- Building Bridges for Young Learners: Developing an Early Childhood Curriculum on Culture
- What we're going to do today is share how we're taking Building Bridges and adapting that to pre-K to fifth grade...
- Le Réveillon de la Fête
du Ramadan - The Festival of Ramadan, more commonly known as Eid al-Fitr, is a Muslim celebration that marks the culmination of the holy month of Ramadan.
- pula (rain)
- big fat
plops
fall in uncoordinated harmonies
to the Earth, - Abegaz and the Lion
- Long ago there lived a young man named Abegaz. He was very, very lonely. Abegaz woke one morning and realized that he could delay the matter no longer. He wanted a wife.
- About the Impact of Hurricane Georges (Advanced)
- The hurricane did serious damage to the infrastructure of the country: Homes, roads, bridges, dams, and airports were destroyed or were seriously damaged. The official death toll was approximately 300.
- About the Impact of Hurricane Georges (Intermediate)
- On September 22, 1998, Hurricane Georges hit the Dominican Republic.
- Access to Safe Water
- Each year Peace Corps Volunteers around the world participate in overseas phone calls with U.S. classrooms during Peace Corps Week. In many of the phone calls, the volunteers describe their daily routines and their work.
- Africa Colors A Destiny
- Hi, my name is Michael Varga. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Chad, Central Africa. That’s me standing next to a camel.
- Alianza de Liderazgo Ambiental
Visita Costa Rica con la voluntaria Líder del Cuerpo de Paz Brittany Johnson, quien trabajaba con otros voluntarios del Cuerpo de Paz y jóvenes costarricenses a desarrollar sus habilidades en el liderazgo ambiental.
- All in a Day's Work
- Before applying to the Peace Corps, I talked with a friend who was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand several years ago. She told me that she lived in a remote village—far from where any other Peace Corps Volunteers were living at the time. I panicked when I heard this.
- All in a Name
- My name is Steve Iams. It is a name that has caused problems for me wherever I go in the world.
- Alliance of Environmental Leaders
Visit Costa Rica with Peace Corps Volunteer Leader Brittany Johnson, who worked with other Peace Corps Volunteers and Costa Rican youth to build skills in environmental leadership. Find out how youth-led environmental projects began to transform communities across the country.
- America Gave Me to You
- It was about 7:00 on a Friday evening. Under normal circumstances, this would be my usual happy hour, but these were anything but normal circumstances.
- An Asian Fairy Tale
- One of the most remarkable things about Peace Corps living is confronting the fluid nature of knowledge.
- Ancient Navigators of the Pacific
- Pacific islands resemble galaxies of stars awash in an immense space of ocean, when viewed on a map of the world.
- Angel
- I awoke to the sounds of singing and the pounding of feet. The beautiful yet haunting sound of voices in harmony moved closer as men and women paraded down the red dirt road in a Saturday ceremony for the dead.
- Artists of Al-Maghrib
- Hi! My name is Rob Revere. I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in a village near the city of Marrakech in Morocco. I worked as a small business development consultant with artists and craft cooperatives.
- At Capan ("Horse Rider")
- Dave Fossum performs with Annamuhammet Muğallym.
- Bienvenido a Guatemala
- La sobre carga sensorial fue de las primeras experiencias que me impactó cuando llegue a Guatemala. En este país hay muchas cosas para ver, oler, oír y probar.
- The Big Fire
- There's a boy sitting nervously on my front porch. He's wearing a tattered blue soccer jersey with an Italian crest, shorts of a different blue that is too light to match and too dark to complement, and sandals made of old car tires.
- The Blind Men and the Elephant
- Long ago six old men lived in a village in India. Each was born blind. The other villagers loved the old men and kept them away from harm.
- The Blue Green Mountains of the Steppe
- The name of the town where I live, Kokshetau, means "blue-green mountains." When I arrived at my site, I noticed immediately that there was neither a blue nor a green mountain to be seen anywhere, nor any mountains to speak of, for that matter.
- Bottle Construction ‘How-to’
- Try your hand at building your own bottle structure! Check out the photo gallery to see these step-by-step instructions.
- Brand New Muti
- Queen Nthuli begins the ritual of calling her ancestors by burning dried herbs in an earthenware pot beside her. She breathes in the smoke from the herbs to take the spirits of the ancestors into her body, where she can communicate with them.
- Breaking the Cycle of Guinea Worm Disease
- Peace Corps Volunteer Peter DiCampo worked with community members and health organizations to reduce Guinea worm disease in his village in West Africa.
- Bringing Business to Farmers
- There are many contrasts between Tonga and the United States—and one of the ones that I found are that just the difference between community and family living.
- Bringing Water From Sol to Soul
- Cape Verde receives less than seven centimeters of annual precipitation. Most of their fresh water comes from deep wells that tap the water table hundreds of meters underground.
- Building a Better Future
- My name is Chris Barry and I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala from 2008-2010. I lived in Alta Verapaz and worked in our ecotourism program.
- The Calabash Princess
- Once there was a handsome young prince who refused to marry. Although his parents, the king and queen, searched throughout the land for the most beautiful women for him to meet, the prince was unmoved by their charms.
- Carne de Cobayo y Pelo de Alpaca
- Esta es la primera vez en la región que las mujeres Quechua establecen legalmente una micro empresa para vender sus artesanías.
- The Center of the Earth
- There once lived a farmer. In the planting season, he would plow his fields and sprinkle the earth with seeds of wheat.
- Chance of a Lifetime
In Levoča - "What am I doing here?" I asked myself as I walked down the sidewalk on a beautiful September morning. I asked myself this question and gave many different answers over the next two years.
- Chiggers and Other Challenges
- One of my biggest work challenges has been my involvement in the small coffee-growing community of Las Quebradas (the Streams) to develop a proposal for a water system.
- Chores and Doughnuts
- In the peaceful mornings before school, I often ride my Pee-Wee Herman-style bicycle from the school campus where I live to a small village store to buy some freshly baked bread for breakfast.
- Cocinar con el Sol
En las montañas del Peru, el voluntario del Cuerpo de Paz Brian Lange trabajó con familias a construir cocinas solares usando unas cajas de cartón, papel prensa, plástico, y papel de aluminio. Descubra cómo este proyecto ha contribuido a la salud personal e ecológica de la comunidad.
- A Community Effort
- Buenos Dias! My name is Laura Kutner and I am serving in my third year in Guatemala as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader for the Youth Development Program...Another very exciting project we began was to build two additional classrooms for the local elementary school out of plastic bottles and trash.
- Conference Evaluation
- Global Issues in the Classroom conference participants shared thoughts on how they planned to use information from the conference to improve global issues education in their own educational contexts.
- Construyendo un Futuro Mejor
- Mi nombre es Chris Barry y fui voluntario de Cuerpo de Paz en Guatemala durante el 2008 y 2010. Viví en la Alta Verapaz y trabajé en programas de ecoturismo.
- Coral Reef Management
- Students from Bitburg Elementary School, an American school in Germany, speak with Erin Jenkins in Western Samoa about coral reef management.
- The Coral Reef: A Hidden World
- The video provides a valuable teaching tool for any classroom studying coral reefs, covering topics such as the biology of corals, community relationships, feeding behaviors, defense adaptations, and the effect of humans on coral reefs.
- Correspondence Match Educators Welcome Students, Peace Corps Volunteers Back to School
- This fall, nearly 3,500 educators across the United States will introduce their students to a new member of the classroom—a Peace Corps Volunteer serving hundreds or thousands of miles away.
- Correspondence Match Video
- Ever wish you had a cultural liaison to provide your students with engaging, authentic cross-cultural stories to grab your students’ attention?
- Correspondence Match:
High School - In mid-2008, Peace Corps Volunteers Ross and Melissa Tanner had just begun their service commitment in Usulutan, El Salvador. The International Club at McCutcheon High School in Lafayette, Indiana, had just completed a successful Correspondence Match with Volunteer Michael Starks in Isiolo, Kenya.
- Correspondence Match: Addressing Three Levels of Communication
- I first want to say that I'm honored to be here on the 20th Anniversary of World Wise Schools. As you'll see it's played a significant role in my professional career and I'm grateful for that.
- Correspondence Match: Kindergarten
- Correspondence Match has been a very rewarding, enriching, and FUN experience! The correspondence program has helped with my students’ reading and writing skills, questioning skills, and has helped them to make great connections between their world and the world of others.
- The Cotton Trenches of Uzbekistan
- On the fifth day of barf (Tadjik for "snow") in November 1993, the troops surrendered. The war, a.k.a. the cotton harvest, lasted eight weeks this year and yielded (only) 87 percent returns.
