Search Results for “Eres Tu” – Page 78

Talking to Aaron Barlow (Togo 1988-90) Author of Hard as Kerosene

Jan 07 2014

Here is a conversation I recently had with Aaron Barlow, author of Hard as Kerosene published by Peace Corps writers. — JC • Aaron, where were you a PCV? In Togo from 1988 to 1990. . Where are you from in the States? Though I was born in North Carolina, I grew up primarily in the Midwest, with stops back South and in the Northeast. I attended Beloit College in Wisconsin for my undergraduate degree and the University of Iowa for my MA and PhD. . Then you joined the Peace Corps? No. I had spent two years in Burkina Faso as a Senior Fulbright Lecturer and had met many PCVs and admired them all. From them, I learned that there is much more to African life than can be found in the cities. I joined so that I could live in a village and discover a part of Africa . . .

Is The Peace Corps Worth the Price of a Cup of Coffee? Otto Koester (Ethiopia 1968-69 & Ghana 1970) Says Yes

Jan 02 2014

The Peace Corps: Well worth a cup of coffee per year by Otto Koester (Ethiopia 1968-69 & Ghana 1970) With the first 50 years of the Peace Corps behind us, it’s time for us to take stock of its original purpose and consider what still needs to be done. When President Kennedy proposed the Peace Corps in 1961, he envisioned 100,000 volunteers each year, but the maximum has been 15,000. In 2006, former President George W. Bush called for a doubling of the Peace Corps’ size, but to no avail. The current number of volunteers is just over 7,000. Montana has done its share to support Peace Corps’ effort. Relative to population, we rank seventh nationally for the number of Montanans sent overseas. Among mid-sized universities, the University of Montana is 12th, and Montana State University 16th. In 2012, Missoula as a community was second nationwide for cities its size, . . .

A Writer Writes: Peace Corps Mojo! by Bob Criso

Dec 24 2013

Peace Corps Mojo by Bob Criso (Nigeria & Somalia 1966-68) What would our diplomatic service be like if one of the qualifications was prior Peace Corps service? We have West Point, Annapolis and the Air Force Academy which prepare us for war but how about a Peace Corps Academy? What if the Peace Corps included the element of exchange and a teacher from Kenya was swapped with one from Ohio? What about a Peace Corps Memorial in Washington?What would our diplomatic service be like if one of the qualifications was prior Peace Corps service? We have West Point, Annapolis and the Air Force Academy which prepare us for war but how about a Peace Corps Academy? What if the Peace Corps included the element of exchange and a teacher from Kenya was swapped with one from Ohio? What about a Peace Corps Memorial in Washington? These were just a few . . .

Karen Phillips (Gabon1997-98) Killer Sentenced To Life

Dec 12 2013

Thierry “Rambo” Ntoutoume Nzue was convicted for the 1998 murder of 37-year-old Karen Phillips. A Gabonese criminal court sentenced Ntoutoume Nzue to life in prison. Phillips served in Oyem, an agricultural city of about 40,000 in the coastal African nation of Gabon. She worked as an agro-forestry volunteer, helping local farmers market their agricultural products. “She just loved helping people,” said Richard Phillips, Karen’s father. “That’s the type of person she was. Karen was a doer and a giver.” Prior to joining the Peace Corps, Phillips worked in Atlanta as a fundraiser for the international development organization, CARE. A native of Delaware County, Pa., Karen received her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Villanova University in 1982, and a master’s degree in business administration from Fordham University in 1989. “There is nothing harder for this agency than losing a volunteer, and after many years, I wholeheartedly hope the Phillips family can . . .

Review of Robert E. Hamilton's (Ethiopia 1965-67) Short and Shorter

Dec 10 2013

Short and Shorter: Short Stories and Poetry By Robert E. Hamilton (Ethiopia 1965-67) self-published,$.99 ebook 204 pages 2013 Reviewed by Darcy Munson Meijer (Gabon 1982-84) RPCV Robert Hamilton has collected 41 of his short stories and poems in Short and Shorter: Short Stories and Poetry. The stories were written between 1976 and 2013, and Hamilton laid them out in the order that they were written. Not primarily a writer, Hamilton wrote most of the stories as gifts to friends and family. Nonetheless, I found almost all of them quite pleasant to read. As I read the first stories in the collection, my suspense was up. I feared that the character alone in the library at night would be stabbed by a deranged recluse. I expected Winston to get ensnared by ruthless arms dealers. I thought Mrs. Blake had an ugly secret. In fact, nobody in the stories gets hurt (though . . .

