Colombia – Page 2 – Peace Corps Worldwide

President Duque granted Colombian citizenship to journalist Maureen Orth

May 01 2022

From Bogotá, President Iván Duque swore in as a new Colombian to the American journalist and philanthropist, citizenship that was granted to her for her contributions to the country. Maureen Orth (Colombia 1964-66) is a journalist, writer, and special correspondent for Vanity Fair magazine. She also founded the organization Marina Orth Foundation with which she established a model of technology-based education, English learning and leadership in Colombia. The now Colombian has a school in Medellín from which she teaches thousands of children in 22 schools concepts related to technology and English.

An Orange for Christmas (Colombia)

Dec 23 2021

By Jeremiah Norris (Colombia 1963-65) In December 1963, I was the only Volunteer in La Plata, a small village of some 3,000 residents, located in the foothills of the Andean mountains. Volunteers from an earlier group had all rotated home in November. Just a few days before Christmas, I came down with a gastrointestinal infection that laid me so low I could hardly get out of bed and stumble into the bathroom. I was also taking an eight-count, feeling sorry for myself as I had not developed a single project in my first five months. I was too weak even to leave the house and seek medical attention. Then, mysteriously, bowls of hot soup began appearing at my front door. When I opened it to see who was there, no one appeared! Somehow, a woman of very limited means who lived just down the street from my house, the mother . . .

11/22/63 — Ask not . . . by Jerry Norris (Colombia)

Nov 17 2021

As a Peace Corps Volunteer, I was assigned to La Plata, a difficult to find village on any map, set in the foothills of Colombia’s Andean mountains. On this soon to be fateful morning of November 22, 1963 I had taken a bus into Neiva, the Departmental capital, to obtain some governmental authorizations for Community Development Funds for one of our projects. Like most every bus in our area, firmly set above the driver’s head were three pictures with Christmas tree lights around them: Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and President John F. Kennedy. Later that afternoon, about 3:30 PM or so, before boarding the bus for the trip back, I stopped at a newsstand next to the Hotel Neiva to see if it had a recent copy of Time Magazine. There was one copy left! In my excitement to read while paying for it, I paid little attention to a . . .

How narco movie BIRDS OF PASSAGE “tramples the truth” (Colombia)

Feb 14 2019

How Narco Movie BIRDS OF PASSAGE “tramples the truth” (Guest Column) The Hollywood Reporter 2/14/2019 by Maureen Orth (Colombia 1964–66), Abby Wasserman (Colombia 1963–65) and Arleen Chesto (Colombia 1964–66) The critically lauded film falsely accuses the Peace Corps for starting the drug trade in Colombia and misappropriates a long suffering indigenous tribe, write three former Peace Corp Volunteers. Birds of Passage, Colombia’s short listed entry for best foreign film in the upcoming Academy Awards that received a U.S. release on Feb. 13, has garnered praise for its truth and beauty. In reality, it is a movie that distorts history, truth and honesty in storytelling. It’s one thing to enhance history, exaggerate the facts and take artistic license for cinematic effect while honoring the essential spirit of a story. It’s quite another to trample the truth. Birds of Passage falsely accuses the Peace Corps for starting the drug trade in Colombia in 1968, and aggressively . . .

“Is It Folly to Be Wise” by Janet Mulgannon Del Castillo (Colombia)

Dec 18 2016

IS IT FOLLY TO BE WISE? by Janet Mulgannon Del Castillo (Colombia 1964–66) A GREAT ADVANTAGE OF BEING YOUNG is that one has no fear. Young adults are so devoid of knowledge and life experience that they have no concept of failure. I was 19 years old when I went to Colombia, South America, to save the world. I was in the Peace Corps and President Kennedy’s words rang in my ears. “Ask not what your country can do for you — but what you can do for your country!” There I was, in the tiny town of Buena Vista, enlightening the villagers on what latrines were for, how to construct them, and how to use them. The irony was that I had had little knowledge of where water came from or how toilets even flushed before I arrived. But I sure knew how to build a latrine! One sweltering morning . . .

