Search Results for “Eres Tu” – Page 11

AUSTRALIA BY BUS by Steve Kaffen (Russia)

Apr 18 2024

New book — Australia by Bus by Steve Kaffen (Russia 1994-96) Independently published 313 pages April 2024 Kindle Unlimited $4.99 (Kindle) • • • Australia is an ideal country to explore by bus. While most visitors spend their time in the urban centers, Australia’s scenic gems, historic sites, and vibrant cultures, including those of native Aborigines and other Indigenous groups, are scattered along the coasts and in the vast interior of desert, mountains, and windswept brush of the Outback. Buses go to these places. Because of the time limitations that most visitors have for travel, and the extreme distances to many points of interest, bus travel might effectively be combined with flights to the nearest cities. Bus travel is more than transportation; it is part of the journey. A visitor can fly over and look down, hopefully on a clear day. He or she can whiz past by train and catch panoramic . . .

Guy Consolmagno (Kenya) found his “home” in the African Night Sky

Apr 13 2024

RPCVs in the news . . . ] ‘Pope’s Astronomer’ Explores Journey in Faith and Science at Fairfield U. Talk by Emilia Otte, CTExaminer 4/11/24 FAIRFIELD CT — In 1983, volunteer Guy Consolmagno lay in bed at a Peace Corps Training Facility in Kenya, feeling severely homesick. He had made up his mind to return to the United States the following day believing he wasn’t cut out to be an adventurer. But on his last night in Kenya, Consolmagno decided to take one final look at the night sky. “I later counted there were 15 of the brightest stars in the sky visible at that moment. Most of them are old friends of mine — stars that my dad had taught me when I was a kid, growing up on the shores of Lake Huron,” said Consolmagno, who has a doctorate in planetary sciences. “And I’m looking at this sky, and . . .

PayJoy created by RPCV Doug Ricket (Gambia)

Apr 12 2024

RPCVs in the news How PayJoy built a $300M business by letting the underserved use their smartphones as collateral for loans TechCrunch Mary Ann Azevedo Thu, April 11, 2024 at 7:34 AM PDT Lerato Motloung is a hardworking mother of two who is employed in a supermarket in Johannesburg, South Africa. But in February 2024, she found herself without a mobile phone after it was stolen and she could not afford to buy a new one. For nine months, Motloung had to go without the convenience and connectivity of a smartphone Then, a sign caught her eye – a sign about PayJoy, a startup that offers loans to the underserved in emerging markets. With the help of PayJoy, Motloung was able to purchase her first smartphone, becoming one of the millions of customers that the San Francisco-based company has helped since its inception in 2015. “She was its 10 millionth . . .

New List of RPCV & Staff Authors, April 2024

Apr 11 2024

Here is our new list of RPCV & staff authors we know of who have published two or more books of any type. Currently—in April 2024–the count is 538. If you know of someone who has and their name is not on this list, then please email: jcoyneone@gmail.com. We know we don’t have all such writers who have served over these past 63 years. Thank you.’ Jerome R. Adams (Colombia 1963–65) Tom Adams (Togo 1974-76) Thomas “Taj” Ainlay, Jr. (Malaysia 1973–75) Elizabeth (Letts) Alalou (Morocco 1983–86) Jane Albritton (India 1967-69) Robert Albritton (Ethiopia 1963-65) Usha Alexander (Vanuatu 1996–97) James G. Alinder (Somalia 1964-66) Richard Alleman (Morocco 1968-70) Hayward Allen (Ethiopia 1962-64) Diane Demuth Allensworth (Panama 1964–66) Paul E. Allaire (Ethiopia 1964–66) Jack Allison (Malawi 1967-69) Allman (Nepal 1966-68) Nancy Amidei (Nigeria 1964–65) Gary Amo (Malawi 1962–64) David C. Anderson (Costa Rica 1964-66) Lauri Anderson (Nigeria 1963-65) Peggy Anderson (Togo 1962-64) James . . .

“April Showers” by Janet Sebastian-Coleman (Togo)

Apr 09 2024

I woke up this morning to rain on the roof. It was nearing six a.m., which is usually the hour Zorro, my puppy, begins to make sad little whines and stares at me through the mosquito net. As the rain started Zorro got up, walked over to a more secure corner of the floor, and curled himself up into a little ball. I rolled over and let the rain ease me back into half-sleep. I love how slow a rainy morning is. Certainly no need to leap out of bed. And when the sound of rain on the roof softens, my body is still so relaxed that climbing out of bed is a long enjoyable stretch. The plans for the day haven’t yet set on my shoulders. This slowness is especially luxurious after a few months during which time seemed to grow faster by the day. I’m stunned to . . .