- Coverdell World Wise Schools
- Our children and youth are living in a world that is increasingly interdependent. It is very important for all of us to understand this world in which we live and global education is an avenue to provide an opportunity to acquire that knowledge, those skills, and that understanding.
- Creando Botones en Tagua
- Yo me involucré con un grupo comunitario que estaba haciendo arte y manualidades usando marfil vegetal.
- Creating Buttons From Tagua
- I got involved with a community group that was making arts and crafts out of vegetable ivory.
- Cricket and the Sea
- A yellow cricket once lived under the cool shade of a beautiful cieba tree. Every day, just before the sun began to set, the yellow cricket would leave his home and fly to the wheat fields.
- Crisis Corps Sri Lanka
- "Excuse me sir, but can you help me? I have lost my wife, my children, my house, my fishing boat, and I am a fisherman." —Sri Lankan Fisherman, Kalutara District
- Critical Friends Activity
- During this activity, conference participants reviewed a variety of resources provided by Coverdell World Wise Schools.
- Cross-Cultural Dialogue
- I entered the school doors brimming with ideas, innovative teaching methods, and the desire to have an effect.
- Cuando El Éxito Sabe a Miel
- * Spanish translation of slide show "When Success Is Truly Sweet"
- Cuisine and Etiquette in Sierra Leone
- In Sierra Leone, the staple food is rice. "If I haven't had my rice, I haven't eaten today," is a popular saying. Sierra Leoneans eat rice at least twice a day. Only women and girls prepare the food.
- Cuisine and Etiquette in Uganda
- In Uganda, the staple food is matoke (cooking bananas). Other food crops include cassava (manioc), sweet potatoes, white potatoes, yams, beans, peas, groundnuts (peanuts), cabbage, onions, pumpkins, and tomatoes.
- Cuisine and Etiquette in Zambia
- Zambia's staple food is maize (corn), and Zambians eat maize in several ways. When the corn is ripe but still green, it can be roasted or boiled. When it is dry and hard, it can be fried or boiled.
- Cultural Gaffes Beyond Your Borders
- This entertaining eight-minute video shows you how easy it is to commit a blunder, a gaffe, a slip-up in another culture. Then get some advice on how to try to avoid making such mistakes when you travel to another culture.
- Cultural Gaffes at Home and Abroad
- Let's look at some examples of people making cultural gaffes around the world—including in the United States. And then let's see how to recover from these mistakes, or—better yet—how to avoid them in the first place.
- Daily Use of Water in Ghana
- Fortunately, here in Amisano, we have many sources of water. During the dry season, when there is no rain, it's sometimes hard to find.
- A Day
- One of the mysteries of living as an outsider in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, involves the attempt to correctly identify social and cultural differences.
- A Day in the Life of Amy Maraney in Estonia
- "Don't walk alone after dark." This Peace Corps advice is easy enough to heed during the Estonian summer. At summer's peak, the sun begins rising at 2 a.m., sets around 11 p.m., and it's never exactly dark in between.
- A Day in the Life of Christian Deitch in the Kyrgyz Republic
- In America, I always woke up to the electronic beep of my alarm clock. But in my community in the Kyrgyz Republic, I wake up every morning to a very different sound.
- A Day in the Life of Keba Fitzgerald
- I am one of those curious Peace Corps Volunteers who lives a dual life. I live and work both in the capital city, Paramaribo, and in a village in the interior rain forest of Suriname. So my typical days vary greatly.
- The Day the Turtle Cried
- By the time we arrived at the beach, the yellow sun was high in the sky guiding us through the path between mangrove trees. We used the roots of these trees as footsteps and jumped from one to the other above brown, muddy water.
- Day-to-Day Life in a Small African Village
- My name is Richard Lupinsky and I'm a biology teacher and a school health educator in a small village in Tanzania. There are about 7,000 people in my village.
- The Death of Old Woman Kelema
- The airy hollow sound of balafons and earthy beat of drums had started at 4 a.m.
- Declaration (of a Kgomotso Girl)
- Respect is written
on the walls of this hall- Des Ailes à Ses Pieds
- Il était une fois une gentille petite ânesse qui s’appelait Zel Nan Pye.
- Diplomacia por Goteo
- Los hábitos de cortesía pueden llegar a ser extraños y sutiles. El agua es un objeto precioso en el campo. Lo que significa que hay una cultura que nace alrededor de su uso y adquisición.
- Dive Into Ecotourism
- Twenty-seven Charcos is a beautiful place that is still one of the best kept secrets of the Dominican Republic.
- Dos Veces en Mi Vida
- El Medellín que yo conozco nunca ha sido como el de los titulares propagados alrededor del mundo en los últimos diez años.
- Drip Diplomacy
- Strange and subtle sometimes are the habits of courtesy. Water is a precious commodity out here in the campo (countryside). So there is a whole culture built around its acquisition and usage.
- Días de Trabajo
- Hoy en día despierto con los sonidos de las voces. Antes, me levantaba con los sonidos de las gallinas y los burros.
- Educating Global Citizens: A Leadership Challenge
- I've been enjoying the presentation so far and admiring what you're doing already. But as I've been sitting there I've been asking myself: So how about the students who do not have the opportunity to be taught by teachers like yourselves?
- El Consejo Del Rey
- Soledi empezó a contar la historia diciendo, “ Había una vez un hombre infeliz que se caso con una mujer infeliz". Ella sonríe mientras ve como me recuesto en la silla y recojo mis piernas entre mis brazos.
- El Grillo Y El Mar
Un grillo amarilllo vivía bajo la sombra fresca del bello arbol cieba. Todos los días, momentos antes que baje el sol, el grillo amarillo dejaba su casa y volaba a los cultivos de trigo.
- El Verdadero Precio Del Café
Enero es el "mero mero," o el tiempo mas conocido por cosechar, para la temporada del café en Corquín.
- The Elder's Last Word
- None of my prior knowledge or experience with horses prepared me for shopping for a horse in Niger.
- Enough to Make Your Head Spin
- "I'll have coffee," I tell the waitress at a cafe during my first week in Bulgaria. She shakes her head from side to side. "OK, tea," I say, thinking that maybe there's something wrong with the coffee machine.
- Environmental Solutions Come Slowly
- The greatest environmental problem that threatens my site, the Suriname Rain Forest Nature Park, is illegal gold mining.
- Envisioning the Next Decade of Coverdell World Wise Schools
- If indeed our children are living in a flattened world, and our goal as educators is to prepare them to live productively in that world, how can Coverdell World Wise Schools best support your needs in the next decade?
- Eradicating Guinea Worm Disease
- Webquest audio transcript (excerpts from Guinea Worm Disease Eradication interview)
- Eradicating Guinea Worm Disease in Ghana
- The following is an interview of Peter DiCampo about his work to eradicate guinea worm disease in West Africa.
- Errores Culturales en Casa y en el Extranjero
- Veamos algunos de los ejemplos de gente alrededor del mundo metiendo las patas, incluyendo ejemplos en los Estados Unidos. Después veremos como escaparse de estos errores – ó mejor aún veremos como evitarlos.
- Errores Culturales que Cruzan las Fronteras
- Si vas a otro país, las probabilidades son que hayas hecho una búsqueda y ya seas familiar con el mapa, que hayas buscado hoteles, que conozcas el valor de la moneda, que hayas chequeado el clima, que sepas contar hasta 10 y sepas como dar las gracias.
- Everyone Everywhere Has Tales to Tell
- One of the more extraordinary trips I experienced while a Peace Corps Volunteer in Micronesia was on the trading vessel Maria Carmela.
- Explore Back-Country Peru
- Machu Picchu—perhaps the best known of the many treasured ancient sites of Peru. Recently named one of the New Seven Wonders of the world, it reveals a glimpse of what was once the center of the Incan empire. Peru is an incredibly diverse country.
- Extended Families
- Ernie, Harry, Gordon, and I commuted for years together in the 1980s—two hours a day, five days a week in a faded-blue 1976 Honda Civic with a few hundred thousand miles on it.
- The Extra Place
- But it was a man, a stranger. He was a refugee from Yugoslavia, he said, and he was looking for someplace where he could spend the night. He had no money; he had no place to go. He didn't know anyone in Warsaw.
- Fate vs. Mind
- Once upon at time on a high mountain somewhere in Macedonia, Fate and Mind crossed paths.
- Feeding the Chief's Twins
- "Maintenant—Now—Mawa," Monique said, holding a flattened metal spoon in one hand and a plastic bag of black-eyed peas in the other, "listen closely and I will show you how to make baby food."
- Fighting Malaria
One Net at a Time8 days
7 Peace Corps Volunteers
56 Senegalese health workers
2000 bed nets
Thousands of people protected against malaria.
