Peace Corps Worldwide – Page 51 – promoting Peace Corps writers since 1989

Ray Nayler RPCV Science Fiction (Turkmenistan)

Apr 18 2023

RAY NAYLER (Turkmenistan 2003-05) was born on June 5, 1976 in Alma, Quebec. When he was three years old, his family moved to California. He attended the University of California at Santa Cruz, where he studied modern literature and developed an interest in semiotics, graduating in 1999. He lived in the Bay Area and Toronto and worked on various odd jobs before joining the Peace Corps and moving to Turkmenistan in 2003. He learned Russian there and later worked in Russia for an international NGO specializing in educational exchange. He lived in Moscow, then Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan, from where he joined the US Foreign Service in 2010. He subsequently served in Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, and Kosovo, living abroad for 20 years before returning to the US in 2022. He still works for the State Department, now on detail to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as their . . .

Clement E. Falbo (Zimbabwe) | MATHMATICAL MILESTONES

Apr 18 2023

Dr. Clement E. Falbo provides food for thought in an exquisite elucidation of mathematics Mathematical Milestones is about the historical and worldwide progress of mathematics and its uses over the years, especially in the most recent four centuries. The reader learns of the contributions from the Western World, the Middle East, Asia and other parts of the world. We tell stories about the important work done by the top Mathematicians, both men and women. We show that Mathematics is a branch of the humanities as well as the Sciences; it benefits from growth in other fields, such as business, art and technology. Finally, we reveal that Mathematics suffered its own version of an “uncertainty principle” that mathematics cannot be both consistent and complete, discovered by Kurt Godel in 1931. Dr. Clement E. Falbo was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. After serving four years in the U. . . .

The Wow Factor | Bonnie Lee Black (Gabon)

Apr 17 2023

by Bonnie Lee Black (Gabon 1996-98) • There’s a joke (una broma) that Mexicans in other parts of Mexico tell among themselves, I learned this week, that goes something like this: If you want to visit San Miguel de Allende, you’ll need to get a U.S. visa. In other words, Mexicans themselves don’t think of SMA as being in Mexico, it’s so overrun with us Norteamericano gringos. This broma, like most jokes, contains a large grain of truth. In the eight years I’ve lived here, I’ve often heard SMA being referred to as “Mexico Lite” and “Gringolandia.” In fact, in 2010 the director Dennis Lanson made a video titled “Gringolandia” about this very fact. According to the most recent estimates, we expats represent only about 10 percent of the residents of San Miguel, but our presence seems to me to be outsized. We gringos are everywhere, all the time – in all . . .

THE WORLD CUP IN QATAR | Steve Kaffen (Russia)

Apr 15 2023

It was a World Cup like no other. And author Steve Kaffen (Russia 1994-96) should know,this being his seventh. The 2022 World Cup in Qatar had everything: great soccer, memorable moments, surprising upsets, a remarkable final, plus controversies and a sustained effort by a small Middle Eastern country of sprawling sand desert to host the world’s most important sports event. The grand display of exciting matches and outstanding performances, day after day, captivated the world and brought to the sport a new generation of enthusiasts. It was also a World Cup of camaraderie for the fans in Qatar and those who gathered at homes and in venues all over the world to share the soccer experience. The author takes the reader to the event as a fan, attending matches with some of the best teams, taking in the 24-hour energy, and exploring Qatar’s rich history. Some 400 original photos . . .

The Transformative Power of Education | Jenna Mitchell (Malawi)

Apr 14 2023

Education can transform a life and the world. That statement drives Jenna Mitchler. She experienced it firsthand as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi and more recently in Tajikistan through the Fulbright Specialist Program. “I look for opportunities to learn about people who are different than myself — there’s so much value in diversity and difference,” she says. Mitchler joined the Peace Corps after earning her undergraduate degree — a major in English education with a minor in coaching — and taught English and HIV/AIDS education in Malawi in southeastern Africa. She also served as the president of northern Malawi’s Gender and Development Organization, which provides scholarships to girls to pay for secondary school fees. After her two years in the Peace Corps were up, Mitchler returned to the U.S. and began teaching high school English. However, some familiar strains kept playing in her ear. “While reflecting on my . . .

