Peace Corps Worldwide – Page 50 – promoting Peace Corps writers since 1989

Connor H. O’Brien (Ukraine) Peace Corps Volunteer says: Choose violence

Apr 28 2023

Why words like ‘diplomacy,’ ‘ceasefire’ and ‘negotiations’ are such rubbish in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine The EAGLE American University I will never forget the day I arrived in Ukraine to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer. It was a cool September afternoon, several months after I graduated from American University. After landing in Kyiv, my fellow Americans and I were whisked off to the northern city of Chernihiv for orientation. On the bus ride, as we fought against jet lag and looked out upon expansive fields of wheat, a Ukrainian woman who worked for the Peace Corps addressed us. She explained that our orientation would be in an old Soviet-era hotel and that we needed to put our luggage in the basement upon arrival. She went on to explain that the basement was built to be a bomb shelter during the Cold War. . . .

THIS SALTED SOIL by Jamie Kirkpatrick (Tunisia)

Apr 27 2023

This Salted Soil, by Jamie Kirkpatrick, tells the story of the North African Campaign in World War II, America’s first, but often-overlooked, involvement in the war against Nazi Germany that helped to shape and ultimately secure the Allied victory in that bloody conflict. Using both historical and fictional characters, This Salted Soil, is the story of the battle for Tunisia that took place between November, 1942 and May, 1943. The novel also explores two other related themes: Tunisia’s struggle for independence from France, and the role of Third World countries in the ideological struggle between East and West in the post-war era. Jamie Kirkpatrick served in Kasserine, Tunisia from 1970 to 1972. He was also the Associate Peace Corps Director in Tunisia from 1974 to 1976. Now retired after careers in international service organizations and education, Jamie is a writer and photographer whose work has appeared in the Washington Post, . . .

One Day in Ethiopia

Apr 26 2023

This is a letter I wrote when I was a PCV in Ethiopia. It was published in the collection Letters From The Peace Corps in 1964, selected and edited by Iris Luce. She wrote in her introduction to her book. It was my good fortune one evening to be seated with the wife of Senator J. William Fulbright, whose daughter was working here in Washington at Peace Corps Headquarters. Mrs. Fulbright suggested that someone should compile a collection of letters from Peace Corps Volunteers in the field to give Americans a firsthand report on the triumphs and the hardships that these people have experienced while working in the Corps “One Day in Ethiopia” was a letter I had written home to my family and friends, several at the agency in Washington that Iris Luce found and included. In her introduction to the chapter, “One Day in Ethiopia,” she wrote: . . .

Harry Belafonte, Cultural Advisor to the Peace Corps

Apr 26 2023

Journalist, author and Kennedy family member Maria Shriver spoke to Belafonte’s relationship and shared humanitarian work with her father, Sargent Shriver. “Harry Belafonte wasn’t just a singer, he was an architect of change. He was an activist of the Civil Rights Movement, and he was also the first appointed Cultural Advisor to the Peace Corps,” she wrote on Instagram. “His whole life was devoted to making a difference, whether it was raising the awareness of justice or the HIV/AIDS crisis or women’s rights. Today, I hope you will not only listen to Harry Belafonte’s music, but learn a little more about what he fought for throughout his life, who he was as a man, and get inspired.”

Catherine Trevathan (Bulgaria) | New school superintendent

Apr 25 2023

RPCVs in the news Meet Catherine Trevathan, Hillsdale Local’s new well-traveled superintendent By Linda Hall MOHICAN TWP. OHIO − Catherine Trevathan will bring a world of experience to the Hillsdale Local School District when she becomes its new superintendent in August. She has crisscrossed the globe as an educator since graduating from the College of Mount Saint Joseph in Cincinnati, having held positions in Bulgaria, Turkey, the Hopi reservation in Arizona and most recently, the Little Miami Local Schools in Ohio. “I’ve been blessed with a lot of interesting experiences,” Trevathan said. She recalled sitting outside on a starry night with her dad when she was in eighth grade and telling him she wanted to join the Peace Corps. He may have considered it a youthful dream and been a bit surprised following her college graduation when she said to him, “Guess what? The Peace Corps accepted me.” . . .