There’s an interagency or nongovernmental fix for our broken Peace Corps

Apr 05 2024

In the news — BY KEVIN QUIGLEY AND LEX RIEFFEL The Hill 4/03/24 Ask the next person you see what they know about the Peace Corps. Odds are the answer will be “never heard of it.” The Peace Corps is past middle age and losing its vigor. Its service model has hardly changed in a world vastly different from the 1960s Cold War era. In 1966, more than 15,000 volunteers served in more than 40 countries. By 2020, when volunteers were brought home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were barely 7,000. The number today is fewer than 3,000. We see three ways to make the Peace Corps more relevant: merge it into AmeriCorps, move it into the State Department, or transform it from a federal agency to a nongovernmental organization. Launched by President Kennedy in 1961, the Peace Corps is one of the boldest, most innovative foreign policy initiatives of the post-World War II period. Countries . . .

Guy Toby Marion (Afghanistan) offers look at ’70s Peace Corps service

Apr 03 2024

RPCVs in the news By Colleen Bidwill cbidwill@marinij.com Marin Independent Journal April 1, 2024 • • • When Guy Toby Marion joined the Peace Corps in 1971, it wasn’t his first choice to go to Afghanistan. In fact, the 22-year-old — whose previous travels were mainly family vacations to Mexico — wanted to go to South America to learn Spanish fluently. “I had a mentor in my college days who was from India,” he says. “I called him up and he said that the history of Afghanistan with Russia and India and all throughout from ancient times is fascinating. I was kind of swayed by that.” He took a position working as a high school science teacher trainer in Kapisa province, which he did for two school years, before teaching for three semesters on the faculty of engineering at Kabul University. He reflects on his experiences, from making moonshine out . . .

Talking With P.F. Kluge (Micronesia)

Mar 29 2024

When P.F. Kluge (Micronesia 1967-69) finished his Ph.D. he wasn’t sure what would come next. Then, one of his professors at the University of Chicago suggested the Peace Corps. He applied and dreamed of exotic locations, perhaps in North Africa. But he was assigned to Micronesia, a collection of 2,100 tiny islands in the northern Pacific. That assignment turned out to be a life-defining adventure. It was his Walden Pond. About Kluge’s New Book WORDMAN is Kluge’s 14th book, his fourth book of nonfiction. According to Kluge it is his most personal book, a memoir told largely through published materials that demonstrate, in real-time, how his career developed. There were lucky accidents, like his Peace Corps assignment to Micronesia, which came to influence his fiction as well as his nonfiction. In Wordman Kluge offers a behind-the-scenes look at how his books happen, where the ideas come from, what he . . .

RPCV Phil Lilienthal (Ethiopia) holds gala for his Global Camps Africa

Mar 24 2024

In the news — Phil Lilienthal’s (Ethiopia 1964-66) Global Camps Africa will be holding its annual Sizanani Gala on Sunday April 20 at The International Spy Museum in Washington DC from 6-10 pm. This year’s gala honoree is Dr. Anthony Fauci. Also, on hand will be 2022 Honoree MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell, who will introduce Dr. Fauci. For those of you not familiar with Global Camps Africa, here’s the back story. After the Peace Corps, Phil and his late wife Lynn more than met the Peace Corps’ Goal Three of Bringing the Peace Corps Home. They managed his family’s famed Camp Winnebago in Maine, where they prioritized the recruitment of underprivileged and international students. Then in 2003, they decided to something more visionary, and launched Global Camps Africa, a non-profit organization providing thousands of South African children from the townships surrounding Johannesburg with a summer camp experience that includes AIDS education and life skills training. For more than 20 . . .

How I Got Here: Shari Cohen (Botswana)

Mar 21 2024

How I Got Here: Shari Cohen Explores the World Through Seal & Scribe By Karen Dybis | March 20, 2024 Thanks to jet lag and a lifelong affection for antiques, Shari Cohen (Botswana 1987-89) made her way from a fine arts and consulting career that took her around the world into her own fine jewelry brand that turns intaglio seals into one-of-a-kind pieces. Cohen, who founded Seal & Scribe in 2016, says her foundation in art, photography, and storytelling helped her develop a thriving business. Her family, who also are jewelry lovers, also were significant influences on her interest in restoring and marketing heirlooms for another generation of owners. Her parents had an apparel business that frequently took them from their home in northwest New Jersey into New York City and on business trips to Asia. “My mother always had custom jewelry made when she was in Hong Kong,” says Cohen. “Sometimes we would put . . .