- Fighting Soil Erosion
- Hi, I’m Steve Jacobson, and I was a volunteer in Guinea’s environmental program. My job was to work with people on how to produce sustainable agricultural products in a reproducible manner.
- Fingerprints
- After almost a year in Kyrgyzstan, we were still treated as honored guests.
- The First Letter From Marion Hoffman
- I recently received a letter from Peace Corps Washington advising me of your involvement in the World Wise Schools program. As a fellow Minnesotan it is my pleasure to share information about Guatemala with you.
- The Flower of Olivia
- There once was a blind king who posted a reward throughout his kingdom: half the royal riches to anyone who could cure his blindness.
- Fog Collection Devices
- Hold the coat hanger upside down and place the straightened out hook into a coffee can filled with sand.
- Fog's Bounty: Harvesting Water From Fog
- I’m Nathan Lee, Peace Corps Volunteer at Park Natural Monte Gordo on the island of São Nicolau, in Cape Verde.
- The Fridge Factor
- If you live in Equatorial Africa and you can't afford a refrigerator, you might as well kiss butter good-bye.
- From West Coast
To Middle East- Every year, thousands of Americans pack a few bags, bid their friends and families farewell, and move to other countries to live and work in communities very different from the places they call home.
- Fútbol Hasta el Anochecer
- Mi padre ríe cuando le digo
Cómo en Santa Cruz Verapaz- Gallery Walk Activity
- To debrief Dr. Reimers' keynote lecture, participants engaged in a gallery walk activity. In small groups, participants responded to eight discussion questions prompted by the keynote.
- Get Cooking with the Sun
In the mountains of Peru, Peace Corps Volunteer Brian Lange worked with families to build simple solar ovens using cardboard boxes, newspaper, plastic, and aluminum foil. Find out how this project contributed to personal and ecological health in the community.
- Girl Farmer
- When I arrived in my community as the promised agroforestry technician and Peace Corps Volunteer, a number of men said to me, "I thought we were getting a man."
- Global Issues | Disease Prevention
- Introduction to World Wise Schools' global issues module on Disease Prevention
- Global Issues | Education
Introduction to World Wise Schools' global issues module on Education.
- Global Issues | Environmental Sustainability
- Introduction to World Wise Schools' global issues module on Environmental Sustainability
- Global Issues | Food Security
- Introduction to World Wise Schools' global issues module on Food Security
- Global Issues | Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment
- Introduction to World Wise Schools' global issues module on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment
- Global Issues | HIV/AIDS
- Introduction to World Wise Schools' global issues module on HIV/AIDS
- Global Issues | Nutrition
- Introduction to World Wise Schools' global issues module on Nutrition
- Global Issues | Poverty
- Transcripts for videos in the global issues module for poverty.
- Global Issues | Water and Sanitation
- Introduction to World Wise Schools' global issues module on Water and Sanitation
- Go to School for a Day in Namibia!
- Welcome to Namibia! Namibia is a large country in Africa with deserts, sand dunes, plains, plateaus, mountains, beaches, cities, and animals like zebra, elephants, giraffes, and springbok.
- Goods and Services
- For a couple of weeks I was content to sit and wait patiently, watching the light bulb flicker on and off.
- The Great Hole
- Long ago, the chief of the Moba tribe gathered together 300 of his best hunters. It had rained very little that year, and the dry season was fast approaching.
- Growing Fish?
- I lived in a town called Cholpon-Ata, in the province of Issyk-Kul. Cholpon-Ata was a couple of miles long, stretched out along the shore of a massive lake.
- Growing Up in Bulgaria
- Visit a Bulgarian community and learn about the lives of local children. Peace Corps Volunteer Stephanie Dunnam describes school and family life in her village, including the daily activities, celebrations, cuisine, and cultures that make it unique.
- The Growing Challenge in Senegal
- A snapshot of indigenous soil knowledge in Gourel Yoba, Senegal. Former Peace Corps Volunteers Cory Owens and Clare Major show how they worked alongside farmers in Senegal to improve their yield and help them organize.
- Guinea Pig Meat and Alpaca Hair
- This is the first time Quechua women have—in this particular region—have established legalized small companies, small business, in order to sell their arts and crafts.
- Gustavo and the Butterfly Farm
- On a cloudy Saturday morning, I take seven-year-old Gustavo and his little sister Doralisia to the butterfly farm in the nearby village of Raista.
- Half Man, Half Limping Rabbit
- If I didn't mention Dracula in the same breath as Romania, it would be like disregarding a pink elephant in the room, so I'll say it ... Dracula!
- Happy Hearts in Manabí
- When I first arrived in Manabí, Ecuador as a health volunteer, I was warmly welcomed by Senora Nelly, my host mother and extremely dedicated counterpart.
- The Hare and the Water
- Once upon a time there was a village known as Singino. Many different animals—such as the elephant, giraffe, antelope, buffalo, hare, lion, tortoise, hyena, and wolf—lived in Singino. The giraffe was their king.
- Hazelnuts, Hemingway, and Heat
- My village was in the southwestern part of the country, not far from the Black Sea and the border with Turkey. It is in the foothills of the Lesser Caucasus Mountains. This is me with my dog, Bella.
- Help! My Father Is Coming!
- The idea was all my father's, my 74-year-old father who had never been outside America and who suddenly thought that Sri Lanka, where I was a Peace Corps Volunteer, would be a jolly place to visit.
- Hey, Driver!
- He was a friendly man who laughed easily and often. In the usual manner, he weaved in and out of the thinning evening traffic, abusing his horn like a professional—or a maniac—depending on your take.
- Holy Water in a Vodka Bottle
- In Latgale, the region of Latvia where I served and taught English as a Foreign Language Volunteer, Catholicism is the predominant faith.
- How Can Service-Learning Make a Change?
- The first time we started speaking about how to promote service-learning, all of us on the staff were a bit skeptical. We were not sure even knew how to translate it into Bulgarian with less then ten words...
- How Does One Spell Happiness in Paraguay? Che Avy'a
- All Peace Corps Volunteers who come to serve in Paraguay arrive thinking that, by the end of their service, they will achieve their dreams of speaking fluent Spanish at the drop of a sombrero—or hat.
- How the First Coconut Came to Efate
- Long ago, deep in the darkest forest of Efate, there lived an enormous serpent. One day, the time had come for the serpent to give birth.
- How to Build a Box Cooker
- Learn how to build your own box cooker using Brian Lange's step-by-step instructions.
- I Had a Hero
- When I stopped and saw Ilunga for the first time, I saw a man living, it seemed to me, in another century.
- ICAN Changes a Nation One Person at a Time
- ICAN, short for I Can Change a Nation is a newly formed youth movement in Soufriere, St. Lucia.
- If I Won't Do It, Who Will?
- When I entered high school as a freshman, my older brother, a senior, was president of our student council.
- Ilunga's Harvest
- "My wife has left me, and I've got to harvest my pond," Chief Ilunga said. It was two o'clock on a Sunday afternoon and he was breathing hard.
- In My Own Words
- My name is Florian de Cruz Duarte, and I work at Monte Gordo Natural Park as an environmental guide.
- In the Aftermath of Hurricane Georges
- Hurricane Georges, which hit the Dominican Republic September 22, 1998, was a defining experience in my life. This was my third hurricane, but never had I personally seen, heard, or felt winds of 150 mph.
- International Curiosity and National Pride
- The Bulgarian boy looked at me out of the corner of his dark eyes as we walked through the town park. He was trying to decide whether to talk to me, but he wasn't sure what to think of me.
- Interview With Kris Holloway
- Kris Holloway, a Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Mali from 1989 to 1991, wrote a memoir of her service nearly 15 years later.
- Interviews With Peace Corps Volunteers Serving in the Dominican Republic (Advanced)
- I live in the town of Hato Del Yaque, just outside of Santiago, which is the second largest city in the country. It's in the middle of the country, so there are a lot of people who have never even seen the beach.
- Interviews With Peace Corps Volunteers Serving in the Dominican Republic (Intermediate)
- I live in the village of La Pina, in the northwest of the country, in the hills of the central mountain range. I am nine kilometers south of the town of Los Almacigos. It is a 25- to 35-minute motorcycle ride up and down hills on a dirt road.
- The Invisible Snake: Fishing in Lesotho
- My Peace Corps experience began much the way all other Peace Corps Volunteers began their overseas tenure: training.
- Island Ghosts
- Ghosts are taken very, very seriously on Fefen, an island in Chuuk, Micronesia.
- Ivan the Fool
- Once upon a time, there was a czar who had three sons. When the time came for the sons to marry, the czar called them to his chamber.
- Jane Troxell - Biografía
- Me llamo Jane Troxell, y tengo una hermana gemela que se llama Jean.
