Tonga – Peace Corps Worldwide

Endless Horizons: A Global Backpacker’s Quest for Adventure, Connection, and Discovery

Jan 15 2025

New book by Peace Corps writer Paul W. Neville (Tonga 2000-02) Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (January 1, 2025) Language ‏ : ‎ English Paperback ‏ : ‎ 316 pages ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8393074708 Buy it now on Amazon.com It’s a pursuit of adventure, connection, and self-discovery. Each backpacker embarks on a unique quest, whether it be for adrenaline-pumping thrills, exotic cuisines, the perfect beach, or the elusive pursuit of love. For many, the journey is about better understanding the world and their place within it. From sweltering jungle temples to stunning Nordic fjords, Endless Horizons chronicles the evolution of a wide-eyed novice traveler into a seasoned adventurer. Following a transformative Peace Corps assignment in Tonga, the author embarks on an epic yearlong backpacking odyssey around the globe. Through Southeast Asia, Europe, and South America, Endless Horizons describes vibrant cultures, unforgettable encounters, comical mishaps, useful travel tips, . . .

Peace Corps Director welcomed in Tonga

Aug 21 2024

Wednesday, August 21, 2024 Nuku’alofa, Tonga By Katalina Siasau On a first visit to Tonga and the Pacific, US Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn, from Washington DC, was welcomed by the Peace Corps Tonga staff with a traditional Kava ceremony on Tuesday, at the Peace Corps Office in Nuku’alofa. During her visit this week, Director Spahn will administer the oath of services to 19 new Peace Corps volunteers on Friday. The Peace Corps has been active in the Pacific since the early 1960s, and serving in Tonga for 57 years. There are about 100 Peace Corps volunteers in the Pacific and approximately 30 in Tonga. In an interview before her welcome kava ceremony, Director Spahn said the impact of Covid 19 had been a challenge for Peace Corps operations and services in the region. “The global pandemic impacted every country around the world. It closed off borders and it isolated people from each other. and . . .

2024 Peace Corps Writers Best Children’s Book Award Winner!

Aug 21 2024

The Fly That Flew Off The Handle by Jonathan Foret (Tonga 2004-06) and illustrated by Alexis Braud When you have a story to tell, you’re in the midst of a national pandemic, and you’re Jonathan Foret, you write a book. The original story is beautifully illustrated by Alexis Braud, who is cut-out to be a professional artist, bringing Jonathan’s story to life in the pages of The Fly that Flew Off the Handle. . . . Jonathan, who is the Executive Director of the South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center, is proud to present his newly published children’s book, The Fly that Flew Off the Handle. “The story is about a little fly named Lester who often feels angry, but doesn’t quite know why or what to do about it,” explained the author. After a long journey of trying and failing to feel better, Lester meets a little butterfly, Seymour, who helps . . .

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 . . .

UNDERSTANDING IMPERILED EARTH by Todd J. Braje (Tonga)

May 21 2024

Understanding Imperiled Earth by Todd J. Braje (Tonga 1998-20) Smithsonian Books 208 pages April 2024 $17.99 (Kindle); $22.87 (Hardcover) This book is a unique introduction to how understanding archaeology can support modern-day sustainability efforts, from restoring forested land to developing fire management strategies, and is an essential and hopeful book for climate-conscious readers. The world faces an uncertain future with the rise of climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, overfishing, and other threats. Understanding Imperiled Earth meets this uncertainty head-on, presenting archaeology and history as critical guides to addressing the modern environmental crisis. Anthropologist Todd J. Braje draws connections between deep history and today’s hot-button environmental news stories to reveal how the study of the ancient past can help build a more sustainable future. The book covers a diverse array of interconnected issues, including: how modern humans have altered the natural world conservation work of Indigenous communities extinction of megafauna like dire . . .

