Paraguay – Peace Corps Worldwide

Margaret Seufert obituary (Paraguay)

Jul 28 2024

Margaret Rose (Peggy) Seufert died on July 21, 2024 in Alexandria, Virginia. Born on November 1, 1954, in St. Joseph, Missouri, Peggy was the daughter of Henry Seufert and Colleen (Delaney) Seufert. Peggy’s mission in life was to help other people, especially the less fortunate. She sought to help people find and apply local human and financial resources to solve the problems they faced. Peggy served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay (1977-79) and subsequently served in senior positions with the Peace Corps in Poland, Romania, Thailand, and the agency’s headquarters in Washington. In Romania, Peggy was instrumental in supporting the initial development and subsequent spread of “Girls Leading Our World” (GLOW), a Peace Corps program where Peace Corps volunteers encourage girls to become active citizens by building their self-esteem and confidence and increasing their self-awareness. More than 25 years after GLOW began in a single country, it . . .

New books by Peace Corps writers | May — June 2024

Jul 01 2024

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 maybe 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 free copy along with a few instructions. PLEASE, PLEASE join in our Third Goal effort and volunteer to review a book or books!!! When Coronavirus Unmapped The Peace Corps Journey by Jeffrey W. Aubuchon (Morocco 2007-08) & Peace Corps Response Nepal 92252 Press 142 pages $2.99 (Kindle).$7.00 (Paperback) This book . . .

SILENT LIGHT | A novel by Mark Jacobs (Paraguay)

Jun 13 2024

A new book — Silent Light by Mark Jacobs (Paraguay 1978-80) OB Books June 2024 340 pages $18.95 (paperback) • • • At the start of Mark Jacob’s remarkable new novel ― his first book in thirteen years ― thirty-seven-year-old Smith wins a “stash” of diamonds in a poker game. The only catch: he has to find them. A Louisiana native, Smith is currently employed on an oil platform off the west coast of Africa, while the diamonds are somewhere in the immense, war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo. But Smith’s grown tired of the platform and he hates the idea of wasting a full house. One last adventure, he tells himself, and then, diamonds or no diamonds, he’s heading home to Louisiana. In Kinshasa, Smith meets a young woman named Béatrice, who hails from a village on the other side of the country. But this village, she tells Smith, is . . .

“The Glamour” — a short story by Mark Jacobs (Paraguay)

Jan 30 2024

By Mark Jacobs (Paraguay 1978-80) Lace likes how Deed touches her tits. His hands, cupping and brushing, send electric squigglies through her body. But it’s not just that, really it’s how the touch is like talking. Deed’s touch is part of the conversation they are always having about Sausalito. They’ll live on a boat, eat fish, get tanned, fuck under the stars. They’ll be their own avatars. The pictures are so vivid in Lace’s mind, she’s pretty sure she’ll slit her wrists if something goes wrong and they don’t go there. “So is Calhoun this son of a bitch’s first name or his last name?” “I don’t know. I don’t care.” Calhoun is Rhonda’s latest mistake. Rhonda is Lace’s mother. She specializes in getting things wrong. Rhonda won’t come out and say it, but she intends to invite Calhoun to move in. The dude has no job and even . . .

Suffering isn’t mandatory. Bake a cake!

Jan 28 2024

by Troy Schneider (Paraguay 2023-) Something that I’ve slowly started to realize about the Peace Corps is that it is not as terrible as some make it sound. From the outside, it seems like the Peace Corps is some kind of monastic tradition, where you leave all attachments, belongings, and comforts behind to live as an ascetic. This is just not true. Sure, a Peace Corps Volunteer goes to where there are far fewer modern comforts, and we definitely live a much humbler lifestyle, but this is not some strict rule. It is just the everyday reality of our service. For example, I went on a beach camping trip last weekend! It was for a music festival in the river town of Alberdí. I went with a group of around 6 other volunteers, and we all had a blast. We went out a couple of times, cooked our . . .

