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The Peace Corps today has 7,749 Volunteers serving in 73 countries. Three-fifths of the Volunteers are female; 1,240 are people of color; and 465 are older than 50. The oldest Volunteer today is 81.
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Peace Corps Volunteers venture far and farther. Many live in unusual houses, eat exotic foods, and make new friends vastly different from anything and anybody they knew at home. What’s it like? How do they feel? What are they thinking about? What projects do they undertake? What challenges do they face? They address all of these things—and more—in letters they write back to the States.
World Wise Schools’ newest publication, Crossing Cultures With the Peace Corps, offers 18 thoughtful, provocative, entertaining, and revealing letters from Peace Corps Volunteers in Mongolia, Bulgaria, Paraguay, South Africa, and other countries. Each letter has teaching suggestions, associated national standards, an autobiography from the writer—and an update on what the writer has done after the Peace Corps. Consider sharing these adventures with your students. Crossing Cultures is available free to educators: Please download it at www.peacecorps.gov/wws/publications
/crossingcultures, or request a printed copy at wwsinfo@peacecorps.gov.
 Go to the Crossing Cultures Page |
World Wise Reading
Selections from Crossing Cultures |
Europe and Eastern Europe
“Enough to Make Your Head Spin”—You thought you knew how to shake your head? (Bulgaria)
“Reduce, Re-Use, Recycle”—Making use of, well, everything! (Romania)
Africa
“A South African Storm”—Struggling against the tide of racial identity.
“One Step at a Time”—Getting things done can be tough. (Togo)
Asia
“Hey Driver!”—Kindness in a cab. (China)
“Just Like the Old Days”—Changing ways takes time. (Mongolia)
South America
“Chiggers and Other Challenges”—The obvious fix may not work. (Honduras)
“Girl Farmer”—A woman in a man's realm. (Dominican Republic) |
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 Peace Corps Volunteer Riley Graebner, in his slide show about China, describes not only his own surprises and adjustments, but also the ways in which his Chinese students had to adjust to American ways of teaching.
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“South Africa is a fascinating and complex country, progressing slowly toward a new democratic order. ...The scourges of poverty and violence are rife, only 10 years after the end of apartheid. I'm a long way from Bedford, New Hampshire, and I'm exactly where I want to be.”
—Allison Howard,
Peace Corps Volunteer,
South Africa (2003–2004)
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You can do more than read the letters and stories in Crossing Cultures With the Peace Corps. Your class can listen to the authors, too. Our online feature Volunteer Voices offers a new podcast every week.
09.20.07 Fred Koehler
09.13.07 Thalia Kwok |
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