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...
The Most Peace Corps Family You’ve Never Heard Of
When Michael Kirwin looks back on his life, he traces everything to a single decision. In 1967, as a young man, he stepped off a plane in Brazil to begin his Peace Corps service. At the time, it felt like an individual leap, an alternative to the uncertainty of the Vietnam era and a chance to do something meaningful in a turbulent world. What he didn’t know was that this one decision would ripple outward for decades—shaping not only his life, but those of his siblings, children, nieces, nephews, and now grandchildren. Decades later, Peace Corps service in the Kirwin...
Where Were You the Day Kennedy Was Assassinated?
On Friday, November 22, 1963, Bob Bergstrom and I went to work as usual at the Industrial University of Santander (La Universidad Industrial de Santander — UIS) in Bucaramanga, Colombia. Our Peace Corps assignment there was to develop a program of physical education classes that would be required of all students — most of them engineering majors. It had never been done at UIS nor, to my knowledge, at other universities in Colombia. We both taught a full load — two or three classes in the morning; one or two in the afternoon. I was teaching an early afternoon basketball...
(Soft) Power Play
Ambassador Johnnie Carson (Tanzania 1965–67) served as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs during the Obama administration, as well as ambassador to several African nations. Carson spoke with WorldView editor Robert Nolan, and calls RPCVs the “most important representatives and ambassadors of goodwill around the world.” Robert Nolan: I thought we could start first with a little bit about your Peace Corps experience. Johnnie Carson: I graduated from college and entered the Peace Corps in June of 1965. I was assigned to Tanzania in East Africa and served for over two and a half years in a middle school....