Review of Mark Wentling's novel Africa's Embrace

Dec 08 2013

Africa’s Embrace Mark Wentling (Honduras, 1967-69; Togo, 1970-73; PC Staff, Togo, Gabon, & Niger, 1973-77) A Peace Corps Writers Book, $16.78 (paperback); $14.34 (Kindle) 348 pages 2013 Reviewed by Jack Allison, Malawi, 1967-69) What an engaging gem of a novel! The jacket cover sums up the book nicely: “Although Africa’s Embrace is literary fiction, the novel is, in actuality, a thinly-veiled autobiographical account of the author’s three years of working in an African village back in the 1970s.” Apparently the author, Mark Wentling, took an oath not to reveal parts of the story for 40 years, and he honored that promise. The novel is a three-year adventure story of how a young chap from Kansas adapted to life in remote West Africa. The protagonist, David, is renamed “Bobovovi” by the village elders; after he is “transported” magically down a mountain “on a moonbeam,” he is thereafter viewed and treated differently by . . .

Don Messerschmidt (Nepal 1963-65) Makes You An Offer You Can't Refuse

Dec 08 2013

• Bhutan: Going to the Dogs Trek and Festival Be assured, this new 2014 trip is not all trek. Between our arrival in Bhutan on March 29 and departure on April 12, there is a total of 6 days on a moderate mountain trek (highest elevation is something around 13,500 feet, over and down in one day). the trek is scheduled for early in the trip, in Tashigang District, in the far Northeast corner of the country. The rest of the trip is an eco-tour of Bhutan, through the hills and mountains on the “Royal Road” from east Bhutan west to the capital, Thimphu, and ending at Paro (the airport town). It includes a drive through some amazing forests, high and low; a brief visit to beautiful Bumthang and Punakha valleys, sight-seeing in Thimphu, a day-long hiking excursion to “The Tiger’s Nest” — the amazing cliffside Taktsang Monastery (near Paro), . . .

Peace Corps Writers publishes Jon Thiem’s Letters from Ghana 1968–1970

Dec 04 2013

Several years back, author/editor Jon Thiem mentioned to a young woman (with a Ph.D.) that in the late 1960s he had served in the Peace Corps in Ghana, West Africa. She thought he was talking about a United Nations Peace Keeping operation! Taken by surprise, he laughed and thanked her for the alternative biography she had bestowed on him. Then he told her about Peace Corps. The incident was what initially inspired him to compile this collection Letters from Ghana 1968-1970: A Peace Corps Chronicle A combination of historical forces in the 1960s induced tens of thousands of (mainly) young U.S. volunteers to live in countries other than their own and engage in humanitarian activities. The body of letters that resulted from this great Peace Corps diaspora is a rich yet neglected legacy. From August 1968 to June 1970, Thiem was a Peace Corps Volunteer in a village in the . . .

Mike McCaskey (Ethiopia 1965-67) Paris 2014 Calendar

Nov 30 2013

Christmas in Paris? Well, if not . . . what about a calendar of Paris so you can live the City of Lights everyday? That’s what Mike McCaskey (Ethiopia 1965-67) decided to do. Mike, who has his PhD from Case Western Reserve, and has taught at UCLA and Harvard Business Schools, never played for the Chicago Bears, but he was the Chairmen of the organization and now has produced a beautiful Paris calendar for 2014 called “My Paris.” I asked Mike how all this came about and he emailed me that, “The calendar was a way to use some of my favorite photos of Paris. I love walking around the city and taking pictures, often of places or moments that are out-of-the-way. Looking at other calendars I couldn’t find one that exactly worked the way I wanted it to. “My calendar should fit easily into a briefcase or folder (so . . .

Robert Hamilton (Ethiopia 1965-67)Publishes E-Book on Amazon

Nov 22 2013

Here is what might work for you as a writer, as it has worked for Robert Hamilton (Ethiopia 1964-66). He has published his second e-book, Short and Shorter: Short Stories and Poetry, for $0.99 and it is for sale now on Amazon.com. Robert wrote about his new book: “The short stories and poetry, written over a 35-year period, include characters involved in international arms trading, a wife forced to choose between a philandering deceased husband and her son, a husband who has fallen in love with his wife, the fate of heaven when its computers fail, a creative and ambitious stock broker who takes a bold step to break out of “the bull pen,” three generations of friends harboring secrets, an aspiring teenage writer exploring life on a long bus trip, the unfulfilled ambitions of a would-be scholar, an almost love affair between the brilliant pianist and the talented viola . . .