- Just Another Day: Why I'll Never Say 'Just' Again
- A typical day? As a Peace Corps Volunteer? What's that?
- Just Like the Old Days
- Take an imaginary trip with me for a moment. Think of where you live right now. Now imagine it a thousand years ago.
- Just an Ordinary Day
- Before I left the States, I tried to imagine what my life in Romania would be like. I envisioned joining the Peace Corps as two years of roughing it.
- Keep Fit Healthy Living Program
- Hi, my name is Amber Lewandowski and I served as a special education Peace Corps volunteer in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Although special education was my sector, overall community development was my mission.
- The Khan's Robes
- A long time ago, in the city of Margolon, there lived a khan who was very vain. Each day at noon a trumpet blew, and the khan emerged from his palace to show off his newest robe.
- The King's Advice
- One afternoon, I found myself sitting in Soledi´s kitchen, watching her boil green bananas for breakfast the next day.
- La Flor de Olivia
- Había una vez un rey ciego quien anunció que daría una recompensa a cualquiera en su reino: la mitad de la riqueza real para aquél quien lo pudiera curar de la ceguera.
- La Gestion Des Barrières De Corail
- Les étudiants de l’école élémentaire de Bitburg, une école américaine en Allemagne, parlent avec Erin Jenkins, un volontaire qui est dans les Samoa occidentales, de la gestion des barrières de corail.
- La Grande Fosse
- Il était une fois un chef du peuple Moba qui ramena un jour trois cents de ses meilleurs chasseurs.
- La Niña Campesina
- Cuando llegue a mi comunidad como la prometida técnica agroforestal y voluntaria de Cuerpos de Paz, una cantidad de hombres me dijeron, “nosotros pensamos que un hombre iba asistir nuestra comunidad.”
- La Princesse Calebasse
- Il était une fois un beau jeune prince qui refusait de se marier. Même si ses parents, le roi et la reine, avaient cherché partout les plus belles femmes pour qu’il en choisisse une, le prince était indifférent à ces femmes charmantes.
- La Protection des Sources D’eau
- Plus de 2 milliards de personnes—plus d’un tiers de la population du monde, en fait—n’ont pas accès aux systèmes sanitaires comme les toilettes à chasse d’eau ou même les latrines à fosse simple.
- Language Learning Growing Pains
- Living and working in both the capital city, Paramaribo, and in a nature park in the interior rain forest of Suriname brings me into contact with eight cultures and 10 different languages!
- Language and Identity in Narva, Estonia
- Estonia regained independence from the crumbling Soviet Union in 1991, and Narva subsequently became a border town. Narva was a beautiful, flourishing town before World War II.
- Las Consecuencias del Huracán Georges
- El Huracán Georges, que azotó a la Republica Dominicana el 22 de septiembre de 1998, fue una experiencia determinante en mi vida.
- Las Niguas y Otros Retos
- Uno de los retos más grandes ha sido involucrarme en los cultivos de café de la comunidad de Quebradas para realizar un sistema de agua.
- The Last Drop
- What do you know about the water situation in Jordan?
[Woman] The water situation in Jordan differs from one area to another. Some places have a severe shortage, while others are good.
[Man] Jordan has a severe shortage. Water reaches the houses once every two or three weeks.- Learning As Well As Teaching
- Even before the cock crowed his pre-dawn alarm, I was aware of the surrounding sounds: a baby crying, a woman laughing, and the chatter of shoppers on their way to market.
- Legend of Cassowary
- There once was a skilled and patient hunter who could track down any animal in the forest. He would position himself against a rock or a tree, and for days, and even weeks, would not stir or blink.
- The Legend of Ajidar Tash, or Dragon Rock
- Before the Soviet invasion, the Kyrgyz people were nomads. They lived for thousands of years as pastoral shepherds in Central Asia, tending sheep, cows, horses, and camels.
- The Legend of St. Anne's Lake
- A good and noble king lay dying. Calling his two sons to his side, he told them, "My kingdom shall be divided evenly between you."
- The Legend of the Mid-Autumn Festival
- Thousands of years ago, the jade emperor ordered each one of his 10 sons to become a sun. Every morning, a son would take a turn traveling across the sky.
- Lessons From My Dad
- The Peace Corps was not something I thought of, much less knew about, before my junior year in college.
- Lessons Learned As a New Teacher
- Teaching never seemed that difficult when I was a student.
- A Letter From Ed Willwerth
- I'm sorry this letter took so long to get to you, but this is Nepal and things do not move as fast as they do in the States.
- A Letter From Jeff Goveia
- I'm sorry it has taken so long for me to write, but things have been unbelievably hectic for the last six weeks. This is the first really free weekend I've had in the entire time that I have been here. It's been a great time, though.
- A Letter From Patrick Perner
- I was very pleased to receive your letter yesterday with all those questions, so let me answer each one:
- Letters From Mali: A Month of Fasting Ends in Festivity
- What day is today? I'm certain that you all know.
- Letters From Mali: Arriving in Africa
- ... the painful braying of the donkey wash me from my sweaty, malarial dreams.
- Letters From Mali: Bringing Back the Moon
- It was a Thursday night and Katibougou was bathed in an eerie blue light of the full moon, which casts midnight shadows and illuminates the town's many pools of stagnant water.
- Letters From Mali: Chicken Casserole, African Style
- Two hundred kilometers south of Timbuktu it's banking day and I find myself at the Peace Corps hostel in Severe, Mali, with the rare luxury of a stove at my disposal.
- Letters From Mali: Death Is a Celebration
- Some cultures bury their dead. Others shroud them in blankets and lay them in caves, float them out to sea, or prefer to cremate them.
- Letters From Mali: Language Lessons and Flying Canoes
- My Peace Corps training in the West African nation of Mali passed in a flurry of activity—and countless hours of training in two of Mali's several languages, Bambara and Fulani.
- Letters From Mali: Meeting the Dogons
- The long months of training are finally coming to a close. This past week was a very exciting, tiring, almost surreal week of wonderfully bizarre occurrences.
- A Life of Sacrifice and Hardship?
- Most of my friends who graduated from college with me moved to New York or stayed in Washington, DC, to work at entry-level jobs and share a cramped apartment with enough roommates to cover the rent.
- Life Here Is Work
- People in Mali like to talk about America. They talk about New York, California, sometimes Texas. They know about Elvis, Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Bob Marley.
- Life is Wonderful
- By painting a large, colorful mural Peace Corps Volunteer Theo Davis and his artistic community members found an innovative and effective way to educate others about the importance of AIDS/HIV prevention.
- Life, Death, and Trigonometry
- Reverend Father at the Catholic high school was a bit hesitant about giving me permission. But in the end he relented and said I could take my math classes from the boys' school and the girls' school out of the classroom.
- A Life-Changing Experience
- My wife, Nancy, and I were Peace Corps Volunteers in India from 1966 to 1968. We were in our 20s, recent college graduates and newlyweds, when we decided to serve in the Peace Corps.
- A Lifetime of Service
- Hear an interview, see photos and videos, and read stories about this remarkable Peace Corps Volunteer’s service in Lesotho, Malawi, and Botswana.
- A Lifetime of Service - Interview
- The following is an interview of Mary Ann Camp by Amy Marshall Clark of Coverdell World Wise Schools. Listen to interview
- Lithuanian Gardens
- A garden actually plays another role besides being a source of food. It keeps the family together because the children are needed to work there.
- Little Gestures Make a Difference
- When I was 12 years old, I ran into my mother's room and fell across her bed, sobbing wildly about having been born in America rather than in an impoverished nation.
- Little Yellow House
by the Sea- Hi, I'm Amber Lewandowski. I served in the Peace Corps as a Special Education Volunteer. And I'm Brian Lewandowski. I served in the Peace Corps as a Business Development Volunteer. We served in the Caribbean island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
- Living Deep in West Africa
- Hi, my name is Roger Hirschland. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sierra Leone, West Africa. By the way, I'm the one in the red shirt. The other guy is a young chimp that belonged to the chief.
- Living Is Knowing
- As a child, I lived in rural and suburban towns and rarely visited cities. So until I lived in a city, I never understood how people could live there.
- Living by the Book
- Books were scarce in our village, Naqelewai, in Fiji. All material possessions were scarce because of the village's remote location.
- Living in a Traditional African Way
- The thing that's really important no matter where you go are the friends that you meet, the people that you love, and the people with whom you share life.
- Llamada Internacional de Bolivia
- Joe Stevens, voluntario del Cuerpo de Paz, habla con los estudiantes de Ada Elementary School en Michigan.
- Llamada Internacional de La República Dominicana
- David Smith, un voluntario de Peace Corps, habla con Topeka Collegiate School.
- Local Generosity "Nose" No Limits
- Ah, Callaloo!" The quality of the callaloo is the yardstick by which some West Indians rate their islands.
