The
Peace Corps Crossroads 
The
Peace Corps Crossroads
A. National and Special Interest
B. By Peace Corps Country (In Alphabetical Order
by Country)
C. By U.S. Geographic Location
D. Educational Programs of Interest to Potential and
Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
E. Information on Active Peace Corps Countries
(maintained by the Peace Corps)
F. Peace Corps in the News
G. Miscellaneous Peace Corps Sites:
I. The "Hidden" Official Peace Corps Pages
The following are the other Crossroads pages:
Peace Corps Crossroads Home Page
2. Third World and Eastern Europe Related Web
Sites
3. Just for Fun Sites
Official Peace Corps Home Page...
spend some time exploring these pages. There's a lot of good stuff here,
some kind of hidden away. (In my Miscellaneous Peace Corps
Sites section I provide some direct links to several of the pages.)
Take the time to thoroughly explore this fine site, and you'll find all
sorts of good info for both prospective and returned PCV's.
National Peace Corps Association...
not much here for those interested in joining the Peace Corps, but lots
for RPCV's. This page has moved to a new location, and has added some neat
new features, including a section devoted to helping you find lost friends....
so check it out!
HOT! Peace
Corps Information Network... I created this site to help those who have
been accepted by the Peace Corps and have been assigned to a country, but
who haven't yet left the US. It's an online database where soon to be departing
volunteers can find others who are preparing to go to the same country,
as well as RPCV “mentors” who have already served in the country
(or, in a few cases, are currently serving) whom they can contact via email
with any questions.
HOT! Here's a resource
similar in some respects to my Information Network (above), but one I can't
claim credit for: it's the Yahoo
Peace Corps Club, described as the place where prospective PCVs &
RPCVs can come together.
HOT! Once upon a
time, there was a newsletter called The RPCV Writers and Readers Newsletter,
edited by John Coyne. The newsletter didn't get nearly the distribution
it deserved, and died.... only to be reborn on the web as PeaceCorpsWriters.org!
This fine magazine style site (frequently updated) will help you find books
by Peace Corps writers, and will encourage you to become one yourself. It
also has some fascinating profiles on various RPCV authors. I rank it a
“must visit”!
HOT! Peace
Corps Story Teller... is a web site for a list server (i.e., you send
and receive email to a self-selected group). As the name implies, it's for
RPCVs who want to swap stories. At the web site, you can read past issues
and get details on how to subscribe to the list server.
HOT! The
Royal Pages' Peace Corps Online Discussion Site, where RPCV's can discuss
various subjects. Be there or be square! And while we're on the subject
of the prolific Peter Jones, Moms and Dads of PCV's should be sure to stop
by the...
HOT! The Peace Corps Family Support Group website:
The name says it all!
HOT! And if you
want to yak online about the Peace Corps, don't miss the Royal
Pages Peace Corps Chat Page! There is a scheduled chat every Mondayat
9pm EST. Please feel free to join!
HOT! The
Unofficial Peace Corps Bulletin Board ....yet another Peace Corps web
page from that crazy geek in Pittsburgh (me). You can use this bulletin
board to post or read announcements, “In Search Of....” queries,
and Peace Corps Questions.
Peace Corps
Friends of Free Markets... now newly reborn as an email discussion
group! HOT! ... if you
believe that “the development of the nations of the world is best served
by free trade and open markets.” (I do happen to believe this,
but then, what do you expect... this is another one of my web pages!)
HOT! If you have
a Peace Corps web site you want to promote, be sure to check out the Returned Peace Corps
Volunteer WebRing (and of course, email
me with info on your site!)
The Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual
RPCV Home Page invites inquiries about Peace Corps life from gay, lesbian
and bisexual prospective PCV's. You'll find info on how to join, stories,
links, and more. The group has chapters in San Francisco, Southern California,
Seattle, and Washington DC.
Here's information on the Global
Awareness Program, through which Returned Peace Corps Volunteers donate
their time, money, and energy to visit schools and to talk with students
about their experiences in other countries.
Pedals for Progress is a non-profit
organization formed by RPCV David Schweidenback that sends unwanted used
bicycles from the US to third world nations, where they are sold very cheaply
as a means of empowering the locals.
Back to Top of Page...
Back to the Peace Corps Crossroads Home Page
B. By Peace Corps Country (In Alphabetical Order by Country)
A, B, C D, E, F G, H, I J, K, L M, N, O P, Q, R S, T, U V, W, X, Y, Z Back to the Top of Page
Back to the Top of Page...
Back to the Peace Corps Crossroads Home Page
Here's a brief Friends of
Afghanistan page.
As a Pittsburgher, I am well aware of O'Bannon's rug shop. But not
until I read this article, The
Peace Corps and the Making of a Rug Dealer, did I learn of the owner's
background as the Associate Director of the Peace Corps in Afghanistan
in February, 1966.
Terry Dougherty was a Peace
Corps volunteer in Afghanistan from 1972 - 1975. This site has several
photos and some Afgananistan links.
Here's information on the Friends
of the Baltics.
The Friends of Benin site
has some great pictures (including one of an open sewer!), recipes, art,
and of course information on the organization and how to join.
Marcus Chance's Unauthorized
Benin RPCV Web Site provides information on the Friends of Benin and
some news from the nation once called "Dahomey".
HOT! This site promises
that it will become “a resource center for anything and everything
related to Peace Corps Bolivia”.
It may not be there yet, but it has some good photos and even a few videos,
as well as a place where you can sign up for email announcements.
HOT! Jeffrey Lovelace,
Jr was a PCV in Bolivia.
If you never before realized what a beautiful country it is, a visit to
this site (which consists mainly of photos) will open your eyes.
Los
Gatans agree: Peace Corps was the toughest job they ever loved is an
article about Peace Corps life in Botswana.
This small but attractive site from John Smith tells a little about
his service in Botswana,
along with several fine photos.
Jeff and Kerry Ploetz were married Peace Corps Volunteer, 1997-1999,
in Gabrovo, Bulgaria.
This site has pictures and notes Jeff wrote home....
... and this site has pictures and notes Kerry
wrote home!
HOT! Here's a top
notch Burkina
Faso site from Cathy Seeley, a self described “grandmother who
decided to pursue a challenge that has been percolating in my mind for 30
years, by joining the Peace Corps after my daughters were grown”. Some
great photos and more.
My Peace Corps Burundi
Album... ... four photos with a paragraph describing each photo, from
ex-PCV Jeff Smeding. (Jeff has a similar page for Senegal.)
I don't think I've ever seen this before: a combined country affiliate
group. The group is the Friends
of Burundi & Rwanda, and here's their website.
Charles Plager was a PCV in Cameroon
and the Central African Republic. His site doesn't have much to say,
but he's got some nice pictures of both places.
The Friends
of Cameroon will tell you how to join, and has a few pictures of projects
it is sponsoring.
The Dr. Moses
Memorial Page is a tribute by RPCV Ted Johnson to an unusual Cameroonian
musician.
Peace
Corps Cameroon Commelinaceae Project: this site has brief info and an
e-mail address to contact for more info.
Here's a text only article based on an interview with Steve Frodl,
an RPCV who taught in a high school on the Comoros
Islands.
This Friends of Colombia page
has information on the group's activities, three message boards, news about
Columbia, and even a private log in section for members only (??!).
Here's an unusual page from Darrell Swarens: the names and pictures
of the volunteers in the summer of 1967 Colombia staging, called
Peace Corps Training
for Colombia '67.
