in meeting today’s most pressing challenges, from crisis and climate change . . .

  Read this news and link to  text of the letter at the NPCA website: https://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/articles/former-peace-corps-directors-call-on-senate-to-pass-the-peace-corps-reauthorization-act • “In a bipartisan show of support, ten former Peace Corps Directors who have served under Republican and Democratic administrations alike call on the Senate to pass the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act. The most sweeping Peace Corps legislation in a generation, it would bring important reforms and support for Volunteers as the agency seeks to meet the needs of a changing world.” From the Press Release: Today, 10 former Peace Corps Directors who served in both Republican and Democratic administrations sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), calling on them to pass the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act (S. 4466). These bipartisan former Peace Corps Directors specifically asked the Senate to move the legislation, co-authored by Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) Chairman Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Ranking . . .

  DAVID BERLEW Hanover, NH — David E. Berlew, a retired psychologist and management consultant specializing in organization change, management development, and entrepreneurial behavior, died on September 28, 2022, at his home at Kendal at Hanover in Hanover, NH. He was 91. David was born in Orono, ME, in 1931 to Lillian (née Kingston) and Herman Berlew. They were both Methodist ministers. After the family moved to New Bedford, MA, when David was 13, he and his older brother Kingston attended the local high school in New Bedford, MA, where David lettered in football. Of his many accomplishments, few gave him as much pride as his induction years later into the New Bedford High School Football Hall of Fame. David started college at Iowa State and eventually graduated from Wesleyan University, but only after two years with the Army in Germany. He married his first wife Diane (née Lehnhardt) in . . .

Lawrence F. Lihosit’s Novelette  1964, Indian Bend Wash, Scottsdale, Arizona. Jack Colter recounts childhood adventures and mishaps in the company of his friends, a stew of Anglos, Yaqui, Papago and Pima Indians. They learn about each other and southwestern lore- eating jumping cactus, applying a sabila poultice and running a full court press while zig-zagging through puberty. Many in their group of grade school peers live in a desert wash settlement that no longer exists, having been replaced with a storm drainage project. Very few even mention it. Yet, the group came together, despite differences, to form a championship team. Those Who Are Gone Lawrence F. Lihosit (Honduras 1975-77) 118 pages Independently Published $13.00 (paperback) Available on Amazon Books