PCV Murder in Tonga

Sep 11 2023

The Peace Corps Volunteer, Dennis Priven, who murdered PCV Deborah Gardner in Tonga in 1976, and never was charged for her death, has died. The Tonga RPCV community found out that Priven died on April 1, 2023. Priven was ruled not guilty in the Tonga judicial system, with national Peace Corps intervention, based on an insanity defense. He returned to the U.S. where he was briefly hospitalized but checked himself out. He eventually got a government job and reportedly retired on a government pension. The story was retold in Philip Weiss’s 2005 nonfiction book, American Taboo and fictionalized in Jan-Worth (Tonga 1976-78) novel Night Blind published in 2006. Recently a 1970s Tonga RPCV Tom Riddle found this obituary: Dennis Priven, age 70, of Brooklyn, New York passed away on Saturday, April 1, 2023. He was born in Brooklyn on May 28, 1952 to Morris and Dorothy Priven. He . . .

“The Impact of Peace Corps Volunteers’ Service” by Robert Goetschkes (Tonga)

Aug 08 2023

by Robert Goetschkes (Tonga 1988-90) • The Peace Corps is renowned for its commitment to promoting global peace and friendship through community-based service. For over six decades, Peace Corps Volunteers have served in diverse countries, working with local communities to address pressing challenges and foster sustainable development. This article explores Peace Corps Volunteers’ profound impact on empowering communities worldwide, shaping positive change, and creating lasting connections. A Shared Vision for Positive Change Peace Corps Volunteers embody a shared vision for positive change and mutual understanding. As they embark on their service journeys, they bring with them the values of compassion, empathy, and a genuine desire to make a difference in the lives of others. This collective commitment to creating a better world unites volunteers, regardless of their backgrounds or the countries they serve in. Grassroots Community Development One of the core principles of the Peace Corps is to promote grassroots . . .

THAT’S MY MOON OVER COURT STREET by Jan Worth-Nelson (Tonga)

Jun 26 2023

That’s My Moon Over Court Street: Dispatches from a Life in Flint by Jan Worth-Nelson (Tonga 1976-78) SemiColonPress June 2023 453 pages $18.00 (Paperback) “Every city has its issues, but there is always more to the story. In this collection from Flint, Michigan’s venerable East Village Magazine from 2007 to 2022, Jan Worth-Nelson (Tonga 1976-78) describes in personable, compelling prose what she observed, mourned, bemoaned, cherished and celebrated in one of the country’s most beleaguered cities. She lingers on nuthatches and drag queen bingo. She explores attics and basements and the Midwestern backyard. She laments burned out houses and broken Buddhas. She falls in love with the chicken lady, the pipe king, and pineapple upside down cake at the local Masonic hall. Out of respect for the unfinished stories to come, she bares her forearm for a semicolon tattoo. She struggles with sleeplessness and takes blessed walks. Through an . . .

Paul Neville (Tonga) First U.S. Charge d’Affaires in Tonga

Jun 07 2023

United States Charge d’Affaires in Tonga Wednesday, June 7, 2023 – 19:37 Nuku’alofa, Tonga • He made a courtesy call on the Prime Minister Hon. Hu’akavameiliku in Nuku’alofa on 7 June. Mr. Neville was a U.S Peace Corps Volunteer from 2000-2002, where he served at Kolovai on western Tongatapu. On 20 May, in Nuku’alofa, a ceremonial flag raising was held to open the first United States of America Embassy in Tonga, held at the National Reserve Bank Building. A large scale opening is being scheduled for later in the year. The embassy opening comes less than one year after Vice President Harris announced that the United States would pursue discussions to establish an embassy in Tonga, and it is the beginning of a new chapter of U.S-Tonga relations. While a PCV in Tonga, Paul established Tonga’s first public internet cafe and highest-funded computer center in Peace Corps history. Directed beach restoration and income generating . . .

New books by Peace Corps writers | May — June 2023

Jun 05 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 . . .

