The Peace Corps

  by Mark Wentling (Honduras 1967-69 & Togo 1970–73)   The central purpose of my sixth book, Africa Memoir, 50 Years, 54 Countries, One American Life, 1970-2020, is to share my lifetime of firsthand experiences in Africa. I also attempt to communicate my views about the many facets of the challenges faced by each of Africa’s 54 countries. At the same time, I provide some basic information about each country. This memoir is a reference book that can be read in its entirety or by selecting a chapter on an individual country. I have followed the alphabet in presenting a chapter on each African country. Therefore, I begin with Algeria and end with Zimbabwe. There are also beginning ‘Forward and Overview’ sections, and I end this long book with an ‘Epilogue’ about my dream for Africa. This book will be of interest to anyone concerned about Africa and its development . . .

My name is Griffin Marie Francis Smith, I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uganda from 2011-2013, currently serve on the board of the Chicago Area Peace Corps Association and am a proud member of the RPCV Health Crusade!  RPCV Health Crusade is a newly formed volunteer group of RPCVs who came together to focus on the health and well-being of PCVs and RPCVs. In the spirit that drew us to service, we came together to see how we can make a difference within our own RPCV community.  We believe that there are volunteers currently serving in the Peace Corps that could have better health experiences and also believe there is very little in place to support the health of RPCVs after service. We created a health survey (https://surveys.rpcvhealthcrusade.org/682425) with the following goals in mind: to give the PCV and RPCV community a voice in identifying our own health needs; . . .

A bi-partisan group of ten former Peace Corps directors are unified in their opposition to Senate legislation that would place #PeaceCorps operations under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of State, ending the agency’s independent status. Their letter, addressed to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, aims to keep the #international perception of Peace Corps’ independence and ensure the agency’s non-political status in order for its continued success. As part of NPCA’s upcoming National Days of Action, advocates will meet with lawmakers to take action on this legislation. Learn more and read the full letter: January 7, 2020 Chairman James Risch Senate Foreign Relations Committee 423 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Ranking Member Bob Menendez Senate Foreign Relations Committee 423 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Dear Chairman Risch and Ranking Member Menendez, As former directors of Peace Corps, we are writing to respectfully request that . . .

  Thanks for the “heads up’ from Geri Critchley (Senegal 1972-72)

Thanks for the “heads up’ from Geri Critchley (Senegal 1972-72)

Thanks for the “heads up’ from Geri Critchley (Senegal 1972-72)  

Thanks for the “heads up’ from Geri Critchley (Senegal 1972-72)

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Dan Campbell (El Salvador 1974–77)     What’s Wrong With Trump’s Approach To Iran? by Stephen Gottlieb (Iran 1965-67) WAMC Northeast Report • What’s wrong with Trump’s approach to Iran? Let me count the ways. First, Trump’s claims about stopping Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani’s plans make little sense. What had been planned can take place with or without him. Iranian strikes are more, not less, likely now.  This is too similar to the prelude to the war in Iraq except that Trump isn’t taking the time to try to convince anyone. We just have unsubstantiable and probably false claims as a basis for very costly decisions. Second, the timing is suspicious. War threats blew impeachment out of the news. In other words, everything is PR. Third, Trump’s stated policy is tit for tat. But where does it end? If we need the last strike, why don’t they? Most . . .

When Joseph Blatchford was appointed director of the Peace Corps in May of 1969 he brought with him a set of “New Directions” to improve the agency. Whether these directors were new or not is endlessly argued, but what was clear was this: Blatchford wanted skilled Volunteers, i.e. “blue-collar workers, experienced teachers, businessman and farmers.” While the Peace Corps has always found it difficult to recruit large numbers of such “skilled” Volunteers, Blatchford and his staff came up with the novel idea of recruiting married couples with children. One of the couples would be a Volunteer and the other (usually the wife) would be — in Peace Corps jargon — the “non-matrixed” spouse. The kids would just be kids. It would be in this way, Blatchford thought, that the Peace Corps could recruit older, more mature, experienced, and skilled PCVs. And the Peace Corps would stop being just “BA generalists” . . .

