Amie Bishop started off as a teacher of English as a foreign language in a high school in a small, rural town in Morocco



Amie Bishop started off as a teacher of English as a foreign language in a high school in a small, rural town in Morocco

Amie Bishop ’82
While at Pomona, I did a semester abroad in France, which opened my eyes to the world beyond the United States. That, combined with a growing realization of the inequity that exists in the world regarding access to basic resources and opportunities inspired me to consider the Peace Corps.

I was in Morocco from 1983 to 1985. Although I started off as a teacher of English as a foreign language in a high school in a small, rural town, I switched programs and ended up collaborating with another volunteer to found a school for children with cerebral palsy based in a hospital in Marrakech.

The school was the first of its kind in the country and we were overwhelmed with demand from families who had children with other disabilities as well—kids with Down Syndrome, hearing impairment, autism and polio. We took as many as we could and also ended up traveling to nearby towns to do home visits with kids who couldn't make the trip to Marrakech. It was incredibly rewarding work.

My Peace Corps experience set me on a course of international health work, which I continue today. After returning to the U.S., I got a masters’ degree in public health and social work. Following school, I got a job with a non-profit international health organization called the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) where I have been for the past 14 years. I now oversee all of PATH’s health programs in the former Soviet Union, as well as work on various reproductive health initiatives in other countries.

When this story was posted in October 2004, this was on the front page of PCOL:

Director Gaddi Vasquez: The PCOL Interview PCOL sits down for an extended interview with Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez. Read the entire interview from start to finish and we promise you will learn something about the Peace Corps you didn't know before. Plus the debate continues over Safety and Security.

Schwarzenegger praises PC at Convention Governor Schwarzenegger praised the Peace Corps at the Republican National Convention: "We're the America that sends out Peace Corps volunteers to teach village children." Schwarzenegger has previously acknowledged his debt to his father-in-law, Peace Corps Founding Director Sargent Shriver, for teaching him "the joy of public service" and Arnold is encouraging volunteerism by creating California Service Corps and tapping his wife, Maria Shriver, to lead it. Leave your comments and who can come up with the best Current Events Funny?

Peace Corps: One of the Best Faces of America Teresa Heinz Kerry celebrates the Peace Corps Volunteer as one of the best faces America has ever projected in a speech to the Democratic Convention. The National Review disagreed and said that Heinz's celebration of the PCV was "truly offensive." What's your opinion and can you come up with a Political Funny?

Read the stories and leave your comments.

By elvira pelayo (83.54.231.122) on Saturday, January 10, 2015 - 1:47 pm: Edit Post

Dear sir,

as I was looking for information about centres for treatment to children with cerebral palsy, I came acroos this story (Amie Bishop's) about her experience as a Peace Corps voplunteer.

I would like to have more information about the hospital in which she worked because the 4 year old son of a friend of mine has cerebral palsy and needs a centre or hospital for reeducation and stimulation.

Thanks in advance

Elvira Pelayo