Sri Lanka (Ceylon)

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“Writers from the Peace Corps” by John Coyne (Ethiopia)
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Interview with Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn
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Hal Brun (Sri Lanka 1969-71) special education leader, 1947-2013

“Writers from the Peace Corps” by John Coyne (Ethiopia)

  John writes — Since 1961, Peace Corps writers have used their volunteer service as source material for their fiction and nonfiction. Approximately 250,000 Americans have served in the Peace Corps. Of these volunteers and staff, more than 1,500 have published memoirs, novels, and poetry inspired by their experience. Many former volunteers have gone on to careers as creative writing teachers, journalists, and editors, while others have discovered a variety of jobs outside of publishing where their Peace Corps years have contributed to successful employment. A Peace Corps tour has proven to be a valuable experience — in terms of one’s craft and one’s professional career—for more than one college graduate. The first to write The first book to draw on the Peace Corps experience was written by Arnold Zeitlin (Ghana 1961–63), who had volunteered for the Peace Corps in 1961 after having been an Associated Press reporter. That book, . . .

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Interview with Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Dale Gilles (Liberia 1964-66)   In this episode of ‘@ HydePark with Indeewari Amuwatte,’ Carol Spahn, the Director of Peace Corps, who is in Sri Lanka, to oversee the swearing in of 20 Peace Corps Volunteers from the United States, discuss the educational program that is set to be implemented in the country. The 25th group  of Peace Corps volunteers to be posted there, are set to embark on a two-year service journey as English teachers in the Central and Uva provinces. The Director of the Peace Corps, Spahn said that Volunteers will work alongside their Sri Lankan counterparts, including English teachers and principals, to deliver English language instruction to Sri Lankan school children. Further, she also discusses the challenges and opportunities experienced by the Peace Corps while commending the support of the local authorities and added that the Peace Corps is willing to . . .

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Hal Brun (Sri Lanka 1969-71) special education leader, 1947-2013

Hal Brun (Sri Lanka 1969-71) special education leader, 1947-2013 Educator had ‘huge appetite for life’ January 05, 2014| By Joan Giangrasse Kates While a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sri Lanka, Hal Brun was assigned to teach English to villagers, some of them children with severe disabilities who had been deemed unteachable. With little formal training, Mr. Brun developed a special education program for teaching these children and put into place a system to help them attend local schools. “Hal understood that everything begins with an education,” said his partner of 30 years, Jeff Ginsberg. “That this was the starting point to giving these kids their best shot at life.” Upon his return to the U.S., Mr. Brun launched a long career in education, including several years as the director of special education at New Trier High School in Winnetka. “He was the kind of leader that inspired others to do . . .

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