Guatemala – Page 2 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Florence Phillips (Guatemala, Jamaica, Kenya) is still volunteering. You can too!

Oct 28 2023

Born in New York to Jewish parents who fled Europe before the holocaust, RPCV Florence Phillips knows firsthand what is like to be the child of immigrants who don’t speak English. “My parents could not talk to my teachers; my parents could not help me with homework,” said Phillips. But all of that would change when she joined the Peace Corps. Florence served three tours of duty as a Peace Corps Volunteer in three different countries. 1988 – 1989 PCV Guatemala Organized 12 Mayan Indian women in a small village and assisted them in forming a cooperative weaving business. Established local and tourist markets for their products. 1990 – 1992 PCV Jamaica Small Enterprise Development and Business Advisor. Secondary projects established included teaching remedial reading and tutoring at primary school level; organized sport activities; taught adult literacy. 1997 – 1999 PCV Kenya Small Enterprise Development and Business Advisor. Taught . . .

2023 Winner of Peace Corps Writers’ Award for Best Travel Book

Jul 19 2023

My Saddest Pleasures: 50 Years on the Road: Part of the Yin and Yang of Travel Series Mark D. Walker (Guatemala 1971–73) This book is part of the author’s “Yin and Yang of Travel” series of ten essays, which was inspired by Paul Theroux’s (Malawi 1963–65) The Tao of Travel: Enlightenments from Lives on the Road Mr. Walker has spent over 50 years traveling in many countries around the world, first as a Peace Corps volunteer, and later as a professional fund raiser for various nonprofit organizations or NGOs. The book is an easy read. Walker writes in a conversational style, and it is only 63 pages. It is primarily a journal of his travels alone, with his family, and leading trips for donors to NGOs he worked for. His travel has been mostly off the beaten path rather than to popular tourist destinations. It is apparent he has learned . . .

Dennis McCarty (Guatemala) | THE QUEST TO END HUMAN TRAFFICING

Jul 11 2023

by Academic Minute 07/11/2023 Human trafficking is not just fought in the shadows. Dennis McCarty, Ph.D. (Guatemala 1973-75), a lecturer at the University at Albany says we all have a role to play. He worked for several criminal justice agencies before retiring as an Assistant Director at what was initially known as the New York State Office of Homeland Security. Professional honors include a Gubernatorial commendation for developing and coordinating the NYS Law Enforcement Counter-Terrorism Training Program following the attacks of 9/11. His volunteer work includes service with the Peace Corps in Guatemala, assisting residents of a shelter for domestic violence survivors, and helping vulnerable youths living on the streets of New York City. Academic honors include several teaching awards and the 2021 UAlbany Terra Award for helping the university earn national recognition as a Fair-Trade institution. The Quest to End Human Trafficking People often assume that only legislators and law . . .

Glenn A. Blumhorst (Guatemala) writes about his new job

Nov 21 2022

November 9, 2022 Dear Friends, Sargent Shriver urged us to “Serve, serve, serve! For in the end, it will be the servants that save us all.” It is fitting that today – Shriver’s birthday – I continue my service to the Peace Corps community in my new role as the lead fundraiser for the Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation (PCCF). I am grateful for the warm welcome extended by Tony Barclay and the PCCF Board of Directors as we embark on an $8 million capital campaign to underwrite the design and construction of a commemorative work on the National Mall that honors the creation of the Peace Corps in 1961 and those aspects of the American character exemplified by Peace Corps service. Peace Corps Park will forever be a place in which to gather and reflect; to be inspired by the Commemorative’s meanings and messages; and to share in programmed activities embodying . . .

Review — MY SADDEST PLEASURES by Mark Walker (Guatemala)

Aug 05 2022

My Saddest Pleasures: 50 Years on the Road: Part of the Yin and Yang of Travel Series by Mark D. Walker (Guatemala 1971–73) Cyberwit.net May 2022 63 pages $15.00 (paperback) Review by: D.W. Jefferson (El Salvador 1974–76; Costa Rica 1976–77) • This book is part of the author’s “Yin and Yang of Travel” series of ten essays, which was inspired by Paul Theroux’s (Malawi 1963–65) The Tao of Travel: Enlightenments from Lives on the Road Mr. Walker has spent over 50 years traveling in many countries around the world, first as a Peace Corps volunteer, and later as a professional fund raiser for various nonprofit organizations or NGOs. The book is an easy read. Walker writes in a conversational style, and it is only 63 pages. It is primarily a journal of his travels alone, with his family, and leading trips for donors to NGOs he worked for. His travel has . . .

