Maureen Orth (Colombia 1964-66) Writes About Her Host Country in Departures Magazine

Departures Magazine, the premium publication of American Express that goes to holders of platinum cards, has a travel piece in its November/December 2012 thick Christmas issue written Vanity Fair Special Correspondent by Maureen Orth (Colombia 1964-66) entitled, “Colombia: A Brave New World.” In her piece Maureen is able to make a pitch for her Marina Orth Foundation that works with three schools and 1,200 children in Colombia, teaching English and technology, and give a plug to the new NPCA Next Step Travel program which organizes two-week trips combining travel, service and education to places like Dominican Republic and Guatemala.  She also tells rich card holders what to see and where to go in this “now-thriving South American country” that has “emerged as a full-fledged tourist destination ready for its moment.”maureen-orth-photo

Maureen sums up her connection to Colombia this way, “My journey to the country began more than four decades ago as a Peace Corps volunteer in Medellin, the  ‘city of eternal sprint.’ before it was awash in cocaine. It was then that I rode on horseback across rivers, spotting parrots and monkeys in the trees; that I learned to dance the cumbia and the paso doble; that I was introduced to all classes of the country’s vibrant people, as regional in their dialect and cuisine as, say, Italy. Such a strong experience early in life obviously leaves an indelible mark. Colombia captured my heart than and has long kept me in its grip, even when I despaired of its drug wars, its social inequality and its bloodthirstiness.”

2 Comments

Leave a comment
  • Hello Maureen, You are so right about Colombia, Jane and Michael got back last week on a book sales trip for our book about Tenjo (my site near Bogota), and the Llanos. They were impressed by how well Colombia is doing and how that there are big improvements in things like the road to the Llanos, used to be 12 hours and now it is 1 -1/2 hours and they saw that type of progress everywhere and a hard working group of people . Hope to see you soon , down here for a barbecue. Paz Sandy

  • Any way to provide a link to enable those of us who don’t have an American Express Platinum Card (GADS!!!!) to read the article???

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

Copyright © 2022. Peace Corps Worldwide.