Search Results for “Eres Tu” – Page 81

Volunteers of America by Jim Graham (Nicaragua 1970-71)

Jun 04 2013

[Jim writes that this ‘incident’ is the opening of his memoir of Nicaragua. The ‘basic incident is true, the particulars are mine’ he writes. The latrine project in part 2 of the story is one of the projects he was involved with. The photo is of Jim working the warehouse he mentions in the story.] • Volunteers of America By Jim Graham (Nicaragua 1970-71) They crossed the Rio Coco at its lowest point. At this time of year, the river was shallow. Their horse’s hooves threw up muddy water as the bandits splashed toward the other shore, into another country. Northeast Nicaragua, the Mosquito Coast on the Gulf of Mexico, didn’t seem different from Honduras. Both were poor and oppressively hot at midday, siesta time. The bandits liked to move during siesta, when all of Latin America is sleeping. This strategy had succeeded many times before. Once across the river, . . .

Review of Robert F. Nicholas (Philippines 1968-70) Hey Joe

Jun 04 2013

Hey Joe: Poems and Stories from the Peace Corps by Robert F. Nicholas (the Philippines 1968-70) Self Published $9.99 (paperback); $1.99 (ebook) from Barnes and Noble 146 pages October, 2012 Reviewed by P. David Searles (Staff 1971-76) Every American who has been to the Philippines will be captivated by the title of this book: ‘Hey Joe.‘ My guess is that this phrase is among the most remembered aspects of living in the country, especially for those who lived in the barrios. All Filipinos – young, old, male, female, educated or not – used ‘Hey Joe’ to greet any and all Americans at every turn. Once, needing to pass through a raucous demonstration to enter the American Embassy, dozens of Filipinos stopped what they were doing to hail me with ‘Hey Joe’ dozens of times, all with good humor and affection. For Americans in the Philippines ‘Hey Joe’ is a perfect . . .

New Archives for Peace Corps Books at American University Library

Jun 03 2013

Thanks to a suggestion made by Pat Wand (Colombia 1963-65) I have been in touch with a new Peace Corps Archives at American University in Washington, D.C. and made arrangements, with the cooperation of Susan McElrath and Erica Bogese of the Archives, to have the university take our’Peace Corps Memoirs. As Susan wrote me recently, “we would be interested in receiving copies of all of the Peace Corps memoirs.” The one requirement is that the writers contact the Archives before sending anything to them. The contact is: Erica Bogese Bender Library American University 4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington, DC 20016-8046 Erica’s contact information: Phone (202) 885-3242 Email bogese@american.edu The information you need to know about what material to send the Archives is outlined below or you can go directly to: http://bender.library.american.edu/pcca/?page_id=16 Thank you Susan and Erica and everyone connected with this American University Peace Corps Archives project. This is a wonderful opportunity . . .

Remembering Andy Oerke (Malawi CD 1966-69)

Jun 02 2013

In feature articles The New York Times and International Herald Tribune have said that here is a poet “whose muse is a world traveler.” Andrew Oerke has lived many lives. After suggesting, he told me, the idea of the Peace Corps to Jerry Clark, Kennedy’s campaign manager in Wisconsin, he went on to become a Peace Corps Director in Africa and the Caribbean, and for many years president of a private and voluntary organization working in developing countries. Oerke worked and visited in more than 160 countries, is a Golden Gloves champ, football player, university professor and Poet-in-Residence, dean of administration at one of the largest community colleges, U.S. Korean War veteran, World Bank consultant, and consultant to the United Nations on the Gulf War, on financial services, and on the environment. Mr. Oerke was also the first Director of the International Folk Festival on the Mall for the Smithsonian, . . .

The Peace Corps Goes Corporate–Carrie Hessler-Radelet Takes Agency in New Direction

May 21 2013

Carrie Changes the Business Model of the Peace Corps By Andrea Useem on 17 May 2013 inShare3 Carrie Hessler-Radelet, meeting here with a Peace Corps volunteer and community members in West Africa, said a partnership with food-and-beverage giant Mondelez International will help modernize the volunteer experience. Photo: Peace Corps. Earlier this spring, the Peace Corps announced its second corporate partnership, with Mondelez International, a food-and-beverage company previously part of Kraft Foods, to train young entrepreneurs in the Domincan Republic’s cocoa supply chain. According to acting Peace Corps Director Carrier Hessler-Radelet, this type of partnership represents the future of Peace Corps: working in partnership with other organizations. Peace Corps already works with Coca-Cola, through the Water and Development Alliance, a partnership involving the U.S. Agency for International Development that aims to improve water and sanitation conditions for local communities in the developing world. Hessler-Radelet, along with Corey Griffin, associate director . . .

