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 was one of the women on that expedition.
Photos from Dana’s Service
Dana Platin’s Peace Corps Story
Where and when did you serve? What did you do?
I served almost 3 years as a Peace Corps volunteer, in a rural community located in the northern Andes of Ecuador, about 2 hours south of the Colombian border.  Living above 9,000 feet elevation, I adapted and acclimated to the thin air and highland living. The first language in this community is Kichwa and 2nd language is Spanish. As a generalist I collaborated and worked with indigenous girls and women in leadership development, community health, education, and small business development. Living and working alongside the Warmis (women in Kichwa) I gained their love and respect as together we experienced moments of powerlessness and empowerment and learned how girls and women can address, overcome, motivate and achieve what we want when we put our minds to it.
What is one of your favorite Peace Corps memories?
My top 3 greatest memories of my Peace Corps service:

Mushuc Mullo (pronounced Moo-Shoo Moo-Yo) the New Seed in Kichwa.  It was one of my hardest tasks to pitch the idea and help convince the parents to allow this to happen. The New Seed, by planting seeds now we may pave the way for this next generation of girls.  I will never forget that moment when I realized that I had an audience right under my nose and that I was ignoring and not taking seriously, the girls. I always had this vision of my Peace Corps service working with the adults and helping them come together as a community to improve their quality of life and community development. I didn’t envision myself working with young girls, it just never came to me nor did Peace Corps request I do this, “yet” I had these little girls following me around since day 1, by my side, “wanting” to work with me but never actually being direct and telling me. In the culture I grew up in, things are much more obvious; people will let you know, it’s “in your face” and here I was just oblivious to the obvious. So, there it was, my moment of clarity, I had an audience, I had these shy, little Warmis, and potential leaders all lined up in front of me with their dusty old notebooks, broken pencils and their best attire ready willing and fired up to learn. I had the future in front of me and I was negligent. I had ignored them; I didn’t take them seriously until now, until I let them lead me…
International Women’s Day- March 8, 1999: when we turned tragedy into community action.  The girls and women guiding me, leading us to solutions for some of our communities’ greatest challenges. “Anita, my little sister leading, reading and translating women’s rights from Spanish to Kichwa alongside her mother Rosa Elena to the community. Not only did we stir the pot on raising awareness about women’s rights in a community that stayed silent for so long, we stirred the pot of quinoa soup that brought people together, brought strength and belief that change can happen when you take action and work at it.  Our quinoa soup soothed the soul. Women, girls, men and boys gather to observe International Women’s Day to learn and discuss views around women’s rights. March 8, 1999.”
Being a part of the first expedition of indigenous women to climb to the summit of Cotopaxi, the world’s highest most active volcano at 19,347 feet, located in Ecuador, South America.

 
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 best business practices on-site training to name a few. The highlight being that my counterpart and I applied for a grant to fund a museum at the local nature park, received the funding, and created the space.
What is one of your favorite Peace Corps memories?
One of my favorite Peace Corps memories is a series of home videos my host brothers and I created doing different activities to keep us entertained from the summer boredom. We did a monsters series including recreating Bigfoot, a UFO landing, we were supposed to do a Lochness Monster reenactment at the local natural springs, but ran out of time and creative energy. We also did a family, or brothers, Olympics.
What is one of your least favorite Peace Corps memories?
My least favorite Peace Corps memory is the time during tech week, when we visited potential sites and learned about the current jobs at those sites, that my fellow aspiring PCVs and I were robbed. It was around a couple of weeks prior to swearing in as PCVs, so being that it was so early it was a little frightening.
What do you miss about Peace Corps?
I miss my host families. I thoroughly enjoyed working with my counterpart (who also happened to be part of the family) and enjoyed the projects I worked on, but nothing comes close to the friends and family I had then and that I have now. I have been fortunate enough to go back and visit three times since my C.O.S. They cannot get rid of me!
What is something you learned in the Peace Corps?
Always make the best with what you have and spend your time with those you care about.
Do you have a favorite quote or local saying that you’d like to share?
My favorite local saying is, “¡qué iras!” which means, what anger or what fury. It is used mostly when something is frustrating, annoying, or that makes you angry. I still catch myself using it here in the U.S. It’s so easy to say and very applicable in your everyday life.
 
 
 
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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.
This week, I talk with Jody Olsen about her service, career, and the meandering way she found her self to being the current director of the U.S. Peace Corps.
 