- The Long Road Ahead
- Four days later I was among the first wave of relief workers to arrive in Gulfport, Mississippi, which had been particularly hard hit by Katrina.
- Looking Back
- People here in Macedonia talk about the past a lot.
- L’érosion Du Sol
- * French translation of slide show "Guinea: Fighting Soil Erosion"
Bonjour, je m'appelle Steve Jacobson, et j'étais bénévole dans le programme environnemental de Guinée.
- 'Magic' Pablo
- "Let's imagine," Pablo would say, "that Michael Jordan is walking with us." He would smile. "What would these people say?" he would ask, pointing to the women in dark blue cortes and white húipiles.
- The Maiden Nsia
- There were once three brothers who were all in love with the same maiden, Nsia. She was the only daughter of the chief and she was very beautiful.
- The Malinke Myth of the Gee na
- One day, my Guinean friend and I decided to go on a 48-km bike ride to his native village.
- Mariama
- Late afternoons when Mariama held court
in our shared and barren yard- May the Circle Be Unbroken
- At the customs area in the Asunción Airport, I wait anxiously for my luggage, loaded down with Christmas presents.
- The Meaning of Time
- Upon arriving in my village, I needed to learn the greetings in the indigenous language, Malinke.
- Mohammed's Mountain
- A few months back, I was out in the bush climbing a mountain south of our village with my friend Nuhu. We were taking cuttings of a dashi tree.
- A Morning of Weighing Babies
- Monique opened her tin trunk and took out the scale, a round disk like a clock face, marked off in kilograms, with a steel ring to hang it from.
- Mosetsana
- Mosetsana
walks to school
clinging to her bag of books
(and dreams)- Mother Wolf
- Thousands of years ago, high in the white mountains of Siberia, there lived a wolf. All of the other wolves in her clan had been driven off the land. She was all alone.
- Mr. John and the Day of Knowledge
- I can imagine how a high diver must feel standing at the tip of the board, poised on the balls of his feet.
- Music in the Fields
- Mali, in West Africa, one of the world's poorest countries, has riches that remain a secret to many people of the Western world.
- A Musical Encounter
- My name is Dave Fossum, and I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Turkmenistan, which is a former Soviet republic in Central Asia.
- My Life in East Africa
- Hi, my name is Cindy Chenault. That’s me in the white shirt. I’d like to tell you about my Peace Corps service, from 2003 to 2005, in Kenya, East Africa. Here, my computer students are proudly receiving certificates for completing a course.
- The Myth of the Skvazcnyack
- After a very long and hard winter, summer has finally come. To celebrate, I am on my way to a village in central Moldova and I must walk to the capital's center market to catch my marshrutka, a maxi-taxi of sorts.
- Neighbors
- It was a hot, dusty afternoon in late August. I had just returned to El Hajeb, the village where I had taught English for a year.
- New Jersey's Use of World Wise Schools Resources
- Thank you. Good morning, everyone. I know it's probably strange to see a science person up here,
- New Literacies for an Online Flattened World, Primed to Promote Global Understanding
- First of all, I want to make the point that the internet is this generation's defining technology for reading and learning, and I'm going to make that point worldwide, not just in the U.S., worldwide.
- New Opportunities for Women
- Bienvenidos a Costa Rica! My name is Liz, and I am a Peace Corps Volunteer in the mountains of Costa Rica's central valley.
- Niger: Healthy Girls,
Healthy Villages- Hi! I'm Vivian Nguyen. I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the west African country of Niger from 2003 to 2005. I worked as a community health volunteer and taught maternal and child survival practices to the people of my rural village and region.
- Nine Hills to Nambonkaha
- A month and a half into my stay, I am washing dishes on the stoop when a crew of village men and Sidibé filter through my courtyard opening. Something leaden sinks to my gut. My conscience writes the script before the conversation starts.
- Nomadic Life
- I'd like to trade with her / my typewriter keys / for the way she navigates the desert, / reads the coordinates of sand.
- Not Just Any Other Day
- I walked into the well-lit, freshly painted office building—late, as expected.
- Not a Creature Was Stirring
- We've had some small—and some not-so-small—furry friends scurrying around here as of late. The method of extermination over here is to lure rats into a live trap; you set it up (we like to use old Slim Jims as our bait), go to bed, and wait for the sound of a snap.
- Notes to the Varga Family
- Read the notes Michael Varga sent to his family about his observations while serving in Chad during the 1970s and listen to Fan Yang's commentary about her experience in Chad two decades later.
- Nothing Says Home Like Homemade!
- Buna ziua from Romania in the region of Moldavia by the foothills of the Eastern Carpathians!
- Numbers
- 1.3 billion people—can you imagine! What power, what potential! For comparison, that's about five times the population of the United States. Of all 6 billion people on this planet, 1 in 5 are in China.
- Of Brooms and Filmmaking
- The cast of characters for our final day of filmmaking was 15 teenaged girls, two mini cams, two teachers, a filmmaker, and a volunteer. We were almost finished shooting footage for the documentary we were making on water usage, which was my final project as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Jordan.
- Oh, Kingdom in the Sky
- A poem by Mary Ann Camp.
Oh, Kingdom in the Sky
I have come to love your land.
- On Sunday There Might Be Americans
- He walked to the door and pressed his eye against the crack in the straw. There above the rim of the compound wall he could see a sliver of blue. It was Sunday morning.
- One Day in the Rainy Season
- I awoke to a clap. It was a big, hard clap and I sat upright—confused, disoriented, unaware. The clap sounded again. An explosion.
- One Step at a Time
- We each have our own idea of what's right and what's wrong. We each judge for ourselves whether something is good or bad, fun or boring, worthwhile or pointless.
- Oportunidades Nuevas para Mujeres
- Bienvenidos a Costa Rica! Yo soy Liz, una voluntaria de Cuerpo de Paz en las montañas del valle central de Costa Rica.
- Out With the Old, In With the New
- Hi. This is Riley Graebner and that's me in 2002 with an 86-year-old shopkeeper who referred to me as her fourth child.
- Out With the Old, In With the New
- Hi. This is Riley Graebner and that's me in 2002 with an 86-year-old shopkeeper who referred to me as her fourth child. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in China from August 2002 until April 2003, when we were all evacuated because of the SARS epidemic.
- Overseas Phone Call
from Morocco- Students from Lakeview Elementary School in Solon, Iowa speaks with Jessica, a Peace Corps Volunteer currently serving in Morocco.
- Overseas Phone Call from Costa Rica
- Rebecca Scholtz speaks with a kindergarten class in Illinois about her experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica.
- Overseas Phone Call from Ecuador
- Once a year, a few Peace Corps volunteers get to talk by telephone with U.S. classrooms they've been communicating with. Today, Braddock Elementary School in Annandale, Virginia speaks to Aaron and Gina, a married couple serving in Ecuador.
- Overseas Phone Call from Kenya
- Once a year a few Peace Corps volunteers get to talk by telephone with U.S. classrooms they've been communicating with. Today, the McCutcheon High School in Lafayette, Indiana speaks to Michael, a Peace Corps volunteer serving in Kenya.
- Overseas Phone Call from Kyrgyz Republic
- Students from Hinsdale Central High School in Illinois speaks with Colleen Marshall, a Peace Corps Volunteer currently serving in the Kyrgyz Republic.
- Overseas Phone Call from Mali
- Students from St. Mary's Catholic School in Clyde, Ohio speaks with Peace Corps Volunteer Gregory Darr in Mali.
- Overseas Phone Call from Mauritania
- Once a year, a few Peace Corps volunteers get to talk by telephone with U.S. classrooms they've been communicating with. We've recorded some of those conversations. Today, Maumee Valley Country Day School in Toledo, Ohio speaks to Michael, a Peace Corps volunteer currently serving in Mauritania.
- Overseas Phone Call from Morocco
- Once a year a few Peace Corps volunteers get to talk by telephone with U.S. classrooms they've been communicating with. Today, the Henry Street School for International Studies in New York City speaks to Andrew, a Peace Corps volunteer serving in Morocco.
- Overseas Phone Call from Namibia
- Peace Corps Volunteer Skyla Seltzer talks with students from New London, Connecticut about her experience in Namibia.
- Overseas Phone Call from South Africa
- Students from Greenfield Middle School in Wisconsin speak with Peace Corps Volunteer Abby Stepaniak in South Africa.
- Overseas Phone Call from South Africa
- Once a year, a few Peace Corps volunteers get to talk by telephone with U.S. classrooms they've been communicating with. Today, Kingsland Elementary School in Georgia speaks to Kristi, a Peace Corps volunteer currently serving in South Africa.
