Sketches in Words and Images — and an Invitation to Dine with His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I
POETRY SKETCHES A PEACE CORPS MEMOIR By Eldon Katter Peace Corps Writers Reviewed by Kathleen Coskran Eldon Katter sketches with images and words alike. He had the foresight to chronicle his time with the first group of Peace Corps Volunteers in Ethiopia (1962–64) through short poems and drawings — both his and his students’. He had the fortune to be assigned to teach in Harar, Ethiopia — one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, the only walled city in Ethiopia, and now a World Heritage Site. I don’t think many subsequent Volunteers received an engraved invitation from...
Meet the Team Behind the Spring-Summer 2022 Edition of WorldView
The editorial and creative teams who put together the Spring-Summer 2022 edition of WorldView magazine for digital and print PUBLISHER | Kim Herman EDITOR | Steven Boyd Saum EDITOR EMERITUS | David Arnold ART DIRECTOR | Pamela Fogg CONTRIBUTING EDITOR | John Coyne ASSOCIATE EDITOR, GLOBAL STORIES | Tiffany James DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER | Orrin Luc WORLDVIEW INTERNS | Catherine Gardner, Jordan Simmons CONTRIBUTORS COVER Design by Pamela Fogg. Illustration by Sandra Dionisi ILLUSTRATION Roman Bailey, Sandra Dionisi, Anna Ivanenko, Maria Krasinski, Alejanda Marroquin, Izabiriza Moise, Nasser Mejia Moreno, Carlos Violante, Laura Watson PHOTOGRAPHY Simone Barbieri, Bucha School No. 5, Clary Estes, Lawrence Jackson, Jewish Refugee Assistance Library, Brett Simison, Volodymyr Titov, Juris Zagarins, Elëna Zhukova WRITING Raisa Alstodt, Natalka Bilotserkivets, Kathleen Coskran, Clary Estes, Catherine Gardner,...
Letters: Readers Respond to the Special Books Edition of WorldView Magazine
Letters, emails, LinkedIn and Instagram comments, Facebook posts, tweets, and other comments. We’re happy to continue the conversation here and our social media platforms. One way to write us: worldview@peacecorpsconnect.org Cover to Cover I want to congratulate you and the whole NPCA team for producing an outstanding magazine. Yesterday I read through the two most recent issues cover to cover and found the content to be rich and very informative. You should be proud of the role that WorldView plays in supporting and connecting the Peace Corps community. Tony Barclay Kenya 1968–70, NPCA Board Chair 2011–15 I have been reading your...
Senate Committee Advances Peace Corps Reauthorization Act of 2022
Less than a month after its introduction, members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee advance major legislation — with broad, bipartisan support — to further reform and improve the Peace Corps. By Jonathan Pearson Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) came together on July 19 and agreed to advance Senate Bill 4466, the bipartisan Peace Corps Reauthorization Act — which would reauthorize the Peace Corps agency for the first time in over 20 years. The legislation was approved on a voice vote, with all key provisions of the legislation remaining in place. This is another major advance in National Peace Corps Association’s (NPCA) efforts to...
The Museum of the Peace Corps Experience Wants to Share Your Story
With a growing collection of first-hand narratives, the museum connects people, places, and objects. Those all connect us — across nations and generations. By David Arnold “Your Peace Corps service began when you entered training and embarked on your service in another country and culture,” says Patricia Wand (Colombia 1963–65), president of the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience. “We’ve collected many cherished cultural artifacts Peace Corps Volunteers brought home and the stories behind them. We want to add your story of that experience.” The museum’s most recent exhibit was hosted at American University Museum in Katzen Arts Center, Washington, D.C. The next curated exhibit will be at Peace Corps Place when National Peace Corps Association opens...
Carol Spahn Has Been Nominated to Serve as Peace Corps Director. Read Our Letter of Support — and Take Action.
Today National Peace Corps Association sent a letter to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee supporting Carol Spahn’s nomination to serve as the 21st Director of the Peace Corps. Here’s what we said. And here’s how you can help ensure a better and stronger Peace Corps for the future. By Jonathan Pearson Photo courtesy Peace Corps In April President Biden officially nominated Carol Spahn to serve as Director of the Peace Corps. She began serving as acting director in January 2021 and has led the agency through one of the most challenging periods in Peace Corps history. In the weeks ahead, Spahn...
‘You probably shouldn’t tell anyone about being Indian; people can’t tell by looking at you.’
An excerpt from An Indian Among los Indígenas By Ursula Pike Photo by Stephanie Macias Gibson Read a review of Ursula Pike’s memoir here. Bolivians told me all the time that they were proud of their Incan ancestors, and the kids often bragged that Kantuta meant Sacred Flower of the Incas in Quechua. Yet they knew what many people, especially the wealthier, whiter population of Bolivia, thought about los Indios. Few wanted to be seen as an Indian. For a young woman like Ximenita, living in a town for the first time in her life without family nearby, being seen as a cholita made...
Personal Discovery and Historical Clashes
An Indian Among los Indígenas A Native Travel Memoir By Ursula Pike Heyday Review by Rich Wandschneider There are many important aspects to this book. Here are three: Ursula Pike is a fine writer, with an eye for people and places in Bolivia, and an ear for the sounds of languages, buses, and silence; she is deeply reflective about the critical tensions of the cross-cultural experience and the mission to serve; and Pike is Indigenous herself, an enrolled member of the Karuk Tribe of Northern California who grew up an “urban Indian,” largely in Portland, Oregon. This last fact...
Refugees from the War
More than 10 million people have fled their homes since Ukraine was invaded by Russia on February 24. In March, four million people were already refugees beyond Ukraine’s borders. Two million of them were children. Not since World War II has the world seen a humanitarian crisis escalate so quickly. The devastation in cities like Kharkiv and Chernihiv and Mariupol is cruel and horrific. Amid this war, members of the Peace Corps community have been rallying to help those in harm’s way. There is one responsibility we all share: Do not look away. Leaving home: Two young children and their...
To Mark 30 Years, Peace Corps in Mongolia Is Honored with the Polar Star
The highest award given to foreign citizens was presented to Country Director Kim Mansaray. By NPCA Staff Photos courtesy the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia For the 30th anniversary of the Peace Corps in Mongolia, last summer Country Director Kim Mansaray — who served as a Volunteer herself in Sierra Leone 1983–85 — was presented with the highest award given to foreign citizens: the Order of the Polar Star. In a ceremony with Deputy Foreign Minister Munkhjin Batsumber of Mongolia, the award was bestowed on Peace Corps Mongolia and its leadership for peace-building efforts in the country. Nearly 1,500 Volunteers have served in...