Peace Corps Worldwide – Page 47 – promoting Peace Corps writers since 1989

Paul Newman (Nigeria) | Authority on the Hausa Language

Jul 02 2023

Paul Newman (Nigeria 1961-63) is the world’s foremost authority on the Hausa language. He is also an attorney with special interest in the intersection of language and law. He was a member of the first Peace Corps group to go to Nigeria back in 1961. He has held academic positions at Yale, Bayero University Kano, University of Leiden, and Indiana University. He has published over 20 books and was the founding editor of the Journal of African Languages. Distinguished Professor Emeritus Paul Newman received his B.A. (Philosophy) and M.A. (Anthropology) from the University of Pennsylvania, and his Ph.D. (Linguistics) from UCLA (1967). Newman also has a law degree (J.D., summa cum laude, 2003) from Indiana University. He is a member of the Indiana Bar. He has held academic and administrative positions at Yale University, Abdullahi Bayero College (now Bayero University Kano), Nigeria; University of Leiden, The Netherlands, and . . .

Artist David Fox (Ethiopia)

Jul 01 2023

David Fox (Ethiopia 1965-67) is a self-taught artist who has been drawing most of his life. He works in oils, watercolors, and pen and ink and has won several awards for his oils and acrylics. While serving in the Peace Corps, David lived in Ethiopia. His travels and his interactions with the Ethiopian people have served as a lifelong source of inspiration for his figure studies and landscapes. David is well known for his three-dimensional views of major American cities. This series, which includes Boston, Chicago, Lower Manhattan, New Orleans, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Washington D.C., has earned him international recognition. More recently, David has created architectural sketch coloring books of New York and Philadelphia, which include line drawings of iconic landmarks of these two major cities. David has also authored a coloring book of the Borough of Narberth, depicting life in small-town USA. Prints of David’s watercolors are available at the Philadelphia Museum of Art . . .

SILENT LIGHT | A new novel by Mark Jacobs (Paraguay)

Jun 30 2023

Silent Light by Mark Jacobs (Paraguay 1978-80) OB Books October 2023 340 pages $18.95 (Paperback) At the start of Mark Jacob’s remarkable new novel ― his first book in thirteen years ― thirty-seven-year-old Smith wins a “stash” of diamonds in a poker game. The only catch: he has to find them. A Louisiana native, Smith is currently employed on an oil platform off the west coast of Africa, while the diamonds are somewhere in the immense, war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo. But Smith’s grown tired of the platform and he hates the idea of wasting a full house. One last adventure, he tells himself, and then, diamonds or no diamonds, he’s heading home to Louisiana. In Kinshasa, Smith meets a young woman named Béatrice, who hails from a village on the other side of the country. But this village, she tells Smith, is where his diamonds are . . .

The Double Education of My Twins’ Chinese School by Peter Hessler (China)

Jun 29 2023

The current New Yorker, (July 3, 2023) has an article by Peter Hessler (China 1996-98) entitled ” A Double Education” on getting his twins daughters into school in China. He writes how education in the US and China are “two disparate systems, despite a history of mutual influence.” Heller’s article goes back to the end of the nineteenth century when John Dewey, “the American philosopher and educator, had pioneered the concept of the experimental, or laboratory, school.”

Understanding the Reasons Peace Corps Volunteers ET

Jun 27 2023

While most Volunteers successfully complete their assignments, some do leave before the designated end date. This blog explores the reasons behind Peace Corps Volunteers’ early departures and shed light on the challenges they may face during their service. 1. Personal Health and Safety Concerns: One of the primary reasons Peace Corps volunteers may choose to leave their posts is due to personal health and safety concerns. Volunteers may experience physical or mental health issues that require medical attention beyond the capabilities of their host country. In some cases, the political situation in the country of service may deteriorate, exposing volunteers to heightened risks, such as civil unrest or natural disasters. 2. Incompatibility with the Host Community: Cultural adjustment can be a significant challenge for Peace Corps volunteers. Cultural differences, language barriers, and unfamiliar living conditions may lead to feelings of isolation and frustration. Some volunteers may find it difficult to . . .