Review | Finding Kony by Robert E. Gribbin (Kenya)

Apr 24 2023

Finding Kony by Robert E. Gribbin Self Published 248 pages November 2o22 $3.99 (Kindle); $15.99 (Paperback) Reviewed by Alan G. Johnston (Kenya 1968-70) Note: Both Robert Gribbin and Alan Johnston were in the Peace Corps group that arrived in Kenya in October 1968. They both spent many years in Africa. • On March 5, 2012 a U.S.-based NGO, Invisible Children, Inc., released a short documentary film called Kony 2012. The intent of the film, meant for world-wide distribution, was to make the infamous Ugandan warlord, Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), so famous that he couldn’t hide. The goal was to have him arrested and brought to justice by the end of 2012. The film quickly went viral, garnering more than 100 million views and becoming the most “liked” video on YouTube. The film highlights the announcement by Barack Obama in October 2011 that the U.S. . . .

Sally Martinez (Ethiopia) with Mariposa Yosemite Symphony Orchestra

Apr 24 2023

RPCVs in the news After a 40-month COVID hiatus, the Mariposa Yosemite Symphony Orchestra (MYSO) is back in action with concerts on Saturday, April 29th and Sunday, April 30th in Mariposa (CA) and at Tenaya Lodge in Fish Camp, led by its Founding Music Director and Conductor Les Marsden. Meet Sally Martinez (Ethiopia), Oberlin-trained longtime MYSO Concertmaster and Yosemite National Park’s Volunteer Program Manager . Sally Martinez was introduced to the violin at age 3 and began taking lessons in her home state of Massachusetts. She grew up performing with the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras before attending Oberlin College in Ohio. At Oberlin, Sally pursued a degree in Environmental Studies, but continued to participate in music lessons and performances with students and faculty at the Conservatory of Music. In her adult life, she has had the opportunity to perform with many community and professional orchestras, in concert halls across . . .

The Volunteer Who Became a Well Published Novelist | Richard Wiley (Korea)

Apr 21 2023

A substantial portion of this profile was drawn from an October 2000 interview with Pif Magazine. Jeremiah Norris (Colombia 1963-65) Richard Wiley, who served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Korea, 1967-69, is an American novelist and short-story writer whose first novel, Soldiers in Hiding, won the 1987 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. Since then, he has published seven other novels and a wide variety of short stories. His subsequent novels, Fool’s Gold, Festival for Three Thousand Maidens, and Indigo received favorable notice in America’s flagship book periodical the New York Times Book Review, and elsewhere. Despite this, only his more recent book Ahmed’s Revenge, published by Random House remains in print. Richard holds a B. A. from the University of Puget Sound and an M. A. from Sophia University in Tokyo. He earned his MFA in Creative Writing from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he studied under the . . .

Peace Corps Country Director Conner (Macedonia) visits ZIP Institute

Apr 21 2023

From Facebook April 13 — We had the pleasure of hosting Ms. Deborah Conner, Country Director of the Peace Corps North Macedonia, at ZIP Institute It was an inspiring and informative meeting where we discussed the impact of the Peace Corps’ volunteer program and our role as a receiver of volunteers. We are grateful for the opportunity to work with the Peace Corps and to have dedicated volunteers contribute to our organization’s mission. Thank you, Deborah, Mirlinda, and the entire Peace Corps team, for your partnership and commitment to making a difference in our community. • Established in 2011, ZIP Institute is an independent, nonpartisan, public policy organization geared towards producing and disseminating high-quality, objective and comprehensive ideas and analyses central to the democratization and EU Integration of Macedonia.

Kimberly Flowers’ (Bulgaria) career in development

Apr 20 2023

RPCVS in the news Kimberly Flowers (Bulgaria 1999-01) is the executive director of the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, where she advances the institution’s engagement with public policy issues across academic disciplines. Previously, at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), she was named the first full-time director for the Global Food Security Program in 2015, and created and directed the Humanitarian Agenda program in 2017. During her time at CSIS, she primarily analyzed the effectiveness of U.S. foreign assistance programs and policies that impact global hunger and malnutrition, and became a frequent speaker, moderator, and author on issues ranging from the global food system to humanitarian aid. Ms. Flowers has published in Forbes; Georgetown University’s Journal of International Affairs; and has been quoted in congressional testimonies, Foreign Policy, and the Washington Post. She led a high-level task force on humanitarian . . .

