Peace Corps Worldwide – Page 2 – promoting Peace Corps writers since 1989

“Teaching in Ethiopia” by Tom Weck

Sep 13 2023

by Tom Weck (Ethiopia 1965-67) After graduating from Stanford University, I felt compelled to give back something to those who were less fortunate than I. I joined the Peace Corps and spent two years in Ethiopia in a solo posting in the tiny village of Haik teaching English, math and science to 7th and 8th graders. I taught every period of every day (I got to teach Science as well – as a bonus) to about 25 students in each class and thoroughly enjoyed them. All were eager, if not desperate, to learn as they knew that a good education was their ONLY path out of a life of abject poverty (at the time Ethiopia was the second poorest country in the world). Memorization The standard approach to teaching throughout the country was rote memorization. The teacher wrote out an English sentence or math problem on the blackboard, . . .

FINDING MISS FONG by James A. Wolter (Malaya)

Sep 12 2023

Finding Miss Fong by James A. Wolter (Malaya 1961-63) Atmosphere Press 382 pages November 2023 (pre-order available) $ 18.99 (Paperback) Set against the vibrant backdrop of the 1960s in Malaya, now known as peninsular Malaysia, Finding Miss Fong is the journey of Jim Wolter, a character pulsating with life-changing aspirations and determination. The novel begins with Wolter abandoning medical school and the insistent matrimonial arrangements by his mother, who wishes for him to marry Lolly. Instead, Wolter’s soul yearns for an adventure that promises to be fulfilling, a journey where he can make a tangible impact by teaching biology in the remote areas of Malaya. However, his high expectations are met with a harsh reality. Wolter’s noble pursuit is thwarted by his unscrupulous boss, pushing him to the brink of despair and driving him to contemplate a return to Chicago. But Malaya has other plans for Wolter. Enter Miss Fong . . .

PCV Murder in Tonga

Sep 11 2023

The Peace Corps Volunteer, Dennis Priven, who murdered PCV Deborah Gardner in Tonga in 1976, and never was charged for her death, has died. The Tonga RPCV community found out that Priven died on April 1, 2023. Priven was ruled not guilty in the Tonga judicial system, with national Peace Corps intervention, based on an insanity defense. He returned to the U.S. where he was briefly hospitalized but checked himself out. He eventually got a government job and reportedly retired on a government pension. The story was retold in Philip Weiss’s 2005 nonfiction book, American Taboo and fictionalized in Jan-Worth (Tonga 1976-78) novel Night Blind published in 2006. Recently a 1970s Tonga RPCV Tom Riddle found this obituary: Dennis Priven, age 70, of Brooklyn, New York passed away on Saturday, April 1, 2023. He was born in Brooklyn on May 28, 1952 to Morris and Dorothy Priven. He . . .

9/11 at Peace Corps NYC

Sep 10 2023

“One Morning in September” — 9/11 Nov 11 2019 One Morning in September by Edwin Jorge (Jamaica 1979–81) Edwin Jorge was the Regional Manager of the New York Peace Corps Office and was at work in Building # 6 of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The building was destroyed when the North Tower collapsed. At a commemoration service held at Headquarters in Peace Corps/Washington a year after 9/11 Edwin spoke about the attack and what happened to the Peace Corps Office. His comments follow. ONE YEAR AGO TODAY, on the morning of September 11, 2001, I sat down at my office desk and turned on my computer. As the computer booted to life, I glanced up and looked out of the windows of my office on the sixth floor of the Customs House in the heart of the financial district of New York. From where I sat, . . .

TAKING THE PLUNGE INTO ETHIOPIA by William Hershey (Ethiopia)

Sep 10 2023

Taking the Plunge Into Ethiopia: Tales of a Peace Corps Volunteer by William L. Hershey (Ethiopia 1968-70) University of Akron Press September 2023 134 pages $18.99 (Kindle); $24.95 (Paperback) William Hershey served as the only Peace Corps Volunteer in the small Ethiopian town of Dabat. He taught seventh and eighth grade students the English that they would need to continue their educations and brighten their futures. He became part of the community, eating the local food and doing his best to communicate in Amharic. He also navigated cultural gaffes — having his house stoned by disgruntled students angered at being assigned to clean the outhouses; and nearly sparking international trouble by clashing with a player from a rival school during a heated basketball game. Decades later as a journalist, he used his once-in-a-lifetime Peace Corps experience to reflect on immigration, global goodwill and the hope the United States should . . .

