So this year, 2011, marks the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps. JFK signed the order on March 1, 1961 and six months later the first batch, carrying 51 Americans, traveled to Ghana to begin their service as Peace Corps Volunteers. In the more than 50 years since, more than 200,000 Americans have served in 139 countries.
In Malawi, volunteers first arrived in 1963. The initial group contained only 20 volunteers. Today, over 2,100 volunteers have served in Malawi in all districts from Chitipa to Nsanje. And as we celebrate the 50th anniversary, we want to celebrate the experience - the joys, adventures, successes and legacies. We are tackling this task, in part, with a coffee table book to show through both photos and stories all that Peace Corps experience brings.
I worked on writing a couple of the stories. I'm posting two of them here. The first is about another volunteer from my training group, Ben Siegelman. He lives in a community that is absolutely wonderful; they've made his stay as comfortable as possible. The second story is about a women's group that is famous throughout Peace Corps, Luso la Manja. They sew bags seen on the back of nearly every volunteer in Malawi. They started with the help of a Peace Corps Volunteer and now they are a thriving business. Their products are available throughout Malawi and now available online.
I hope you enjoy the stories and when the book is complete I'll be sending a couple copies home. Happy reading.
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