16 New books by Peace Corps writers — May and June, 2022

Jul 01 2022

To purchase any of these books from Amazon.com — CLICK on the book cover, the bold book title, or the publishing format you would like — and Peace Corps Worldwide, an Amazon Associate, will receive a small remittance from your purchase that will help support the site and the annual Peace Corps Writers awards. We include a brief description for each of the books listed here in hopes of encouraging readers to order a book and/or to VOLUNTEER TO REVIEW IT. See a book you’d like to review for Peace Corps Worldwide? Send a note to Marian at marian@haleybeil.com, and she will send you a copy along with a few instructions. In addition to the books listed below, I have on my shelf a number of other books whose authors would love for you to review. Go to Books Available for Review to see what is on that shelf. Please, please join in our Third Goal . . .

Mark Walker (Guatemala) essay wins Bronze in Solas Literary Competition

Apr 08 2022

Mark Walker’s (Guatemala 1971-73) review of “Tschiffley’s Epic Equestrian Ride: Over the Andes Through Guatemala to Washington D.C.” (Part of the Yin and Yang of Travel Series), in Revue Magazine, April, 2021, received a Bronze in the Solas Literary Competition for “Best Travel Writing” in the Travel Adventure category. The winning review includes stories from his Peace Corps experience in Guatemala. He looked at the complete winners list and didn’t recognize any RPCVs, but remembers that Paul Theroux was the editor for one of Review Magazine’s annual “Best Travel Series.” Last year one of Mark’s essays received an Honorable mention in the competition. According to Mark, his review of “Letters of the Peace Corps in Honduras” by R. Scott Berg received many positive responses.

Review — IN THE LAND OF ETERNAL SPRING by Alan Howard

Jun 20 2017

In the Land of Eternal Spring by Alan Howard Harvard Square Editions June 2017 305 pages $22.95 (paperback) Reviewed by Mark Brazaitis (Guatemala, 1991-93) • If Ernest Hemingway had written a novel about the Guatemalan civil war — or la violencia, as it’s sometimes called — it might well have looked like In the Land of Eternal Spring. Alan Howard’s debut novel features an idealistic hero with a fondness for the ladies, Peter Franklin, and an alluring, brave, but dangerously naïve heroine, Laura Jenson. If you close your eyes slightly as you’re reading Howard’s book, you might think you’ve been transported to the Spain of the 1930s and into Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls. Robert Jordan, meet Peter Franklin — you’re soul brothers. Howard’s prose, sometimes effectively functional, often quietly poetic, is reminiscent of Hemingway’s. So, too, is his melancholic tone. This is all a compliment. Howard’s novel . . .

“Nebaj Notes: Revisiting Peace Corps Guatemala” by Taylor Dibbert (Guatemala)

May 29 2017

Nebaj Notes: Revisiting Peace Corps Guatemala Taylor Dibbert (Guatemala 2006–08) — freelance writer • I RECENTLY DID ONE OF THOSE “security clearance” interviews. A friend of mine listed me as a reference; he had applied for a job with a certain U.S. government agency. I’d never done an interview like this. Minutes into the conversation, I’m reminded that I know a lot about this guy (the person whose background is being ‘checked’), which really shouldn’t come as a surprise. I’ve known this person since 2006; we lived in the same rural town in Guatemala – Nebaj – for two years. We were Peace Corps volunteers. The Peace Corps is an awesome journey. Yet it’s not something that one does alone. Lasting friendships are cultivated during those highs and lows. And some of the strongest relationships are formed in one’s “site.” In our case, rather uniquely, one of the members of our Nebaj . . .

Mark Walker (Guatemala) publishes DIFFERENT LATITUDES

Apr 21 2017

SUMMER, 1971. A naïve young man must decide his path upon graduation from a small university in Colorado. Amidst the turmoil of the counterculture years and the looming possibility of being sent to Vietnam, he concludes that he wants to travel, serve, and, if possible, save the world. As a Peace Corps Volunteer Mark embarks on a vigorous cross cultural experience in a Caribbean and two Central American countries, with a final stop in one of the more isolated areas of the highlands of Guatemala. Though beset with a fear of the unknown and feelings of profound isolation due to being the only Volunteer in a remote village, he eventually gets to know and appreciate the people of the rural communities he is privileged to live among. After a near-death experience takes him to another part of Guatemala and eventually to a horse town, Mark meets the love of . . .

