Search Results for “Eres Tu” – Page 45

BLUE COUNTRY by Mark Wentling (Honduras)

Oct 18 2019

Blue Country by Mark Wentling (Honduras 1967–69, Togo 1970–73; PC Staff: Togo, Gabon, Niger 1973–77) Page Publishing 204 pages August 2019 $16.95 (paperback) Unexpected twists and turns keep the reader guessing about what will happen next. Throughout this entertaining novel is weaved a one-way dialogue between a dying prisoner who tells repeatedly his sad story to a hungry jailhouse rat, which only lives to eat. The story moves from the death and destruction of one town to the amazing rebuilding of a new town by survivors who lived to tell the tale. The human foibles of many of the book’s characters are displayed. Miracles make possible survival, love, and marriage, but evil lurks beneath the surface, and unforeseeable events determine the future of a people and their country. Heroes live and die by the hand of hidden forces beyond their control. The eyes of an innocent young man, offspring . . .

ASIA WITHOUT BORDERS by Steve Kaffen (Russia)

Oct 16 2019

Asia Without Borders Crossing the South Asian Expanse by Steve Kaffen (Russia 1994-96) 2018 SK Journeys 327 pages $14.00 (paperback) “Someday there will be an Asia without borders, one, big happy family,” was the Thai immigration official’s reply to author Steve Kaffen’s comment that this was the most relaxed international border Steve had ever crossed. The Thai official and his Malaysian counterpart had established an open border used by bicycles, vehicles, and pedestrians across the east coast’s Sungai Golok Bridge. In a further goodwill gesture, they passed Thai coconuts and Malaysian bananas to each other throughout the day. Join Steve Kaffen (Russia 1994-96) on an autobiographical journey across South Asia. Explore the region’s great historical sights, marvel at its landscapes, meet its residents in often humorous encounters, and have a succession of adventures along the way. Visit Thailand’s Mekong region and the great temples of Bagan in . . .

How to get A TOWERING TASK shown on your local PBS station

Oct 04 2019

If you were fortunate enough to see the new and brilliant documentary about the Peace Corps entitled A Tower Task that had its World Premiere at the Kennedy Center last weekend (or if you have just heard about it from other RPCVs) then you can drum up interest in having it shown on your local PBS station simply by calling the station. Your interest will nudge the station into realizing that there is ‘local interest’ in our great government agency and they might contact PBS back in Washington. If there is enough interest ‘out there” then the PBS folks would contact producer and director Alana De Joseph (Mali 1992-94) and ask her to let them show the documentary on all their stations. A little phone call from you can’t hurt and it might help bring the Peace Corps–and what you did as a PCV– into the living rooms . . .

A Peace Corps Trainee Checks In On Social Media From Cameroon

Oct 03 2019

PC CAMEROON UPDATE by Sasha Kogan Follow Oct 3 · I’ve been meaning to write this for a while but wanted to do it right — it’s difficult to describe this country and the past two weeks. It has felt like an entire lifetime, an almost magical realism-esque blur of time and space where everything is so different and yet in ways so similar. Yesterday morning I woke up at the crack of dawn, grabbed my bucket full of my damp laundry and brought it outside to the clothes lines. I had taken my clothes inside the night before due to the pounding rain that occurs almost nightly, hot and intense thunderstorms that turn the roads to a mix of mud and puddles. My homestay family thinks it is cold during the rainy season. They all bundle up in winter coats and make sure that I am wearing my flip . . .

Migrant Caravans and Social Justice by Mark Walker (Guatemala)

Oct 02 2019

Justice & Responsibility The Plight of the Immigrants from Central America By Mark D. Walker (Guatemala 1971-73) “Migrant Caravans,” made up of large groups of children and adults from the Northern Triangle of Central America, heading to our border to seek safety and a better life is problematic, both for those coming and for those waiting for their arrival in the U.S. The influx of undocumented immigrants has reached a ten-year high, with 66,450 entering recently, according to the Customs and Border Patrol. The existing frenzied political debate and the false narratives it often generates make it difficult, if not impossible, to turn this crisis into an opportunity to better appreciate why so many continue to seek refuge here and to understand our own role, and that of our government, in sorting out the situation, responding in a humanitarian way to those coming and creating some viable solutions to . . .