Review of Paul Mathes (Colombia 1964-66) To Know the Rainforest

May 19 2013

To Know the Rainforest (Peace Corps Novel) by Paul Mathes (Colombia 1964–66) iUniverse $18.95 (paperback); $22.00 (hardcover); $3.99 (Kindle) 309 pages 2012 Reviewed by Dennis Grubb (Colombia 1961-63) “This was life. This is why he joined the Peace Corps .The could be danger ahead, but the possibility was what made it interesting …..Maybe I am no longer the kid I used to be. Maybe I am becoming a different person ….But what would the Peace Corps brass think about all this-if I they ever found out. No matter, he told himself. I am here to help Colombians; that’s what I am doing.”Colombian settings in books written by former Peace Corps Volunteers, or RPCVs as we are known are few and far between. Paul Mathes, an RPCV , Colombia 1964-66, self-published “To Know the Rainforest”, is an action /adventure novel incorporating the three well-worn Latin America and Colombia themes: poverty, land and . . .

Review of Rhoda and Earle Brooks' (Ecuador 1962-64)The Barrios of Manta: A Personal Account of the Peace Corps in Ecuador

May 16 2013

The Barrios of Manta: A Personal Account of the Peace Corps in Ecuador by Rhoda and Earle Brooks (Ecuador 1962–64) Untreed Reads $4.99 (Kindle) 324 pages (estimated print length) July 2012 Reviewed by Jeff Fearnside (Kazakhstan 2002–04) Originally published by New American Library in 1965, The Barrios of Manta was republished last year as an eBook in honor of the Peace Corps’ 50th anniversary. It remains not only an important document of the Peace Corps’ first work in Ecuador but also an engaging portrait of a fascinating couple, Rhoda and Earle Brooks, the married Volunteers who lived in one of the poorest barrios in the drought-stricken fishing port of Manta from 1962 to 1964. The problems the Brookses faced, the many resourceful ways they solved them, and the occasional failures they met are all relevant to the work of Volunteers today, and should be of interest to anyone who has . . .

Former Morocco Country Director David Burgess Remembers Chris Stevens

May 08 2013

A Salaam Alaykum. We’re here today to remember Chris Stevens – particularly his service as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco from 1983 to 1985. In some respects that’s a bit of an oxymoron: In three decades, I haven’t come across anyone who met Chris Stevens who didn’t remember him quite well. He was truly a remarkable person and made a profound impression on people he met. So we do remember him. Thirty years ago next month, Chris Stevens had his first encounter with North Africa when he arrived for Peace Corps training in Azrou, a predominantly Berber town in Morocco’s Middle Atlas Mountains. And North Africa had its first encounter with Chris Stevens. It was evidently love at first sight, for North Africa and the Middle East kept calling him back; and Chris spent the better part of his life either working there, or moving the necessary levers so . . .

Tony D'Souza Answers Book Review Slam of His Home Town

Apr 25 2013

[This is the opening of the lead book review in the recent issue of the NYTIMES Sunday edition. The review was written by Rachel Shteir. It appeared last Sunday. Chicagoan, and RPCV novelist, Tony D’Souza (Ivory Coast 2000-02, Madagascar 2002-03), sent his reply to the editor of the Book Section. Read those paragraphs of the review and you’ll see why Tony send a Letter to the Editor. Check it out. The message is: don’t mess with a Chicago writer!] Published: April 21, 2013 RACHEL SHTEIR wrote: “Poor Chicago,” a friend of mine recently said. Given the number of urban apocalypses here, I couldn’t tell which problem she was referring to. Was it the Cubs never winning? The abominable weather? Meter parking costing more than anywhere else in America – up to $6.50 an hour – with the money flowing to a private company, thanks to the ex-mayor Richard M. Daley’s . . .

Front Page of NYTIMES–Self Publishing

Apr 17 2013

[This piece on self publishing and the link between authors and agents is a must read for writers. The agent mention, Trident, is my literary agency so I had particular interest in the piece.] April 16, 2013 New Publisher Authors Trust: Themselves By LESLIE KAUFMAN When the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and author David Mamet released his last book, “The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture,” with the Sentinel publishing house in 2011, it sold well enough to make the New York Times best-seller list. This year, when Mr. Mamet set out to publish his next one, a novella and two short stories about war, he decided to take a very different path: he will self-publish. Mr. Mamet is taking advantage of a new service being offered by his literary agency, ICM Partners, as a way to assume more control over the way his book is promoted. “Basically I . . .

