Episodes

On March 15, the Peace Corps announced it would temporarily suspend Volunteer operations and begin evacuating Volunteers from all posts due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On this episode, five volunteers share their story of evacuation in the time of coronavirus.

Happy National Peace Corps Week! This episode marks the return of the My Peace Corps Story podcast. After taking a few months off, I'm starting the show up again. This week, in honor of National Peace Corps Week, I would like to share three speeches from President John F. Kennedy.

After 27 months of the My Peace Corps Story podcast, I'm closing this chapter of the podcast. The podcast isn't over though. I plan to come back to the show with a new format. Producing weekly podcasts was an ambitious undertaking but immensely rewarding. I thank each and everyone of you, whether you were a guest or listener or both.

Inspired by a former teacher, Katie set off to Peace Corps for an adventure and a chance to prove herself. She did both and more. This week, I talk with Katie McNamara about her time in Namibia, a country that's twice the size of California while also being the second least densely populated place on earth.

Photos from Randy’s Service Randy Hobler’s Peace Corps Story Where and when did you serve? What did you do? Served in Libya from October 1968 thru most of October 1969. I, like all my colleagues, was a TEFL (Teaching English as a Second Language) teacher. Almost all of us were teaching 5th […]

Photos from Sharelle’s Service Sharelle’s Peace Corps Story Where and when did you serve? What did you do? Ghana, 2010-2012. Primary Assignment was Biology Teacher – also ended up being head of the ICT department at my school and training new PCVs on PEPFAR grant project implementation. What is one of your favorite Peace […]

Health Resource Partners (HRP) founder, Britany Ferrell, decided to join the United States Peace Corps during her last year of college at the University of Alabama. Shortly after her graduation in June 2010, she learned that she was going to be posted in Ghana, West Africa. Three months later, Britany arrived in the village of Eremon to be a secondary science teacher for the next two years.

Photos from Addis and Jim’s Service Addis and Jim Chapman’s Peace Corps Story Where and when did you serve? What did you do? We served in what was then West Pakistan from 1961-63. Ours was the first multidisciplinary project in PC — nurses, teachers, lab techs, librarian, agriculture specialists, even a brick mason. Jobs […]

Since leaving Peru, Tasha Prados founded Duraca Strategic, a business and marketing strategy company. Tasha wants organizations that are doing good for the world to have access to expertise from a skilled partner that can help those organizations. She recently left her full time job and will be traveling the world as a digital nomad […]

In 2001 the first expedition of indigenous women reached the summit of Cotopaxi, the highest active volcano in the world just shy of 20,000 feet. Four Andean women (Warmis) and two American women all joined together to climb in celebration of women worldwide. Dana Platin, serving as a Peace Corps volunteer, was one of the women on that expedition.

Photos from David’s Service David Hernandez’s Peace Corps Story Where and when did you serve? What did you do? I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador from 2013-2015. I worked as an Environmental Education/Business volunteer. This sector had me doing many different activities such: recycled art workshops, teaching environmental awareness classes, and […]

Jody Olsen first heard of the Peace Corps during a presentation from a recruiter attending a sorority dinner. The following day she informed her fiancé that they were going to join the Peace Corps and 18 months later they were headed to Tunisia. Almost 50 years after her service ended, she was sworn in as the 20th Director of Peace Corps. This is her story.

For the past two weeks I've been either rushing to the bathroom, doubled over in pain, or both. It reminded me a lot of Peace Corps actually. This was the first time I've had any major GI issues since Peace Corps, which I assumed hardened my gut and made it impervious to illness. Boy was I wrong.

Being a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer herself, she couldn't help but think that just such an in-depth, comprehensive documentary was needed for the Peace Corps. Alana says: "In a time when the American public either has a very antiquated notion of the Peace Corps, informed by an almost mythological awe of the 60s, or is not even aware that the agency still exists, it is high time to bring this unique organization back into the public discourse, to raise the level of the discussion from quaint t...

As a Peace Corps Volunteer in The Gambia, Bryn worked to rehabilitate the country's highly deforested environment. But Bryn’s drive to serve didn’t end with the Peace Corps.

Abraham served in Indonesia from 2016-2018 as an education volunteer where he taught at a local Madrasah middle school on the island of Java. This is his Peace Corps story.

Chad only recently returned home from his Peace Corps service in Vanuatu. With the sand barely out of his shoes, he talks about living two years on a remote island followed by a third year in Port Vila.

Korea has been part of Ambassador (retired) Kathleen Stephens’ life and career since she served in rural Korea as a Peace Corps volunteer and trainer, 1975-1977.

This week, I go back to the beginning. Two years ago I recorded this intro episode with a friend, before the podcast had launched and before I knew what it would grow into. Hopefully you enjoy this return to the start as much as I did.

Jane Hale left her fiancé for Peace Corps service in Chad--where she was the only person to actively choose Chad as a country of service. She has numerous great stories that make this interview seem too short, even though it's the longest one yet on the podcast!

Americans have a lot of preconceived thoughts about Colombia, which range from drug running narcos deep in the jungle to rolling verdant hills filled with coffee plantations. Yet, as with many things, Colombia is far more complex and dynamic than you may think. On this week's episode, Jane Haines talks about her service as community economic development (CED) volunteer in the Caribbean coast of Colombia.

Michelle Long did not serve in the the Peace Corps. Yet, Peace Corps has become a big part of her life because she said yes to marrying me, Tyler Lloyd: RPCV and Peace Corps podcast host! We explore dating and relationships after Peace Corps, when your significant other isn't a volunteer.

While some may think serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Caribbean is all white sandy beaches and coconuts, that's not the case. On this week's episode I talk with Megan Bordi about her service in St. Lucia. While she served 20 years ago, her memories are fresh and her fondness for her community is strong as the day she left the island.

Alan Dockterman served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in northeast Brazil from 1968 to 1970. He discusses his opposition to the Vietnam War as a primary motivation for joining the Peace Corps.