US Senate News: Peace Corps Reauthorization Act

Apr 20 2023

April 19, 2023 WASHINGTON, D.C. –– U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) reintroduced the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act, bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Peace Corps for the first time in over two decades. Passed unanimously out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last year, the bipartisan legislation raises Peace Corps Volunteers’ readjustment allowance, expedites return-to-service opportunities for those impacted by COVID-19 and future comparable emergencies, and increases transparency as it relates to the agency’s Sexual Assault Advisory Council, among other provisions. “Our Peace Corps volunteers represent American values and serve communities throughout the world in exemplary fashion,” said Senator Young. “Reauthorizing the Peace Corps will provide better support for our volunteers as they continue to work in the field.” “The Peace Corps is long-overdue for reforms to improve the safety and security of Peace Corps volunteers in the field. Last year, the committee . . .

Julia King (Malawi) receives award

Apr 20 2023

Gainesville Ohio City Schools names 2023 Philip Wright Award recipient The Times Published: Apr 18, 2023 Julia King (Malawi 1984-87), a special education teacher at Enota Multiple Intelligences Academy, an elementary school in Gainesville, was honored at Monday’s school board meeting with Gainesville City Schools’ 2023 Philip Wright Award. “I am humbled and honored to serve our community of deeply caring families and educators,” said King, a speech-language pathologist. The award is given annually to educators in the Pioneer RESA region, which covers Northeast Georgia. The award is given annually to educators who demonstrate a strong commitment to improving educational outcomes for students with disabilities. It is named after Philip Wright, an educator who created a legacy of service in the area of special education. Every year, each school district selects a recipient, and all of the winners are presented with their awards at a regional event. “I started as . . .

Fr. William Ryan (Togo) back in Togo

Apr 20 2023

Fr. William Ryan served in the Peace Corps in Togo from 1973 to 1975. He was ordained for the Archdiocese of Washington in 1980. After serving for many years in Hispanic ministry, he returned to Togo in 2006 to become the founding pastor of the mission parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Read more at: www.catholicworldreport.com

Courtney Copeland (Ukraine) welcomes Ukraine refugees

Apr 19 2023

Alum of Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey CA sponsoring a Ukrainian Alum’s Humanitarian Parole It wasn’t the email Yaroslav Perepadya had been hoping for. Cortney Copeland MPA/MAIEM ’15 had bad news—the potential American sponsor for him and his teenage son hadn’t checked out. It had been six months since Perepadya MACD ’03 and his son had fled their home in Dnipro, a day after Russia invaded at the border, just 150 miles from their home. They headed first to western Ukraine, then to Ireland, where they’d been hunkering down in a hotel room for months as Perepadya looked for a long-term home in the U.S. Copeland, a board member and volunteer with the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers Alliance for Ukraine (RPCV Alliance), apologized for having gotten his hopes up and said they were still looking to see if they could find a match. As she scanned his bio, a detail jumped . . .

Thursday, April 20th, Rocky Mountain PBS will air A Towering Task

Apr 18 2023

On Thursday, April 20th, Rocky Mountain PBS will be airing A Towering Task across the state of Colorado. We are finally getting this Peace Corps story out to a broader television audience. For those of you in the area, tune in at 9pm Mountain Time (11pm Eastern Time). And if you live in Colorado (or want to travel to meet us there!), we are working on hosting a follow-up watch party in a couple of months at the Rocky Mountain PBS studios in Denver. Let us know if you want to be on our official invite list by emailing us at info@peacecorpsdocumentary.com. We hope you can join us in watching the broadcast, at the follow-up gathering, or both! And, of course, we are continuing to work with public television distributors across the country to bring A Towering Task to your local stations. Stay tuned for more information and how you can make sure your station airs the documentary. Director . . .