Peace Corps Worldwide – Page 74 – promoting Peace Corps writers since 1989

THE GRIEVERS’ GROUP by Richard Wiley (Korea)

Aug 03 2022

PEN/Faulkner winner Richard Wiley is one of the 21st century’s best storytellers. In his newest book, THE GRIEVERS’ GROUP, he chronicles the lives of people who have suffered great loss. One is suicidal and terribly difficult to like; another serves up stories of a lifelong series of affairs; a third won a small fortune in Las Vegas while trying to unravel the truth about his late wife; and, another caused the death of a lover – personally delivering it from the barrel of a gun. It is a wild ride with an unforgettable cast of characters whose stories Wiley unfurls with unfailing sympathy but also with his signature wit and humor. • About the Author Richard Wiley won the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Washington State Governor’s Writers Award for Soldiers in Hiding and the Maria Thomas Fiction Award for Ahmed’s Revenge. He is also the recipient of the Silver Pen Award from the . . .

Former Steamboat Woman among first Peace Corps Volunteers to return Overseas

Aug 02 2022

Thanks for the “heads up” from Marnie Mueller (Ecuador 1963-65) by Spencer Powell from the Steamboat Pilot Former Steamboat Springs resident Avalena Everard appreciates growing up in a small community, but she isn’t ready to return home yet as she embarked for Uganda as part of the Peace Corps on Friday, July 29, 2022. In March 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Peace Corps suspended global operations and removed nearly 7,000 of its volunteers in an evacuation that was unprecedented for the organization. On Friday, July 29, former Steamboat Springs resident Avalena Everard became one of the first Peace Corps volunteers to return to service overseas. Her flight departed from Seattle at 8 a.m. “I think I’d be insane not to be slightly nervous,” Everard said. “Because with Peace Corps, you’re not guaranteed running water or electricity — definitely not WiFi, cell service.” She’ll . . .

Time Line of the NPCA Leadership Transition

Aug 01 2022

Letter published May 22, 2022 Dear Members of the Peace Corps Community, National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) is dedicated to serving the Peace Corps community and supporting the mission of the Peace Corps. NPCA is committed to providing support, resources, and advocacy while promoting a spirit of respect and acceptance of all people. The Board of NPCA takes all allegations of an unsafe or hostile workplace environment for women or others very seriously and has not and will not condone such an environment at NPCA. The allegations referenced in the recent posts online are not new. The Board took action to engage an independent and qualified investigator to conduct a thorough examination of these charges when they were brought to the attention of the Board. The independent investigator concluded that the allegations of misconduct were not credible and that NPCA did not present an unsafe or hostile work environment for . . .

Development Is Down This Road

Jul 30 2022

by Abigail Calkins Aguirre (Cameroon 1987-90) In July 1992 we published this essay by Abigail. It remains one of my favorite essays by an RPCV writer. Note: JC FEW RECOGNIZE ME without my trademark Suzuki. Now I have this red Yamaha DT they gave me to replace it. I’m still white, though, or so they keep insisting as I pass by the shouting voices trying to get me to stop to do a favor, chat, or taste the latest in palm wine. I know I have a bike, but how do you say “I’m not a taxi” in the local language? I’m late, I’m in a hurry, I’ve got to help a women’s group plant rows of plantains and pineapple in their community farm. This road could jostle my insides right out of me. My thighs are sore from being abused as non-stop shock absorbers. Yet, nothing beats a . . .

Review — ASK NOT WHAT YOUR COUNTRY CAN DO FOR YOU by Carl Stephani (Colombia)

Jul 30 2022

Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You …: Peace Corps Remembered – Bogota 1962–64 by Carl Stephani (Colombia 1962–64) Independently published June 2022 237 pages $6.95 (paperback) Reviewed by John Chromy (India 1963–65) • Our 1960s Peace Corps colleague Carl Stephani has assembled a very interesting and readable screed that for first decade PCVs will bring back many memories, and for post-1970 PCVs. Ask Not . . . provides an interesting view of Peace Corps in the “Olden Days” The days when Peace Corps training included 2-3 months at a US University, a month of outward bound hiking/mountain climbing/river swimming and a week or two in the cross-cultural setting of a poverty ridden neighborhood, be it urban slum or rural Appalachia, migrant stream camp or Native American reservation. The arrival in country and three days later delivered to the village or neighborhood of your assignment. The days . . .