Jody Olsen, Tunisia 1966-1968
 
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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.
Thanks to PC training, I knew that I should be replacing fluids and to avoid taking anti-diareahal medication–let the body do it’s thing! I mixed up several batches of oral rehydration salts (ORS). While doing so, I wondered if the women of my cooperative or local health clinic ever used ORS since I taught them.
Turns out I had pathogenic E. coli. Normally your body passes it after a few days and you recover. I’m one of the lucky ones and required antibiotics. Can I get some praise for Cipro?!
All of this is to say that I don’t have a new interview for you. I’m finally back on the mend though, so look forward to a new episode next week.
Oh, and did you hear? I’m interviewing Peace Corps Director Olsen this Friday!
If you want me to ask a specific questions to current Peace Corps Director Jody Olsen, let me know here: www.mypeacecorpsstory.com/director
See you next week!

Alana DeJoseph has worked in video and film production for over 20 years. She has worn many hats as producer, director, videographer, and editor, but her heart has always been in documentaries. Between 2003 and 2005, she was associate producer of the PBS documentaries The Greatest Good (about the U.S. Forest Service) and Green Fire (about conservationist Aldo Leopold). The Greatest Good appeared at 15 film festivals with screenings in 35 states, winning numerous awards, including the CINE Golden Eagle Award and finalist designation for the Annual Telly Awards. Green Fire appeared in 29 festivals from Colorado to India and New Zealand. Still airing on public television, it was awarded an EMMY, Telly Awards Bronze and a CINE Golden Eagle Award, among others.
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 to crucial.”
 
Learn more about the film A Towering Task at https://www.peacecorpsdocumentary.com

 
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As a Volunteer in The Gambia, Bryn worked to rehabilitate the country’s highly deforested environment. He also volunteered outside of his community, helping to build two schools in nearby villages. But Bryn’s drive to serve didn’t end with the Peace Corps. After Haiti’s devastating earthquake in 2010, he traveled to the island and helped build what became Haiti’s largest secondary school.
In Haiti, Bryn discovered his passion for filmmaking and co-directed the documentary “Baseball in the Time of Cholera,” an award-winning film about the outbreak of cholera in post-earthquake Haiti.
“Every job I have had since service was greatly helped by my time in the Peace Corps. Coming out of the Peace Corps shows that you have personal drive and strength,” said Bryn. [source: Peace Corps]

 
 
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Photos from Abraham’s Service
Abraham Kahasay’s Peace Corps Story
Where and when did you serve? What did you do?
I served in Indonesia from 2016-2018 as an education volunteer. I taught at a local Madrasah middle school on the island of Java.
What is one of your favorite Peace Corps memories?
Going on a trip with my host parents to meet their family. When we arrived and they asked who I was, my host mom introduced me as her son. That was when I felt truly at home.
What is one of your least favorite Peace Corps memories?
During service, in the most populous Muslim country in the world, having to explain what I thought about the President and his statements.
What do you miss about Peace Corps?
The sense of community made it hard to feel lonely. There were times it definitely bugged me but overall it was nice to know the people around me had my back when I needed it.
What is something you learned in the Peace Corps?
Patience.
Do you have a favorite quote or local saying that you’d like to share?
I wouldn’t really call it a saying but I usually drink my coffee black with sugar. Which in Indonesian translates to “kopi hitam tanpa gula.” The looks I got were very funny.
 
 
 
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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.
Photos from Chad’s Service
Chad Beatty’s Peace Corps Story
Where and when did you serve? What did you do?
I served as a Literacy Project volunteer in Vanuatu from 2016-2019. I was placed in Naviso village, East Maewo island for my first two years and then I extended for an extra year where I took a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader role in the office located in the capital of Port Vila.
What is one of your favorite Peace Corps memories?
One morning my host dad came and woke me up telling me to follow him. As we came down to the nakamal, I saw a pig tied to a tree and the whole community was waiting for me. I went on to kill the pig, which is a “kastom” ceremony, to gain rank and acceptance into the tribe. I had been at site for 5 months or so at this time, so it was a sign for me that I was going to be okay and I was being accepted into the community.
What is one of your least favorite Peace Corps memories?
I don’t have too many bad memories from service. However, I was in a very remote site, which lacked medical resources. I saw people die that wouldn’t have if they were in the capital and had access to better medicine. That was really hard for me.
What do you miss about Peace Corps?
I miss everything. But it’s still the people that I think about the most. I miss my friends and family that I found in Vanuatu. I’m real grateful for my experience but it was really hard to leave them.
What is something you learned in the Peace Corps?
Peace Corps taught me a lot, and I’m still peeling the onion of lessons learned. I’ve only been back for 6 weeks, so I’m still learning something everyday from my time in the Pacific. One of my biggest takeaways would be how to be vulnerable. Since I was in a village with no stores and not much outside food coming in, I was supported by my host family and their gardens. They showed me so much love and kindness in letting me in the family, and I’ll forever be grateful for them.
Do you have a favorite quote or local saying that you’d like to share?
Laef blong yumi i stap long graon. = Our life is in the ground. A saying that shows the power of mother nature in terms of subsistence farming.
 