Review — VOLUNTEERS IN THE AFRICAN BUSH by David Read Barker (Sierra Leone)

Apr 15 2013

Volunteers in the African Bush: Memoirs from Sierra Leone Edited by David Read Barker (Sierra Leone 1965–67) Dog Ear Publishing $15.00 (paperback); $3.99 (Kindle) 163 pages 2013 Reviewed by Andy Trincia (Romania 2002–04) When I was an aspiring young writer — at about age 10 — I decided that I was going to write my first novel and set it in Sierra Leone. I spun my metal globe and that’s where my finger landed. Besides, it was a cool name for a country. I still haven’t written that novel, nor been to Sierra Leone, though I have read memoirs about Ivory Coast and Liberia. That distant memory made me smile when I had a chance to read Volunteers in the African Bush: Memoirs from Sierra Leone. The book’s editor, David Read Barker, had a lingering question in his head. He wondered if he and his fellow Peace Corps Volunteers . . .

RPCVs of Greater New York: Join the Peace Corps to support the National 9/11 Memorial & Museum!

Apr 04 2013

Returned Peace Corps Volunteers – please join Peace Corps staff and Volunteers past and future as we pitch in to encourage volunteerism in honor of those lost on 9/11. Join us on April 21, 2013 for the 9/11 Memorial 5K Run/Walk and Family Day! The Peace Corps and RPCVs from the Greater New York City area have been invited to volunteer at this year’s Family Day. This free community event will include activities for all ages and food and refreshments. It will also offer information about the National September 11 Memorial & Museum as well as ways to learn more about volunteer opportunities in the spirit of the National 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance. The date of the Run/Walk and Family Day – April 21 – marks the anniversary President Barack Obama signed into law legislation making 9/11 a day of service and volunteerism in the memory of the . . .

How Blair Butterworth (HQ/1961 & Ghana 1962-64) Integrated Atlanta, Georgia

Apr 03 2013

There were three PCVs who began their Peace Corps experience as employees of the agency in Washington, D.C., in early 1961 working at the original HQ the Maiatico Building across the street from Lafayette Square Park, and within sight of the White House. Two of them were Alan and Judith Guskin (Thailand 1961-64) who had on the night of October 14, 1960, created the ground surge for the Peace Corps on college campuses, first in Michigan, and then across the Mid West and the rest of America. Later they would go to Thailand as PCVs. The other person was Blair Butterworth. I am not sure how Blair arrived at the Peace Corps, or why, but he did arrive, a recent graduate of Princeton, and moved into Georgetown with another buddy, and started working as staff for the Peace Corps before going to Ghana as a PCV. Last year, at the . . .

RPCV Paul Clements (Gambia 1985-87) Runs for Congress in Michigan

Apr 02 2013

Paul Clements was a PCV math teacher in The Gambia from 1985-87, and stayed on in Africa with ActionAid (1987-89) and USAID (1989-90). Today he is the director of Western Michigan University’s Masters of International Development Administration program which has a “Peace Corps Option,” one of Peace Corps’ Masters International Programs, so many of his students have gone on to the Peace Corps. As director he gets to supervise their field papers, usually studies of large development projects in their countries of service. Paul met his wife, Aedin, in The Gambia. Aedin, an Irish volunteer, was in The Gambia working as a librarian with Ireland’s semi-volunteer aid organization. Their first daughter, Anna, was born in Royal Victoria Hospital in Banjul. Paul returned to Gambia in 2008 with their daughter, Anna, after she graduated from high school, and they stayed for a few days with his “family” in Pakalinding, the village . . .

What in God’s Name is a Hypermodern Book?

Mar 31 2013

A number of Peace Corps writers have asked, “what is a ‘Hypermodern Editions’ after I posted the recent blog item on História, História by Eleanor Stanford (Cape Verde 1998-2000) and wrote that it was published as a “Hypermodern Edition, only 100 pages written on pages 5.75 by 4.38 inches (or a twice-folded sheet of typing paper). They must have thought I knew what I was talking about. Hello? So I asked Jason Pettus, the publisher at Chicago Center for Literature and Photography, and he emailed me that “Hypermodern Editions is just a blanket term for all their handmade books, to differentiate them from the ebooks and the trade paperbacks we’re going to start doing in 2014. The term “hypermodern” comes from the world of book collecting, and refers to any collectible book less than 30 years old.” I also ask him about the pricing of this book, i.e., as it . . .

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