Peace Corps celebrates 60 Years in Belize

Jul 30 2022

Today, (July 29, 2022) the US Embassy swore in nine new Peace Corps Volunteers who will be serving in Belize. The Peace Corps project has been in Belize for the past 60 years and the group is a part of the first cohort of two-year Peace Corps Volunteers. The group is the first to be inducted since the COVID-19 pandemic, which compelled the prior group of volunteers to depart. The volunteers will collaborate with primary school principals and teachers under the Youth Health and Well-Being Project to co-plan and co-teach health and physical education. Since arriving in Belize in May 2022, the nine U.S. citizens have received comprehensive intercultural, language, and technical training to foster greater cross-cultural understanding and effective integration in the communities they will serve. U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires, Leyla Moses-Ones stated at this morning’s ceremony that “The swearing-in of volunteers this year reaffirms the enduring U.S. commitment to . . .

Review — NEVER THE SAME AGAIN: Life, Service and Friendship in Liberia edited by Susan Greisen, et al

Jul 30 2022

Never the Same Again: Life, Service, and Friendship in Liberia Editor Susan Greisen (Liberia 1971-73) & (Tonga 1973-74) Sidekick Press May 2022 254 pages $8.99 (Kindle); $20.95 (Paperback) Review by: D.W. Jefferson (El Salvador 1974-76; Costa Rica 1976-77) • Kudos to editors Susan E. Greisen, Susan Corbett and Karen E. Lange for putting together a wonderful collection of true stories about Liberia, Peace Corps and friendship. The book was published in honor of the 60th anniversary of Peace Corps in Liberia. All of the authors are members of Friends of Liberia (FOL), a nonprofit originally formed by returned Peace Corps Volunteers who served in that country. There are 63 stories in all, some are poems, though the majority are prose short stories. The book includes a map of Liberia, so you can see where each author lived and worked. There is also an abridged timeline which is . . .

Review — IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME by Tom Corbett (India)

Jul 28 2022

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time Tom Corbett (India 1966–68) Hancock Press 644 pages $14.99 (paperback), $24.99 (hardcover), $4.99 (Kindle) Reviewed by John Chromy (India 1963–65) Tom Corbett’s book, It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time, is well worth reading, mostly for the very thoughtful reflections of the India 44 RPCVs that arose at three reunions that started in 2009, forty years after their PC service in Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Drawn from Tom Corbett’s notes from the reunions, the narrative focuses not on all the problems or peculiarities of the host country, as many Peace Corps stories do, but rather these India RPCVs thoughtfully and often humorously reflect on: Some of the positive achievements, however small, each of them made during her/his PCV assignments, How much the PC/India experience changed their lives and forced them to become better people, The many achievements and progress . . .

The Volunteer Who Had Encounters with Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia — William Seraile (Ethiopia)

Jul 28 2022

by Jeremiah Norris (Colombia 1963-65) (The following Profile is drawn largely from an article by William Seraile, Ethiopia 1963-65, published in Peace Corps WorldWide.) • William (Bill) Seraile was among about 140 Volunteers, mainly in their early twenties and graduates of Ivy League Colleges, some small schools, a few large public universities, and a small number of historic black colleges and universities, that arrived in Ethiopia as the second group of Volunteer teachers in the fall of 1963. Most of them had to examine their atlases to find Ethiopia on the map. Only one had ever been to Africa having spent a summer in Kenya with Operation Crossroads Africa. The trainees had two months of Peace Corps training at UCLA, studying Ethiopian culture, history and Amharic. Their language instructors were all young Ethiopian graduate students studying in American universities. Following that, Bill’s group departed for Ethiopia from New York . . .

Mike Tidwell (Zaire)| “Why I’m protesting the Congressional Baseball Game”

Jul 28 2022

— Opinion by Mike Tidwell (Zaire 1985-87) I’ll be attending the 87th annual Congressional Baseball Game Thursday at Nationals Park. I won’t be there as a fan, peacefully cracking my peanuts. I’ll be there as a protester, peacefully engaged in civil disobedience. I’m a lifelong baseball devotee who attends games at D.C.’s Nationals Park mostly to forget about politics, not engage in them. You want to hand me literature outside the park or chant your message inside? Have at it. But make it quick, man. You’re annoying me. There’s one towering exception, however — one issue so huge, so all-consuming, that it transcends baseball and everything else. It’s called, you know, the burning up of the whole world! The Post reported this month that 1,000-year-old bristlecone pines are dying en masse in California. Meanwhile, Europe sets a new heat record almost daily, and scientists have declared a “code red” for . . .