What You Should Know About Writing & Publishing Your Peace Corps Book

Oct 01 2019

Mike Shatzkin is a widely-acknowledged thought leader about digital change in the book publishing industry. He has been actively involved in trade book publishing since his first job as a sales clerk in the brand new paperback department of Brentano’s Bookstore on Fifth Avenue in 1962. The Shatzkin Files is one of the most closely-watched ongoing commentaries on digital change in trade publishing. The Shatzkin Files More than two decades into its digital transition, book publishing has evolved so that a capital-intensive infrastructure is no longer a requirement to successfully develop a book, or a list of books, and bring the books to market. This has resulted in a self-publishing segment, so far almost entirely author-driven, that is substantial in reach and readership and which offers ongoing competition to the commercial publishing business largely because of its ability to price its ebooks below what would be survival levels for commercial . . .

Roland Merullo Plans One-Day Writing/Meditation Retreat (Micronesia)

Oct 01 2019

Roland Merullo (Micronesia 1979-80) best-known novels are Breakfast with Buddha, In Revere, In Those Days, A Little Love Story, Revere Beach Boulevard and the memoir Revere Beach Elegy. His first novel Leaving Losapas came out in 1992 and A Russian Requiem was published in 1993. His latest book is entitled The Delight of Being Ordinary: A Road Trip with the Pope and the Dalai Lama. Below is his September monthly newsletter in which he outlines a one-day writing/meditation retreat planned for this coming January. It is something that might interest you. • A note from Roland . . . Dear Readers and Friends, This note is being written on an absolutely perfect late summer afternoon in Western Massachusetts, with a warm sun angling in through the windows of my upstairs office and the bees, wasps, and dragonflies zipping around trying to grab the last of whatever it is they grab in this part of the world in September. Having . . .

A Full Moon Night on Friday the 13th was not the only auspicious convergence for Denver’s RPCV community.

Sep 18 2019

Former Peace Corps Carrie Hessler Radelet happened to be in town. She joined Former Peace Corps Director Nick Craw (1973-1974), and Former Peace Corps Director Richard Celeste (1979-1981) in an informal panel. Over 90 RPCVs listened to the trio discuss their time as Directors and their hopes for the future of Peace Corps. Peace Corps had lost its independent status in 1971 when Nixon placed all Volunteer agencies under one umbrella agency, ACTION. Peace Corps lost its logo and its formal name and became officially Division of Overseas Operations. Nick Craw was Director during this regime. However, he reported, during the intense Watergate affair, 1973 -74, Washington was so occupied with the scandal on the Hill that Peace Corps was basically left alone. Nick named the Country Management Plans as his best achievement. He wanted to give In-Country staff more say-so in planning and budgeting. Carrie said the plan was . . .

Towering Task screening — Sunday September 22nd — Kennedy Center

Sep 17 2019

Media Advisory Contact: Documentary Team Joe Shaffner, Communications Director Alana DeJoseph, Director & Producer info@peacecorpsdocumentary.com National Peace Corps Association and In the Cause of Peace Productions host screenings of new documentary on the Peace Corps On September 22nd, 2019, the National Peace Corps Association and In the Cause of Peace Productions are premiering a new documentary on the Peace Corps. The film will be screened at The Kennedy Center’s new living theater, The REACH, in Washington, DC. Following the September 22nd premiere of the documentary on the history of the agency, the production team will be hosting screenings of A Towering Task around the country. A Towering Task is the first documentary to chronicle the remarkable history of the agency. After initial widespread support, the agency struggled to remain relevant as the world changed. With government agency budgets under fire and increased nationalistic tendencies in America, the agency is . . .

West Virginia RPCVs to interview RPCVs to preserve the legacy of the Peace Corps

Sep 11 2019

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Dan Campbell (El Salvador 1974-77) The West Virginia Returned Peace Corps Volunteers has received a grant from the WV Humanities Council to fund recording of interviews with former Peace Corps Volunteers and staff. WVRPCV, an affiliate of the National Peace Corps Association, will work with the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library to preserve the legacy of the Peace Corps through these interviews. The interviews will be stored, cataloged and made available via the Kennedy Library (part of the National Archives and Records Administration). The West Virginia interviews will also become part of the collection at the state Department of Archives and History. Former Volunteers and staff interested in being part of this project should send contact information, along with basic information about their service, in an email to westvirginiarpcv@gmail.com, with “Interviews” in the subject line. Since 1961, more than 700 West . . .

