Lines of Joy and Memory, Death and Rebirth: DEMO by Charlie Smith
DEMO | Poems By Charlie Smith W.W. Norton Reviewed by Steven Boyd Saum Early on in Charlie Smith’s recent collection comes the poem “Samsara,” lines of joy and memory and death and rebirth. How it begins: “The ocean, uncomfortable with itself, bangs and slurs, / mixing flavors, holding its own against infinity, scarred with ice.” Before it ends, he assesses, “I’ve caught up lately on everything / but time.” In between, the poem traverses continents and piano concertos, seasons and marriages, plum flowers and the first pear blossoms. The images summoned are in a voice at once exuberant and...
He helped inspire the Peace Corps, then became a Volunteer: Douglas Kelley
In Memoriam: Douglas Kelley (1929–2022) By Catherine Gardner Photo courtesy the family of Douglas Kelley. Douglas Kelley holds a special place among those who helped inspire the Peace Corps. As a student at Berea College in Kentucky, he was committed to international cooperation and civil rights. In his senior year in college, in 1951, he began laying the groundwork for the International Development Placement Association, a program to promote humanitarian service by placing people internationally in jobs with indigenous organizations and governments in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Within three years the program had sent 18 young Americans abroad and had...
Juliane Heyman Escaped the Holocaust in Europe. In the U.S., She Became the First Woman to Serve as a Peace Corps Training Officer.
In Memoriam: Juliane Heyman (1925–2022) By Catherine Gardner Photo of Juliane Heyman courtesy Alana DeJoseph Born in the Free City of Danzig, now Gdansk, Poland, Julie Heyman was 12 years old when she fled her home due to increasing Nazi persecution. After months of being disconnected from her parents, she and her family were reunited in Brussels. They fled again when the Nazis invaded Belgium. In 1941, Heyman arrived in New York by freighter. She graduated from Barnard College before earning master’s degrees in international relations and library science from U.C. Berkeley. In what she calls one of her “most...
‘A Virtual Explosion of Colors, Textures, and Life’
Coral Reef Curiosities INTRIGUE, DECEPTION AND WONDER ON THE REEF AND BEYOND By Chuck Weikert Dayton Publishing Reviewed by Steven Boyd Saum Chuck Weikert served as a Volunteer in the Kingdom of Tonga 1977–79. He recounts a snorkeling excursion to the windward side. “The reef opened up in a virtual explosion of colors, textures, and life that stretched into the deep blue beyond. It was mind boggling!” So begins a love affair with the undersea world — captured here in 25 chapters tracing the lives of creatures that inhabit coral reefs, and weaving in the history of humans’ interaction...
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...