Review — TIME PASSAGES by Jay Hersch (Colombia)

Feb 18 2016

Time Passages (Peace Corps memoir) Jay Hersch (Colombia 1964–66) A Peace Corps Writers Book October 2015 102 pages $7.99 (paperback), $2.99 (Kindle) Reviewed by Ralph Bates (Colombia 1964–66) . This review was first published in the Winter 2016 issue of Friends of Colombia: Newsletter of the Colombia RPCVs • It isn’t often that a person gets to see paths in his or her life intimately interwoven in the journey of another — in my case it is the journey of a dear friend. The author of that journey is Jay Hersch and his story is told in his entertaining book Time Passages. Jay and I go back to dormitory days at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1960. We didn’t know each other well, but Jay told me a few years later that he voted for me for Student Senate. Probably that revelation when we met, quite by surprise and . . .

Maureen Orth (Colombia 1964-66) Writes About the Virgin Mary in National Geographic Magazine

Nov 09 2015

In its December 2015 issue National Geographic carries a cover story by Maureen Orth (Colombia 1964-66) that calls the Virgin Mary, “the most powerful woman in the world”. Award-winning journalist Orth, also a special correspondent for Vanity Fair, has been wandering the world and telling unexpected stories since her days as a PCV. In this article, she has taken a journey through some of the most famous Marian apparitions (including the alleged apparitions of Medjugorje) while mixing the stories of those who benefit from such intercession of the Virgin Mary as well as the process followed by the Church to recognize the supernatural occurrences or not. At one point in the article, Orth also includes a brief reference to the role of Mary in Islam because, although it is little known in the Muslim world, there is also a reverence for whom they also considered the holiest woman: Mary. You can read the whole story here: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2015/12/virgin-mary-text

Return to Piojo by Dana Dahl Seton (Colombia 1963–65)

Nov 09 2015

Dana was one of the first RPCVs to donate her Peace Corps papers to the Friends of Colombia Peace Corps Archive at American University. When she returned to Piojo in 2008, she wrote the following essay about her experience. It, too was donated to FOC Archives at AU. We print it here through the courtesy of American University. Dana sadly lost her courageous battle with cancer last week. • Return to Piojo by Dana Dahl Seton (Colombia 1963–65) Two events in 2007 conspired to help me realize a 43-year old dream of returning to my beloved Peace Corps site of Piojo, Colombia, in the department of Atlantico on the northwest coast. The first was finding an envelope on my hallway floor postmarked 1973 and bearing the return address of a Colombian family with whom I had lost contact later in the decade. The second was receiving news from the organization . . .

What program was the first Peace Corps project?

Sep 21 2015

If you ever run into any RPCV from Colombia One, the first thing he’ll say (they were all guys) before giving you their name is: “We were first.” Colombia One PCVs are obsessed with this fact and that they are not given their proper pecking order. Recently my friend Ron Schwarz (Colombia 1961-63), wrote this piece on why THEY were the first PCVs, not Ghana. I asked the Director of the Peace Corps to check on this obscure (but important) fact. She was nice enough to come back with this information and statement from the agency’s General Counsel Office and the Office of Strategic Information, Research and Planning. Start dates for the early programs of the Peace Corps were corroborated and/or updated based on detailed research and analysis conducted by our Office of Strategic Information, Research and Planning on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps. . . .

¿hablas español? If so watch (and listen) to Maureen Orth (Colombia 1964-66)

Jun 02 2015

Maureen Orth (Colombia 1964-66) was featured on Colombia’s version of Sixty Minutes on June 1st. Congressman Sam Farr (Colombia 1964-66) is also on the segment as well as images of other early PCVs in country. Here is the link to the program: http://losinformantes.noticiascaracol.com/ As a PCV, Maureen, with the help from coffee growers, established a school in Medellin, Colombia. A decade or so ago, she returned to Colombia and created the Marina Orth Foundation which has established a model education program emphasizing Technology, English and leadership in Colombia. Today, Maureen is a Special Correspondent for Vanity Fair magazine. She is also the author of Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History and The Importance of Being Famous, a collection of her pieces from Vanity Fair articles with updates and commentary.

