Peace Corps Community in the News
Uplifting and encouraging stories: Week of April 13, 2025
Lake defender dives into county legislature race, by Fernando Figueroa in The Ithaca Voice | April 11, 2025.
After years of environmental advocacy, John V. Dennis (Thailand 1975-78), a retired sociologist, has announced his bid for the Tompkins County Legislature’s newly redrawn District 7, which includes the Village of Lansing and parts of Cayuga Heights and Varna. In 2017, he co-founded Cayuga Lake Environmental Action Now (CLEAN), an organization that has spent the last eight years advocating for and later monitoring the water quality of the lake.
Celebrating, exploring the Chamorro culture of Guam, By Joyce McClure (Micronesia 2016-17) in Stars and Stripes | April 11, 2025
First settled more than 4,000 years ago by people arriving from the Philippine Islands to the west and subsequently from the Caroline Islands and Southeast Asian islands including Indonesia, the ancient Chamorro culture that evolved from those early settlers is still much in evidence today with 37% of the population identifying as Chamorro.
Opinion: Serve worriedly, by Ana Alejandre Ciereszko (St. Vincent & the Grenadines 1969-71) in the Miami Herald | April 11, 2025.
Those of us who are Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (more than 240,000 since 1961) worry about what may happen to this tiny agency. Peace Corps’ budget is only $430 million, a drop in the bucket when we hear discussions of billions and trillions. Why is Peace Corps so important?
Urban Wildlife in Salt Lake City: Doves, Squirrels, and Grackles Take Over, by Dan Potts (Ecuador 1977-79) in Utah Stories | April 12, 2025.
As a longtime promoter of local native wildlife, I have always been intrigued by native animals adapting to the urban environments of Salt Lake City. Native deer, doves, and ducks all do well and whole herds of mule deer now live well within city limits. Many mourning doves now raise their young in our neighborhoods and no longer migrate south as they had done for millennia. Instead, they spend the winter in town, safe from hunters.
Who Loves a Parade? by Bonnie Black (Gabon 1996-98) in The Wow Factor | April 12, 2025.
In Peace Corps training we were taught never to get involved in our host country’s politics. We were to be polite, appreciative, and helpful guests only, not political activists nor missionaries for any church or cause. But one time, in one of my Friday night free English classes for a group of enthusiastic high school students in my little town of Lastoursville deep in the middle of this rainforested Francophone country, I made a big mistake.
Dear Joe Wilson — Is America Still a Friend to Georgia? by Ryan Sherman (Georgia 2012-14) in Civil Georgia | April 12, 2025.
“This award no longer effectuates agency priorities and is terminated…” With this single line in a letter from the U.S. Embassy last month, The Memory Project came to an abrupt end. Our activities were canceled, our team disbanded, and our partners instructed to return all unspent funds to Ilia State University, which in turn sent them back to the financial office at the U.S. Embassy. And it wasn’t just us. Across Georgia nearly all U.S.-funded initiatives met the same fate.
'Faith as real as the people who practice it': Short story collection set in Brazil paints vivid picture, | April 12, 2025.
Drawn from his own experiences of life in Brazil over the latter half of the 20th century, first as a volunteer in the Peace Corps and then as a lawyer working with the church's land reform efforts, Arthur Powers' (Brazil 1969-73) presentations of the nation and its people in these 17 short stories insist on their own reality. His descriptions are almost tangible; from upper-class households to the slums of Rio de Janeiro, rural villages to city plazas and expat bars, Powers' ability to evoke a world the reader may well have never seen has an undeniable authenticity.
The Movement Has Begun in Earnest⎼ And Just in Time, I Hope, by Ira Rabois (Sierra Leone 1969) in The Good Men Project | April 13, 2025.
Later, I met a scientist who used to do research at Cornell University on environmental issues. After one environmental disaster, his research helped save the lives of dolphins and other sea creatures. It turns out he, like me, had served in the Peace Corps. For him, both the Peace Corps and his research had the same motivation⎼ to work for the greater good. His research job is, of course, now threatened by DT and DOGE.