Ellen Urbani (Guatemala 1991-93) In D.C. and Virginia This Week

Sep 14 2015

Tuesday, Sept 15Thomas Balch Library, Reading/Discussion Subject: In addition to reading from Landfall, Ellen will be discussing her recent travels to New Orleans on the 10th anniversary of Katrina. Location: 208 W Market St, Leesburg, VA 20176 Time: 7 pm Wednesday, Sept 16Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe Reading/Discussion Subject: Listen to a bit of Landfall, talk about storms both public and personal, and then join Ellen for drinks afterwards at …. (you guessed it) … Afterwords Cafe. Location: 1517 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington D.C. 20036, just above DuPont Circle (Q Street Metro exit) Time: 6:30 pm

Special Deal for RPCV Writers: West Virginia Writers' Workshop This Summer at West Virginia University

May 28 2015

Special Deal for RPCV Writers: West Virginia Writers’ Workshop This Summer at West Virginia University I received a note from Mark Brazaitis (Guatemala 1991-1993) saying that “Any Peace Corps-affiliated person who would like to attend the West Virginia Writers’ Workshop-a super deal at $350 for the four-day conference (July 16 to 19)-should email me about a Peace Corps discount!” Mark’s email address: Mark.Brazaitis@mail.wvu.edu and the Workshop’s Web site: http://english.wvu.edu/centers-projects/west-virginia-writers-workshop At the West Virginia Writers’ Workshop, you will: * Participate in an intimate workshop (in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, or screenwriting) in which your work will be critiqued gently and thoroughly by a nationally recognized writer as well as by your fellow workshop members. * Absorb valuable lessons on writing in craft talks given by nationally known authors. * Improve your writing through a series of exercises tailored to the craft talks. * Hear dynamic readings by nationally recognized authors. * Read your . . .

Mark Brazaitis (Guatemala 1991-1993) Reading Saturday at Politics and Prose

May 28 2015

TRUTH POKER BY MARK BRAZAITIS Saturday, June 6, 2015 at 1 p.m. Politics and Prose 5015 Connecticut Ave N W Washington D.C. A poet and an award-winning novelist (Julia and Rodrigo), Brazaitis was awarded the 2014 Autumn House Fiction Prize for his second collection of stories. Praised as “exquisite” and “innovative” by the judge, these pieces dramatize characters ranging from phantoms to faith healers to corrupt cops, and explore a rich emotional terrain of regret, guilt, and confusion.

Summer Books From Two Fine RPCV Writers

Apr 01 2015

Karl Luntta (Botswana 1978-80) A swimming pool in the Kalahari Desert, the ice skates of a boy in a wheelchair, and a midnight train ride in the cool African night form the backdrop of the eight diverse stories in Swimming. Some of the stories take place in Africa, others in the United States, but in all of them, the characters confront cultural and racial differences, both historically and in the present. In “A Virgin Twice,” an American teaching in Botswana struggles to understand a village’s response to a violent assault. In “Jeff Call Beth,” a white American father attempts to connect with the daughter he left behind in Africa. And in the title story, “Swimming,” a Danish expatriate dying of cancer decides to build an Olympic-sized swimming pool in the Kalahari Desert. All of these characters are clinging to emotional survival in a complex world, confronted by a moment or element . . .

Mark Brazaitis (Guatemala 1991-93) Publishes Award Winning Short Story Collection

Jan 12 2015

This month, Autumn House Press published Mark Brazaitis (1991-93) collection, Truth Poker: Stories that won its 2014 Fiction contest. Of his stories, Mark says, “Truth Poker is a collection of 15 stories whose outcomes hinge on how characters engage with a truth (about a situation, about themselves). In a crucial moment in their lives, will they tell the truth or conceal it? What will the consequences of their decisions be?” In the collection’s title piece, two boys play a real life version of truth poker. When a person loses a hand, he is required to answer his friend’s question. One of the boys, again the story’s main concern, has lost his mother and is living with his father. Through playing the game, he slowly finds connections between his mother’s suicide and his father’s relationship with an Ohio congressman. As it turns out, the boy’s playmate is the congressman’s nephew. Brazaitis’ . . .