Search Results for “Eres Tu” – Page 75

PCVs in Senegal Are Well Wired Thanks to Chris Hedrick!

Jun 03 2014

Chis Hedrick (Senegal 1988-90) will be leaving his position as Senegal Peace Corps CD this June. He has been CD in his country of service since 2007. The Peace Corps, however, will still be in the family. His wife, Jennifer Beaston Hedrick (Senegal 1997-99), who has been the COO of Tostan for the past 6 years, is becoming the Peace Corps’ CD in Rwanda. (Tostan is the human rights NGO that has been recognized for its success in reducing female genital cutting and forced early marriage. It was founded by another PCV Molly Melching (Senegal 1976-79).) Previously Jennifer Hedrick worked at Microsoft, Citigroup and the Grameen Foundation Technology Center. She has her MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. For the last 25 years, her husband, Chris Hedrick, has been focused on the intersection of technology, development and learning, and was recently recruited by Kepler to become their CEO. . . .

The Peace Corps Community Archive at American University Seeks Your Story

May 29 2014

The Peace Corps Community Archive at American University Library is actively seeking the ‘histories’ of RPCVs. The Kennedy Library in Boston has a ‘Peace Corps collection’ from the first years of the agency, i.e., during JFK’s presidency, and there are other collections, including the official records of the Peace Corps at the National Archives in Washington. RPCVs funded one collection of objects in Portland, Oregon, and various libraries have the papers of former students, but American University’s venture is new, impressive, and expanding. Unlike the Peace Corps agency, which appears to deliberately want to ‘bury its past’ having done little over the years to document the successes and failures of the Peace Corps, RPCVs have taken it upon themselves through their writings, films, photos, and organizations to put together the history of their experiences, and now universities and libraries are becoming aware of the valuable items that RPCV have in . . .

Review — I Climbed Mt. Rainier with Jimi Hendrix’s High School Counselor by Rick Fordyce (Ghana)

May 29 2014

I Climbed Mt. Rainier with Jimi Hendrix’s High School Counselor, and Other Stories of the Pacific Northwest by Rick Fordyce (Ghana 1978-80) Merrimack Media $12.00 (paperback) 125 pages 2014 Reviewed by Don Messerschmidt (Nepal 1963-65) If you grew up in Seattle in the ’60s or ’70s, you’ll appreciate this little book. You might even understand some of the teenage jargon. Groovy! Cool! There are twelve stories here, about adolescents in the city trying hard not to get busted for pot; about camping out in the North Cascades with a bunch of friends trying hard to like it; about making friends and comparing notes about urban high school life; about flying off to Europe with other teenagers, smoking cigarettes in flight (before the ban), and kissing the girl sitting next to, though you’d only just met; and, among others, the title story about climbing Mt. Rainier with the guy who . . .

The Peace Corps Now Accepting Applications for Global Health Service Partnership Volunteers for 2015

May 19 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 19, 2014 The Peace Corps Now Accepting Applications for Global Health Service Partnership Volunteers for 2015 Volunteers train a new generation of physicians and nurses in Africa WASHINGTON, D.C., May 19, 2014 – Today the Global Health Service Partnership program begins accepting applications from physicians and nurses interested in serving as healthcare educators in Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda starting summer 2015. Volunteers serve one-year assignments at medical and nursing schools working alongside local faculty to strengthen the quality of their education and clinical practices. The Global Health Service Partnership is a collaboration of the Peace Corps, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and the non-profit Seed Global Health. The program presents an opportunity for American physicians and nurses to make a tangible difference in communities abroad by addressing the known shortage of skilled physicians, nurses and clinical faculty in resource-limited countries. The first-ever group of . . .

Remembering Moritz Thomsen (Ecuador 1965-67)

May 13 2014

Moritz Thomsen (Ecuador 1965-67) is considered by many to be our ‘great’ Peace Corps writer. He is considered by others to be our most overlooked great American writer. Moritz was the author of a Peace Corps memoir Living Poor, the first of his three published books. He died of cholera in Guayaquil, Ecuador on August 28, 1991. Back in the days of our ‘old’ website: www.peacecorpswriters.org, we published a long essay on Moritz written by Marcus Covert who had reached out to me for any background information I might have on Moritz. Marc had learned about Moritz Thomsen through a piece by Pat Joseph in Salon.com, published in July 1998, titled “The Saddest Gringo.” He borrowed a copy of Living Poor and was hooked immediately. It didn’t take him long to burn through Farm on the River of Emeralds, The Saddest Pleasure, and My Two Wars, then he was, as . . .

