Swaziland – Peace Corps Worldwide

In That Time of Their Lives — Jeremiah Norris (Colombia)

Sep 18 2024

RPCVs in the news — by Jeremiah Norris (Colombia 1963-65) . . . The Peace Corps came into existence through an Executive Order from the President of the U. S. in March 1961. It had three complimentary goals, the 3rd of which stated: “To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans”. This Goal, often summarized as “bringing it back home”, has always been something of an afterthought—because it lacks documentation, though it is worth documenting …it represents a Return on Investment (ROI) that is unmatched by any other Congressional appropriation. In the decades that followed, it passed through two events of global consequence, either one which could have resulted in its organizational demise: the Viet Nam War and the Covid-19 epidemic. In the past several years, one would have to have been an expert in forensic sciences to find any article in the press or social . . .

New books by Peace Corps writers | March — April 2024

May 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/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 . . .

Review | THE NARROW WINDOW by Gary D. Wilson (Swaziland)

Apr 02 2024

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Philip Peters (Swaziland 69/70 & Botswana 75/76) • • • The shocking rape of a Peace Corps volunteer shatters the precarious balance of American idealism and hypocrisy in 1969 Swaziland, a newly independent country dealing with its own equally fraught post-colonial issues. Full of fascinating characters in exquisitely described exotic locations, where everyone has their own agenda, the new modernity mixes with native customs and spirits, and expats only think they know what’s really going on. Above all, Wilson’s heartbreaking novel exposes the irony of our country’s continuing desire to benevolently remake the world in one part of the globe while waging war in another and what happens to those trying to make it all work. A tale of identity and the meaning of belonging. The scars we leave behind and the scars we take with us. • • • Gary D. Wilson’s first novel, Sing, Ronnie . . .