The Longest Extra Time
Jill Tucker sat quietly in a bar, watching the World Cup match unfold on the TV with everyone else, when a man sitting nearby addressed her: “You were my teacher.” Tucker had served the Peace Corps in 1990, teaching English for two years in the Capital of Cape Verde, Praia. Thirty-five years later, Ivan, a student in her class, wound up at the very same bar that night, watching the World Cup, too. When Tucker finished her Peace Corps service in 1992, there was no video call or social media to keep her connected to her students or the friends...
Notable
How to Start a Tribal Art Museum Justin D. Bibee, a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco from 2014 to 2016, founded the Museum of Fine Tribal Art, a Rhode Island–based nonprofit established in 2025. The museum focuses on collecting, preserving, and sharing tribal art from Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. The museum began as Bibee's personal collection and has since developed into a public initiative. It includes masks, textiles, sculptures, jewelry, and ceremonial objects representing a wide range of cultural traditions. The collection could be valued at up to $6 million, based on preliminary research. Without a permanent exhibition...
Champions of the Golden Valley
Snow sprays as young men and women race down the slopes of the mountains surrounding Bamyan, Afghanistan. Without a ski lift in sight, and with many of them on handmade wooden skis, skiing takes on an elevated purpose in this community. Champions of the Golden Valley is a heart-warming new documentary produced by RPCV Baktash Ahadi that follows Alishah Farhang, a skier who, after failing to qualify for the Olympics as Afghanistan's first winter Olympian, returns home to start a ski club in his mountain village. In the days and weeks leading up to the club’s annual Ski Challenge, the documentary...
Frostbound and Down
The wind howls desolate, and the numbing of my fingers inch further and further up the wrist alarmingly. These unrelenting high velocity winds continue to crank at unfathomable knots and send flurries of hard-wrought regrets ringing between the ears. The ears that are also like icicles at the moment as I toe the start line of the almighty Antarctica Marathon. The desire to run a full 26.2-mile marathon in one of the world’s most inhospitable environments in existence isn’t without its fair share of cocked eyebrows and earnest inquiries into one’s mental health. The journey to the continent alone is...
Made in America
Charlie Clifford (Peru 1967–69) is the founder of Tumi Inc., a global travel luggage brand, as well as Roam Luggage. He spoke with WorldView editor Robert Nolan about how Peace Corps helps develop entrepreneurial skills and gives RPCVs the tools and confidence to start their own business ventures. RN: What skills did you learn in Peace Corps that helped you when you embarked on a business career upon your return? CC: I think it takes a certain amount of entrepreneurial DNA to be interested in something like the Peace Corps. Once you’re assigned to a particular location, everything you’ve spent...
On the [Job] Hunt
For the past two years, Current and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers have been hearing of and turning to a new group, RPCVnexus, for career services. Co-founded by Jonathan Keenan as a 501c3, RPCVnexus provides a one-stop-shop compiling resources and links from across the Peace Corps community, connection to a network of professionals, regular discussions and events for professional growth, and resume reviews as those applying to opportunities. “It is through a collaborative effort that we can continue supporting the Volunteers who reach out to us”, Keenan said. “Rather than trying to recreate the wheel, we’re making sure people know where...
Peace Corps Off-Broadway
On the eve of the new millennium, a young American Volunteer stationed in Dakar finds himself pulled into an unexpected web of intrigue. A car crash, a cryptic State Department operative, and a rapidly shifting world order set the stage for Dakar 2000, the latest play from Rajiv Joseph. But this is more than just a thriller: it’s a work shaped by lived experience. Joseph, a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Senegal from 1996 to 1998, has long credited his time abroad as a defining force in his writing. “Being in Senegal, more than anything else in my...
Reporting on Ukraine
Two returned Volunteers who served in Ukraine now play key roles as journalists reporting on that country. By NPCA Staff Sabra Ayres (Ukraine 1995–97) was named chief correspondent for Ukraine at the Associated Press (AP) in September. She manages and coordinates AP’s coverage of Ukraine, including text, photography, and video storytelling. Ayres has nearly two decades of reporting that covered U.S. state and national politics, international relations, and developing democracies—with bylines from Ukraine, Russia, Afghanistan, Europe, and India. Christopher Miller (Ukraine 2010–12) has joined the Financial Times as Ukraine correspondent. He has previously covered Ukraine for Politico, BuzzFeed News, and Radio...
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...
Peace Corps ‘Jeopardy!’
Four recent contestants — and one champion By NPCA Staff Geographer Charles Fogelman. Photo courtesy “Jeopardy!” Here’s your clue: This University of Illinois geographer served with the Peace Corps in Lesotho 2003–05, once hosted Queen ‘Masenate Mohato Seeiso for dinner in Harlem, nailed questions in the category “The Equator” … and became champion on “Jeopardy!” on February 16. Answer: Who is Charles Fogelman? The one-day winner on the show was one of four recent RPCV contestants. The day before, Jimmy Rollins (Albania 2005–07), an international economic development consultant with Deloitte, leaned on his knowledge of Hemingway to finish second on the show. In...