WorldView | Return to Service
Spring-Summer 2022
It’s a hopeful time for the Peace Corps community, as Volunteers return to service overseas — and we’re close to passing the most sweeping Peace Corps legislation in a generation. But as we show in a series of stories from and about Ukraine, it’s a time when the very existence of that nation is being threatened.
Here’s Where Peace Corps Volunteers Have Returned to Service
Two dozen countries have welcomed them back. And some fifty countries have issued invitations for Volunteers to return.
By Steven Boyd Saum
The Campaign to Pass the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act
Following on big news from the Senate, let’s ensure that Congress passes the most sweeping Peace Corps legislation in a generation.
By Jonathan Pearson
A Little Relief: Public Service Loan Forgiveness
At last, some good news for the Peace Corps community on Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
By Katie McSheffrey
BIG PICTURE
Volunteers Arrive in Ghana: 1961 and 2022
Start with the big historic moment, there on the left: August 1961, the first group of Peace Corps Volunteers in Ghana — the first country to welcome Volunteers on the ground. On the right, mark the historic return: July 2022, the first group of Volunteers to return to service in Ghana touch down in Accra. It had been more than two years since all Volunteers were brought home because of COVID-19. The 13 Volunteers arriving here will work alongside partners in junior high schools and schools for the deaf, health centers, and farming communities — also partnering with efforts to provide COVID-19 education and access to vaccinations.
Left: Historical photo courtesy Peace Corps. Right: Current photo courtesy U.S. Embassy Ghana.
Everything Will Be Ukraine
Unfinished Business | From the Editor
Hopeful work, as Volunteers return to serve alongside communities overseas. And crucial work to ensure Ukraine survives.
By Steven Boyd Saum
Bucha Was Home
A place where I lived and taught — with colleagues and students and a family, people who cared about me and I about them. Then the war came.
By Sonia Scherr
Everything Will Be Ukraine!
More than 3,400 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in Ukraine. Here are a few ways they have sought to help the communities they served as Russian rockets fly and bombs fall across the country.
By Raisa Alstodt and Natalia Joseph
What We Mean by Friendship
With the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Friends of Moldova has stepped in to provide crucial support to thousands of refugees.
By David Jarmul
Ukraine Stories
A platform for citizen journalists, volunteers, and those working to deepen understanding of the war and efforts to help refugees.
By Clary Estes
POETRY
Intimate and Lyrical Poetry by Ukrainian Poet Natalka Bilotserkivets. Her Work Has a New Resonance and Urgency.
Eccentric Days of Hope and Sorrow | By Natalka Bilotserkivets. Translated from the Ukrainian by Ali Kinsella and Dzvinia Orlowsky
Reviewed by Steven Boyd Saum
Lines of Joy and Memory, Death and Rebirth
DEMO | Poems | By Charlie Smith
Reviewed by Steven Boyd Saum
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
Reviewed by Kathleen Coskran
“The Peace Corps is one of the most impactful volunteer humanitarian forces in the world, transforming lives and forging international understanding. Its Volunteers represent the best qualities of American society and reflect the diversity of the American people.”
—U.S. Senator Ben Cardin
on June 23, upon introduction of the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act of 2022
in the Senate — legislation which he co-sponsored.
AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan: For an Educator, a Journey Back to a Time of Peace
Afghanistan at a Time of Peace | By Robin Varnum
Reviewed by Jordan Simmons
Two Years in Afghanistan with the Peace Corps for Parents. And Two Deployments in Afghanistan for their Son.
A Few Minor Adjustments | Two Years in Afghanistan: A Peace Corps Odyssey | By Elana Hohl
Reviewed by Jordan Simmons
A Study of Land, the State, and War in Afghanistan Raises Some Big Questions. For Starters, Could It All Have Gone Differently?
Land, The State, and War: Property Institutions and Political Order in Afghanistan | By Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili and Ilia Murtazashvili
Reviewed by Steven Boyd Saum
BIOGRAPHY
A Biography of Writer Michael Gold Traces an Anti-Democratic Thread in American Life
Michael Gold: The People’s Writer | By Patrick Chura
Reviewed by Marnie Mueller
The Swan Song that Truman Capote Did Not Intend to Write
Capote’s Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era | By Laurence Leamer
Reviewed by Steven Boyd Saum
BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS
Ten Hidden Heroes
A Conversation with Mark K. Shriver and WorldView editor Steven Boyd Saum. Shriver’s book for young readers, in collaboration with illustrator Laura Watson, aims to help children develop counting skills while learning ways to make the world a better place.