- Overseas Phone Call from Turkmenistan
- Third grade students from G.D. Jones School in Wisconsin speak with Mike Cavey in Turkmenistan about food, language, and school.
- Overseas Phone Call from Uganda
- Once a year a few Peace Corps volunteers get to talk by telephone with U.S. classrooms they've been communicating with. Today, Smith College Campus School in North Hampton Massachusetts speaks with Heather, a Peace Corps volunteer currently serving in Uganda.
- Overseas Phone Call
from Bolivia- My name’s Joe Stevens; I’m the son of your teacher Mrs. Stevens. I’m a volunteer here in Bolivia. I work in tourism and micro-enterprise development in businesses
- Oyster Women’s Sustainable Harvests
In The Gambia, West Africa, Peace Corps Volunteer Adrian Croke works with women oyster harvesters to develop environmentally and economically sustainable business practices.
- Pablo Mágico
- A Pablo y a mí nos gustaba jugar "imaginemos". Caminábamos calle abajo, llevando una pelota de básquetbol bajo el brazo.
- Peace Corps Week Phone Call
- Topeka Collegiate School in Topeka, Kansas speaks with David Smith, a former Peace Corps Volunteer who once served in the Dominican Republic.
- Picture Perfect
- One of the things we had to do almost immediately was to get Afghan identification cards made. During my stay in Afghanistan, no one ever asked to see my card: Identification cards in a land with a 95 percent illiteracy rate are meaningless.
- The Pink Eraser
- After driving for 10 hours and passing several small villages, I was convinced that the next stop had to be Arjo. And, after two more villages, it was.
- Playing Together with Kids in Lesotho
- My name is Madeline. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the African country of Lesotho. This is a picture of me learning to cook outdoors.
- Pombero, Creature of the Paraguayan Night
- Pombero is a mischievous imp of the night who roams the Paraguayan countryside. His presence explains all the inexplicable things that happen here.
- Pombero, La Criatura de la Noche Paraguaya
- Pombero es un diablillo travieso de la noche que vaga por los campos paraguayos. Su presencia explica todas las cosas inexplicables que pasan por allí, como los ruidos extraños y la desaparición de las cosas.
- Porque Las Personas Son Cabelludas
- Había una vez un viejito que se conocía aquí en la isla como Viejo Abuelito.
- Post-Service
- Ideas for using World Wise Schools resources to enhance the post-service stage of the service learning process
- Pre-Service
- Ideas for using Coverdell World Wise Schools resources to enhance the pre-service stage of the service learning process.
- Preserving a Balanced Diet with Solar Dryers
In the Caribbean islands of Antigua and Barbuda, Peace Corps Response Volunteer Elyse Petersen worked with agroprocessors, schools, and families to build solar food dryers that can preserve local produce for year-round consumption.
- Protecting Philippine Reefs
- Hi, I’m Tommy Schultz. I was assigned as a coastal resource management Volunteer in the Sustainable Island development program. That’s me sitting on the bow of the boat loaded with scuba gear.
- Quak-wah-tania and Her Sisters
- Once there were three sisters named Fell-in-bone, Fell-in-bitania, and Quak-wah-tania.
- Questions and Answers Following Don Leu's Presentation
- How do we train our teachers to bring this information to our students?
- Raising Chickens, Empowering Youth
- Hi, I'm Brian Lewandowski. I served in Peace Corps as a Business Development Volunteer in the Caribbean islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, I worked with my local community to develop training and sustainable business opportunities for youth and adults.
- Reasons for Joy
- My first memory of Amenata is one of my first memories of life in Kani Kunda. It was a sunny, soaking-wet day at the end of the rainy season.
- Receta de la Pizza
- Here is a pizza recipe that I have done several times with my women's group in my host community in El Salvador.
- Recipe: Arroz en Leche
- This is a traditional recipe from Guatemala. It is very easy to cook. Arroz en leche is a dessert.
- Recipe: Banana Cake
- Grease a saucepan and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, throw in the dry ingredients and stir together.
- Recipe: Banana Plantains with Dried Peas
- Heat water to ebullition. Add peas and cook until tender, about a half hour.
- Recipe: Beshbarmak
- This is the most popular Kazakh dish, which every Peace Corps Volunteer here in Kazakhstan tries in almost every home. This is beshbarmak.
- Recipe: Cabbage Tomato Soup
- Heat oil in a saucepan, add onion and garlic, and cook until onions are soft. Stir in cabbage and cook until tender.
- Recipe: Cassavas with Dried Beans
- Heat water to ebullition. Add peas and cook until tender, about a half hour.
- Recipe: Chicken or Pork Adobo
- This is a popular dish among Filipinos and also to local backpackers.
- Recipe: Chirmol
This is a traditional recipe from Guatemala. It is very easy to cook. Chirmol can accompany beans, meats, etc. and is good for vegetarians.
- Recipe: Coconut Jam
- Pour sugar into a saucepan and cook over a fire, stirring until all the sugar caramelizes.
- Recipe: Coconut and Green Bean Salad
- Bring a saucepan of water to boil, and cook the green beans for two to three minutes until they are brilliant green.
- Recipe: Cream of Kumala Soup
- Boil or bake kumala until soft. Peel away the skin, and put the kumala in a large bowl.
- Recipe: Creamed Breadfruit
- Wash and boil breadfruit. Peel and mash with salt, pepper, milk, chopped onion, and cheese.
- Recipe: Ginataang Kalabasa
- Sauté garlic and onion. Add ginger, tomatoes, squash, chicken stock, shrimp paste, and coconut milk.
- Recipe: Gourmet Rice Salad
- This gingery-garlicky-orange rice salad is always a winner.
- Recipe: Granola
- Heat oven to 190°C (375°F). Combine first 3 ingredients in a large bowl.
- Recipe: Guveche
- You will need a ceramic pot with lid (a lid with a small airhole is best), one egg, and whatever food you have lying around the house.
- Recipe: Hong Shao Doufu
- Wash tofu and cut into one inch cubes. Heat oil to smoking in a wok.
- Recipe: Hot Chocolate
- Mix the sugar, cocoa, and salt in a saucepan. Add water and stir.
- Recipe: Ice Cream Party Punch
- Use a four-liter punch bowl. Fill punch bowl with chilled apricot nectar, orange soda, and pineapple juice.
- Recipe: Kalam Dolmasi
- Grind meat in meat grinder, then grind onions and bread. Add a little butter if meat is lean.
- Recipe: La Bandera
- This is a very basic recipe here in the Dominican Republic. It is cooked here almost daily for lunch, either as it is written here, or with some variations in the recipe. This is La Bandera, or “the flag.” It is rice, beans, and meat—the most important recipe in the country.
- Recipe: Lepeshka
- Mix the yeast in the warm water, add salt and flour, and make a dough.
- Recipe: Mujaddrah
- Boil the lentils in two cups of water until they are soft but still keep their shape.
- Recipe: Nsima
- Use a wooden spoon to stir the nsima. Heat the water in a pot until lukewarm (test by letting a drop fall on the back of hand).
- Recipe: Pad Thai
- Peel garlic and shallot and cut Chinese chive roots. Wash them all along with the mung bean sprouts, and drain.
- Recipe: Papaya Banana Coconut Salad
- Remove seeds and skin from ripe papaya. Dice the fruit into fairly large chunks. Add sliced ripe bananas.
- Recipe: Parcha-Dosheme Plov
- Boil the lamb it in a pan with water for about five minutes, skimming the froth with a slotted spoon, then drain and use as directed in the recipe.
- Recipe: Peanut Butter Cake
- Grease a saucepan and set it aside. In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Recipe: Pepsi or 7-Up Chicken
- Place the chopped up chicken into the pot and throw in as much yellow onion as you like (usually 1/4 or 1/2 depending on how much chicken you use).
- Recipe: Pinjur
- Pinjur is a very popular side dish in Macedonia that is often eaten with bread and cheese, but it doesn't need to be limited to just this! It's usually made toward the middle or end of summer and fall when peppers are thriving in the country.
- Recipe: Plov
- Fry lightly the finely sliced carrots and onions in a vegetable oil.
- Recipe: Popo Pineapple Jam
- Select fully ripe popo, remove the seeds, and scoop out the pulp with a spoon.
- Recipe: Pumpkin Soup
- Place the pumpkin, water, pepper, and chicken bouillon in a saucepan.
- Recipe: Sărmălute and Mămăligă
- Moldovan traditional foods are complex, nuanced, and delicious. Stuffed meats and vegetables, as well as cabbage rolls, are integral to Moldovan cuisine.
- Recipe: Sarmale
- One of our national dishes is called Sarmale, which is a mixture of ground pork and rice with spices rolled in a cabbage leaf.
