Colombia – Page 3 – Peace Corps Worldwide

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 . . .