Story
of a Volunteer describes Steve Frodl experience in the early 1990's
in the Comoros Islands.
From the Smithsonian Institute, Nesting
Sea Turtles and Costa Rica's Tropical Rainforest briefly mentions two
Peace Corps volunteers with whom the photographer stayed. This site has
some gorgeous photos.
David S. Kitson
was a ex-PCV in Costa Rica who died in 1993. Read here about the project
to establish a library in memorial to him.
HOT! Kelly Barnum
is an ex-PCV living in Iowa and Costa Rica (where she served). She
runs a tour company called Kelly
Tours, which specializes in “trips you won’t receive from
a travel agent”, including homestays. Although this site says nothing
about her Peace Corps experience, it has a lot of good pictures of the country
that will make you want to visit.
Democratic Republic of the Congo: see Zaire.
(I suppose I should change it one of these days.)
HOT! Megan
Pfeltz is on her way to Dominica where she'll be a Youth Development
Worker, and in advance of her departure has created this web site. So far,
she explains things like what the application process is like and provides
info on Dominica. She promises to add journal entries once she arrives in
late July 2000.
The Friends of the Dominican Republic
is an RPCV group that has put together a fine web site, which includes information
on how to join as well as some nice photos of this lovely Carribean isle.
(They also have an older
Geocities site which they have not yet taken down.)
The Fondo Quisqueya
is a non-profit foundation, founded by RPCVs, whose goal is to provide grants
for educational and training for low income Dominicans in the Dominican
Republic.
Here's a brief page I put online for some former Dominican
Republic volunteers.
HOT! Jared Dunkin
was a PCV in the in the charming town of Puerto Plata. (I speak from experience;
I went there once on vacation.) This site has lots of photos as well as
some descriptions of his projects there.
Steve Ayala and his wife were Peace Corps volunteers in Ecuador.
The Steve Ayala Home Page
touches briefly on his experience there, and provides an e-mail address,
so you can find out more if you want to. Not much about his Peace Corps
activities, but still an interesting page.
Well Preserved
is the story of one PCV's post-Peace Corps service as director of Maquipucuna
Reserve high in the mountains of Ecuador.
Here's the story of a third year PCV's Encounter
with HIV in Ecuador.
From
Penn State to the Peace Corps: Journal of a new Volunteer tells a different
kind of Peace Corps story: the process this particular student went through
(with dates) from when he first spoke with a Peace Corps recruiter to the
point at which he became a PCV in El Salvador
HOT! Ethiopia
& Eritrea Returned Peace Corps Volunteers has photos, announcements,
links, and more. Too bad the nations can't get along the way these groups
have!
HOT! Eric Knepper
was a PCV in Fiji, and created
this site with photos, text, and even tips for tourists!
HOT! This fine looking
site from RPCV John Caldeira tells about his experiences as a
beekeeper in Fiji.
... and while we're on the subject of Fiji, check out this Friends of
Fiji site.
Here's a series
of letters from Leslie Sheppard to a friend of his stateside about his
experiences as a PCV in Gabon. His friend (Jeff Jenkins) has given
the letters catchy titles describing key events, like “A Dead Guy in
the Road”, and “I Think My Pig Gave Me Fleas”. A fun and
honest site.
HOT! Here's a great
looking site about Heather Nix, a PCV
in Gabon, created by her friend, Scot Korth. It has photos, narrative,
letters from Heather, links, a guestbook, and more.
Maison
Monhidi is a site from Gabon RPCV's Glen and Jenifer Payne. This
site has a guest book / message board, an address book of RPCVs, photos,
links, and more. An excellent resource for Gabon RPCV's.
HOT! Letter
from the Gambia contains several brief excerpts from a PCV.
HOT! How do you
go from a career in phone sex (her spiel: “I am about 5'6" tall
and I have long blonde hair, large breasts and clear, smooth skin. I wear
a 32 DD...”) to being a PCV
in The Gambia? Well, for one thing, you write your own recommendations....
This has to be one of most unusual PC sites you'll come across, since it
tells not only about a portion of what Wendy (no last name provided) did
in the Peace Corps, but discusses her pre-Peace Corps life, including the
phone-sex gig and her ex-con boyfriend.
The Friends of Ghana Web
Page... Ghana photos, back issues of the newsletter, and officer e-mail
addresses.
My
Trip to Ghana is the story of 10 year old Alima Abubakari's trip to
Ghana. Alima is the child of a Ghanaian father and RPCV mom.
HOT! The U.S. Embassy in Ghana has set up
this site with information for new Peace Corps volunteers. There are
good insights and advice for soon to be PCV's no matter where they are headed.
Included are letters from current volunteers. This is a text intensive site,
so don't expect pretty pictures.
HOT! Navrongo
& Lawra Home Page Two former Ghanaian volunteers showcase their
towns in Northern Ghana. A fine, award winning site. This site also has
many nice links to other Ghanaian and African web pages.
Thomas Anderson was a PCV in Ghana,
where he met his wife. This site provides a picture and some brief information
on the town of Wa where he served.
HOT! Tim
Fritschel recently returned from Ghana, and this web site has a few
great photos from Ghana, Mali, and Burkina Faso.
Here's a web site from Ghana
RPCV Craig Vickstrom, who returned to work in a Ghanaian hospital in
the summer following his first year of medical school. This site tells about
his return visit, with several quicktime videos that you shouldn't even
dream about downloading unless you have, at least, a cable modem.
HOT! Dan Bergert
recently finished a tour of duty in Dekpor-Horme,
Ghana. This single page tells the story of his service there, with pictures.
His end of tour summation: “You are glad to leave your village and
floundering projects but sad to leave the people you lived with and worked
with.”
Maureen
Cantwell - Ghana briefly discusses the positive and negative aspects
of Peace Corps life in Ghana, with several photos as well.
Mel
Siegel has some great pictures of Ghana and environs on his personal
web page.
Peace Corps Volunteer,
Health and Sanitation is an extensive interview with a volunteer in
Ghana.
HOT! This simple
site from Steve Griffith, who was a Peace
Corps health volunteer in Ghana, has some great photos as well
as the story of an event that confirmed his desire to become a doctor.
From the same web site as the interview above comes this interview
with the director the Ghana program of an international agricultural
development agency, who is a former Peace Corps volunteer.
Janet Getchell was a volunteer in Guatemala,
and this page features information about, and some beautiful pictures of,
her Peace Corps country. It also includes succinct descriptions of her unusual
assignments. By the way, this was one of the earliest RPCV web sites.
My Peace Corps
Experience in Guatemala is a brief discussion of her service by Donna
Renee Shanklin, with one picture.
Jeanette Bettes is currently a volunteer in Guatemala.
Here's a few comments on what she's doing, as well as some photos, posted
by friends.
Allan Oliver served as a PCV
in Guatemala in 1998 and 1999. This site has some of his letters home,
advice to new PCVs, and a bizarre game that will make sense to anyone who
has travelled in the third world called “Chicken Bus Bingo”.
Jennifer is currently a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala.
This site shows some pictures she has sent back.
HOT! RPCV Stephanie Chasteen has set up this
fine Friends of Guinea
page, with pictures, letters she sent while a PCV, and more.
