Ethiopia

  Conversations with Self by Racine Frank (Ethiopia 2019-20) Poetry Lulu Press October 2023 44 pages $10.00 (Paperback)   Racine Frank began to write poetry in December 2019 during her time as a PCV in Ethiopia. She started by writing haikus and then branched into free verse poetry incorporating rhyming schemes. From an early age, she traveled to and lived in multiple countries with Ethiopia being a time of tremendous growth and transformation. Her writing surrounds the power of love — not only for others, but for oneself. With love being the core of her creative writing, Racine explores other aspects of life that aid in the self-discovery and evolution of individuals. She recently shared with the world this, her first ever self-published poetry chapbook titled Conversations with Self. She is enthusiastic about creativity, whether that be in the form of dancing, singing, writing, or inspiring others to live life . . .

  Taking the Plunge into Ethiopia by William Hershey (Ethiopia 1968-70) The University of Akron Press 134 pages 2023 $24.95 (paperback); $18.99 (Kindle)   Reviewed by Cynthia Nelson Mosca (Ethiopia 1967-69) • For those of us who are old enough to have served in the Peace Corps in the ’60s and ’70s those years conjure up vivid images of the war in Vietnam, the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Robert Kennedy, the targeting of groups like the Black Panthers by the FBI, and of course the hippie movement, rock and roll, flower children and protest songs performed by Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, and Buffy St. Marie. Taking the Plunge into Ethiopia is a sobering look at the second largest country in Africa as well as our own past and present turbulence. Bill was part of a team of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists at the Akron Beacon Journal. . . .

by Bill Josephson (HQ Staff 1961-68)   Jane Campbell who died on December 19, 2023 at the age of 89, was unusual among original Peace Corps staff people. We all were smart, dedicated, reliable, hardworking, insightful, and Jane had all of those virtues. Plus, she was exceedingly well bred and stylish, never a hair out of place. Always looked her absolute best. A stalwart in the Division of Volunteer Support, Jane had already had significant international experience. In fact, as events unfolded, I realized that under that Green Springs Valley Maryland veneer beat the heart of a genuine international adventurist. Jane was a staff person in Ethiopia after three years at Peace Corps Washington. She became somewhat famous there for nursing and nurturing three lion cubs. When the cubs began to be of a certain age and size, she arranged for them to be donated to an English wildlife farm. While . . .

  Taking the Plunge Into Ethiopia: Tales of a Peace Corps Volunteer by William L. Hershey (Ethiopia 1968-70) University of Akron Press September 2023 134 pages $18.99 (Kindle); $24.95 (Paperback) William Hershey  served as the only Peace Corps Volunteer in the small Ethiopian town of Dabat. He taught seventh and eighth grade students the English that they would need to continue their educations and brighten their futures. He became part of the community, eating the local food and doing his best to communicate in Amharic. He also navigated cultural gaffes — having his house stoned by disgruntled students angered at being assigned to clean the outhouses; and nearly sparking international trouble by clashing with a player from a rival school during a heated basketball game. Decades later as a journalist, he used his once-in-a-lifetime Peace Corps experience to reflect on immigration, global goodwill and the hope the United States should . . .