THAT’S MY MOON OVER COURT STREET by Jan Worth-Nelson (Tonga)

Jun 26 2023

That’s My Moon Over Court Street: Dispatches from a Life in Flint by Jan Worth-Nelson (Tonga 1976-78) SemiColonPress June 2023 453 pages $18.00 (Paperback) “Every city has its issues, but there is always more to the story. In this collection from Flint, Michigan’s venerable East Village Magazine from 2007 to 2022, Jan Worth-Nelson (Tonga 1976-78) describes in personable, compelling prose what she observed, mourned, bemoaned, cherished and celebrated in one of the country’s most beleaguered cities. She lingers on nuthatches and drag queen bingo. She explores attics and basements and the Midwestern backyard. She laments burned out houses and broken Buddhas. She falls in love with the chicken lady, the pipe king, and pineapple upside down cake at the local Masonic hall. Out of respect for the unfinished stories to come, she bares her forearm for a semicolon tattoo. She struggles with sleeplessness and takes blessed walks. Through an . . .

White Cloud Free by Peter Michael Johnson (Paraguay)

Jun 25 2023

White Cloud Free by Peter Michael Johnson (Paraguay 2002-04) V Press LC Publisher 160 pages July 2023 $11.99 (Kindle); $16.97 (Paperback) • White Cloud Free is a story of love and friendship, betrayal and loss, miracles, and memory. Set mostly in Latin America, it is a semi-autobiographical tale of an idealistic, naive Peace Corps volunteer who suffers a series of traumas abroad, leading to unlikely friendships with a semi-homeless 12-year-old boy, an ambitious transexual sex worker, and an eccentric Catholic priest. At 23, Peter has enlisted in the Peace Corps and finds himself teaching beekeeping in a tiny village in Paraguay. When a lynch mob kills several people in his local village after a disagreement over harvest proceeds, Peter flees with his 12-year-old homeless friend in search of safety — taking him through an indigenous community, a Mennonite colony, a squatters camp, and finally the lawless, chaotic city of . . .

PCIA National Meeting (Iran)

Jun 24 2023

June 5, 2023 Steve Gottlieb (Iran 1965-67) • My wife and I met years ago when we both served in the United States Peace Corps in Iran. There have been no American Peace Corps Volunteers in Iran since 1976. Peace Corps Volunteers got to know a wide segment of the Iranian population, as we do everywhere, realized trouble was brewing and Peace Corps officials pulled them out. Here in Albany we’ve been part of a group of former Peace Corps Volunteers who’ve served in all parts of the world. We meet monthly, share a pot luck dinner, provide a forum for newly returned Volunteers, and listen intently to news about goings on in the many countries where we used to serve and the many organizations who work with people there and with immigrants from those countries here. A few years ago my wife was asked to become president of . . .

RPCV Darlene Grant (Cambodia) now shaping Peace Corps efforts on diversity, equity and inclusion

Jun 23 2023

By Adrienne Frank June 23, 2023 • Darlene Grant became a Peace Corps volunteer at 49; 11 years later, she joined the agency’s top ranks. In seventh grade, with a bully on her heels, Darlene Grant slipped through a door at her Cleveland junior high school and found herself in the music room, staring at a line of students. Wanting to avoid a beating, she got in line, “like I was supposed to be there,” she said, and the music teacher handed her the last instrument in the closet: a bassoon. “That moment when you realize you’re where the universe needs you to be? That was one of them,” said Darlene Grant, PhD (SAS ’84). Today, Grant is senior advisor to Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn, with a mission to cultivate diversity in the worldwide agency and help remove barriers for underrepresented volunteers and staff and create a more just and equitable . . .

Review | THROUGH GRATEFUL EYES: The Peace Corps Experiences of Dartmouth’s Class of 1967

Jun 23 2023

Through Grateful Eyes: The Peace Corps Experiences of Dartmouth’s Class of 1967 by Charles A. (Chuck) Hobbie (Korea 1968-71) — Compiler/Editor iUniverse Publisher 273 pages July 2022 $2.99 (Kindle); $39.99 (Paperback); $31.95 (Hardback) Reviewed by Evelyn Kohl LaTorre (Peru 1964-1966) • “Talk less and listen more.” “Accept the values of the population you’re working with.” “Adapt to being comfortable being uncomfortable.” These are a few of the sage learnings found in this 2 ½ pound, 8 1/2” x 11” tome that relates the Peace Corps experiences of 19 members of the Dartmouth class of 1967 and several of their spouses. All served in the Peace Corps in the late sixties and early seventies, and their exploits are a sampling of the 30 Dartmouth ’67 graduates who went on to join the Peace Corps. Their fascinating, and often humorous, stories are punctuated with 146 photos that show the youthful volunteers . . .