Talking with Gene Stone (Niger)

Apr 13 2023

An interview by John Coyne (Ethiopia 1962–64) A graduate of Stanford and Harvard, Gene Stone (Niger 1974-76) is a screenwriter, television producer, and journalist as well as a book, magazine, and newspaper editor. He has also ghostwritten more than thirty books (many of which were national bestsellers), specializing in socially conscious business and health—among his bestselling health related books are UltraPrevention (with Drs. Mark Hyman and Mark Liponis) and The Engine 2 Diet (with vegan firefighter Rip Esselstyn). I met Gene Stone at a party in Thurston Clarke’s (Tunisia 1968) apartment on the upper West Side of New York years and years ago. He was just back from the Peace Corps and working as an editor, and I was trying to write fiction full time. We eyed each other with equal amounts of suspicion. Editors are always (and I know this from being married to one) cautious of “would . . .

Review | THE FALLEN by Edna G. Bay (Malawi)

Apr 12 2023

The Fallen: A Novel Edna G. Bay (Malawi 1965-68) Peace Corps Writers December 2022 220 pages $9.50 (paperback) Reviewed by Eugénie de Rosier (Philippines 2006-08) • Edna G. Bay served in the Peace Corps in Malawi in the 1960s. She has published a handful of academic books about Africa, and “The Fallen” is her first novel. Naïve, 30-year-old American Anna Moretti knows little of her mother’s death, an accident in east Africa’s Malawi, where her parents were development workers with the Peace Corps. Her dad, silent about her mother and Malawi for three decades, has just died, after raising Anna alone in the U.S., and she receives her mother’s African diary from her grandfather. Still dissatisfied with unanswered questions about how and why mother died, Anna flies to Malawi to locate and interview her parents’ friends, and learns her dad was accused of his wife’s murder, and was to be tried . . .

The Volunteer Who Published Nationally on Wealth Inequality in the U. S. | Robert H. Frank (Nepal)

Apr 11 2023

by Jeremiah Norris (Colombia 1966-68) Robert H. Frank served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nepal, 1966-68. Afterwards, he received a B. S. in Mathematics from Georgia Tech University in 1966, then an M. A. in statistics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1971, followed by a Ph. D. in Economics from UC Berkeley in 1972. Until 2001, Robert was the Goldwin Smith Professor of Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy in Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences. For the 2008-09 academic year, he was a Visiting Professor at the New York University Stern School of Business. He contributes to the “Economic View,” a column that appears every fifth week in The New York Times. Alongside these academic achievements, Robert was the chief economist for the Civil Aeronautics Board, a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences from 1992 – 1993, and a Professor . . .

Labor of Love | Dan Edwards (Nepal)

Apr 10 2023

Dan Edwards, a retired US senior administrator and Peace Corps Volunteer, has published a book titled Railways in Nepal, which enriched Nepal’s railway history April 10, 2023 The Rana Rule was a golden era for introducing modern technology to Nepal. Despite political setbacks, Rana monarchs implemented several social changes and brought modern technologies to the nation. At a time when many Nepalese political leaders, intellectuals, and experts are unaware of Nepal’s century-old railway history, Dan Edwards, a retired senior US bureaucrat who served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nepal (1966-68) has reminded Nepalis of the long history in a great detailed archival talk. Edwards has made an enormous contribution to Nepal’s history by publishing Railways in Nepal. Based on archival research and images, the book combines the history of transportation and technology into one package, revealing many unknown truths about Nepal’s railways. A significant number of people from . . .

Sellwood, Oregon couple and volunteers spend Januarys helping in Africa

Apr 10 2023

By Elizabeth Ussher Groff “Small Steps to a Better World” is the motto of a Sellwood couple who travel to the African country of Ghana every year for three weeks in January. It is not a vacation – but they do arrive back refreshed and inspired by their work there. Upon returning this February, in a letter sent to their local donors, they wrote: “With four borrowed motorcycles and a work truck, five U.S. and many local volunteers were in action for an intensely productive three weeks in northern Ghana.” Lisa Revell, who also teaches a popular “Better Bones & Balance” exercise class at Woodstock’s Trinity United Methodist Church on the corner of S.E. Steele and Chavez Blvd (formerly 39th) – and her husband David Stone, a former Duniway music teacher, and now a PPS substitute teacher – have made their annual trek to Ghana nearly every January for all . . .