Love Began in Laos The Story of an Extraordinary Life by Penelope Khounta (Thailand 1989-91) PBK Press 338 pages August 2017 $16.95 (paperback); $5.99 (Kindle)   Reviewed by Jim Jouppi (Thailand 1971-73) Before the Air Force arrived in Thailand, before the unimproved road to Nakhon Phanom was replaced with a two-lane highway which ran all the way to Bangkok, and before Royal Thai Air Base had been built, two female Peace Corps TEFL volunteers were sent to teach at a boy’s secondary school in town.  They liked their teaching job as far as they went, but there wasn’t much to do for entertainment.  They could have visited volunteers stationed in other provinces of Thailand, but, as author Penelope Khounta writes in Chapter 2 of her memoir Love Began in Laos, the Story of an Extraordinary Life, a chapter she calls “The Starting Point: 1962”, that wasn’t something they really liked . . .

Write About Your Peace Corps Experiences! January 18, 2020 • 9 AM-12Noon  Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance 2171 Francisco Blvd. East, Suite I, San Rafael, CA 94901 (west end of Richmond-San Rafael Bridge)  Meredith Pike-Baky, Facilitator Togo, ’71-’73 • Rwanda ‘09 Do you have memories from your time with Peace Corps that are worth sharing? Join us on January 18 from 9-12 to write about some of those memories. We’ll share examples, practice some effective storytelling techniques then conclude with a solid plan for moving forward. Refreshments and materials will be provided. Don’t worry if you don’t consider yourself a writer. As a longtime writing teacher and author of Tales of Togo, I’ll help you get started. Send an RSVP by January 10 to mpikebaky@mac.com. I’ll reply with what you’ll need to know and bring.

December 24, 2019 We had a very unique experience this vigil of Christmas – a visit of the Governor of Central Jawa, the third-largest province of Indonesia with a population of about 40 million. He is a moderate Muslim and a good governor in his second term. Every Christmas he visits a number of Christian places to see their Christmas activities and share good cheer and promote unity and respect among different religions.  We were only told on Saturday that he wanted to come, Sunday evening four of his staff came to see the location and explain to Ibu Cory, Cathrin and me what was going to happen. We made a program with them and told the community. The vigil of Christmas is usually one of the busiest days of the year with preparations in the kitchen, the guesthouse, the church, the refectory as well as regular work and all . . .

State Department From RPCV long-time journalist with Newsweek Magazine in Asia You are hearing right.  The exodus is quite serious and runs deep. People talk literally of desks piled in the halls ways at State. It’s reached the highest levels, so there are no assistant secretaries. They are losing so many and such experiences that it will take years to recover, say people who know about these things. The institutional memory and professional experience is disappearing.  It’s quite serious. And while it’s not as bad, a similar loss of expertise is taking place at the C.I.A. (One little ironic silver lining which benefits us old-timers is that many retired foreign service officers are called back into service and to serve six-month temporary duty in places that are shorthanded. That’s how Taylor ended up a temporary ambassador to Ukraine.) Yes, of course, it is Trump and his inconsistent foreign policy.  And . . .

  Race across America: Eddie Gardner and the Great Bunion Derbies by Charles B. Kastner (Seychelles) On April 23, 1929, the second annual Transcontinental Foot Race across America, known as the Bunion Derby, was in its twenty-fifth day. Eddie “the Sheik” Gardner, an African American runner from Seattle, was leading the race across the Free Bridge over the Mississipi River. Along with the signature outfit that earned him his nick name white towel tied around his head, white shorts, and a white shirt — Gardner wore an American flag, a reminder to all who saw him run through the Jim Crow South that he was an American and the leader of the greatest footrace in the world. Kastner traces Gardner’s remarkable journey from his birth in 1987 in Birmingham, Alabama, to his success in Seattle, Washington, as one of the top long-distance runners in the region, and finally to his . . .