Eagle’s Trace Residents Benefit from an Array of Outdoor Amenities, by Susan Ingram in City Biz |April 14, 2025.
From her three years in Colombia with the Peace Corps to social work and practicing law, Janet Beck (Colombia 1968-71) has had a busy career and a full life. It was a desire to downsize and move closer to family that encouraged her to consider Eagle’s Trace. “After reading the brochures I received from Eagle’s Trace, I came for a tour in June 2021,” Janet recalls. “I also participated in the Live the Life program for a couple days and got a feel for the community.”
Market manipulation, inflation and Donald Trump, by Stephen Gottlieb (Iran 1965-67) in WAMC Northeast Public Radio | April 15, 2025.
If you believe that Mr. Trump is above market manipulation, then some people are betting that they are just rich enough to take the chance they can predict what’s going to happen. But there are numerous examples where people with power to manipulate the market used it for their own benefit or for friends or relatives who could return the favor in other ways.
In defense of the Peace Corps, Blog post by Rachel M. Beard (Namibia 2018-20) | April 15, 2025
If you’ve met me in-person, you’ve heard me talk about Namibia. You’ve seen the way my eyes light up, the way I smile and trip over my words as I try to pour out all the love I have in my heart for the place that I once called home. You know all the stories about my learners – like Timotheus, who used to steal my scissors and run off with them, and Linda, who used to stay late just to look at the pictures in the library books. You’ve heard me talk about my work and my home, about Etosha and Windhoek – about the Peace Corps and everything that comes with it.
Elsewhere in Nepal, blog post by David Jarmul (Nepal 1977-79; Moldova 2016-18), in Not Exactly Retired | April 15, 2025.
First-time travelers to Nepal typically visit the magnificent temples and other treasures of the Kathmandu Valley. If they’re adventurous and have the time, they may also go trekking near Mount Everest or someplace else. That’s what I did back in 1975 when I first discovered this magical country. I fell in love with Nepal, even before I met Champa, and I remain smitten with it a half-century later.
Record 1,700 walk to benefit Jacksonville's domestic violence shelter; raise $115,000, by Beth Reese Cravey in Jacksonville Florida Times-Union | April 15, 2025.
The top fundraising teams were Bank of America-Jacksonville Team, Fleet Landing Residents and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and Ascension Angels. The top fundraising individuals were Paul Bryce, Evelyn Chiang and West Herford. Collectively, they raised $35,000 prior to the event.
Greenfield’s former liaison to Haitian immigrant community honored with Human Rights Award, by Anthony Cammalleri in Greenfield Recorder | April 15, 2025.
For her work supporting the immigrant community housed at the Days Inn shelter before its February closure, Wendy Goodman (Haiti 1998-2000) has received the 2024 Human Rights Award. Her eight years of Peace Corps service, ability to speak Haitian Creole and determination to help those in need brought Goodman to the site of the Days Inn shelter on Colrain Road, which the human services agency ServiceNet took over in May 2023 to house predominantly Haitian immigrants and refugees.
After college, I moved halfway around the world to teach. I met my wife on my first day by Michael DePeau-Wilson (Vanuatu2010-12) on Yahoo.com | April 15, 2025.
When I was 23 years old, I made the surprising decision to move nearly 8,000 miles from home. I was desperate to start my post-graduate career with meaningful work, so I joined the Peace Corps to teach English in the South Pacific — the Republic of Vanuatu, to be specific. Instead of finding a career in international development, I found the love of my life.
An Interview With A Fired USAID Education Officer, by Sabrina Imbler on Defector | April 16, 2025
Joel Runnels (Kenya 1997-2000) had studied American Sign Language in college and, as someone who grew up with a speech impediment, he also had a lifelong affinity for working with people with disabilities. The Peace Corps, under the mistaken impression that there's one universal sign language, invited him to pioneer their Deaf Education Program in Kenya. Runnels only knew ASL, so he had to learn Swahili and Kenyan Sign Language as well.
John Evans (Bangladesh 1999-2000): Tick and Thump on KQED | April 16, 2025.
