Episodes

On this short Friday episode, I issue an apology to the listeners and guests of the My Peace Corps Story podcast. I'm sorry. I can do better.

Thousands of miles from home, John Leos contended with failed projects and the unexpected divorce of his parents. But his service in The Gambia, a small West African country bordering the Gambia River and bounded by Senegal, was not defined only by these hardships. On this episode, John fondly remembers his host family, the nephew named after him, his fellow volunteers, and the family cow.

Packing for two years of service can be nerve-racking. How do you decide what to bring for the next 27 months of your life? How do you pack everything you need to live halfway around the world into two 50-pound bags, a carry-on, and a personal item?

Solomon Amuzu met Peace Corps Volunteer Kate Schachter 16 years ago when she was serving in his Ghanian village. From Kate, Solomon learned about organic farming and the importance of caring for our planet. Sixteen years later, Solomon is now serving his country through his organization, Call to Nature Permaculture.

I suffered from self-judgment during my service and continue to have bouts with self-judgment in life after Peace Corps. More important than the stories we tell others are the stories we tell ourselves. Here is how I conquer my self-doubt.

Hours after swearing-in and becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer, Camilla Cluett and her fellow volunteers were consolidated for security concerns. Days later, she was leaving Burkina Faso for good. While her service was short, she gives insights into training and tells us what is to come of her Peace Corps story.

This episode is different, something new that I am going to be trying out for the next month. I would love to hear your thoughts and reactions to it. Think of this as an audio newsletter, update, monologue, and an opportunity for me to talk a little bit more directly with my audience.

Nathan Fitch is a filmmaker and visual journalist based in Brooklyn. He currently works in the video department of The New Yorker and recently finished his first documentary film, Island Solider, based in Micronesia, where served as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

During a recent trip to Thailand, I was lucky enough to have the chance to sit down with a current volunteer and learn about her service. Seated on the patio of a restaurant and Chiang Mai, I interview Anna McGillcuddy, a Youth Development Peace Corps Volunteer in northern Thailand.

Joseph started his vacation by being robbed at machete-point and thought it could only get better from there. He was wrong. Listen to his Peace Corps Niger story filled with successes and struggles, and learn why he had to end his service early.

Peace Corps Volunteers serve around the globe, working in local communities to drive change from the ground up. In celebration of Earth Day, I talk with three RPCVs about their service and the environment. From droughts in Tanzania, to rising seas in Kiribati, to receding glaciers in Georgia, these volunteers saw the impacts of climate change first hand.

Keith Petit is both a fellow RPCV and podcaster, host of the Expatriate Act podcast. As an English teacher in China, he worked to break his students out of the mold of rote memorization while navigating around sensitive cultural topics such as Tibet and Tiananmen Square.

Zachary Segal served as a Youth and Development volunteer, requiring him to take on many roles in his community. He gardened, built a library, and worked with community members with HIV/AIDS to develop small business projects. His service, however, had plenty of downtime filled with podcasts, walks through a neighboring game park, and sunsets enjoyed on his veranda.

Adam spent all day tramping through the Jamaican forest, getting nearly lost, while searching for a potential new ecotourism site where seven rivers supposedly met. He never found the site of the seven rivers, but he discovered a lot during his three years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Jamacia. On this Episode: Working with […]

Before becoming an author, Adrienne served as a Peace Corps volunteer high in the mountains of Nepal. We talk about her service and her new book, The Brightest Sun.

How much do you hate cold showers? Well, imagine having to start a fire to fuel your hot water heater each time you wanted to take a warm shower. Oh, and it’s also below freezing outside. Shawna Thomas may miss Romania, but she doesn’t miss those cold showers. On this Episode: Traveling by train in […]

Julie Brown founded Kawa Clothes in Uganda, where she now works and lives. We talk about her service in El Salvador and how being a Peace Corps Volunteer compares to being Acting General Manager at Impact Water Global in Uganda.

Peace Corps Week commemorates President Kennedy’s establishment of the Peace Corps on March 1, 1961. During this annual event, the Peace Corps community celebrates all the ways that Peace Corps makes a difference at home and abroad and renews its commitment to service.

Megan Riethmiller wanted to serve in the Peace Corps since childhood, a dream that began in kindergarten with a pen pal who was serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kenya. Yet, her service in Uganda was marked by tragedy when she was sexually assaulted on her first day of teaching. This, however, is only part of her Peace Corps story.

Jennie served in the capital of the garden belt in Senegal. Her longest and most successful project was working with a local leather worker who made purses and other handicrafts. However, not all her projects worked out. Hear about Jennie's successes and missteps, while navigating complex community and volunteer relationships.

Two weeks after finishing her service in Botswana, Janina Yates landed in El Salvador to begin working as a Peace Corps Response Volunteer. We talk about the similarities and differences between Botswana and El Salvador and her two different Peace Corps Volunteer position, in addition to all the amazing stories she collected over three years of service.

Janet served in Burkina Faso, down the road from where I served and 30 years before. It was a pleasure to hear about her service, during two coups d'etats and the beginning of Thomas Sankara's presidency.

Lisa Curtis was working on a big project with her local women’s group to grow moringa trees for nutritional trainings, but she was evacuated from Peace Corps Niger after a terrorist attack before the project could be completed. Yet, the story doesn't end there. Lisa went on to found Kuli Kuli, America’s leading moringa superfood brand, as a way to continue the project.

Ven and Kelly Anderson served as Education volunteers in a Tanzanian village situated at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro. This alone would provide for amazing Peace Corps stories, but their story is made more interesting by the fact that they served as a married couple in their 40's. Hear their story and perspective on service as mid-career volunteers.