- Recipe: Shopska Salad
- Shopska salad is the most typical salad which Bulgarians prepare in every home and with which they welcome their guests.
- Recipe: Som Tam
- First prepare the papaya by peeling the dark green skin. Then hold the papaya in your hand, and smack the fruit lengthwise with a good sized knife.
- Recipe: Spicy Rice
- This makes a great side dish with a little flavor!
- Recipe: Superkanja
- Cut the meat into small portions and boil halfway. Add the chopped okra and leave to boil.
- Recipe: Tavche Gravche
- Soak beans overnight (in the refrigerator, otherwise they will ferment), rinse, and cook in clean water for 30 minutes until softened.
- Recipe: Tom Yam Kung
- Tom Yam Kung (Sour and Spicy Prawn Soup) is a very popular dish in Thailand.
- Recipe: Ukrainian Borshch
- Although it is now enjoyed throughout the world, borshch originated in Ukraine!
- Reduce, Re-use, Recycle
- Romania has turned me into a pack rat. Not that I didn't collect things in the past.
- Respect for Authority
- For most of the 20th century, Mongolia was a socialist state under the strict shadow of the Soviet Union. When the Russian influence and aid ended abruptly in the early 1990s, Mongolia was left to start a market economy on its own from scratch.
- The Right Way to Grow Tomatoes
- I'd forgotten that I had even taken the Peace Corps recruitment test when that long-distance call came on a cold January day in 1965.
- Road to Lamesen
- This video details a project to improve health education in Togo, a country with 40 different ethnic groups speaking 50 dialects. "Road to Lamesen" investigates the intricate process and delicate gender roles in such a project. (23 minutes)
- The Road Ahead
- A warm tropical wind blew in my face as miles of banana plants zoomed by on both sides of me.
- Royal Lunch
- Dear Family and Friends,
Yesterday was my most exciting day in Tonga.- Running
- In the mornings I often ran to the summit of Raise the Flag Mountain.
- A Rural Honduran Day
- Some people might find life in a small Honduran pueblo monotonous, boring.
- Save Johnny
- For the first three months I was in Africa, Liberians told me, "Save Johnny!" everywhere I went, usually as I was saying good-bye to them.
- Scaling the Nawi Hill for Delicious Chinese Dishes
- It was about a five-mile walk from the village of Nawi to Nutuvu at Buca Bay.
- School in Guinea, West Africa
- I served in Guinea in West Africa. My town, Gaoual, was predominantly Moslem, and most children attended several years of Koranic school before they started regular classes in elementary school.
- The Second Letter From Marion Hoffman
- Since I last wrote to you, the Peace Corps has assigned me a new site, with an extension for a fourth year, to Olopa Chiquimula, high in the mountains of the oeste, near the Honduran border.
- Seeds of Change
- "If I could fix any problem in the world, it would be making life better for people with disabilities in China." -Nie Jing, a second-year English Education major at Guiyang University, China
- Seeing Through Others' Eyes
- Prior to joining the Peace Corps, my involvement in organized volunteer work was limited—of course, it would seem limited to me now that volunteerism is my life.
- The Senegalese Miracle
- I was one of 60 new Peace Corps trainees who landed at Dakar-Yoff Airport at midnight, excited and tired.
- Service
- Ideas for using World Wise Schools resources to enhance the service stage of the service learning process
- Service Learning
Project Ideas- For globally-relevant service learning ideas, find examples of local service with global connections, service to benefit communities abroad, and student advocacy around global issues.
- Settling In to Village Life
- Hi. I'm Nancy Tschetter, former Peace Corps Volunteer to India from 1966 to 1968. I served with my husband Ron in the village of Bori, located in Maharashtra, India. We left the States for our Peace Corps India assignment in mid-December of 1966.
- Sharing in Africa
- People in villages across Kalambayi were trying to kill me. They were feeding me too much.
- She's a Thai
- This week I received a very special compliment: "Sharon ben kone Thi laow." ("Sharon is a Thai person.") What satisfaction—I am considered one of the gang.
- Sing Out! Stop SIDA!
- Since World AIDS Day fell on a Saturday, which is market day, we knew that no one would come to an event in town. We came up with the idea to use radio, since no matter what time of day it is or what people are doing, people always listen to the radio.
- A Single Lucid Moment
- The mountains were dramatic and thick with rain forest. No roads had ever scarred them. We had loaded a four-seater plane with cargo (we would fly out every three months to resupply) and flew for 30 bumpy minutes southwest to the mountain ridges.
- So This Is Paris
- The year Detroit burned, I taught English and algebra in Dilla, Ethiopia.
- Soccer Until Dusk
- My father laughs when I tell him / how in Santa Cruz Verapaz / men quit work at noon, and after lunch / play soccer until dusk.
- Someday I Will Miss ...
- It is 5 a.m. and I awake to the sound of steel wheelbarrows clattering over the cobblestones in the street. There is also the soft murmur of voices of various street vendors greeting each other as they head for the plaza where they set up their daily market.
- Soneka's Village
- I would like to tell you about my special friend Soneka and his people in Tanzania. Soneka is 10 and a member of the Maasai tribe.
- A South African Storm
- It's a Saturday afternoon in January in South Africa. When I begin the 45-minute walk to the shops for groceries, I can hear thunder cracking in the distance up the mountain in Mageobaskloof.
- South African Child
- 34, too young
a funeral for a man
who met his end too soon- Speakers Match: Returned Peace Corps Volunteer
- I have had great experiences with Speakers Match both as a speaker and as an educational program coordinator. I had a great experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Peru from 2005–2007 and love encouraging young people to think globally.
- Splish-Splash: Narratives from Kenya
- People in the United States use much more water than we do in Kenya. We have no running water and no flush toilets where I live.
- Spotlight on Chad
- Traditionally, lowering your eyes is one way of showing respect for your elders.
- Starting Over
- Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Amelia Sparks spent three months in Sri Lanka as a Crisis Corps Volunteer, working on everything from database entry to construction projects. Gain a unique perspective on the effects of the tsunami from her own words and pictures.
- The Stealing of the Drums
- Many years ago, there lived a strong and noble warrior. One day, as the warrior was racing through the jungle, following the tracks of a sleek and golden cat, he heard strange sounds.
- Steam Cake
- See attached a photo of a "Steam Cake" cooking on my hot plate.
- Stories from Lesotho
- My water is pumped from a spring through pipes and right to a sink in my house. The water is very good, so I do not need to filter or boil it.
- Story Telling
- Hi, I'm Anthony Bloome and welcome back for our ICT Tech podcast series. We're delighted to have with us today one of Peace Corps' master story tellers, Deputy Director Jody Olsen.
- The Student Arrives at the Door
- I got my Peace Corps application at the post office in Red Bluff, California, put it on the kitchen table, and walked around it for 10 days without touching it
- A Sunday Afternoon in Kyrgyzstan
- It's Sunday afternoon and I need bread. I ate the last piece at lunch and a scattered mess of crumbs atop my lopsided kitchen table is the only bread in the house.
- Sunday Morning Stares
- The Sunday morning walk to St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church of Sogeri is two kilometers from my little red house on the Iarowari High School grounds. Today is Palm Sunday.
- Sustained by the Sun
- In Costa Rica, Peace Corps Volunteer Katie DeWitt worked with her community to use one of their most abundant resources—the sun—to power their local biological reserve. Find out how the newly installed solar panels generated not only power, but also community-wide enthusiasm for renewable energy.
- A Tale From the Forest
- For one or two weeks each month, I hike three hours into the rain forest. I sleep at a research station that looks like a modern day Swiss Family Robinson tree touse.
- The Talking Goat
- The chief and the village elders listened carefully as Tugba told them of his talking goat, and his seven years in the jungle. When Tugba finished, the chief deliberated with the elders for a few moments. Then, he stood up to deliver his verdict.
- A Taste of Tongren
- Nimen hao! Wo shi Sun Hong Mei. Hi, my name is Amy. I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Guizhou province of southwestern China.
- Texting Across the Desert
- Learn how Peace Corps Volunteer Rashid Khan used a mostly-broken cell phone, a mostly-broken computer, and his IT expertise to create a virtual health education hotline in Namibia, fielding thousands of sexual health and HIV/AIDS questions sent anonymously via text message.
- Think About Water
- David Donaldson of World Wise Schools speaks with Leah McFail about her experience as Peace Corps Volunteer in Gabon.
- The Third Question
- There are certain conversations and key phrases in Romanian that you get especially good at repeating when you become a Peace Corps Volunteer.
- This Is Tanzania
- Karibu! Hamjambo marafiki yangu? That means, "Welcome! How are you doing, my friends?" in Kiswahili.
- Three Lessons
- September. Sunset. The town of Safi, Morocco. I was washing dishes in my sink.