His Family Fled the Nazis. In Ecuador, He Grows up Changing Names and Identities to Navigate an Uncertain Fate.
The Boy with Four Names | By Doris Rubenstein
Reviewed by Nathalie Vadnais
Giving Voice to Refugees: Firsthand Accounts from Children and Teenagers — Some Many Years Later
Finding Refuge: Real-Life Immigration Stories from Young People | By Victorya Rouse
Reviewed by Nathalie Vadnais
ART & NATURE
Andy Warhol’s Cats, a Floating Subway Map, and More NYC Delights
Art Hiding in New York: An Illustrated Guide to the City’s Secret Masterpieces | By Lori Zimmer. Illustrated by Maria Krasinski
Reviewed by Steven Boyd Saum
‘A Virtual Explosion of Colors, Textures, and Life’
Coral Reef Curiosities: Intrigue, Deception and Wonder on the Reef and Beyond | By Chuck Weikert
Reviewed by Steven Boyd Saum
News and Updates
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
Carol Spahn Has Been Nominated to Serve as Peace Corps Director. Read Our Letter of Support — and Take Action.
In June, 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.
By Jonathan Pearson
Peace Corps Closes Post in Myanmar
Instability, unrest, and armed conflict led the agency to make the announcement in April.
By NPCA Staff
NPCA Hosts Annual General Membership Meeting September 24
This year National Peace Corps Association is not hosting a Peace Corps Connect conference. But here’s where you can connect virtually with members of the Peace Corps community: the NPCA Annual General Membership Meeting on September 24, beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern. Hear a report on key achievements and initiatives and more. More info and register here.
People and Ideas
Meet the Members of the Peace Corps Community Recognized with the 2022 JFK Service Award
Every five years, Peace Corps presents the John F. Kennedy Service Awards to honor members of the Peace Corps network whose contributions go above and beyond. Here are the 2022 awardees.
By NPCA Staff
Tales of Cartography
Mapmaking with fabrics and dances and sloths
By Nathalie Vadnais
Peace Corps Posters: In Portland, Oregon, ArtReach Gallery and the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience Host an Exhibit Spanning Six Decades
Posting Peace in Portland: Peace Corps Posters 1961–2022
By NPCA Staff
Objects and Stories: Museum of the Peace Corps Experience
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
Silver and Saddles
“My Tuareg silverwork reminds me of the hidden beauty amid the vast arid scrubland of the Nigerien Sahel,” writes author Cathy Sunshine.
Interior Design Colony: A Small Group of Volunteers will Finish the House of Urnebes in Serbia
An RPCV with a commitment to cross-cultural collaboration secures volunteers to help renovate and design House of Urnebes in Serbia. It’s meant to be a permanent gathering space where artists can meet in an atmosphere of creative free expression.
Gina Larson talks with Associate Editor of Global Stories Tiffany James
In Memoriam
Congressional Leadership and Bipartisanship: Remembering Senator Johnny Isakson
Bipartisanship is “a state of being,” said Johnny Isakson
By Catherine Gardner
Madame Secretary: A Remembrance of Madeleine Albright
In her childhood, her family fled tyranny — twice. She went on to become the first woman to serve as secretary of state of the United States.
By Steven Boyd Saum
The House of Yes: Remembering Paul Farmer
He founded Partners in Health and dedicated decades to focus on healing the poorest and the sickest in a dozen countries.
By Catherine Gardner
Lifting Every Voice: William Robertson
He was the first Black American to serve as an aide to a Virginia governor. He went on to serve five U.S. presidents and lead Peace Corps posts as country director.
By Catherine Gardner
Scholar and Human Rights Activist: Jan Knippers Black
Jan Knippers Black (1940–2021) wrote the definitive book on U.S. interference in post-colonial Brazil. And she was invited to play piano with Elvis Presley’s Band.
By Catherine Gardner
He Helped Inspire the Peace Corps, Then Became a Volunteer: Douglas Kelley
He was committed to international cooperation and civil rights.
By Catherine Gardner
Juliane Heyman Escaped the Holocaust and Became the First Woman to Serve as a Peace Corps Training Officer.
She was always ready to face any challenge and saw her experiences as testaments to learning how to understand different people and perspectives.
By Catherine Gardner
Letters
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Current edition: Spring-Summer 2022
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