HOT! Corona Freitag
was a volunteer in Guinea-Bissau from 1991 - 1994, and returned two
times subsequently. This
unusual site documents a military junta that lead to widespread fighting
in 1998 and 1999. Corona had purchased tickets two days before the war broke
out, and decided to visit anyway. The site has many superb photos, letters
she wrote while there, commentary, and more.
HOT! Wendy Goodman
was and perhaps still is a PCV
in Haiti, with the nebulous assignment of being a “small project
advisor” (whatever that means.) She started this site and maintained
it for a while from Haiti, although it hasn't been updated since September
of 1999. Still, it has some great photos, and provides a glimpse of life
as a PCV in that troubled nation.
Andrew Brower recently returned from a stint as a “Natural Resources
Management” Volunteer in Honduras.
This one page site has pictures and notes he wrote home while he was there.
Teaching English
in Hungary with the Peace Corps... one volunteer's experiences. A thoughtful
text only essay on what it's like to teach and live in Hungary.
Lyndle Lindow created this
Hungary site, with photos and news of other Hungary RPCV's.
The India IV Web
Site has a listing of where some of the volunteers from the 1963-1965
group can now be found (click on the flag.)
Chuck Clark was a PCV in India
from 1965-1967. This site lists the email address of some of his fellow
PCVs, and solicits info on others.
HOT! Here is a fine
new site from the Friends
of the Ivory Coast - pictures, music, and more.
Journey
of the Heart tells the story of Joan and Irving Lowell's experiences
as PCV's in Kazakstan.
HOT! Kazakhstan
1999 documents the Peace Corps experience of Joan and Rich Bailey, with
loads of letters from both of them, as well as photos and even “important
packing information”!
The Friends of Kenya site
tells about the organization, its projects, and events. It also has Kenya
news and links.
Science
Geek is a magazine created and written by Kenya RPCV Doug Larkin.
Early issues contained mostly Doug's writings about teaching high school
and music reviews and interviews, while later issues focused more on Doug's
adventures in Kenya, where he was a Peace Corps volunteer teaching science.
This site includes some samples of illustrations from various issues.
Karibuni
Peace Corps Kenya 1983-85 has several Kenya photos.
The Personal Initiative
of Mungai Ng'ang'a is a brief but interesting essay about how Michi
Vojta, a PCV in Kenya, inspired a Kenyan to build himself a solar
cooker.
Karen Beardsley's Hut Page
has a few pictures from her days as a PCV in Kenya.
Lisa Williams was a Peace
Corps teacher in Kenya from 1995 to 1997. This site has a few photos
and some descriptive text.
Not too many people get a domain name for themselves, but Courtney
Brown has. He's a former Kenya PCV, and this site includes “A Pictoral Recollection of My Service
to America as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Africa”.
HOT! All
Things Kenyan is a well organized site from RPCV Jeanne Daigle, with
info, pictures, links, and more. (Now with a new URL.)
HOT! Mary
Bednarski was a secondary school “maths” teacher in Western Kenya
from 92-94. Here you'll find her essays and recollections about her “two
years of trying to get that dumbfounded, lost, impatient, frightened look
off my face”.
The K-24 Korea Peace
Corps Volunteer Website recalls a group of volunteers that was in Korea
from July 1972 to July 1974, working in the Korean tuberculosis control
program. Lots of mostly black and white photos, especially notable for those
strange early 70's Brady Bunch clothes.
The Kyrgyzstan Opinion
Page was created by an RPCV and includes facts and pictures about this
former Soviet state.
HOT! Here's a novelty: a web site (with
some beautiful photos) created by current PCVs, and hosted by an internet
server in their country of service. It's the Peace
Corps Kyrgyzstan Home Page, and if you never thought of Kygyzsatan as
a country of scenic beauty, you'll change your mind fast after a visit to
this site.
The Best of the Black
Flag Newsletter is a chuckle-filled look as a PCV in Latvia.
HOT! Here's a Friends of Lesotho site, with
photos, maps, news, and more!
HOT! Martin was a teacher in Liberia,
and this page has a brief essay about his experiences there, along with
some truly outstanding photos of the people and way of life in a Liberian
village.
Friends of Liberia now
has their own web page, and even their own domain name.
HOT! Philip Waite was a PCV
in Liberia in the 1970's. His site provides both a history of Liberia
as well as a description and lots of photos of his Peace Corps experience.
Walter McCabe was a PCV
in Liberia.This unusual site has photos and brief vignettes from his
time there.
Amy Collick, a recent Michigan Tech graduate, is currently a Peace
Corps Volunteer in Madagascar.
Here's a brief discussion of what she's doing, along with two photos.
HOT! The Friends of Malawi Home Page has evolved
from a simple text only site to a sophisticated site with photos and music!
HOT! Adam
Wolkon was a Peace Corps volunteer in Chitipa, Malawi from 1996-1998.
This site has pictures and descriptions of his village, his projects, and
the country in general.
I never heard of Sarawak until I visited Ted Pack's site... Sarawak
is on the island of Borneo, and is part of Malaysia.
Was Ted really almost tattooed by headhunters? Read all about it here.
The Veza
International Home Page describes the Village Enterprise Zone Associations
International, a non-profit private voluntary organization founded by a
former PCV, that works only in Malawi.
This Friends
of Malaysia site has info on the affiliate group, some stories that
focus on the traditional cultural aspect of Malaysia, Malaysia links, recipes,
and more.
Anne Cullen is another current PCV
in Mali. Here's a site maintained by her brother.
Colleen Currie and her husband Ethan were and perhaps still are in
the Peace Corps in
Mali. This site has both photos and letters home. (The first letter,
on their arrival, is dated September 19998, while the last is March 19999....
which is why I'm not sure if they are still there.)
HOT! This beautifully
designed Friends of Mauritania has some
stunning photos as well of course as the usual information on how to join,
projects, etc.
The
World in Its Extreme, an article that appeared in the Atlantic Monthly
in 1991, spends some time discussing the problems of the Peace Corps in
Mauritania.
HOT! My Peace Corps Mauritania Experience,
from RPCV Trey Carr, is an extensive discussion with many photos of his
experiences as a volunteer from 1994 to 1996.
HOT! Patrick Michael
Sommerville was a PCV in Mongolia.
This fine site has stories and some stunning photos of Mongolia as well
as Tibet. He is also starting to add some photos from his sister, currently
a PCV in the Ukraine.
And here's a Friend
of Mongolia site, with membership information and more.
Here's a Friends of
Morocco page, including membership information, links, and more.....
Not to be confused with the...
The Peace Corps Morocco Network
describes its purpose as “to provide a permanent place for Returned
Peace Corps Volunteers, -- who served in Morocco at any time, for any length
of time during the years: 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, or 1980 -- to network
and stay connected”. The site has a guestbook, volunteers lists, information
on reunions, and more.
HOT! Jeffrey Tayler was a PCV in Morocco. In this
narrative, entitled Lost
in the Sahara, he tells how “a freak sandstorm turns a simple desert
excursion into a desperate drive.” From the pages of the Salon,
a top notch literary web 'zine.
HOT! Also from ex-PCV
Jeffrey Taylor, “Save
Me, Wild Qahba” tells of his wild night -- and the “fallen
women” -- in a Morrocan hash house. Also from Salon.
HOT! Here's a fine
web site from RPCV Scott Estergard,
with essays on his life in Morocco (including his marriage to a local
woman) as well as photos and some good Morocco links.
Mike's
Morocco Page has a brief discussion of Mike Toler's PCV experience.