“What am I doing in Paraguay?” by Troy Schneider

Jan 27 2024

by Troy Schneider (Paraguay 2024-) At this point, I’ve probably been asked the question “Why did you join the Peace Corps?” a hundred times. Yet each time, I think I’ve given a different answer or at least a variation of an old answer. Truth is, there was no one reason why I sent off that application back in December of 2022. There was quite the variety. Peace Corps Volunteer Recipe: 2 cups of wanting to help people and make myself feel good (by the way, I’ve decided I’m going to be very honest in this blog) 1 cup of adventurous desire to see the world 1/2 cup of ability to be uncomfortable (add more later) 1 tbsp of restless spirit syndrome 1 tbsp of wanting to experience new cultures and ways of existing 1/2 tsp of language skills 3 cups of not wanting to get a 9-5 job . . .

New books by Peace Corps writers | July–August 2023

Sep 04 2023

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 free copy along with a few instructions. P.S. 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 . . .

Jerome Moore (Paraguay) writes DEEP DISH CONVERSATIONS

Aug 04 2023

Deep Dish Conversations: Voices of Social Change in Nashville by Jerome Moore (Paraguay 2015-17) Vanderbilt University Press May 2023 152 pages $19.99 (Kindle); $24.95 (Paperback) What does it mean to be a Nashvillian? A Black Nashvillian? A white Nashvillian? What does it mean to be an organizer, an ally, an elected official, an agent for change? Deep Dish Conversations began as a running online interview series in which host Jerome Moore sits down over pizza with Nashville leaders and community members to talk about the past, present, and future of the city and what it means to live here. The result is honest conversation about racism, housing, policing, poverty, and more in a safe, brave, person-to-person environment that allows for disagreement. This book is a curated collection of the most striking interviews from the first few seasons of the series, with a foreword by Dr. Sekou Franklin, an introduction by . . .

Review — WHITE CLOUD FREE by Peter Michael Johnson (Paraguay)

Jul 10 2023

White Cloud Free by Peter Michael Johnson (Paraguay 2002-04) V Press LC Publisher 160 pages July 2023 $11.99 (Kindle); $16.97 (Paperback) Reviewed by Stephen Foehr (Ethiopia 1965-66) • How many lives can a man live? An English major as a naïve Peace Corps beekeeper. A soft heart who befriends a 12-year-old village outcast. A fugitive on the run, with the boy, from a vengeful mob of farmers. An acolyte of St. Augustine. A sad-soul mate of a young Paraguayan transgender sex worker. A drug addict. A middle-aged washed-out depressive who suffers manic episodes. A seeker who wants a silent past. Author of White Cloud Free, a semi-autobiographical memoir. Memoir — a subjective collection of narratives, where the author remembers experiences, emotions, and events that are emotionally truthful, but not fact-checked — so the reader can’t tell where the author begins or ends as a character. In this, . . .

SILENT LIGHT | A new novel by Mark Jacobs (Paraguay)

Jun 30 2023

Silent Light by Mark Jacobs (Paraguay 1978-80) OB Books October 2023 340 pages $18.95 (Paperback) At the start of Mark Jacob’s remarkable new novel ― his first book in thirteen years ― thirty-seven-year-old Smith wins a “stash” of diamonds in a poker game. The only catch: he has to find them. A Louisiana native, Smith is currently employed on an oil platform off the west coast of Africa, while the diamonds are somewhere in the immense, war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo. But Smith’s grown tired of the platform and he hates the idea of wasting a full house. One last adventure, he tells himself, and then, diamonds or no diamonds, he’s heading home to Louisiana. In Kinshasa, Smith meets a young woman named Béatrice, who hails from a village on the other side of the country. But this village, she tells Smith, is where his diamonds are . . .

White Cloud Free by Peter Michael Johnson (Paraguay)

Jun 25 2023

White Cloud Free by Peter Michael Johnson (Paraguay 2002-04) V Press LC Publisher 160 pages July 2023 $11.99 (Kindle); $16.97 (Paperback) • White Cloud Free is a story of love and friendship, betrayal and loss, miracles, and memory. Set mostly in Latin America, it is a semi-autobiographical tale of an idealistic, naive Peace Corps volunteer who suffers a series of traumas abroad, leading to unlikely friendships with a semi-homeless 12-year-old boy, an ambitious transexual sex worker, and an eccentric Catholic priest. At 23, Peter has enlisted in the Peace Corps and finds himself teaching beekeeping in a tiny village in Paraguay. When a lynch mob kills several people in his local village after a disagreement over harvest proceeds, Peter flees with his 12-year-old homeless friend in search of safety — taking him through an indigenous community, a Mennonite colony, a squatters camp, and finally the lawless, chaotic city of . . .