“And then Sarge said to me . . .” | Judy Guskin (Thailand)

Apr 08 2023

Judy Guskin (Thailand 1961-64) can rightly claim to be the “mother of the Peace Corps.” In the fall of 1960 she was a young married graduate student studying comparative literature at the University of Michigan when, with her husband, Alan, she heard John F. Kennedy speak on the steps of the Student Union and introduce the concept of a peace corps. Kennedy had arrived late at Ann Arbor that chilly October night and had not expected to speak, but a word-of-mouth rumor had spread around campus that he was spending the night at the University before campaigning in Michigan and over ten thousand students gathered around the Union building. Leaving his car and walking up the Union steps, Kennedy paused to say a few words to the students. It was late and cold and the crowd was edgy, having waited for him all night. Now, after 2 a.m. in . . .

Hello Alice | Elizabeth Gore (Bolivia)

Apr 08 2023

Elizabeth Gore (Bolivia 2003-05) serves as President and Chairwoman of the Board for Hello Alice, the first-ever artificial intelligence platform for business owners. Hello Alice helps all business owners find the right path to launch and grow. As a social enterprise, Alice is open to all entrepreneurs and prioritizes services for women, underrepresented founders and veterans. Elizabeth previously served as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Dell Technologies, where she drove initiatives to support Dell’s goals around helping small and medium businesses scale and prosper, fueling the expansion of global entrepreneurship. Elizabeth personally advises the growth of purpose-driven companies, such as ride share commuting company Scoop, and is an investing Limited Partner with the Portfolia fund. In addition, Elizabeth is part owner in Gore Family Vineyards in Sonoma County. She is the Emeritus Chair of the United Nations Foundation’s Global Entrepreneurs Council and previously served as the first-ever Entrepreneur in Residence for the . . .

CELEBRATE SIX DECADES IN THAILAND

Apr 07 2023

CELEBRATE SIX DECADES IN THAILAND By Khaosod English April 7, 2023 8:54 am On April 3, 2023, U.S. Ambassador Robert F. Godec and Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn swear-in 49 Peace Corps Trainees at Songphanburi Hotel, Suphanburi Province. In Thailand, Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) serve with their Thai counterparts in two sectors: Education, and Youth in Development. Volunteers live in local communities across the country, learn the Thai language, and share American culture with their communities during their two-year assignments. More than 5,500 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in Thailand since 1962. The swearing-in ceremony is conducted in conjunction with the 60th anniversary celebration of Peace Corps Thailand (the 60th anniversary celebration was supposed to happen last year but is delayed due to the pandemic). With U.S. Ambassador Robert F. Godec, Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn, Director-General Ureerat Charoentoh of the Thailand International Cooperation Agency, Royal Thai Government Officials, local . . .

Craig Sholley (Zaire) — African Wildlife Foundation

Apr 06 2023

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Tina Thuermer (Zaire 1973-75) Senior Vice President African Wildlife Foundation Craig’s experiences with wildlife and conservation began in 1973 as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zaire. As an L.S.B. Leakey grant researcher in the late 1970s, Craig studied mountain gorillas with Dian Fossey and, in 1987, became director of Rwanda’s Mountain Gorilla Project, of which African Wildlife Foundation was a sponsor. Craig has acted as Scientific Advisor for the award-winning IMAX film, “Mountain Gorilla,” and with National Geographic, he surveyed the conservation status of mountain gorillas in the aftermath of Rwanda’s civil war. Craig’s direct involvement with AWF began as a Senior Associate and member of AWF’s Board of Trustees. He became a full-time employee of AWF in 2001 and now serves as Senior Vice President.

Tracking Down PCVs Trained at UH Hilo

Apr 06 2023

UH Hilo political scientist Su-Mi Lee compiles biographies from Peace Corp volunteers with ties to Hawai‘i Island Posted on April 5, 2023 by Staff The project is significant to UH Hilo because Hawai‘i Island was chosen as a primary training location for thousands of Peace Corps volunteers in the 1960s and the university’s precursor—UH-Hilo Branch—contributed greatly to the training program. A local group involved in promoting acknowledgement of returned Peace Corps volunteers to Hawai‘i Island stand for a group photo at a plaque erected on the UH Hilo campus to commemorate John F. Kennedy who began the Peace Corps program. In the group are Hawai‘i County Mayor Mitch Roth (center) with Assistant Professor of Political Science Su-Mi Lee (fifth from left), returned Peace Corps volunteers, Rotary club members, a librarian from UH Hilo’s Mookini Library, and students including Lee’s student assistant Nikki Jicha (fourth from left). (Courtesy photo) By Susan Enright A political . . .