HOT! Kimberly Chulis's
Along the Banks of the Okavango
tells the good and the bad about her experiences in Namibia. Some
great photos, too.
This site, from the American Embassy in Nepal, has info on Peace Corps projects in Nepal,
plus some photos.
HOT! Jill Chaskes
is currently a PCV in Nepal.
This site, maintained by her brother, consists of letters and emails she
has sent since her arrival in August. Jill has a nice, upbeat attitude,
and this is a fun site. Note that the letters are in reverse chronological
order, with the most recent ones at the top of the page.
Cliff Maxwell was a PCV
in Nepal. This site has a brief discussion of how the experience changed
him.
HOT! Mark Ludwick
is currently a PCV in Nepal.
This site contains his letters home, pictures, and more.
Nepal 28 was an American
Peace Corps group of math-science teachers who served in the early 1970's.
Their website includes pictures, memories, a guestbook, and links.
HOT! A
Window Into Nepal is a joint effort of four RPCVs who served in Nepal
between 1993 and 1996. It has some great photos of this beautiful nation,
along with maps, general information, links, and photo essays on subjects
like how the Nepalese make paper. A trip to this site will leave little
doubt in your mind as to why Nepal has always been considered a dream Peace
Corps assignment!
Ken Pumfords is a former PCV in Nepal, which is where he met
his wife. Read all about it, along with pictures from a recent trip back
and info on the child they are sponsoring through Childreach on the Pumford/Shakya
Home Page.
HOT! The
Tibetan Frontier has five stunning black and white photos taken by Daniel
Miller, who spent five years in Nepal as a PCV in the 1970's, and
who now works as a rangeland specialist out of Kathmandu.
Here's an article about Peace Corps Nicaragua entitled Building
Economies is Now a Big Part of Peace Corps Job.
HOT! The Friends of Niger have put together
a nice looking site, which includes information on joining, links, several
essays, and excerpts from their newsletter.
HOT! Jill Jupiter
Jones was a PCV in Niger from 1985 - 1988. At this NPR site, she
is part of a
fascinating discussion of Africa with Washington Post journalist Keith Richburg,
author of Out of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa. You'll need
a sound card and RealAudio to listen
to this interview.
HOT! Focus
on Niger has many great photos and news from Niger, from RPCV
Joel Mayer.
Help Me, Old
Man! is an essay about by RPCV Gordon Dalbey about the way Nigerians
respect their elders.
The Friends
of Nigeria site has information on how to join, a list of members, and
all FON newsletters!
HOT! Rich Piazza
was one of the first Peace Corps volunteers: serving in Nigeria from
1961 to 1963. African
Journey tells his story with words and pictures. The title of the site
refers to the motorcycle trip he took a the end of his service: a fascinating
adventure, with some great accompanying photos. To see the full story of
his African journey, just keep clicking on the “Next Page” icon.
A five star site - not to be missed!
Here's a nice site from the Peace
Corps Panama Friends.
Joel Alexander was a PCV
in Papua New Guinea. His site contains pictures, stories, and links
of places he have visited, including, of course, PNG.
Michael Jacobson was a reporter for the Paynesville Press before joining
the Peace Corps, where he served in Papua
New Guinea. This is a collection of columns he wrote while there (many,
but not all of which appear to be missing - i.e., dead links.)
The Friends of Paraguay
site tells how to join and has the newsletter online.
Alex
Wild was a beekeeping extensionist in a small community in Canindeyú,
Paraguay. This page has some photos and a letter he has received since
his return.
This site from Scott Whoolery entitle Peace
Corps Paraguay doesn't have much content yet, but it looks to have the
makings of a good site when he finds the time to work on it.
Robert Roberg was a Peace
Corps volunteer in Peru, who has subsequently found God and folk art.
This site says almost nothing about his Peace Corps experience, but is worth
visiting to take a look at some of his compelling paintings.
HOT! Dang Nguyen
is (as of this writing) currently a volunteer in the
Philippines, serving as a Water and Sanitation Volunteer. This fine
site has some beautiful pictures as well as a series of letters he wrote
home, and more.
Meg Hall is currently a Peace Corps volunteer working as an environmental
educator in Maragondon, the
Philippines, where she's been since April 1999. This attractive site
has several pages of text and pictures discussing her Peace Corps experience.
Peace
Corps Alumni Foundation for Philippine Development was founded in 1983
by former volunteers, staff, and friends of the Peace Corps in the Philippines.
The foundation provides scholarships for exceptional Filipino students to
attend college in the Philippines.
HOT! Is the motto
of the city of Rzeszow really There
are worse places in Poland? A fine site, with the story in words and
pictures of one volunteer's experience.
Here's a Friends of
Poland page.
HOT! Louisa Edgerton
was a PCV in Poland. She
doesn't have a lot to say about her experience on this site, but there are
quite a few good pictures.
The sister of PCV
Jessica Beck, in Poland, posted some of her early letters and pictures
on this site. You wonder as you read them: did she stay? By the last letter
posted, she was feeling pretty homesick.
HOT! Wayan
Vota was a PCV (briefly) in Russia. He's still there, and in
fact this website is hosted by a Russian server. This site explains why
he quit the Corps, and includes his journal (which he is continuing to maintain)
as well as many observations and some photos.
Peace Corps
in Russia, from the United States Information Agency, is a comprehensive
albeit rather dry discussion of the Peace Corps' history and role in Russia.
Togliatti - The Russian
City on the Volga is a web site “brought to you by the United States
Peace Corps”. Look under the heading Expanding
Your Business in Russia for some info about Peace Corps activities in
Togliatti.
I don't think I've ever seen this before: a combined country affiliate
group. The group is the Friends
of Burundi & Rwanda, and here's their website.
Peace Corps Senegal
Photo Album... eleven photos with a paragraph describing each photo,
from ex-PCV Jeff Smeding.
HOT! Daniel
Owen's Senegal Page... this is a fantastic looking page, worth visiting
even if you don't have any interest in Senegal. (And yes, this page is online
now.)
Futa Toro:
Memories from the Desert's Edge, from Senegal RPCV Paul Greenspan, has
photos, stories, recipes (well, just one so far), and even music from Senegal.
Paul is apparently still working on this site, and I look forward to seeing
how it develops.
HOT HOT HOT! Peter
Andersen's Sierra Leone Web has
evolved into an extraordinary site, and Peter's committment to it, and to
the people of Sierra Leone, is awesome. Among its many features are proverbs,
stories, news, an e-mail directory, and links.
The Sierra Leone
RPCV Network is a site dedicated to helping Sierra Leone RPCV's find
each other.
HOT! Peace
Corps Days is Lisa Walker's account of her Peace Corps experience in
Sierra Leone, up through her early termination. This set of
pages (with a total that is book length) contains a series of well written
vignettes based on letters she wrote over the course of her service, including
a few pictures. For anyone interested in a first-hand account of Peace Corps
life (and why else would you be here?), I rank it a “must visit”.
By the way, if you'd like to read this site offline, drop me
an email and I'll email you back a version you can read on your PC without
going online.
Bernie Dodge
was a volunteer in Sierra Leone... his personal page includes pictures and
recollections of his Peace Corps days. (This is one of the earliest PC sites
out there.)
Here's a good site from the students of April Miller. She used to teach
them and is now a Peace Corps volunteer in Slovakia.
This site features her letters and some great photos.