Mark Jacobs (Paraguay 1978-80) Meursault's Father in Superstition Review

May 12 2014

Superstition Review is the online literary magazine produced by creative writing and web design students at Arizona State University. Founded by Patricia Colleen Murphy in 2008, the mission of the journal is to promote contemporary art and literature by providing a free, easy-to-navigate, high quality online publication that features work by established and emerging artists and authors from all over the world. They publish two issues a year with art, fiction, interviews, nonfiction and poetry. In their latest issue is this story by Mark Jacob’s (Paraguay 1978-80) Meursault’s Father. Mark Jacobs has published 96 stories in magazines including The Atlantic, The Iowa Review, The Southern Humanities Review, The Idaho Review, and The Kenyon Review. He has stories forthcoming in several magazines including Playboy. His fifth book, a novel set in Turkey entitled Forty Wolves, came out in 2010. A former U.S. Foreign Service officer, he currently works for the State . . .

Talking With Marty Ganzglass (Somalia 1966-68)

May 08 2014

Cannons for the Cause, is an historical novel about the struggle to bring heavy cannons from Fort Ticonderoga, NY to Cambridge, Massachusetts, a distance of more than 300 miles, in the brutal winter of 1775-1776. It is the first in a series of novels that Marty is planning to write about the American Revolution. Cannons for the Cause has recently been published by Peace Corps Writers. Marty, what is your background? Where did you to go college? I am a graduate of C.C.N.Y, (B.A., 1961) and Harvard Law School, (LL.B, 1964). And your Peace Corps history? I served in Somalia from 1966-1968 (Somali IV), as legal adviser to the Somali National Police Force. I taught the penal and criminal procedure codes at the Police Academy, provided general advice to the Police Commandant, specific advice to Police Officers who prosecuted criminal cases, drafted some legislation, and wrote a casebook on the Somali . . .

A Christmas in Cinco Pinos by Jim Graham (Nicaragua 1970-71)

May 07 2014

Jim Graham was in Nicaragua (1970-71) and returning home he did everything from working construction to being a newspaper sports editor, then he got involved in electronics and ran two companies in the industry. Today he lives in Winter Garden, Florida. Of his writing, Jim says: When President Kennedy introduced the Peace Corps I was excited. The year before having visited Peru with a student exchange program I was enamored with Spanish culture. I graduated from Stetson University with a degree in English Literature in 1969. The next year I joined one of the first Peace Corps units to go into Nicaragua, Central America. In 1970 and ’71 we working in the “promotion and development” of rural electric cooperatives, our assignment. I was stationed on a large mountain in Northern Nicaragua near the border with Honduras. Two days before Christmas 1972 a massive earthquake destroyed 75% of Managua, the capitol . . .

The Peace Corps Lawyers (As Always) Running the Agency

May 05 2014

Investigators use Peace Corps act to push for information on sexual assaults By Kelly Riddell from The Washington Times, Thursday, May 1, 2014 In 2009, Peace Corps volunteer Kate Puzey was found on the porch of her hut with her throat slit shortly after she reported to authorities a colleague she suspected of molesting girls they had taught in the West African village. The 24-year-old’s death exposed what some critics called a decades-old “blame the victim” culture at the Peace Corps, where sexual assaults often were dismissed or went unreported. After a two-year legislation campaign led by congressional Republicans, President Obama signed into law the Kate Puzey Act to grant whistleblower protection, improve treatment of sexual assault victims and implement preventive training and education at the Peace Corps. But the administration’s opaque interpretation of that law is thwarting inquiries by the Peace Corps inspector general, who is tasked with overseeing . . .

Remembering Innocents Abroad

May 02 2014

[As perhaps a companion piece to my blog item on the shift in America towards involvement in the world, I’d like to re-post a brilliant book review of Innocents Abroad: Teacheres in the American Century by David Espey (Morocco 1962-64) who teaches in the English Department at the University of Pennsylvania. Dave has also been a Fulbright Lecturer in Morocco, Turkey, and Japan. The book review was brought to my attention by an email I received from Dick Joyce (Philippines 1962-64) who commented on reading Zimmerman’s book, “I’m prompted to write because I finally got around to reading Innocents Abroad and I really enjoyed it. It is great to see how things one observed and sometimes participated in on a small scale were parts of larger historic trends. I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t have known of the book if you hadn’t recommended it on one of your websites several . . .