 
 
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Photos from Kathleen’s Service
The Peace Corps Story of Ambassador Kathleen Stephens
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.  She again found herself in Korea from 1983-1989, first as a political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul reporting on Korea’s domestic political and human rights scene, and later leading the U.S. Consulate in Busan. Then, in 2008, Kathleen Stephens became U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, the first woman and first Korean-speaker to serve in that position.
Since September 2018, Kathleen Stephens has been serving at President and CEO of the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI). In addition to her time in Korea, other overseas assignments included postings to China, former Yugoslavia, Portugal, Northern Ireland, where she was U.S. Consul General in Belfast during the negotiations culminating in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, and India, where she was U.S. Charge ‘d Affaires (2014-2015).
Ambassador Stephens also served in a number of policy positions in Washington at the Department of State and the White House.  These included acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (2012), Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (2005-2007), Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs (2003-2005), and National Security Council Director for European Affairs at the Clinton White House.
She’s had an illustrious career and by no means is she done. But, where did it all start? The Peace Corps!
On this episode of the My Peace Corps Story podcast, I sit down with Kathleen Stephens at the KEI to talk about her service as a Peace Corps volunteer in South Korea. For some, it may be odd to think of South Korea as a Peace Corps country, but in 1975 it was one of the poorest countries in the world–behind North Korea at the time.
For those interested in the Peace Corps, foreign service, and international diplomacy, this episode is sure to delight.
And links you may be interested in:
If you want to know more about the Korea Economic Institute of America, visit www.KEIA.org
If you want to learn more about the Peace Corps in South Korea, check out Friends of Korea
 
 
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On this Episode:

* My friend Jordan Wicker, co-host of the Speaking Easy Podcast, joins the show to interview me
* I talk a little about my Peace Corps service and my new book, Service Disrupted
* We discuss the Peace Corps, storytelling, and devel into why I started My Peace Corps Story

My Peace Corps Story
Where and when did you serve? What did you do?
I served as an agriculture and small business volunteer in Burkina Faso from 2012 – 2014. For my primary assignment, I worked with a women’s cooperative that processed and packaged locally harvested rice.
What is one of your favorite Peace Corps memories?
More than the food I ate or things I saw in West Africa, my most valuable memories were the conversations. It was through the many long hours of conversations that I built friendships and began to see into another culture. In my journals, I recorded one-liners that stood out during the day. To me, these single sentences underscored how my new friends, family, and acquaintances viewed themselves, the world, and me.
What do you miss about the Peace Corps?
Community, conversations, and connection.
As a Peace Corps Volunteer, large portions of my days were spent talking to people in my village. People regularly came over to my house for no other purpose than to say ‘hello’ and make sure everything was well. It was not foreign to spend long hours seated, talking face-to-face. Sometimes, those hours weren’t even spent talking, but rather merely being alongside others.
Burkinabé valued conversations and greetings. They were not locked away in their private lives. While smartphones, social media, and a culture of individualism were taking hold in Burkina cities, villages still clung to earnest human connection.
At first, the innumerable greetings, salutations, and customary conversations annoyed me. As an American, I didn’t understand why I needed to ask how a person was doing, how their work was going, how their health was, their family, their husband and their kids, before buying tomatoes. The first time I found myself trapped sitting in silence with another person for an hour, simply being, I mentally reviewed the long list of ‘better things’ I could be doing instead. Soon, I learned to love these conversations. Love the silence. Love the being.
Do you have a favorite quote or local saying that you’d like to share?
In Dioula, they say, “Jirikurun men o men ji la, a te ke bama ye” or “No matter how long a log stays in the water, it doesn’t become a crocodile.” As a volunteer, I had to recognize that I would always be slightly out of place in Burkina Faso. Rather than fight it, it was much better to come to terms with and accept the fact that I was different—a lesson applicable beyond the Peace Corps.
 
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Jane Hale served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Chad from 1970 to 1972. She was already proficient in French before applying to the Peace Corps. She began training in Quebec at Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatiere, and continued training in Niamey, Niger. Her preparation included teacher training, student teaching, and instruction in Chadian Arabic. In Chad, Hale was stationed in Abéché, where she taught English as a foreign language (TEFL) in a lycée (secondary school) that provided no text books. The interview includes a thoughtful discussion of “cross-cultural training,” as well as a description of the delicate role of a Peace Corps volunteer in an area where there were many European workers.
Photos from Jane’s Service
 
Interviewed and recorded by Phyllis Noble, August 8, 2016, as part of the JFK RPCV Oral History Project.
 
 
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