ME MADAM by Dorothy Crews Herzberg (Nigeria)

Sep 10 2023

Me, Madam: Peace Corps Letters from Nigeria 1961-63 Dorothy Crews Herzberg (Nigeria 1961-63) Arc Lights Books February 2014 170 pages $5.18 (Kindle); $5.18 (Paperback) When Dorothy Crews Herzberg joined the Peace Corps in 1961, she was unaware that the program had not yet been approved by the U.S. Congress. The Corps’ proponents were hedging the strategy that having four hundred volunteers already working overseas would strengthen their case. While serving in the Peace Corps Dorothy Crews married Hershel Herzberg, and from 1961 to 1963 they wrote letters to her parents. Dorothy’s father saved and carefully preserved the fragile blue air letters. Every page of “Me, Madam” illuminates the energy of Nigeria immediately after independence. The author’s letters convey with intimacy what it was like to be there as the people struggled to create a new democracy.

The Volunteer Who Discovered the First Area of Human Occupation in Costa Rica

Sep 09 2023

by Jeremiah Norris (Colombia 1963-65) Michael Snarskis attended the University of Iowa, graduating in 1964, then Yale University majoring in Spanish in 1967. After one year of law school, he joined the Peace Corps as a Volunteer in Costa Rica, 1967-69. There his interest in archeology was awakened and on his return to the U. S. he studied archelogy at Colombia University. After three years of field work in Costa Rica, he received a Ph. D. in 1978 with a dissertation on the Archaeology of the Central American Watershed of Costa Rica. When he received his doctoral, there was almost no scientific archeology in Costa Rica. Michael founded the archeology department at the Museo National de Costa Rica in San Jose, Costa Rica, and directed it for ten years. As an archeologist and conservationist, Michael worked for the Tayutic Foundation which seeks to preserve and explore the Guayabo . . .

SECRETS FROM MY TRAVEL DIARIES by Stacey L. Abella (Nicaragua)

Sep 09 2023

Secrets From My Travel Diaries by Stacey L. Abella (Nicaragua 2001-03) Game Changer Publishing 321 pages May 2023 $9.92 (Kindle) $16.97 (Paperback), $9.99 (Kindle), $24.97 (hardcover) Secrets From My Travel Diaries will transport you back to 1997, when the author, as a college student, ventured from a small Ohio town to study and live in Germany and France, eventually traveling to more than ten countries. Her diaries, written on train rides and after late-night adventures at the disco, helped her clarify her thoughts and feelings at a pivotal time in her life. Years later, after leaving her corporate career, the author rediscovered these dust-laden diaries. They reconnected her to a time of unprecedented freedom when navigating your way required paper maps, constant currency conversions, and finding truth within herself. Secrets From My Travel Diaries will take you on a journey to reawaken your Adventurer within, shift your perspective, and inspire . . .

Father Ted Hesburgh and the Peace Corps: A Story Not Often Told

Sep 08 2023

by Tom Scanlon (Chile 1961-63) Father Hesburgh was leaving his office at the Civil Rights Commission on March 1, 1961, walking through Lafayette Square across the street from the White House, when he encountered two friends – Harris Wofford, a former legislative assistant on the Commission, and Sargent Shriver, with whom he had a long-time friendship, and who was the brother-in-law of President Kennedy. Wofford and Shriver were ebullient. They held in their hand the text of a Presidential Executive Order that President Kennedy would sign that day, creating the United States Peace Corps. Returning to South Bend and the Notre Dame campus, Father Ted was working late in his office that same evening and received a call from Wofford and Shriver, still together and still “celebrating.” In the call they challenged him to “bring us a Peace Corps project.” Father assembled the Notre Dame Latin American faculty and . . .

Peter Navarro (Thailand) convicted

Sep 07 2023

WASHINGTON — Former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro (Thailand 1973-76) was convicted Thursday of criminal contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena related to the plot to overturn the 2020 election. The jury deliberated for about four hours before finding Navarro, 74, guilty of two counts of contempt for refusing to testify before the House Jan. 6 committee and turn over subpoenaed documents. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta scheduled his sentencing for Jan. 12. The two counts each carry a minimum of 30 days and a maximum of one year in prison, in addition to a maximum fine of $100,000. “There’s no mistake, no accident,” prosecutor John Crabb told jurors in the Washington, D.C. federal courtroom during closing arguments Thursday morning. “That man thinks he’s above the law,” Crabb said. “In this country, nobody is above the law.”