HOT! Matt
and Carole's Peace Corps Experience: Solomon Islands, '98-2001 is an
unusual page. Most PCVs build pages after their service.... this one was
built before! It is full of advice that Matt and Carole have received as
they prepare for their Peace Corps experience, some of which is specific
to the Solomon Islands, and some of which will be worthwhile for prospective
PCVs going to other destinations. The authors promise to add montly communications
once they get to their site: let's hope they do. (P.S. Well.... Carole lasted
four months, Matt six. Visit the site and find out what went wrong).
HOT! Michael Maren
is an RPCV and noted author. His NomadNet
site is a great source of information on Somalia.
Ron Bracy's With the Peace
Corps on St. Vincent has both text and photos, and discusses about his
experiences as an older volunteer on this Caribbean isle.
John and Gina Corpening were already married when they joined the Peace
Corp, where they served in Suriname
and El Salvador.... starting in Suriname, and then transferring to El
Salvador when they became dissatisfied with their Suriname experience. This
site has information about (including letters home)and pictures of their
Peace Corps experience.
HOT! Swaziland
- Mon Amour is a slick site by web-site creating artist Lowell Boileau.
He was also a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer teaching woodworking and technical
drawing at Salesian High School, Manzini, Swaziland, from 1968-1970. Not
much information, but some great photos.
HOT! The improbaly
named Omnibus
Surrogate Tanzanian Experience/Hypertext Wonderland Page is a series
of ten letters from a PCV (Mike) in Tanzania to his friend, Casey Vise,
in the United States. Although there are no pictures, Vise makes extensive
use of links to tie different parts of the letters together. The letters
provide a good glimpse of Peace Corps life.
Here's a brief newspaper article about Clay
Bazzel's PCV experience in Tanzania.
Here's a web site from the Friends
of Tanzania. I look forward to the promised photo gallery, which is
not to be confused with...
The Peace Corps Tanzania Returned
Volunteer Web Site features a message board, email lists, and links
to other Tanzania RPCV sites.
HOT! Abby Gustafson
is a PCV in Tanzania,
where she teaches “maths” at a girl's secondary school. This site
has her letters home since 1998, photos, and even some “postcard art”.
Meanwhile, her sister Jordana spent five months in Vietnam (not with the
Peace Corps), and this site has her letters home, along with some pictures,
as well.
HOT! Cheryl's
Tanzanian Experience tells of Cheryl Perkins life as a teacher in Kenya,
including both the good (the warm relationship she had with many Tanzanians)
and the bad (the string of robberies she experienced, including one at gunpoint.)
Her narrative is well written, and illustrated with some fine photos.
HOT! A
Personal Epic is an unusual and intriguing site from Kirk Greenway,
consisting of stories from his days as a PCV in Zaire and Thailand.
More than just simple narratives, Kirk's tales range from descriptions of
a volcano in Zaire (“Obscure, subtle, misty against a hard twilight
she looked like death herself....”) to his attempts to seduce women
by posing as a Peace Corps doctor. A fascinating (but somewhat fanciful)
vision of Peace Corps life, not to be missed. Note: this site is not
currently available. However, I am leaving the link up to encourage Kirk
to reinstitute it!
Here's an account of a bicycle trip through Thailand led in
part by a RPCV, entitled Bikes,
Boats & Elephants.
(Please note: The Gambia is listed under G)
HOT! Friends
of Togo Fufu Bar... authored by yours truly. Lots of fun stuff, including
a whole section of Togo memories by me and others, another section full
of reviews of books about Africa, a much visited guestbook, Togo links and
more. I've recently added some great Real Player highlife links, so that
you can listen to such fine hits as Prince Nico's classic “Sweet Mother”
while you surf the net, plus other information on African music. In the
manner of a third world dictator, I've decided to award myself the coveted
“hot” label for this page.
HOT! Speaking of
Togo, here's a top notch site about Togo called Fait Comme Moi (which, other than
the title, is in English). It's full of great photos and journal entries
from Erika Kachama-Nkoy, who was born in Zaire and who travelled through
Togo with her husband, Brian Anderson, who had served in the Peace Corps
in Liberia and Namibia. For those interested in Togo, I rate it a must
visit.
Serendip's Togo
connection is a site about Susan White, now an Associate Professor and
Chair of the Chemistry Department at Bryn Mawr College, who was a Togo PCV
from 1978 to 1981. This site has some photos, as well as information on
her attempts to find US schools with whom to start a "sister school"
arrangement with schools in Togo.
HOT! Here's a fine
site with some spectacular photos from Charles Danforth, who visited his
sister, a Togo PCV, and created this web page entitled Song
of the Yovo: A White Man's Travels in Black Africa.
HOT! Fish
Farming in the Plateau Region of Togo, West Africa is a marvelous photo
essay by Pamela Riley Miklavcic, an RPCV from Togo, that shows the step-by-step
process of creating a bountiful harvest of a “tasty, fast-growing ,
hearty fish known as tilipia nilotica.”
HOT! From recently
returned Togo PCV Roger Burks comes The
Griot in Kansas: A Collection of Imaginations and Opinionations. Now
at a new location.
Amy Lester was a Community and Youth Volunteer in Tonga.
This page has eight photos and accompanying text.
Ralph (Lolo)
Masi was a PCV in Tonga in the late 70's, and now lives in Japan. This
site has several essays about life in that exotic isle.
Sandy Mackintosh describes himself as “a working stiff who is
also an aspiring writer and whose Web site constitutes a venue for exposure”.
He's also a Tonga rpcv from the early '70's, and this
site has two essays about Tonga.
This web
site for the RPCVs of Tunisia has pictures, links, news, a guestbook,
and poses that controversial questions: Schnuwwa jdid? (Hey, don't ask me;
all I know is what I read in the papers.)
HOT! The
Unofficial Peace Corps Turkmenistan Camel Stop has info on the country
and the Peace Corps there.
Greg and Carol
Lastowka's Peace Corps Turkmenistan Page has some brief info and links
to the country where they taught English together.
Fred Denker's “One
of the 5%” describes his experiences as an older volunteer (he
was 57 when he joined) in Uzbekistan.
Here's a brief discussion of one volunteer's experience in Western Samoa in
the 1960's.
HOT! Cindy
Chu's Peace Corps Yemen Journal... fascinating and heavy stuff.
This Friends of
Yemen Page is mostly inoperable, except for the page entitled Turbah Lab, which describes
a Peace Corps project in Yemen.
The Ponds
of Kalambayi: An African Sojourn is a book by Mike Tidwell, RPCV about
his service in Zaire. Here you'll find a brief description of the book,
as well as info on how to order it.
HOT! Nicholas Hobgood
was a volunteer in Zaire from 1987 through 1991, and apparently still
lives there. He has created and is still developing this fine Welcome
to CONGO-PAGES!! site, with some great photos and text about life in
that vast and troubled nation.
HOT! A
Personal Epic is an unusual and intriguing site from Kirk Greenway,
consisting of stories from his days as a PCV in Zaire and Thailand.
More than just simple narratives, Kirk's tales range from descriptions of
a volcano in Zaire (“Obscure, subtle, misty against a hard twilight
she looked like death herself....”) to his attempts to seduce women
by posing as a Peace Corps doctor. A fascinating vision of Peace Corps life,
not to be missed. Note: this site is not currently available. However,
I am leaving the link up to encourage Kirk to reinstitute it!
