Letter to a First-Time Peace Corps Writer
No matter who you are, sitting down to a blank page to try and tell the story of your life can be daunting. But I’m here to reassure you that, as a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, you have a great story to tell. The key question is where to start. Jacques Barzun, an accomplished writer and historian who taught at Columbia University, wrote that to become a writer you have to convince yourself that you are working in clay, not marble—on paper, not eternal bronze—so let that first sentence be as stupid as it wishes. Just put it down, then...
A Life Lived in Books
Dan Pelzer started recording every book he read in 1962, when he arrived in Dharan, Nepal, as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and began a ritual of reading through the paperbacks in his Peace Corps book locker by the bright light of a Petromax kerosene pump lantern. Thus a lifelong passion for literature was sparked, which, with the help of Dan’s daughter Marci, has gone on to inspire untold numbers of people since his death in 2025 at the age of 92. After he passed away on July 1, Marci posted her father’s meticulously handwritten record of the 3,599 books he...
Helicopters and The Himalayan Gourmet Cookbook
The word “gourmet” is not often associated with Peace Corps service, but if you were serving in the high Himalayas in the 1960s, you may have a different understanding of that term than most of us. Diana Oppedal (Nepal 1965–67) was 19, a recent high school graduate from Ames, Iowa, when she received her invitation to go to Nepal in 1965. Her parents weren’t pleased with the news and suggested she join the military, “but I wanted to join the Peace Corps, so off I went,” Oppedal said. Pretty soon she was in Kathmandu, supporting the Peace Corps medical office...
Pitch Perfect
These days, there are more pathways to publication than ever before: do-it-yourself, web publishing, print on demand, vanity presses, hybrid publishers, and indie presses, to name a few. But if you dream of seeing your book on the shelves of airport bookstores or featured on an endcap at Barnes & Noble, you’ll want to shoot for a deal with one of the “Big Five” publishers—Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Hachette Book Group, and Simon & Schuster—each of which has a multitude of genre-specific imprints. Breaking into traditional publishing can be daunting. Most Big Five publishers will not accept unsolicited manuscripts,...
Five Peace Corps Blogs That Cut Through the Clichés
Not a Typical Day: Andy’s Adventures in Ghana https://notatypicalday.blog/ On the verge of embarking on his third year in Ghana, Andy writes with a teacher’s heart and a traveler’s eye. He shares candidly about the humbling, human side of service and the trials of learning to manage a classroom, intervening in fights by becoming the punching bag and ensuring students have enough to eat. His posts brim with the humor and humility of life as an obroni, the Twi word for “foreigner.” In one memorable encounter, he recalls being greeted with a startled “Obroni!” before astonishing a young woman by...
Snapshots of Service
RPCV Sam Friedberg (Madagascar 2017–19) has spent more than a year traveling solo through Africa and Asia, staying with over 50 Peace Corps Volunteers at their sites along the way. During his travels Sam asked four of the Volunteers who hosted him about their favorite books and advice for aspiring Volunteers. The last names of currently serving Volunteers have been withheld for privacy and adherence to Peace Corps policies. Luke, Lesotho The Site: As West Virginia is to the United States, Lesotho is to Africa - that is, a state in the mountains. One would be hard-pressed to find...
Bookstores Without Borders
Imagine you are living in the capital city of Guatemala. You need an escape, a place to find peace in your daily routine. Finding yourself in Cayalá, the outdoor shopping mall in Zona 16 of the city, you see a sign that reads “Kita Penas,” or “Forget Your Worries.” Prepared to do just that, you step inside. Finding yourself surrounded by paintings of barriletes—famous Guatemalan kites—the colors vibrate, reminding you of what it means to be Guatemalteco. Next, you notice all the books. Each title holds the key to a different magical realm or a new idea to get lost...
Leading (and Leaving) with Radical Empathy
When I accepted the opportunity (and privilege) to lead the National Peace Corps Association as president and CEO three years ago, I felt the same mixture of excitement and responsibility that I did when stepping off the plane for my Peace Corps service in Bolivia in 1999. Both experiences came with an unspoken promise—to listen deeply, to build bridges across differences, and to do my part to keep faith with the belief that people of goodwill working together can change the world. While I knew our community would face some challenging times when I took on this role, it would...
A Backpack and a Blog
With the world in political turmoil and questions swirling about the Peace Corps’ future, I decided to embark this past fall on an epic journey to see firsthand what Peace Corps is doing around the globe. It’s been decades since I served Honduras, and I wanted to understand what service looks like today. With my 15-pound backpack in tow, I set out to circle the world and reconnect with the essence of Peace Corps, which I shared on a blog with friends and family. Here are some excerpts from what I found; a Peace Corps that’s still getting the job...
The Fourth Goal?
Every Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV)’s experience is unique and challenging. Facing the unknown, learning a language (or two), developing sensitivity to very different cultures, growing new relationships, identifying and completing projects, and overcoming physical difficulties are but a few of the tasks that PCVs face. When they return home, their stories tend to revolve around the experiences they had during their service and the impact they had in the countries they served. But service in the Peace Corps also affects the United States in ways that are equally important to document. The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Archival Project...