The Great Peace Corps Book Exchange
Books have always played an outsized role in the lives of Peace Corps Volunteers. PCVs spend hours thumbing through paperbacks while waiting (and waiting) for public transportation in their host countries; they learn about these countries by reading local writers; and they enter fictional worlds to alleviate their homesickness. While today’s Volunteers continue the grand tradition of reading, the way they do it has evolved with technology, changing how they access books, exchange them, and consume them. Yet they still tend to read the same types of books—whether about their host countries, their jobs, or just for fun—and they continue...
In Memoriam – August 2022
As we mourn the loss of members of the Peace Corps community, we celebrate the lives they led with a commitment to service. By Catherine Gardner and Molly O’Brien Our tributes include Joyce M. Bowden (pictured), an early Peace Corps Volunteer who helped treat leprosy in Bolivia and authored over 600 endnotes about four generations of her mother’s family in South Carolina. We remember William “Chris” Jeffers, co-founder of the Science Teaching Enrichment Programme that has boosted science education in Nepal. We also recognize a committed elementary school teacher with 30 years of experience teaching and advocating for the education of young children everywhere. We honor the wide range of contributions made...
In Memoriam – July 2022
As we mourn the loss of members of the Peace Corps community, we celebrate the lives they led with a commitment to service. By Molly O’Brien and Tiffany James Our tributes include Elizabeth M. Giles (pictured), a two-time Peace Corps Volunteer, public transit advocate, and committed teacher who taught English and writing both domestically and abroad. We remember Stephen Reid, a former associate director of Peace Corps Senegal who chose to stay and assist those most affected by the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti instead of evacuating. And we recognize a professor with 50 years of experience teaching and conducting research on topics ranging from public...
A Tenth Anniversary Edition of Voices from the Peace Corps: Fifty Years of Kentucky Volunteers
Voices from the Peace Corps Fifty Years of Kentucky Volunteers By Angene Wilson and Jack Wilson University Press of Kentucky Review by Steven Boyd Saum A decade ago, Angene and Jack Wilson published Voices from the Peace Corps. Now comes a tenth anniversary edition with a foreword by National Peace Corps Association President and CEO Glenn Blumhorst. This is a very different time. As the new edition was released in 2021, there were no Volunteers in service overseas. Some were serving across the U.S. in partnership with FEMA on community vaccination efforts; others were taking part in virtual volunteering with partners around the...
Peace Corps Achievements — January 2022
News and updates from the Peace Corps community — across the country, around the world, and spanning generations of returned Volunteers and staff. By Peter Deekle (Iran 1968–70) Photo courtesy CARE Diane Carazas is the new director for CARE in Latin America and the Caribbean, where efforts include supporting thousands of Haitians like Natacha (pictured) who lost her home in a devastating earthquake last year. Ruth Rosas is the first-ever dedicated, bilingual Latine Communities Reporter for a sustainable transportation news source in Chicago. Peter Riley was sworn in as the first Mission Director for USAID in Tajikistan. RPCVs appointed to leadership positions in local and international nonprofit organizations — and seeking to empower a diverse,...
Peace Corps Achievements — December 2021
News and updates from the Peace Corps community — across the country, around the world, and spanning generations of returned Volunteers and staff. By Peter Deekle (Iran 1968–70) Katrina Fotovat is appointed Senior Official to the Secretary of State in the Office of Global Women’s Issues. Dr. Patrick Gonzalez, Assistant Director for Climate and Biodiversity by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), helps lead efforts to combat climate change. Newly published books, such as Elana Hohl’s (pictured) collection of letters documenting her Peace Corps service. Recognizing gender equity public health initiatives. Expanding research on ocean sustainability. Have news to share with the Peace Corps community? Let...
Peace Corps Achievements — October 2021
News and updates from the Peace Corps community — across the country, around the world, and spanning generations of returned Volunteers and staff. By Peter Deekle (Iran 1968–70) Lisa Woodson (pictured) is working with Indigenous populations in the Amazon basin on health research. A new film produced by Bryn Mooser on the 2021 Refugee Olympic Team. Entrepreneurial success. Honoring an advocate for the land. Have news to share with the Peace Corps community? Let us know. AFGHANISTAN W. Brunhofer has recently released Dancing with Angels: Songs and Poems from the Millennium. The exploration of poetry is produced by Christian Faith Publishing. From Shakespeare to Yeats, Brunhofer explores favorite poems of inspiration...
Peace Corps Achievements — August 2021
News and updates from the Peace Corps community — across the country, around the world, and spanning generations of returned Volunteers and staff By Peter Deekle (Iran 1968–70) Carol Anne “Aziza” Reid (Moldova and Eswatini, pictured) honored with the Lillian Carter Award. Writer George Packer (Togo) serves up a stark and compelling analysis of the state of American politics. Doris Rubenstein (Ecuador) tells a remarkable tale of a Jewish family’s flight to Latin America to escape the Nazis. Kim Mansaray, country director for Peace Corps Mongolia, is presented with that nation’s highest honor, the Order of Polar Star. Honors for a librarian, a sustainable kids clothing line, and a new...
Peace Corps Achievements – February 2021
News and updates from the Peace Corps community — across the country, around the world, and spanning generations of returned Volunteers and staff By Peter Deekle (Iran 1968–70) Pioneering Black women in leadership roles with the Department of Labor and Department of State. Bringing expertise to work on the National Security Council and in the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador. Recognition for work toward equity in health and forest stewardship. And a new role in journalism. Photo: A Twitter moment with Janelle Jones, the new chief economist for the Department of Labor. She’s the first Black woman to serve in that role. CAMEROON Erin Swiader took...
Peace Corps Achievements — January 2021
Achievements in the Peace Corps community from across the country — and around the world By Peter Deekle (Iran 1968–70) From new books to leadership roles, working with students and refugees, in conservation and the church. Plus a story of gratitude for all the Volunteers who served in Korea — with a thank-you and help in a time of pandemic. Photo: Shenna Bellows, who served as a Volunteer in Panama, is sworn in as Maine’s Secretary of State — the first woman to serve in that role. BOTSWANA Connie Czepiel (2009–11) has a career in international finance. She is also recently author of Dream On! The...