- Thunder and Enlightenment
- Every student in the class looked up at me, waiting for my answer. The room was quiet, unusually quiet for this group of boisterous 12-year-olds.
- Tips for Teachers
- Communicate with your RPCV about your goals for his or her presentation. If the presentation is meant to tie into a particular unit of study, share the objectives of that unit so that the RPCV speaker can tailor his or her presentation to those goals.
- Tislet and Isli
- Many years ago, the chief of the Ait Haddidou tribe announced the birth of his daughter, Tislet. In her honor, the chief declared that a feast would be held.
- To Be a Volunteer
- On June 20, 1962, President John F. Kennedy greeted summer interns at the White House with a story he had heard about a young Peace Corps Volunteer named Tom Scanlon, who was serving in Chile.
- To Peel Potatoes
- "Life's too short to peel potatoes," a woman in my local supermarket announced, as she put a box of instant mashed potatoes into her cart. When I overheard her I nearly exploded.
- To Your Health
- Many customs and traditions in Bulgaria are related to hopes for good health. When you make a toast, you say "Na zdrave," or "To health." On your birthday, friends, colleagues, and even perfect strangers tell you "to be full of life and health."
- Tracking Turtles in the Western Pacific
- Hi, I'm Sarah Klain. I worked with Palauans researching sea turtles, saltwater crocodiles, and dugongs—large marine mammals related to manatees.
- The Train Ride Home
- As my taxi slows to approach the train station, it attracts a crowd of young men who begin to run swiftly behind the car. Even before the taxi stops, they are opening the doors and the trunk to grab my bags.
- Training: A Question of Family
- Working and living on an isolated Pacific atoll can be challenging—most people don't speak English
- Trekking to the Sahara
- Dust swept across the yard into the eyes of crying babies and patient mothers.
- The True Cost of Coffee
- January is the "mero mero," or height, of coffee season in Corquín.
- Twice in My Life
- My Medellin has never been like the headlines that have been flashing round the world for a decade.
- A Typical Day
- Every day, whether I want to or not, I wake up when the rooster crows at dawn. As I climb out of the mosquito net that hangs over my bamboo bed, I hear swish-swish sounds outside my mud hut—the women have already begun sweeping leaves from the courtyard.
- Typical Day—Is There Such a Thing?
- It's cold today and raining. I am cooking with rainwater culled from the bucket I stuck out in the front yard. Pasta and beans, a flour tortilla. Simple stuff.
- Un Día Rural en Honduras
- Algunas personas pueden encontrar la vida en un pequeño pueblo de Honduras algo monótono y aburrido. En una cultura donde la mayoría de la gente vive como vivieron sus padres y abuelos antes de ellos ...
- Un Día Típico—¿Existe Algo Así?
- Hoy está haciendo frio y está lloviendo. Estoy cocinando con agua de lluvia que recogí del balde que puse en el patio. Cocine Pasta, frijoles y tortillas. Cosas simples.
- Un Esfuerzo de la Comunidad
- ¡Buenos días! Mi nombre es Laura Kutner. Actualmente estoy sirviendo mi tercer año de voluntaria de Cuerpo de Paz como líder en programas de desarrollo juveniles en Guatemala.
- Un Jour Typique
- Chaque jour, que je le veuille ou non, je me réveille quand le coq chante à l’aube.
- Una Llamada de Costa Rica
- Estudiantes de un salón de jardín de la primaria GCMS en Illinois hablan con voluntario del Peace Corps Rebecca Scholtz en Costa Rica.
- Under the Tongan Sun
- I lived in a tiny hut made of bamboo and coconut leaves and lined with dozens of mats, pieces of tapa cloth, and wall-to-wall children.
- Volunteers Combat HIV/AIDS
- What are Peace Corps Volunteers doing in the field to combat HIV/AIDS? Plenty. Here are just a few personal accounts of individual efforts of Volunteers in a few parts of the world.
- Waking Up, Stepping Out
- I wake to chattering voices, a bus horn, bells ringing, an old man with a hacking cough, the squeak of a rusty latch opening across the hallway.
- Water
- When a woman carries water on her head, you see her neck bend outward behind her like a crossbow.
- Water Source Protection
- More than 2 billion people—over a third of the world's population—lack access to basic sanitation such as flush toilets or even outhouses.
- Water and Culture
- The country of Lesotho is very dry, so water is very important. Many people dance and sing whenever it rains or snows.
- Water in Africa
- The narratives from Water in Africa characterize the interconnectedness of water in the daily lives of African people and the Volunteers who serve in their countries.
- Welcome to Guatemala
- Sensory overload is something that one may experience upon his or her first arrival to Guatemala. There is so much to see, smell, hear, and taste in this country.
- Welcome to Uzbekistan!
- This statue of Lenin used to be in the town square. Now it lies in the town garbage dump. In its place is a statue of the national poet.
- What I Learned Serving
- When I was in high school, I became a member of the National Honor Society (NHS). Each year the NHS organized a community service project.
- What Public Service Means to Me?
- Does the term "public service" mean anything to you? You may think it doesn't, but public service is being or has been done by everyone.
- What Schools Need to do to Help Young People Develop a 21st Century World View
- Marjorie [Anctil] has asked me to talk with you about what schools need to do to help young people develop a 21st century worldview. I love thinking about this stuff, so you're going to be on the receiving end of years of pent-up responses to this delicious question.
- What is Poverty?
- Poverty is an issue tied to many of the key development challenges facing communities across the globe. Living in poverty means more than simply living on a low income.
- What is a Dutar?
- The dutar is made of three solid pieces of wood.
- What's Integrity?
- I once heard "integrity" defined as the quality of a person who does what's right when he or she knows that absolutely no one else is watching.
- What's Mongolia Really Like?
- No matter how much an outsider researches and studies another country, it's difficult to really understand what's going on there until you're physically present.
- When Success Is Truly Sweet
- Hi my name is Kristina Owens. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer assigned to natural resources projects in southern Bolivia.
- When a Country Loses Its Songs
- When I received notice from the Peace Corps in 1966 that I had been accepted as a Peace Corps volunteer, I was thrilled. However, I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that when I saw I had been assigned to Afghanistan, I hadn't a clue where Afghanistan was located.
- Where Life Is Too Short
- The strangest thing about my adopted home community in South Africa is the number of establishments selling tombstones in town.
- Where There's Smoke
- One day last fall, my Nepalese friend Kumar invited me to have lunch at his family's home. Like most homes in the surrounding village, his is built from packed clay and cow dung.
- White
- Yesterday, I attended my first funeral. I wore white and so did the corpse.
- Whose Reality Is Real?
- I live in a village in Niger, in West Africa. Often when people think of Africa they think of exotic images they've seen in photographs and amazing tales they've read about in books.
- Why Leopards Eat Sheep
- Once upon a time, there was a hunger season that took over Kpelleland and the earth stood still. All the animals grouped themselves according to their species to build their homes.
- Why People Are Hairy
- There once was a little old man who was known here on the island as Old Grandfather. Every morning at dawn he would set out in his canoe and paddle to the mainland, where his fields were. Old Grandfather always kept to himself and wouldn't allow anyone to come within a mile of his land.
- Wings on Her Feet
- There once was a gentle little donkey named Zel Nan Pye. Everyone in town would call out, "Hello, Zel!" as she trotted by, and Zel's long, furry ears would stick straight up at the sound. Although Zel longed to turn her big, brown eyes and reply, Madame Charity, her owner, held her reins too tight.
- Work Days
- I wake to the sound of voices now. I used to wake with the roosters and to the sounds of anxious donkeys in the morning.
- Working Alongside the Roma, or Gypsies
- Hello. My name is Igor Naumovski. I served as an advisor to NGOs, or nongovernmental organizations. I focused on working with the Roma, also known as Gypsies.
- Working With Environmental Issues
- I have parasites. They live in my stomach. I can feel gurgling after I eat or when I lie down to rest.
- Working for the Common Good
- The damage was extensive. You could actually see how the rivers had flooded their banks destroying whole towns. People came to us and said they had lost their town, they had lost their way of life, they had lost their way of living.
- A Year
- Leaves draw into themselves and fall from still trees.
- You Can Dream; Stories of Moroccan Women Who Do
- Zambúllase en el Ecoturismo
- Las cascadas naturales, los toboganes de agua y la oportunidad de saltar de acantilados ayudan a traer el turismo a un parque nacional en la República Dominicana.
- ¿Cómo deletreó Felicidad en Paraguay? Che Avy'á
- Todos los voluntario de Cuerpos de Paz que sirven en Paraguay llegan pensando que para el final de su servicio alcanzaran el sueño de hablar Español fluidamente. ¿Por qué no habrían de pensarlo?