HOT! Jenny Gronefeld was a “fishhead”
in Kiobo Kuimba,
a village in Zaire. This site tells a part of her story, with some fine
photos (click on them to see the full sized versions.)
Basenjis, you of course know (just kidding), are the “barkless
dog from Africa”. Here, from the Basenjii Companion (an online 'zine
devoted to Basenjis) is an interview with a Zaire
RPCV and Basenji owner. It includes some fine black and white photographs.
HOT! Jess
Moore is a fisheries PCV in Zambia. His father is maintaining this site,
and posting letters from Jess as well as some photos.
HOT! 
Lara Weber is currently a PCV
in Zambia. Her brother is posting her letters home, as well as pictures
she sends. Zambia is not an easy Peace Corps assignment, and it will be
interesting to see how her assignment goes.
HOT! Tom Chambers
had one of the more unusual Peace Corps assignments that I've ever heard
of: he was the Art
Conservator/Curator for the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in the capital
city of Harare. At this stylish site, he tells about his work there, as
well as some of his other projects. Also included are some fine black and
white photos.
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Note: Alphabetical order doesn't work terribly well for this section, as some groups are city groups, others regional, and others by state.... if you are looking for a group near you, it makes sense to read through the whole list.
RPCV's of Southern
Arizona. A nice page, that includes a listing of all members by country
of service. Look for your old compatriots here! (I found one.)
The Greater Birmingham (Alabama)
RPCV web site.
In the past, I've slandered the Boston
Area RPCV Organization for not having a nice site.... well, looks like
I can't slander them anymore.
Here's a well maintained site from the Central
Ohio Returned Volunteers Association.
Chicago Area Peace Corps Association.
A fine site.... these folks even have their own domain name!
Cincinnati
Area Returned Volunteers (CARV)
The Columbia River Peace Corps Association
is an Oregon and SW Washington group, with a fine site, that even includes
job postings!
The Columbia (Missouri) / Jefferson
City Area Peace Corps Association
RPCVs of Greater
Gainesville, Florida
The Gulf Coast
Council of the Houston and Galveston area.
Hawaii Returned
Peace Corps Volunteers
Peace Corps Alumni/Los Angeles
"SEMIRPCV" sound like someone who's kind of (but not really)
a returned PCV. But really it stands for the Southeast
Michigan Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Association.
Here's a little info about The
Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Minnesota.
Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
of New Jersey
Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
of Greater New York (now with their own domain name!)
North Carolina Peace Corps
Association.
The Northern California Peace Corps
Association, a.k.a. “NorCal”. Not only is there a lot of info
on what this fine organization is doing and who's involved, but this site
is also home of the soon-to-be-infamous Bowel House Blues site! Pay it a
visit, and leave a little something behind, if you're not too shy.
Philadelphia Area Peace Corps
Association
Pittsburgh Area
Peace Corps Association.
The Rhode Island
Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
The Sacramento Valley Returned
Peace Corps Volunteers Home Page.
The San Diego Peace Corps Association
Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
of South Carolina
Peace Corps
Volunteer Alumni of Utah
RPCVs
of Hampton Roads, Virginia. “Hampton Roads is comprised of Norfolk,
Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News, Suffolk and
surrounding areas. More than 100 Returned Peace Corps Volunteers call Hampton
Roads home and this is their site.”
Washington State Peace
Corps Association
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D. University Programs of Interest to Potential and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
I. College and University Information on the Peace Corps for Potential Volunteers.
II. Educational Programs of Special Interest to Returned Volunteers
I. College and University Information on the Peace Corps for Potential Volunteers.
Note: Almost all colleges and universities now have web pages, and quite a few have a page on their site with information on how to contact the campus Peace Corps recruiter. I'm not going to list all of these sites, but if you are a student you might want to check your school's web site out... (use Yahoo! to find it...) or just call your placement office. In this section I've included several sites which are more than just a single page on how to contact a Peace Corps recruiter.
HOT! Over twenty
universites now offer Master's
International Program, through which students serve as Peace Corps Volunteers
as partial fulfillment of a graduate degree. Programs are offered in disciplines
where there is a shortage of skilled people who can serve as Volunteers.
Programs include public health, agriculture, business, agribusiness, forestry,
environmental education, civil and environmental engineering, urban planning,
non-profit management, and teaching English as a foreign language. The site
to which I provide a link above is on the Peace Corps web page, and provides
information on the programs offered by many different universities. If you
are careful about researching the program, and how it has worked out for
its graduates, this could be an excellent way of serving in the Peace Corps
while better preparing yourself for a full time career.
Peace
Corps at the University of Maine is an excellent resource for potential
volunteers.
Second only to the above site comes the fine Penn
State Peace Corps Site from the folks in State College, PA.
The US Peace Corps and The
Loret Miller Ruppe Peace Corps Master's International Program in Forestry
at Michigan Tech University have teamed up to design a program for students
with an undergraduate degree in any discipline who are interested in a career
in forestry, environmental sciences and policy, and natural resource management.
Michigan State University
has had more than 1,800 of its alumni serve in the Peace Corps. Their site
promises to have letters from PCVs in the near future.
Tulane University School of
Public Health and Tropical Medicine and the United States Peace Corps
have formed a joint program which offers students a unique opportunity to
earn either a master of science in public health (MSPH) or a master of public
health (MPH) degree, with Peace Corps service as part of the program.
The
Boston University School of Public Health has a similar program.
The US Peace Corps and Michigan
Tech University have teamed up to design a program for students with
an undergraduate degree in any discipline who are interested in a career
in forestry, environmental sciences and policy, and natural resource management.
The program allows students to incorporate Peace Corps service into a graduate
program in forestry. The program involves nine months of intensive forestry
education at Michigan Tech and two years of field work with Peace Corps.
Here's another Michigan Tech University program: a Master's
International Program in Civil and Environmental Engineering
that builds upon the programs descibed above.
Peace
Corps at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Peace Corps
related information for members of the UIUC community... somewhat out of
date.
Peace
Corps at Oberlin... a brief article about the success Peace Corps recruiters
have at Oberlin.
Ohio
State University has several graduate Peace Corps related programs.
Peace Corps at Purdue
University... brief info on contacting the Peace Corps reruiter at Perdue.
I'm breaking my own rule by including this one, but it's such a pretty page.
II. Educational Programs of Special Interest to Returned Volunteers
In my perhaps overly cynical view, much of what RPCV's call “culture shock” on returning to the States is really unemployment and status loss shock. A good graduate school program can help you qualify for a good job... at least, it worked for me. Here's information on a few programs that should be of special interest to RPCV's.
You should probably start by checking out the Peace
Corps Fellows Program. To quote from the page, “Whether you are
preparing to return home from your Peace Corps assignment or considering
a mid-career job change, if you have satisfactorily completed Peace Corps
service, you are eligible to apply to one of 25 diverse Fellows Programs
across the United States. The Fellows Program is an innovative combination
of graduate school and paid employment in fields experiencing a shortage
of professionals. As a Fellow, you will share with underserved Americans
the experiences and skills acquired while living overseas as a Peace Corps
Volunteer.” This page is part of the Official Peace Corps site. It
contains a brief description of all 25 Fellows Programs.
I won't even try to list every school with an international or public policy program... there are far too many. I haven't been able to find any web based indices based on the content of graduate school programs, but there are certainly books out there with such lists. Anyway, here are a few that might be of special interest to RPCV's:
George Mason University offers a Geneva (yes, the one in Switzerland)
based program in International
Humanitarian Relief Management.