Americans Grow Weary of World Stage: Where Does That Leave The Peace Corps?

May 02 2014

Americans want to disengage from the world is the word from a new poll done by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News. Half of those surveyed want the US to be less active on the global stage. The poll also shows that approval for Obama’s handling of foreign policy sank to the lowest level of his president, with 38% approving. Well, what does that mean to the Peace Corps? Well, it means a lot. The first question we all hear: Is there still a Peace Corps? The second question: Are Volunteer women still being raped and murdered overseas? The third question: Why do we still have a Peace Corps? The tide is against Americans who thinks he or she can change the world. Of course, we all know that we can’t change the world. In fact, all we can do it change conditions at little bit in two years. . . .

Travelers’ Tales For Peace Corps Writers

Apr 30 2014

Jane Albritton (India 1967-69) senior editor of four books of essays by RPCVs published by Travelers’ Tales/Solas House was kind enough to send me this announcement from Travelers’ Tales. It might be, she wrote, a place where RPCV writers will find a home for their prose. The site is: http://talestogo.travelerstales.com/submission-guidelines/ Submission Guidelines Tales To Go is published by Travelers’ Tales/Solas House, Inc. You will find detailed rights and payment information at our submissions intake site and in the full Travelers’ Tales submission guidelines. Type of Story Please read at least one issue of Tales To Go to get a sense of what we publish. In general, we’re looking for personal, nonfiction stories and anecdotes-funny, illuminating, adventurous, frightening, or grim. Stories should reflect that unique alchemy that occurs when you enter unfamiliar territory and begin to see the world differently as a result. Previously published stories are welcome, as long as you retain the . . .

Coyne's Take on Best-Selling Author James Patterson On "How To Write An Unputdownable Story"

Apr 29 2014

You have heard of the writer James Patterson. You have, I’m guessing, read at least one of his books. He’s the most popular and prolific writer to come along in the last decade. An estimated one out of every 17 hardcover novels purchased in the United States is his, dwarfing the sales of both Harry Potter and the Twilight vampires. To put it another way, James Patterson’s books account for one out of every 17 hardcover novels purchased in the United States. He is certainly the ‘king’ of summertime beach reading. Recently journalist Joe Berkowitz interviewed Patterson on the website Fast Company Create. In his interview, Berkowitz made the point that what makes Patterson so successful is “his colloquial storytelling style that grabs a hold of readers early on, instilling an insatiable need to know what happens next.” In his interview on the website, Patterson gave 8 points that dictates . . .

Review — WHEN BRITISH HONDURAS BECAME BELIZE 1971–73 by Ted Cox

Apr 27 2014

When British Honduras Became Belize 1971–73: A Peace Corps Memoir by Ted W. Cox (Sierra Leone 1969–71); Belize (1971–73) Old World Deli, Publications Dept. $16.95 456 pages 2014 Reviewed by Barbara E. Joe (Honduras 2000-03) Years ago, my curiosity about Belize was aroused during a brief stopover at the primitive tree-canopied Belize City airport. So I picked up When British Honduras Became Belize with considerable anticipation. I was surprised by the book’s heft (456 pages) and puzzled when first thumbing through its vast collection of photos, memos, letters, deeds, certificates, and tables dating from the author’s service. Interspersed were reconstructed conversations and present-day commentary in such large type that I didn’t need my glasses to read it. What was this all about? At first glance, this unconventional book looks much like a scrapbook or collage. It contains five maps, including one of Sierra Leone, author Ted Cox’s first Peace Corps . . .

Review of Barbara E. Joe's (Honduras 2000-03) Confessions of a Secret Latina

Apr 18 2014

Confessions of a Secret Latina: How I Fell Out of Love with Castro & in Love with the Cuban People by Barbara E. Joe (Honduras 2000–03) CreateSpace $15.77 (paperback), $5.99 (Kindle) 434 pages 2014 Reviewed by Bob Arias (Colombia 1964–66) I agree 100% with Barbara Joe, the real criminals are the Castro brothers . . . Fidel and Raul! What they have done to the people of Cuba cannot be tolerated . . . simply said, they have been cruel and inhumane to the very people that brought them to power. A recently released Afro-Cuban former Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, Dr. Oscar Biscet, said that 85% of Cuban prisoners are of African descent. And many prisoners are behind bars not because they committed a crime, but because the Castro brothers feel the individual may perhaps in the future commit a crime against the Peoples Republic of Cuba . . . lock them up before they . . .

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