Joseph Monninger (Burkina Faso) — GOODBYE TO CLOCKS TICKING

Jun 22 2023

Goodbye to Clocks Ticking By Joseph Monninger (Burkina Faso 1975–77) Steerforth Publishing March. 2023 208 pages $9.99 (Kindle); $16.99 (Hardcover), (Audiobook) An uplifting journey of truly seeing and appreciating what makes life worth living in the year following a terminal diagnosis • Goodbye to Clocks Ticking is an unforgettable book that tells the story of a singular year of challenges, insights, and peculiar gifts. It is also a sort of postcard from a place many of us will one day visit. After thirty-two years of teaching, Joe Monninger, an avid outdoorsman in robust health, was looking forward to a long retirement with the love of his life in a cabin beside a New England estuary. Three days after his last class, however, he’s diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, even though he has not smoked for more than 30 years. It was May, and he might be dead by early fall. Soon . . .

President Biden nominates David E. White to be Deputy Director of Peace Corps

Jun 20 2023

David E. White Jr. currently serves as Special Assistant to the President in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel (PPO). Prior to this role, he served on the National Security Council as Senior Advisor to the White House Coordinator for Operation Allies Welcome, where he facilitated whole-of-government efforts to provide housing, health care, education, employment, and other resources at scale for nearly 90,000 Afghan allies resettled in the United States. An attorney by training, White joined the Biden-Harris Administration as Deputy Associate Counsel in PPO. He was previously a member of the Biden-Harris Transition Team and an attorney at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in New York City. White began his career in public service as a cavalry officer in the U.S. Army. He served on active duty in a variety of domestic and overseas assignments, including as a Scout Platoon Leader in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in support of . . .

CALLING RPCV WRITERS!

Jun 20 2023

Calling all RPCV Writers Are you writing a novel, a memoir, a scholarly essay, poems, and/or short stories? Whether what you’re working on is about the Peace Corps or not, you are invited to the Second Peace Corps Writers Workshop this October on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. The Workshop—open to a maximum of 15 RPCV writers—will be held from Thursday, October 5, to Sunday, October 7, at Shore Retreats on Broad Creek. The cost ranges from $100 to $500, depending on the applicant’s economic circumstances, and includes shared living quarters and most meals. If interested, please contact Matt Losak (Lesotho 1985-87) at: tokamaphepa@aol.com. The Workshop, organized by Peace Corps Worldwide and supported by the Peace Corps Fund, will be led by Mark Brazaitis (Guatemala 1991-93), an English professor at West Virginia University, where he directs the Creative Writing Program and the West Virginia Writers’ Workshop. The author . . .

WORDS CREATE WORLDS: Poems by Ada Jo Mann (Chad)

Jun 18 2023

Words Create Worlds: Poems Ada Jo Mann (Chad 1967-69) Peace Corps Writers 147 pages April 2023 $14.99 (paperback) Words Create Worlds is a collection of poems that span the life of the author, Ada Jo Mann, who grew up in Detroit, Michigan, and who was a Peace Corps volunteer in Chad from 1967-69. Her Peace Corps service led to a career in international development which took her to many countries around the world where she focused on building strong communities and organizations using a strength-based approach to change called Appreciative Inquiry. Upon the author’s retirement, she began taking courses at the independent bookstore, Politics and Prose, in Washington, DC. As a participant in the Poetry Circle she was inspired to try her hand at poetry and this collection of her poems was the result. In addition to the international focus of her poems, the author writes about memories of . . .

Do you have a book you want to publish?

Jun 17 2023

To publish with Peace Corps Writers imprint Peace Corps Writers — a component of Peace Corps Worldwide — publishes a line of books by writers who have served with the Peace Corps either as Volunteers or staff members. These books — fiction, non-fiction, travel, memoir, poetry, etc.— are printed by Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), a print-on-demand (POD) company and subsidiary of Amazon.com, carry the logo of the Peace Corps Writers imprint, are sold through Amazon.com, and are featured on Peace Corps Worldwide with an announcement of publication in addition to listing in “New Books by Peace Corps Writers,” an interview with the author(s), and a review, should the authors choose to have them. Books need not be about the Peace Corps, the author’s Peace Corps experience, or be set overseas in the country where served. Books by the family and friends of PCVs are also welcome to submit proposals if the . . .