The Peace
Corps Pathways Scholars Program at the University of Texas at El Paso
was designed to provide a two-year teacher preparation training for returning
Peace Corps volunteers.
Ohio University's
interdisciplinary program in Communication and Development Studies is
jointly administered through the School of Telecommunications and the Center
of International Studies. A majority of their next year's applicants are
former Peace Corps participants.
The Coro Foundation is dedicated
to providing training that "embraces the complexities of the public
arena and challenges individuals to become creative problem-solvers and
active citizens." An RPCV is now the director of the Coro Fellows Program
in Public Affairs.
Carnegie Mellon's Heinz School
of Public Policy... no, they don't teach you how to make ketchup...
and they don't have an international emphasis... but they'll can turn someone
with a limited math and computer background into a quant computer jock in
a couple years, which may sound like an awful fate but which opens all kinds
of doors to you. (All right, I'll 'fess up... it's where I went. And where
I met my wonderful wife.) Just remember: do-gooders are a dime a dozen...
but do-gooders with math and computer skills are as scarce as hen's teeth.
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E. Information on Active Peace Corps Host Countries, maintained by the Peace Corps.
Peace Corps Volunteers in Africa
(with separate pages by country).
Peace Corps Volunteers in Inter-America
and the Caribbean (with separate pages by country).
Peace Corps Volunteers in the
Pacific (with separate pages by country).
Peace Corps Volunteers in Europe
and the Mediterranean (with separate pages by country).
Peace Corps Volunteers in Central
and East Asia (with separate pages by country).
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I've decided to create this new category in the Peace Corps section as the number of news stories about the Peace Corps on the web has grown. I may still put some news stories that relate to a particular Peace Corps country in the Section B (Peace Corps by Country.) Unless otherwise noted, these articles are text only (i.e., no pictures.)
Here's a Washington Post article about Mark Schneider, the Peace Corps'
new
director.
This article tells about Schneider's
targeting of information technology development as his main concern
for 2000 to more effectively monitor and assist existing Peace Corps programs
such as agriculture and urban development.
This story tells of the sad death of Philippines RPCV Neil
B. Raab.
I had a chance to hear Paul Tsongas speak at the Peace Corps' 25th
anniversary, and to meet him briefly, and was impressed by his style and
wit. Here's an obituary
of Tsongas, one of the Peace Corps most politically successful graduates.
Mystery of the Mummies
may sound like a tale from the crypt, but actually it tells of the attempts
of an RPCV to determine what a group of Caucasians were doing living in
the heart of Asia over 1,500 years ago.
Here's a good article on what the Peace Corps is trying to do to deal
with the environmental
disasters left by Communism in Eastern Europe.
Here's the story of a PCV
who went on to become the the associate director of the Carter Center's
Conflict Resolution Program.
The title of this article says it all: Peace
Corp looks for new crop of experienced, older volunteers.
Air
Force Col. Brenda Hollis, assigned to The Hague helping to prosecute
alleged war
criminals from the former Yugoslavia, has had an interesting career that
includes a stint as a PCV in Senegal.
Ramos
Orders Probe into Shooting of Peace Corps Volunteer describes a recent
non-fatal shooting of a PCV in the Philippines.
And here's the story of a Peace Corps instructor and a volunteer who
recently drowned in Honduras.
And here's a press release on Illinois
Peace Corps Fellows Program.
FOCUS
ON VIETNAM: Poverty in the midst of run-away growth tells about the
work an RPCV is now doing in Vietnam.
Can a PC doctor be insufficiently PC? Read Peace
Corps Doctor Fired for Promoting Abstinence and decide for yourself...
And here's the story of a
woman who is suing the Peace Corps for violation of the ADA.
Here's a June 1996 story entitled BUDGET-STRAPPED
PEACE CORPS IS PULLING OUT OF SOME COUNTRIES.
A friend of David Shippee, a PCV who was killed in South Africa, has
set up a page
dedicated to him.
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I. The “Hidden” Official Peace Corps Pages
II. Other Sources of Info About the Peace Corps
III. Fiction by or about Peace Corps Volunteers
IV. Sites Critical of the Peace Corps, or Foreign
Aid in General.
V. Really Miscellaneous
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I. The “Hidden” Official Peace Corps Pages
Official Peace
Corps Home Page - How to Volunteer (The Peace Corps changed the URL
on this one; I've now changed my link so that it works.)
Peace Corps
Information for RPCV's... what your country can do for you after you
get back.
World Wise Schools
is Peace Corps' global education program. Each year WWS links about 4,000
U.S. classrooms to Peace Corps Volunteers overseas.
You can buy videos
from the Peace Corps that show life in several nations, including Honduras,
Paraguay, Lithuania, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the Marshall Islands,
Senegal, Cameroon, and Lesotho. This site has brief descriptions of each
video, and a one minute real video clip from each for internet download.
Back to Miscellaneous PC Site Table of Contents.
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II. Other Sources of Info About the Peace Corps
HOT! Here's a well
written description of the Peace Corps process from a website with the
unlikely domain name of "soyouwanna", as in so you wanna join
the Peace Corps? It tells you about what you get paid, the application process,
what to pack, and even talks a bit about what to expect, although of course
I think you're better off exploring my site if you want a variety of insights
into Peace Corps service.
The Peace Corps Alternative
is an online magazine article with some good basic information on joining
the Peace Corps.
This page has a
brief history (with dates) of the Peace Corps.
Here's a
more comprehensive history of the Peace Corps, from the Peace Corps
website.
Who really thought up the Peace Corps? The
answer (from the Atlanta Journal- Constitution) may surprise you.
The Encyclopedia Britannica is now online, and has a
brief article about the Peace Corps.
Here's a list of the mailing addresses and telephone and fax numbers
of the local offices of various Peace Corps offices in Central and Eastern
Europe, including Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Karakstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia / Far East,
Russia / Moscow, Slovak Republic, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan,
Here's an extensive (though now somewhat dated) Bibliography
of Peace Corps Books, Articles, and Newsletters, courtesy of Elliot
Parker and Kent Lind. For another good bibliography of Peace Corps books,
check out Peace Corps Writers
Home Page .
Teachers, especially: check out the National
Audio Visual Center's Collection of geography films produced by the Peace
Corps' World Wise Schools. Do a search on “Peace Corps”.
And here's an ad for a book entitled Alternatives
to the Peace Corps. (This link is now fixed.)
While I'm on the subject of Peace Corps alternatives, here's info on the
Volunteers for Peace International Workcamps.
Here's another PC alternative program: Cross
Cultural Solutions. I don't know anything about it, except that they
asked for a link... I must confess, however, to having my reservations about
this group: in one of their itineraries, they describe a planned visit in
one dictatorship with members of “a leading women's rights group”.
Well, guess what? The head of that group is the wife of the minister of
the armed forces... who also just happens to be the brother of the dictator
of the country!
Back to Miscellaneous PC Site Table of Contents.
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III. Fiction by or about Peace Corps Volunteers
HOT! Peace Corps
Writers has put a list
of 334 RPCV authors on the internet, sorted by the country of their service.
Many of the books have links to Amazon.com. (While some of these books are
related to the Peace Corps, many are not... just because the author is an
RPCV does not necessarily mean that all of his or her books will be Peace
Corps related.)