The Bruneels in Cambodia

Sep 07 2023

In the news — A decade after applying, Mr. Bruneel reflects on his family’s experience in the Peace Corps By Ava Faghani SEPTEMBER 6, 2023 After establishing a successful early start to his teaching career at Whitman, English teacher Matthew Bruneel put his Maryland life on pause in 2014 to venture to Cambodia alongside his wife Leshia. The next two years would be filled with adjusting to the culture in a village, living with limited money and experiencing life-changing moments in the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps is a government agency first founded in 1961 with the mission to work on important, sustaiable projects in local communities around the world and build relationships while exchanging culture. Studying abroad in Spain during college, Bruneel first met Leisha, who inspired him to join with her. The process of applying consisted of a medley of interviews and essays, he said, . . .

Short Stories by Martin Ganzglass (Somalia)

Sep 06 2023

Even the Geckos Are Starving Martin R. Ganzglass (Somali 1966–68) Peace Corps Writers 320 pages August 2023 $10.00 (paperback) In this collection of short stories, Somali refugees in a camp in northern Kenya confront the aftermath of a terrorist attack in Nairobi; a jet fuel spill at Pearl Harbor threatens Honolulu’s water supply; a trusted doorman turns to burglary and discovers a surprising partner; a seaman is seriously injured and is confined in an unknown place where no one speaks his language; and a high brow magazine runs a personal ad for sexual services with unforeseen consequences.

WAITING FOR THE SNOW by Tom Scanlon (Chile)

Sep 06 2023

In 1962 Father Hesburgh, President of Notre Dame University, went to Chile to visit the Volunteers who had trained at Notre Dame. One of them was Tom Scanlon, a recent ND graduate. Tom told Father Hesburgh a story about his job so far as a PCV. Hesburgh would write a letter to Sarge Shriver — a good friend — and tell Sarge what Scanlon said. Shriver would write Hesburgh back and say, “I am delighted to hear it . . .. In fact, all the people here at Peace Corps Headquarters liked it so much we’re using it as the opening section of our presentation to the United States Congress.” Shriver also would pass on what Father Hesburgh told him to his brother-in-law, John F. Kennedy. In the early days of the Peace Corps, President Kennedy greeted the first Peace Corps Trainees on the White House lawn and even invited . . .

“A GENTELMAN IN MOSCOW is Waiting to Meet You” | Chuck Lustig (Colombia)

Sep 05 2023

Many years ago I learned from John Irving that if you want to convert readers into avid fans who will slog through hundreds of pages with you, arrange to have something horrible happen to the principal protagonist early on — something that’s no fault of his own. Despite character flaws, that inciting incident gives us, the reader, a stake in the story. It makes us care because our hero is obviously innocent. But why? I think it’s because we detect grace, or at least the potential for grace, even if it comes only thanks to a writer’s cruelest plot-turn. John Irving had a penchant for having characters lose body parts through no fault of their own. Charles Dickens, long before him, preferred treating, well-meaning, smart children cruelly. And then there was Barbara Kingsolver’s recent reworking of David Copperfield, entitled, Demon Copperhead, demonstrating that today’s opioid-addicted times are no less cruel than those . . .

New books by Peace Corps writers | July–August 2023

Sep 04 2023

To purchase any of these books from Amazon.com — CLICK on the book cover, the bold book title, or the publishing format you would like — and Peace Corps Worldwide, an Amazon Associate, will receive a small remittance from your purchase that will help support the site and the annual Peace Corps Writers awards. We include a brief description for each of the books listed here in hopes of encouraging readers to order a book and/or to VOLUNTEER TO REVIEW IT. See a book you’d like to review for Peace Corps Worldwide? Send a note to Marian at marian@haleybeil.com, and she will send you a free copy along with a few instructions. P.S. In addition to the books listed below, I have on my shelf a number of other books whose authors would love for you to review. Go to Books Available for Review to see what is on that shelf. Please, please join in our Third . . .