Peace Corps Worldwide

from the Peace Corps   The Peace Corps welcomes Dr. Darlene Grant to her new role as senior advisor to Director Jody Olsen. In this role, Dr. Grant will work with agency leadership to increase and champion a diverse staff and volunteer corps. She will make recommendations aimed at increasing inclusiveness, removing barriers for underrepresented groups, and creating a more just and equitable Peace Corps. Dr. Grant’s path to the Peace Corps began after 18 years as a professor of social work at the University of Texas at Austin. There, she taught graduate and undergraduate courses in social justice, clinical practice, research methodology, and working with at-risk youth. She directed funded research projects focusing on juvenile probation, teen pregnancy prevention, and the domestic violence experiences of incarcerated women. Dr. Grant was named 2006 Social Worker of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers. In 2009, she took a . . .

  Australia is a country of superlatives, a land of “Wows.” Journey with explorer and author Steve Kaffen “Down Under,” through vast, geographically diverse, culturally rich, and extremely scenic Australia, the only country that is also a continent. Using 500 original photos accompanied by vivid descriptions and observations, the author captures in colorful detail the country’s naturally beautiful places, energetic cities with distinct personalities, thriving animal and sea life, historical sites, and multiple cultures including Aboriginal cultures dating back thousands of years. The coverage includes Sydney’s heralded New Year’s Eve celebration, the renowned Australia Zoo and its Wildlife Hospital, the Great Barrier Reef, the interior Outback, the Great Ocean Road, Australian Open tennis, and wine-tasting in South and Western Australia near Perth. Sufficiently detailed to plan a comprehensive visit to Australia’s far corners and deep interior, and lots of fun to read and enjoy. • Australia: Adventures and Encounters (Travel . . .

    National Agent Orange Day is August 10. While COVID-19 races through the U.S. population, another invisible killer continues to rage among our already endangered population. Agent Orange continues to contaminate and kill civilians and veterans more than 50 years after spraying. Two Marines, Brent MacKinnon and Sandy Scull, have published a personal account detailing damage done to both body and soul: Agent Orange Roundup: Living with a Foot in Two Worlds. This tells of the loss of innocence, betrayal and final acceptance of Stage 4 cancer 50 years after their tour of duty. The Department of Veteran Affairs estimates over 300,000 Vietnam Veterans have died from the herbicidal defoliant known as Agent Orange; The Vietnamese casualties are in the millions. This collection of powerful art, prose and poetry captures their journey from the home front, into the meat grinder and the long struggle for recovery. Lt. Charles “Sandy” . . .

  It’s 1909, and Teddy Roosevelt is not only hunting in Africa, he’s being hunted. The safari is a time of discovery, both personal and political. In Africa, Roosevelt encounters Sudanese slave traders, Belgian colonial atrocities, and German preparations for war. He reconnects with a childhood sweetheart, Maggie, now a globe-trotting newspaper reporter sent by William Randolph Hearst to chronicle safari adventures and uncover the former president’s future political plans. But James Pierpont Morgan, the most powerful private citizen of his era, wants Roosevelt out of politics permanently. Afraid that the trust-busting president’s return to power will be disastrous for American business, he plants a killer on the safari staff to arrange a fatal accident. Roosevelt narrowly escapes the killer’s traps while leading two hundred and sixty-four men on foot through the savannas, jungles, and semi-deserts of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Congo, and Sudan.   Jimmy, quit telling tall tales!” was my . . .

  In Yogurt Culture: A Global Look at How to Make, Bake, Sip, and Chill the World’s Creamiest, Healthiest Food, award-winning food writer Cheryl Sternman Rule presents 115 flavorful recipes, taking yogurt farther than the breakfast table, lunchbox, or gym bag. Rule strips yogurt of its premixed accessories and brings it back to its pure, wholesome essence. In chapters like Flavor, Slurp, Dine, and Lick, she pairs yogurt not just with fruit but with meat, not just with sugar but with salt, not just with herbs but with fragrant spices whose provenance spans the globe. She provides foolproof, step-by-step instructions for how to make yogurt, Greek yogurt, and labneh at home, though all of her recipes can also be prepared with commercial yogurt. Rule explores yogurt from every angle, explaining how to read a label, visiting producers large and small, and gaining entry to the kitchens of cooks from around the . . .

  A Timeless Reminder by Jeremiah Norris (Colombia 1963-65) • As I was watching the Memorial Services for John Lewis in Ebenezer Baptist Church, it reminded me of an April day in 1968 when Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated. I was on PC/W staff and Director, Jack Vaughn called me into his office. He nominated me to form a Committee and raise funds for, at the time, an indeterminate Memorial in Dr. King’s honor. While time now masks the amount of funds our Committee succeeded in raising, I do recall that we wanted the Memorial to represent something that was timeless in Dr. King’s life. That led us to purchase a Gold Brick and present it to Officials at the Ebenezer Baptist Church.  They assured us that they would find a suitable site near the Podium for its placement. After that brief conversation, we lost personal contact with . . .