HOT! John Y. N.
Cho was a PCV in Sierra Leone from 1986 through 1988. He's currently a Research
Scientist in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
at M.I.T. He's also the author of a number of travel essays and short stories.
Cho is an excellent writer, and I highly recommend taking the time to read
his online works. They include:
Here is a complete listing of Cho's online fiction, and here is a list of his online travel essays. He is also an afficianado of world music, and here is a list of his online world music reviews and articles.
Here's some epic new age poetry from RPCV John Ashbaugh, entitled The Gathering of the Tribes
of the Earth.
The Washington Post described Richard Dooling's novel White Man's Grave,
about the search for a missing PCV in Sierra Leone, as "Satiric and
sometimes rollickingly funny". It was also a National Book Award Finalist.
Me, I wasn't that crazy about it, although I did read it all the way through.
The writer, by the way, spent some time in Sierra Leone but is not an ex-PCV.
If you want to try before you buy, the entire First
Chapter of the White Man's Grave is online. Or, you can read a briefer
review by me in the The
Friends of Togo Guide to Books about Africa.
Here's an ad for, and excerpts from, a soon-to-be released bang-bang-boom
sci-fi eco-thriller by Laura Mixon, a Kenya RPCV, and her husband, to be
called "Greenpeace/Greenwar".
It sounds dumb, so I suppose a Hollywood movie is sure to follow.
Thavrith
J. Bunkasem was a PCV in Chad. Here's a little on his interesting life,
and a link to a journal he founded called Khmer
Voice in Poetry: The Cambodian Literary connection.
Back to Miscellaneous PC Site Table of Contents.
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IV. Sites Critical of the Peace Corps, or Foreign Aid in General.
Here are some sites critical of the Peace Corps:
The
Food-Aid Racket, by former PCV and Catholic Relief Services worker Michael
Maren, is highly critical of foreign aid programs in general (although he
does not criticize the Peace Corps). Agree or not, it's a fascinating read.
The
Big Lie of Foreign Aid and International Charity is an interview with
former PCV Michael Maren (see above) in which he further blasts all foreign
aid, including (to some extent) the Peace Corps.
Here's a review of Michael
Maren's excellent book, “The Road to Hell”. And here's one
from Foreign
Affiars.
Feeding
Africa's Crises is an article by RPCV Michael Maren from The Nation
on the subject of aid and peace-keeping missions.
Speaking of peace keeping mission, here's a Bibliography
of books on the subject of military peace-keeping missions.
Here's a similar bibliography, entitled Military
operations other than war.
Masters of Disaster
has several stories of disastorous foreign aid projects - and the story
of one “hugely successful” project run by a Peace Corps volunteer.
Doug Bandow of the Cato institute thinks that “Washington can
do much to help poor nations by abolishing the U.S. Agency for International
Development and.. instead of disbursing foreign aid... open its market to
the the developing world's goods” in A
New Aid Policy for a New World.
What's
So Bad About Being Poor, by noted social theorist and RPCV Charles Murray,
is a reflection based in part on his five years (!) as a Peace Corps volunteer
in Thailand.
Here's a similarly iconoclastic piece from Slate entitled In Praise
of Cheap Labor, by Paul Krugman.
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V. Really Miscellaneous
Hey there, prospective PCV.... wondering what to bring? Check out the
soon-to-be-famous What
to Bring web site, from those fine folks at the Columbia River Peace
Corps Association.
HOT! Norbert
and Carol Hoffmann's Peace Corps Journal is a work in progress from
a married couple approaching retirement who have decided to join the Peace
Corps. They have been accepted, but haven't been able to get assigned to
a suitable country yet. It will be interesting to follow their experiences
at this well designed site.
Wanna buy some Peace Corps merchandise? Check out the
RPCV Market.... “your one-stop shop for Peace Corps related merchandise”.
The site explains that the RPCV Market is owned and operated by Randy Merideth
and Kevin Burns, two returned Peace Corps volunteers who live and work in
the Minneapolis area. It is not affiliated with or otherwise endorsed by
the Peace Corps, the National Peace Corps Association, or any Peace Corps-related
alumni membership organization.
The Peace Corps
Store web site is another source of “authentic Peace Corps gifts
and collectibles from around the globe”. This site may be connected
with the Peace Corps somehow, since they have a physical store in the Peace
Corps building in Washington DC.... but then again, maybe not.
HOT! Karin Muller was a PCV in the Philippines,
who went on to make a PBS documentary called Hitchhiking
Vietnam. This site tells her story, with loads of pictures.
HOT! The
Corcoran High School Peace Corps Partnership site describes an inspiring
program run by the International Relations club as a Syracus High School,
in conjunction with Roberts Elementary School. The group has raised over
$65,000 for small-scale development projects in Africa, Asia, and Latin
America for 14 years. If you want to support them, you'll find info on this
site about ordering notecards, t-shirts, or their video.
Dianne E. Folkerth is a Bolivia
RPCV, who is currently the Education Coordinator at the Texas Memorial Museum
in Austin, Texas. She set up Kidscribe,
a bilingual site for kid authors. They answer the question “what does
peace mean to you?”
Here's an offbeat item: an
interview with a prospective Peace Corps volunteer from an online surfing
magazine.
Here's a page that describes “a special program that promotes
multicultural appreciation in support of Federal Title IV requirements”,
run by RPCV Rudy Sovinee, which he calls One
World, Our World. You'll find some diversity links here as well.
Overseas
Adventures describes the experience of Asian-Americans in the Peace
Corps.
Paging all TEFLers: here is a site that provides information on subscribing
to country-
or area-specific email discussion lists for teachers of English living
abroad.
Read about underarm hair and conga lines in this
article from Salon, by a traveler visiting the Czech Republic with an
RPCV.
Here's Loret
Miller Ruppe's speech at the 35th anniversary celebration of the Peace Corps
Here's an unusual project: the Eurasian
Odyssey. "Returning PCVs John McGown and Sonja Raub will bridge
the expanse of Eurasia on their mountain bikes to produce a comprehensive
photo documentary in 14 countries highlighting the every day challenges
facing volunteers and the communities in which they serve."
This article, entitled Surviving
Salvation, by Doctor Ruth Westheimer (yes, that Doctor Ruth!)
describes the resettlement of Ethiopian Jews in Isreal. One of the Isrealis
discussed in the article is Dr. Chaim Rosen, born an American, and a former
Peace Corps volunteer.
Here is an article from an improbably name Missouri University publication
on the Peace Corps attempts to recruit minorities: The
Maneater: The Peace Corps. It also include some brief recollections
on Peace Corps service.
HOT! Here's an unusual
page with an unusual name: Piskops.
It purports to be letters from a PCV to a friend, posted by the friend.
But no name is provided, not even a country name (although it sounds like
Sierra Leone, or maybe Cameroon)... The names in the story are all things
like "America" and "Boston" spelled backwards. Is it
real? Or is this the Peace Corps version of The
Spot? Pay it a visit, and you decide....
A Proposal for an
Electronic Peace Corps may sound from its title like a goofy idea, but
it's got some merit.
Here is RPCV (Fiji, 1980) Elaine Winters' page on Cross
Cultural Communication,
Here's a speech by Representative
James A. Leach Upon the Introduction of Loret Ruppe at The 35th Anniversary
of The Peace Corps.
Shinta is
an on-line joke of dubious taste and humor about a PCV in Nepal.
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