Where Were You When John F. Kennedy Was Shot? Al Guskin (Thailand 1962-64) Remembers

Nov 22 2013

[I want to end this series of remembrances of JFK’s death today, November 22nd, 2013, with the recollection by one of the key people who launched the agency, Al Guskin. On the 50th anniversary celebration of the founding of the Peace Corps Al spoke to a gathering of 1500 people at the exact time (2:00am) on the exact spot (the steps of the Michigan Union) where JFK challenged the students to serve. He talked about what the students did 50 years earlier. Later that same day Al was honored to receive the University of Michigan Distinguished Alumni Service Award based on his involvement in the founding of the Peace Corps and his leadership career in higher education. Here is what Al remembers.] Like everyone else I remember exactly where I was when I heard that Kennedy was assassinated. I was in Bangkok Thailand teaching as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the . . .

JFK Library Invites Public to Participate in Online Tribute to JFK

Nov 18 2013

JFK Library Invites Public to Participate in Online Tribute to JFK AnIdeaLivesOn.org Puts a Modern Face on the Enduring Impact of America’s 35th President Boston, MA – The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Foundation today announced the launch of AnIdeaLivesOn.org, an online tribute to President John F. Kennedy that aims to create a multigenerational conversation about the many ways in which the legacy of our nation’s 35th president lives on today. Named for President Kennedy’s poignant observation that, “A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on,” the project invites the public to participate in the creation of an interactive documentary, putting a modern, human face on the enduring impact of John F. Kennedy. Stories from Congressman John Lewis, comedian Conan O’Brien, NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, actor Martin Sheen, House Leader Nancy Pelosi, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, journalist Luke Russert, and inaugural poet . . .

The Peace Corps Lends A Hand: Philippines Disaster Relief Effort

Nov 14 2013

From The Peace Corps Press Office: WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 14, 2013 – In the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, the Peace Corps would like to thank all of the individuals and organizations that have expressed interest in working with the agency to offer support to those affected by this devastating storm. The Peace Corps and the Philippines have a long history. More than 8,700 volunteers have served in the Philippines since the Peace Corps was established in 1961 – more than any other country in the world. Below find ways you can support relief efforts to help those in need in the Philippines. The Peace Corps Philippines Country Fund helps fund volunteer and community projects through the Contributing to this fund supports long-term development efforts throughout the country. One hundred percent of all contributions to the Philippines Country Fund are allocated to approved PCPP development projects that meet Peace Corps small . . .

Draft Strategic Plan 2015-2018 – Continuation of Service

Nov 11 2013

Third Goal Activities and the role of RPCVs are part of the Draft Strategic Plan. I have underlined the two items that caught my attention. Rather than the all RPCV run agency that Dr. Robert Textor envisioned with his “In, Up and Out” policy”, the Peace Corps agency will “Establish a competitive internship program where exceptional RPCVs compete for year-long positions within the agency and its strategic partners.” The other interesting item is the plan to engage RPCVs in a network “similar to a college alumni model”. I found the reference to college illuminating. I am beginning to think that the institutional model that best describes the Peace Corps best is that of a university. The “traditional” Peace Corps Volunteer is the undergraduate. The RPCVs in the lower level positions are the graduate assistants, soon to be replaced by the proposed “interns.” The other employees are the adjunct professors, on . . .

Carrie Hits It Out of the Ball Park at Senate Hearing

Nov 06 2013

The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Chaired by Senator Ed Markey, this Wednesday morning was a love feast for Carrie Hessler Radelet (Western Samoa 1981-83) at her Nomination Hearing. However, most of the hugs and kisses went to Harris Wofford, the former senator, and also a chief architect of the Peace Corps, one of the famous early Mad Men of the Peace Corps who in 1960 met with Shriver in the Mayflower Hotel and hatched out the idea of the agency. So much was the tribute to Wofford that at the close of the Hearing, Markey asked for a round of applause for Wofford, saying the Committee was ‘honored to have him there” to nominate Carrie for the job as Director of the Peace Corps. Harris even got a kiss from Carrie! Harris, for a man in his mid-80s, was sharp and articulate and, as always, rallying support for . . .

Search Results For -Eres Tu