THE FLY THAT FLEW OFF THE HANDLE by Jonathan Toret (Toga)

May 05 2023

When you have a story to tell, you’re in the midst of a national pandemic, and you’re Jonathan Foret, you write a book. The original story is beautifully illustrated by Alexis Braud, a Cut Off-based professional artist, bringing Jonathan’s story to life in the pages of The Fly that Flew Off the Handle. Jonathan, who is the Executive Director of the South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center, is proud to present his newly published children’s book, The Fly that Flew Off the Handle. “The story is about a little fly named Lester who feels angry a lot, but doesn’t quite know why or what to do about it,” explained the author. After a long journey of trying and failing to feel better, Lester meets a little butterfly, Seymour, who helps him figure out what’s wrong by asking him two simple questions: “What makes you angry?” and “what makes you happy?” Maybe . . .

Once Again: Five Great Short Stories About the Peace Corps Experience

Mar 13 2023

Five Great Short Stories About the Peace Corps Experience The Mending Fields by Bob Shacochis (Eastern Caribbean 1975–76) I WAS ASSIGNED to the Island of Saint Kit in the West Indies. Once on an inter-island plane, I sat across the aisle from one of my new colleagues, an unfriendly, overserious young woman. She was twenty-four, twenty-five . . . we were all twenty-four, twenty-five. I didn’t know her much or like her. As the plane banked over the island, she pressed against the window, staring down at the landscape. I couldn’t see much of her face, just enough really to recognize an expression of pain. Below us spread an endless manicured lawn, bright green and lush of sugarcane, the island’s main source of income. Each field planted carefully to control erosion. Until that year, Saint Kit’s precious volcanic soil had been bleeding into the sea; somehow they had resolved . . .

HOUSE OF FIRE by Elizabeth Di Grazia (Tonga)

Feb 10 2023

House of Fire shows that thirty years of breaking free from a cycle of violence was not enough to prepare Elizabeth Di Grazia for the trials of starting her own family. Growing up in the 1970s, she suffered repeated sexual abuse, incest, and neglect. Although in the Catholic church, she was forced to have a hushed-up abortion at the age of fourteen. Within a year she was pregnant again, by another brother. Di Grazia gave birth to a son who was quickly taken away and adopted into a family she never knew. Elizabeth’s story traces her healing and the creation of an intentional family. She and her partner, Jody, adopted two Guatemalan babies. They learned that provision and protection were not enough, but refused to allow denial and secrets to go unexposed became critical. Elizabeth di Grazia graduated from Hamline University with an MFA in Writing in 2003. She . . .

A Writer Writes — “A Season of Survivor Was Filmed on an Island Nicer Than Mine“ by Harry Seitz (Tonga)

Nov 21 2020

• I served in the Peace Corps in Tonga from 2014–2016. Some of the volunteers got sent to sites in the capital. They had electricity, running water, supermarkets, the works. A few of the others were sent to ’Eua, a large island close to the capital. Life was a little more difficult there, but they still had all of the basic amenities. The remainder and I were sent to Vava’u, the main island of which is relatively developed, but also much further away from the capital. I alone was sent to Ofu. While technically a part of Vava’u, it is an outer island. No roads, no restaurants, and very limited electricity. Ferries didn’t even run there. I had to hitch boat rides with my neighbors every other weekend to buy food on the main island of Vava’u. Lifuka (Survivor Island) Lifuka is a part of the Ha’apai group of islands. . . .

Remembering the murder of PCV Deborah Gardner (Tonga)

Mar 25 2018

In the late Nineties, shortly after I had taken over the job of manager of the New York Recruitment Office for the Peace Corps, I got a call from a reporter at the New York Observer newspaper. I thought he was calling to ask me about the Peace Corps and to write an article about the agency. Well, in a way he was, but he started by asking if I knew anything about the murder of a young woman in Tonga in 1975. The reporter’s name was Philip Weiss and he didn’t realized he had stumbled on an RPCV who was fascinated by the history of the Peace Corps and obsessively collected PCV stories. Phil Weiss was also obsessed, but by the murder of this PCV in Tongo. In 1978, when he was 22 and backpacking around the world, he had crashed with a Peace Corps Volunteer in Samoa named . . .