Lisa Curtis of Kuli Kuli Foods

Mar 06 2024

Lisa Curtis (Niger 2010-11), founder and CEO of Kuli Kuli Foods, traveled the world with the hope of making it a better place. Working in the Peace Corps in Niger, Africa, she realized the infinite power of moringa, an ingredient made from the “drumstick tree” that is known for its antioxidant and inflammatory properties. “I was working in a very rural village where I was eating rice every day,” says Curtis, who is a vegetarian. “I was pretty tired and wanted to feel better.” While volunteering, some of the women told Curtis to eat moringa and showed her a fried peanut snack called kuli kuli that’s made with moringa leaves. “It had an incredible impact on me,” Curtis says. “It made me feel energized.” High in protein, calcium and iron, moringa is a nutrient-dense superfood with 27 vitamins and 46 antioxidants. Medical News Today lists several benefits of moringa, with links . . .

The Volunteer who became a noted playwright | Rajiv Joseph (Senegal)

Feb 27 2024

Jeremiah Norris Colombia 1963-65. Rajiv Joseph served for three formative years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal, 1996-98. About his time there, he wrote: “Being in Senegal, more than anything else in my life, made me into a writer.” His time there helped him develop the discipline of daily writing and inspired “his fascination with the power of language.” After Peace Corps, Rajiv earned a Master in Fine Arts in Dramatic Writing from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2004. His first play, Huck & Holden, debuted at the Cherry Lane Theater in January 2006. The play also had a West Coast run in the Black Dahlia Theater in Los Angeles the following year. Rajiv stated that the story about an Indian college student arriving in the United States is based on his father’s experience coming to the U. S. Rajiv’s mix-race background has given . . .

Review | THE LAST BIRD OF PARADISE by Clifford Garstang (Korea)

Feb 22 2024

The Last Bird of Paradise by Clifford Garstang (Korea 1976-77) Black Rose Writing 340 pages February 2024 $6.99 (Kindle) $23.95 (paperback) Reviewed by Bill Preston (Thailand 1977-80) • • • Reading the Author’s Note following this remarkable novel, I was struck by several ways Clifford Garstang’s experience has resembled mine. He first visited Singapore, the setting of the novel, in 1978, “as a young backpacker, touring Asia after spending two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in South Korea.” I also traveled to Singapore in 1978–from Thailand, between Peace Corps teaching assignments. I too was fascinated by the emerging city-state, an oasis of calm and order compared to bustling, chaotic Bangkok or Jakarta. Six years later, he returned to Singapore, first as an associate and later as a partner of a U.S. law firm. Some years prior to Peace Corps, while working with Legal Aid attorneys as a VISTA volunteer, I . . .

Review | THE MYSTICAL LAND OF MYRRH by MaryAnn Shank (Somalia)

Feb 15 2024

The Mystical Land of Myrrh (short stories) MaryAnn Shank (Somalia 1967–69) Dippity Press February 2019 222 pages $13.99 (paperback), $3.99 (Kindle), $13.97 (audiobook) Reviewed by Eugénie de Rosier (Philippines 2006-08) • • • MaryAnn Shank has brought us a fictionalized tale of her time in Somalia, working as a teacher of middle-school children in the rural bush country of Baidoa. The author was 50 years distant from her tour when she published The Mystical Land of Myrrh, and thanked those who refreshed her memory of life there. The tantalizing use of the word myrrh drew me in, and how appropriate, as myrrh originates from the commiphora tree of Somalia. The author unspooled her stories and vignettes with a goddess, and circled to the gripping end, when Moria, Shank’s narrator, beseeched Arawello to assist its women. Teaching is an honored profession in Somalia. Peace Corps brought English to, and built schools . . .

Carolyn Mulford (Ethiopia) sums up her long writing career

Feb 14 2024

Fall, 1949, is scary, but exciting, for farm-girl Gail Albright. When she begins junior high at the nearby town of Craigsburg, she has no idea of the struggles and friendships she will find. She’s the butt of jokes made by class snob Veronica Holt, and Veronica’s stuck-up clique. And they especially make fun of Gail for wearing a feedsack dress her mother made for her. After Gail’s first taste of humiliation, she knows she must find a way to overcome her embarrassment and anger. The only thing harder than putting up with Veronica’s mean teasing is finding the strength to beat her at her own game. With a little help from her friends, Gail might just pull it off. Why I Wrote THE FEEDSACK DRESS Posted on February 12, 2024 by Carolyn Mulford . . . Over more than 30 years, I wrote and rewrote The Feedsack Dress, . . .

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