Review — FRONTIER CABIN STORY: The Rediscovered History of a West Virginia Log Farmhouse by Joseph Goss (Afghanistan)

Sep 07 2019

Frontier Cabin Story — The Rediscovered History of a West Virginia Log Farmhouse by Joseph Goss (Afghanistan 1967–69) Peace Corps Writers December 2018 208 pages $14.94 (paperback) Reviewed by D.W. Jefferson (El Salvador 1974–76; Costa Rica 1976–77) • This is the story of a historic log farmhouse located near Shepherdstown, West Virginia which the author and his wife purchased when on the threshold of their retirement. But more than that, it is a valuable case study of how to go about researching the history of an interesting older building, its owners and occupants over the years, and the surrounding area. As the author explains: I began this project hoping to portray the historical record of one long-overlooked farmhouse and all that I could learn about the people with connections to it. And that is how it has culminated. But I also want it to serve as a useful reference . . .

A Writer Writes — “Oral Traditions in Writing” by Jeanne D’Haem (Somalia)

Sep 06 2019

A Writer Writes Oral Traditions in Writing by Jeanne D’Haem (Somalia 1968-70) • Somalis are known throughout East Africa for their beauty and for their poetry. In this oral tradition, poems are used to communicate, to share news and even to settle disputes. A poet insults another clan in a poem. For example, “You have mistaken boat-men and Christians for the Prophet.” News and other communication had to be oral because the Somali language was not written even when I lived there in 1968. This was due to a dispute over what kind of letters should be used. Religious leaders wanted an Arabic alphabet, business people wanted a modern Latin one. When Siad Barre, a military dictator, took over the county in 1969, his goal was rapid modernization under communism. He sent a delegation to China where Chairman Mao held similar views. When Mao was informed about the dispute, . . .

Review — THE BILOXI CONNECTION by David Mather (Chile)

Sep 04 2019

The Biloxi Connection by David Mather (Chile 1968–70) Peace Corps Writers June 2019 387 pages $14.95 (paperback) Review by D.W. Jefferson • 374 pages, 37 short chapters plus a Prologue and an Epilogue, The Biloxi Connection is another opportunity to enjoy David Mather’s unforgettable characters from Florida’s rural Big Bend region on the gulf coast, also known as the Redneck Riviera. This is another page-turner, leaving you wondering where the time went after spending a couple hours immersed in the story. And the chapters are short enough that you feel like you could read just one more! I strongly recommend that you read the whole three book series starting with Crescent Beach, followed by Raw Dawgin’and finally this volume. But this well-written novel also stands on its own very well. Rusty, the now retired state trooper, plays a major role. In this book he goes after the hired assassin that . . .

Review — INTERPRETIVE THEME WRITER’S FIELD GUIDE by Jon Kohl (Costa Rica)

Sep 01 2019

Interpretive Theme Writer’s Field Guide: How to Write a Strong Theme from Big Idea to Presentation by Jon Kohl (Costa Rica 1993–95) InterpPress Publisher 164 pages $29.00 (paperback) November 2018 Reviewed by Jerry Norris (Colombia 1963-65) • Que le provoca? (what provokes you) According to the UN’s latest report on population growth rates, there are now 7.5 billion inhabitants of planet earth. The author, Jon Kohl, can take a well-deserved bow for bringing to light a subject heretofore obscure—most certainly in my own case, and I’m sure no less so with many others. That is: how to write a strong theme from big ideas to presentation. The author is absolutely clear in his admonition to interested parties: “this Field Guide cannot make you a theme writer, it can only help you along the way.” In this manner, his Field Guide “is the first of its kind to dedicate itself . . .

How to “Be There” for the Premiere of A Towering Task

Aug 26 2019

The following announcement gives specific information on obtaining tickets for the Premiere of A Towering Task as well as program details for the many other events. September 22nd will be a celebration of Peace Corps at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. https://mailchi.mp/peacecorpsdocumentary/reach-event?e=d09090d4d IT’S OFFICIAL! Join us for the first screenings of A Towering Task: The Story of the Peace Corps The REACH’s Justice Forum @ The Kennedy Center Sunday, September 22nd | 4pm & 7pm Join us as we build a community of global citizens We’ve teamed up with the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA), the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Washington, DC (RPCV|W), and The REACH at the Kennedy Center to host a full day of events to celebrate the Peace Corps and global citizenship. The festivities begin in the REACH’s Justice Forum and Studio F at 10am! From oral storytelling to a life-size replica home to augmented reality stations, it . . .

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