So, I’m making the most of the time I’ve got. I want to hike the Camino de Santiago with my kids. I’d love to join the Peace Corps again when I retire. And one of these days, I’ll successfully graft a Meyer lemon cutting onto the Navel orange tree in my backyard. And while I do, I’ll listen to those steady, sixty-odd beats a minute. Tick. Thump. Tick. Thump. For now, I’m still listening.
Tariffs to affect confectionery industry: Beyond Good, by Liz Parker Kuhn in Candy Industry News | April 16, 2025.
Beyond Good Founder and CEO Tim McCollum (Madagascar 1999-2001) expects tariffs to increase the cost of vanilla at least 20%, and many companies are likely to simply swap the ingredient with a synthetic alternative. We were recently able to connect with McCollum to learn more about what will happen if the tariffs go into effect.
TUMI Turns 50: Creative Director Victor Sanz On Legacy, Innovation, And The Journey Ahead, in Vogue, by Kaitlyn Lai | April 16, 2025.
It was in Peru, amidst the rugged beauty of the Andes and the vibrant energy of its markets, that global lifestyle brand TUMI found not only its name but its soul. Inspired by the tumi—a sacred Andean ceremonial knife—founder Charlie Clifford (Peru 1967-69) envisioned a brand honoring the spirit of exploration and cultural connection. His experiences in South America with the Peace Corps shaped that vision, teaching him the importance of creating products that not only stood the test of time, but also carried the stories of the people who used them.
The Forgotten Museum of Pokhara: A Legacy of Nature, Culture, and Quiet Dedication, by Simon Paudel in DC Nepal | April 16, 2025.
In 1962, Dorothy Mierow (Nepal 1962-64) arrived in Nepal with the very first Peace Corps group. A graduate of Carleton College with a master’s degree in Biology and Geography, the 42-year-old was instantly captivated by Pokhara’s raw beauty—the towering Annapurnas, the fertile valley, and the warmth of its people. As she later recounted in her book Thirty Years in Pokhara, this connection would define the rest of her life.
Opinion: Loss of influence, by Dan Boyd in The Lewiston Tribune | April 17, 2025.
Peace Corps sends volunteers to developing countries to assist local communities in ... education, health, agriculture and community development. Peace Corps volunteers are trained to fit into the cultural mosaic ... . They leave long-lasting, positive American influences as they do the jobs they’ve been asked to do.
‘An ambassador of culture’: Kodo Arts Japanese Antiques prepares for May show, in Alo Japan, April 17, 2025.
“I have been in Japan for a long time—45 years, exactly,” said Kodo Arts owner Jake Costello (Philippines 1979-81). “I was in the Peace Corps in ‘79 and went to Japan in 1980 and then in and out, in and out, but lived there most of the time. I fell in love with antiques, and probably about 1990 I started collecting for myself. And then I thought, wow, I want to make this my vocation.”
FOX23 Investigates: OU graduate living in Thailand arrested, charged with defamation, by Janna Clark on Fox23 | April 17, 2025.
After Paul Chambers (Thailand 1993-95) finished two master’s degrees in international relations, he joined the Peace Corps in Thailand. “He fell in love with the people and the Thai culture,” Peggy said. Paul got his PHD in political science and then made a life in Thailand, doing research at Naresuan University. He also married a Thai woman who’s a dean at the same university.
USU Uintah Basin's Jim LaMuth Given Outstanding Public Service Award, by Marcus Jensen in Utah State Today | April 17, 2025.
Born and raised in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Jim LaMuth (Benin 2003-05) is a community leader, a supporter of public education and an outdoor enthusiast. After returning from the Peace Corps in the Republic of Benin and working for a government planning agency, LaMuth and his family moved to the Uintah Basin, where he has spent the last 13 years making a positive impact in his community.
Diana Bryon Roberts Presented with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award by Marquis Who's Who, in Press Release | April 17, 2025.
Diana Bryon Roberts' (Tunisia 1966-68) career began with her service in the Peace Corps, where she worked in Washington and Tunisia. This experience profoundly shaped her perspective and guided her along her professional path. Her adaptability and keen instincts have been key strengths throughout her career, allowing her to build and nurture relationships effectively.