Paul Ebner (Paraguay) Animal Sciences Professor

May 02 2023

“Growing up, I was not involved in agriculture at all,” Paul Ebner, professor of Animal Sciences. “I had never heard of 4-H or FFA or animal science until after I graduated from college.” Story by Nyssa Chow Lilovich • Throughout his career, Animal Sciences Professor Paul Ebner has demonstrated his commitment to global agriculture and food systems in his research and teaching. His path started at Kalamazoo College where he pursued a degree in political science. He went on to complete graduate degrees in animal sciences from the University of Tennessee, a postdoctoral fellowship at Louisiana State University in molecular biology and joined the Peace Corps. It was during his time in Paraguay, South America (1994-96) that he started working with livestock production. He worked in a small rural village with an original focus on water sanitation and eventually directed his efforts to chickens and pigs, receiving funding . . .

City grant coordinator Lydia Caudill (Paraguay) focuses on relationships

Jan 09 2023

Lydia Caudill in her office at City Hall on Thursday, Jan. 5. • When the city of Walla Walla, Washington hired Lydia Caudill in 2021 to be the Community Development Block Grant Coordinator, Caudill brought her unusual experiences to the table. The grant program helps connect federal funds to local programs and projects, benefiting residents in need through various agencies and services such as Blue Mountain Action Council. Caudill had spent three years in Paraguay (2011-14) with the Peace Corps, where she worked in agriculture and food systems, part of the connection between food and community development. When the mission ended, Caudill embarked on her next adventure: biking from Paraguay to Colombia — alone — for 5,000 miles. She was pedaling a human powered bike, no gas or electric motors involved. Lydia Caudill on her bike in Northern Argentina in spring 2015 Caudill’s travel allowed for her to explore her Mexican-Colombian heritage and . . .

A conversation with novelist Mark Jacobs (Paraguay)

Sep 19 2022

Thanks for the “heads up” from Mark D. Walker (Guatemala 1971–73) Nicholas Litchfield interviewed RPCV Mark Jacobs Lowestoft Chronicle, Issue 51 September, 2022 In spite of a lengthy government career requiring extensive travel and prolonged stays overseas, ever since the 1980s, Mark Jacobs has managed to forge a successful dual occupation as a writer of fiction. His enviable body of work includes critically-acclaimed novels and story collections lauded by illustrious authors and editors like Robert Olen Butler and C. Michael Curtis. For decades, his stories have appeared regularly in dozens of commercial and literary magazines, sometimes featured in leading newspapers like The Washington Post and The New York Times. In this exclusive interview with Lowestoft Chronicle, Jacobs discusses his publication history, from significant mentors and literary influences to early writing accomplishments and the media frenzy that accompanied one of his short stories. • Lowestoft Chronicle (LC): Over a span of 40+ years, you’ve had . . .

2022 Award for Best Peace Corps Memoir — Love and Latrines in the Land of Spiderweb Lace

Aug 25 2022

by Mary Lou Shefsky Paraguay 1974–76 I thoroughly enjoyed reading this Peace Corps memoir because the book demonstrates Mary Lou Shefsky’s deep connections and commitment to the people and families she met during her service. I found the details in the book both surprising and enjoyable as she describes her work, her problems, and the deep relationships she develops with her Paraguayan friends and “family.” She also writes about her many continuing visits with them, both in Paraguay and the US, following her service, which is a common theme among returned Volunteers who shared many great experiences with host country nationals and the people they served. The many color photographs in the book add a great deal to the story, and provide insights into Mary Lou’s experiences and the people with whom she shared them. An added feature of Mary Lou’s story is, of course, her developing relationship with . . .