Peace Corps Worldwide

RPCV Dennis Briskin “The Face of Iran Before…” Palo Alto photographer publishes images of pre-revolution Iran by Karla Kane / Palo Alto Weekly September 3, 2020 Palo Alto resident Dennis Briskin (Iran 1967-69) has published two books of photographs he took while serving in the Peace Corps in pre-revolution Iran. Courtesy Dennis Briskin. When Dennis Briskin was preparing to move to Iran for a few years in the late 1960s, he had a thought: “Maybe I should get a camera.” Though he didn’t have any prior photography experience, he read up a bit, got a basic camera and, fresh out of college and inspired by Life and Look magazines, was on his way. “The best advice I got was, ‘Film is cheap; take lots of photos,’” he recalled. The Palo Alto resident has now compiled many of his favorite photos and published two books: “Iran Before” (released in 2019) and “The Face . . .

  Right Now, We Need to Honor Peace Corps Ideals by Helping in Humanitarian Crises in Afghanistan and Haiti Here is what we’re doing to bolster efforts by the Peace Corps community. By Glenn Blumhorst It should strike us with no small significance that today, August 19, is World Humanitarian Day — a day to advocate for the survival, well-being, and dignity of people affected by crises. In just the past week, a devastating earthquake hit Haiti; thousands have been killed and injured. In Afghanistan, on Sunday the capital of Kabul fell to the Taliban. A chaotic U.S. exit and collapse of the Afghan military has created a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions — and fears of retribution and horrific treatment of women and girls under a new regime. Many of us in the Peace Corps community have deep personal ties to these countries. Volunteers served in both in years past. Many . . .

Winner of 2021 Young Adult Fiction Bright Shining World by Josh Swiller Bright Shining World by Josh Swiller (Zambia 1994-96) Knopf Children’s Book, grades 7-9 304 pages November 2020 $10.99 (Kindle); $14.99 (Hardcover) Reviewed by Peter Deekle (Iran 1968–70) • Josh Swiller credits his deafness for his resilience. A contributing asset — be it a reinforcement or trial — might be his service as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia that is evident in his perceptive insights into human nature. As a writer, Josh has demonstrated a “keen ear” for the internal motivations and interpersonal interactions of the characters in his new book. Bright Shining World (Knopf, 2020) is a novel about young people coming of age in a chaotic and disturbing world. Its publication could hardly be timelier, given the COVID-19 pandemic and the fraught social and political climate of today. The author recounts that “anyone could feel — how battered . . .

At 60, Peace Corps plots return to world after virus hiatus By WILSON RING and ROY NKOSI Associated Press August 22, 2021 DEDZA, Malawi (AP) — More than a year after COVID-19 began sweeping the world, abruptly cutting short her Peace Corps stint, Cameron Beach is once again living in rural Malawi — this time on her own dime. The Peace Corps, a U.S. government program marking its 60th anniversary this year, boasted 7,000 volunteers in 62 countries in March 2020. They were given little time to pack before being put on a plane and sent back to the United States that month. “It was especially painful for me because I was given 24 hours to leave a place that I’d called home for almost two years,” Beach said during a recent video call from her home in Malawi, a landlocked country in southern Africa. Beach was trained to speak . . .

by M. Jamil Hanifi The information and discussion about the activities of and the accumulation of various forms of capital by some Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs)—all in South America—is interesting (Anthropology News, December 2011, March 2012). President John Kennedy adapted the blast “ask not what this country can do for you, ask what you can do for this country” from his prep school headmaster’s command “ask not what this school can do for you, ask what you can do for this school”. The predecessor of the American Peace Corps (PC) project was the “Community Development” (CD) model housed in several American universities funded by the government and designed to coordinate various “development” projects in foreign countries and to cloak the real intentions of the American “foreign aid” program which was intervention in and control of the civil and political societies of the “Underdeveloped World”. During the 1950s the University of Wyoming was . . .

(Thank you to John Coyne and Marian Haley Beil for their advice and editing) Decades separated the Peace Corps service of Dr. Robert Textor (PC staff 1961-62) and RPCV Jerry Black (Comoros Island 1992-94, DC staff: OIG 2010-21). But they shared a special commitment to Peace Corps Sadly, neither are still with us. But their contribution to Peace Corps endures. Dr. Textor, age 89, died January 3, 2013. Tragically, Jeremiah Black was killed, caught in urban gun violence crossfire, in Washington, DC. June 29, 2021.   Their story begins In February of 2011, the Peace Corps Office of the Inspector General announced it would evaluate “Impacts of the Five-Year Rule on Operations of the Peace Corps.” The Five Year Rule is unique among Federal Agencies because it limits employment with Peace Corps to Five Years, with some critical exceptions. This evaluation was conducted under the direction of Jim O’Keefe, Assistant . . .