Colombia PCVs Damaged by Juan Gabriel Vasquez novel, The Sound of Things

Jun 08 2014

Dennis Grubb (Colombia 1961-62) keeper of “all things RPCV Colombia” sent me this email from Jeremiah Norris (Colombia 1961-62) concerning Juan Gabriel Vasquez’s novel, The Sound of Things. In his email to Dennis, Jeremiah wrote: I’m sure you are aware of this book, The Sound of Things Falling, by South America’s newest literary star, Juan Gabriel Vasquez. A central narrative theme is that PC ag volunteers in the Cauca Valley, under the supervision of a Regional Coordinator, were the originators of Colombia’ drug trade with the U. S. His narrative which was limited to a few volunteers has now been conflated by Amazon.com reviewers, via an insatiable social media mechanism, to be applied to Peace Corps as an institution. Some examples: 1. NPR Book Reviewer, “it is about Peace Corps hippies doing drugs”; 2. “I had no idea Peace Corps was so integral in the growth of Colombia’s drug industry”; 3. “Maybe it started . . .

New Colombia PCVs causing trouble already…Good for them!

Feb 01 2012

I was forwarded the very fine first edition of the PCV newsletter out of Colombia. New PCVs arrived there a couple months ago. It is called ¿¡Oíste?! In it is a short article I thought was worth reprinting for all of you. It was written by Chance Dorland (great name) about posting a PodCast using the secret name “Peace Corps.” Here’s what Chance Dorland had to say. The message: Beware of using the “Peace Corps” name for online media, even if you get permission in advance. • As a write this, I’m still brain-storming ways to inform people my website has changed. “PeaceCorpsPodCast.com” was easy to remember and straight to the point: it’s a web-site about a podcast I record while in the Peace Corps. Unfortunately, as one staff member told me, “your website is a victim of its own success.” This all is an example of the power Peace Corps has on hand to . . .

Review: COLOMBIA: PICTURES AND STORIES by Sandy Fisher (Colombia)

Aug 15 2011

Colombia: Pictures and Stories Sandy Fisher (Colombia 1962–64) Brookview Farm January, 2011 212 pages Hardback $60 (autographed) Order from TheMarket@brookviewfarm.com Reviewed by Lawrence F. Lihosit (Honduras 1975–77) THIS IS A VISUAL KALEIDOSCOPE of historical images and corresponding stories told by someone who went to serve, then stayed. A member of the second group of Peace Corps Volunteers to arrive in Colombia, Sandy Fisher and 59 other PCVs “sang out the Colombian national anthem (and) Alberto Lleras Camargo, the country’s president, cried.” A half century ago, the world was different and so was the Peace Corps. Like so many, Fisher was young — 21 — and inexperienced. His first mission was to “develop the community of Tenjo,” a village located in a valley between Andean mountain ranges in central Colombia. He “built a house, cleared a road, rescued machines,” worked on school water systems and helped organize a vegetable cooperative garden. . . .

Robert S. Kenison (Colombia 1963-65)

Feb 28 2010

Monday, November 21 8:03 pm WHAT THE PEACE CORPS DID for me was to change my life. That’s all. I was a member of Colombia Group XVI, Urban Community Development. We were in training at the Columbia University School of Social Work in New York City when President Kennedy was killed. Midway through our training, this wrenching event unsettled us all, but in a real way firmed the resolve to move forward in the host country. In 1963, I had just graduated from law school, an experience which had not done much to chisel an uncompromising New Hampshire political philosophy. Steven Vincent Benet has Daniel Webster describe the state of the nation in traditional Granite State terms: “rock-ribbed, firm, and indivisible.” That kind of stern, individualistic thinking underlay my thinking about political and social problems taking care of themselves through individual effort, just as hard-working tillage will produce fruit and . . .

Journals of Peace — Dennis L. Kaltreider

Feb 25 2010

Journals of Peace Dennis L. Kaltreider (Colombia 1964–66) Monday, November 21 4:24 pm • DURING MY SECOND YEAR in Colombia, South America, I worked with the Peace Corps and Laubach Literacy Foundation’s campaign for adult literacy. Perhaps more than any other, one item stands out from the thousands of recollections stored in my bank of memories. That is a letter I received just prior to my returning home. I treasure the letter which reads in part, Estimado Senor Kaltreider, This is the first letter that I write in my life. I send it to you to thank you for your help in teaching me to read and to write. I am 65 years old and never think that I would be able to do what I am doing now. God bless you with good health and in your work for peace. Signed, Guillermo Calderon Dear Mom and Dad, I’m enclosing . . .