Friends of Liberia celebrate NEVER THE SAME AGAIN

Jul 26 2022

Life, Service, and Friendship in Liberia By Steve Kaffen (Russia 1994-96) July 26, 2022 • In honor of the 60th anniversary of Peace Corps in Liberia, Friends of Liberia (FOL), a non-profit started in 1985 by returned Liberia Volunteers, sponsored readings from the just-published book, Never the Same Again: Life, Service, and Friendship in Liberia. The book is an anthology of 63 stories and poems written by FOL members. Proceeds from its sale are to benefit humanitarian programs in Liberia. On Sunday afternoon July 24th, FOL members, former Peace Corps Volunteers and staff, and others disregarded the record-setting temperatures outside and packed to capacity the meeting room of midtown D.C.’s Busboys and Poets restaurant for a series of readings by some of the book’s contributing authors. Susan Greisen (co-editor along with Susan Corbett and Karen E. Lange) described the two-year process from conceptualization to publication. A published author [In . . .

Tim Carroll (Nigeria) goes home and remembers his childhood

Jul 25 2022

“I just had to live a long time,” Beloved Old Mission memories turned into children’s coloring book by Tim Carroll. By Jessie Williams June 19, 2022 MAPLETON — As a fifth-generation Old Mission Peninsula resident, Tim Carroll has an abundance of stories about his home. “I’ve always been interested in the history of this place, and I love my roots,” Carroll said. Carroll, 83, is sharing his perspective on the Peninsula’s history in a new coloring book, Once Upon A Peninsula, which features stories from his boyhood on the Peninsula. The book, which includes coloring and other activities, features stories and pictures from the Old Mission Peninsula during Carroll’s youth. Once Upon A Peninsula was illustrated by local artist Yvette Haberlein, who previously illustrated “The Traverse City Coloring Book” project. Carroll is a regular presenter at Peninsula Community Library, hosting the monthly history-focused “Talk with Tim” program. . . .

NPCA Board Meeting Today, July 25, 2022

Jul 25 2022

July 25 at 8 PM Eastern / 5 PM Pacific: Join the NPCA Board of Directors and staff online for the 2022 NPCA Annual Board Meeting. Learn more about how you can engage with NPCA — and support the Peace Corps community. Contact boardassist@peacecorpsconnect.org for further assistance and to register. September 24 (time TBD): Join the 2022 Annual General Membership Meeting to hear a report on key achievements and initiatives at NPCA as well as engage in a membership forum discussing Board-proposed actions for what lies ahead for NPCA.

Journals of Peace by Tim Carroll (Nigeria)

Jul 23 2022

by Tim Carroll (Nigeria 1963–66) In 1988, as the first d Director of the National Council of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (NCRPCV), now the National Peace Corps Association, I felt a considerable part of my mandate was to bring our disparate numbers together, to gather us up to celebrate those feelings we had in common. A number of special events given under my tenure accomplished this in varying degrees of success, but none held the hearts of Peace Corps family as did the Journals of Peace. As the 25th anniversary of the death of President John Kennedy — the founder and much loved hero of early Volunteers — approached, I made a call to St. Matthew’s Cathedral, the church that had been the site of JFK’s funeral service, and asked if we might have a memorial Mass that would include not only the traditional Showing of the Colors, but a procession . . .

RPCV Writer, Publisher & Southerner Jason P. Reed (Mongolia)

Jul 22 2022

Jason P. Reed came of age in Eunice, Louisiana, in the 1980s. He studied English at what was then the University of Southwestern Louisiana in the mid 90s and worked as a technical writer in Houston after graduation, when it became apparent his masterpiece comic novel, which remains unfinished on a floppy disc somewhere, would not write itself. A short while later, he joined the Peace Corps and spent the turn of the century in Mongolia, (1999-01) having a really good time. Returning to the U.S., Jason sidestepped a historically rigorous screening process and was commissioned into the Air Force. Two decades later, he remains in the public sector, though he has long since traded in the uniform for a sport coat. Eager to accelerate into the next stage in his life, Jason started New Bayou Books in 2020 and wrote his first two novels, both set in South-Louisiana, . . .