crpca march 2016 newsletter · crpca member and film festival committee member portland thorns...

CRPCA March 2016 - Volume 36, Issue 3

Serving our community.Engaging the world.

March 2016 Newsletter – Volume 36, Issue 3

Read Ahead for the CRPCA Book Club Update

Inside this newsletter

NPCA President Glenn Blumhorst to visit Northwest RPCVs

Portland Thorns tickets on sale through March 3

Final Weekend of the Cascade Festival of African Films

CRPCA March to May events

World Friendship Day

RPCVs: West Coast career fair comes to Portland

CRPCA Book Club to host six authors in 2016

International Service Opportunity

NPCA President Glenn Blumhorst to visit Northwest RPCVs

National Peace Corps Association President Glenn Blumhorst (RPCV Guatemala 1988-1991) is

planning his March visit to the Pacific Northwest around the Northwest Regional Peace Corps

Group Leaders meeting of Saturday, March 19 in Portland. During his few days in Portland, he'll

also speak to the Thirsters, attend a CRPCA Restaurant Gathering, and meet with folks new to

NPCA. He'll also visit CRPCA's sister organizations in Eugene and Seattle, and he is also

considering visiting the RPCV communities in Ashland and Spokane. RPCVs of Portland, make plans to meet Glenn and learn about NPCA's latest initiatives March 17-19.

Glenn Blumhorst is President of the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA), a national

membership organization for individuals influenced by the Peace Corps experience. He

launched his career with the Peace Corps, serving as an agriculture extension Volunteer in

Guatemala from 1988-91. Working with 18 rural Mayan Indian communities in the central

highlands, he helped increase the economic capacity of 650 smallholder families through

alternative technologies, production diversification, and resource conservation practices. Prior

to joining the NPCA, he was the Chief of Party and Country Representative for ACDI/VOCA in

Colombia. Glenn holds both graduate and undergraduate degrees from the University of

Missouri-Columbia: a Master of Public Administration, with an emphasis on International

Development Management, and a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with an emphasis in

Agricultural Economics. When not working, Glenn enjoys photography and flying – his photos

have been published in multiple media and he is a licensed private pilot.

Final Weekend of the Cascade Festival of African Films

Thank you CRPCA for supporting Cascade Festival of African Films in another wonderful season

of African films in Portland. This is the final week spotlighting women filmmakers. Please join us

this Thursday, Friday and Saturday, March 3, 4, and 5th, as we wrap up this year's festival. New

this year is the Saturday Social Hour(March 5th) beginning at 6 p.m. with an African marketplace,

music and camaraderie, meeting new and old friends. See the schedule for Women's Filmmaker

Week at www.africanfilmfestival.org

Bobbie Carrie

CRPCA Member and Film Festival Committee Member

Portland Thorns tickets on sale through March 3

CRPCA March to May events

March 2016

Tuesday 3/01, 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm - Story Slam for Peace Corps Week at Portland State University's Smight Memorial Student Union, SW Broadway & Harrison in Portland, room 296. Anyone is welcome to attend, and RPCVs are invited to deliver short stories. Seehttp://www.peacecorps.gov/volunteer/learn/meet/events/23727/ for more information onthis Peace Corps recruiting event.

Friday 3/04, 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm - Service Activity: Hospitality for the Homeless at St. André Bessette, 601 W Burnside St in Portland. Servers, dishwashers, and greeters needed to provide a meal and hospitality for Portland's homeless individuals. The shift includes a 6:15 volunteer meal (vegetarian for a Lenten Friday). RSVP by Wed 3/02 to service AT crpca.org.

Saturday 3/05, 10:30 am to 1:00 pm - Committee for a Museum of the Peace Corps

Through Thursday, March 3, CRPCA is selling discounted general admission vouchers valid at

all ten Portland Thorns (National Womens Soccer League) regular season home games in 2016.

Sunday 4/17, 7:00 pm vs. Orlando Pride

Saturday 5/21, 7:00 pm vs. Washington Spirit

Sunday 5/29, 4:00 pm vs. Seattle Reign

Wednesday 6/22, 7:00 pm vs. Chicago Red Stars

Saturday 7/02, 7:30 pm vs. Sky Blue (New Jersey)

Saturday 7/09, 7:30 pm vs. Kansas City

Saturday 7/30, 7:30 pm vs. Seattle Reign

Sunday 9/04, 4:00 pm vs. Boston Breakers

Wednesday 9/07, 7:00 pm vs. Houston Dash

Sunday 9/11, 6:30 pm vs. Western New York Flash

After you pay $5.50 per ticket at http://www.crpca.org/checkout/, CRPCA President Tom

DeMeo, president AT crpca.org, will deliver your vouchers by mail or at a CRPCA event. Then

when you know which game(s) you wish to attend, you’ll need to trade in the vouchers for

tickets at the Providence Park box office.

Experience Meeting at Hollywood Library, 4040 NE Tillamook St in Portland. CMPCE will be preparing our presentation to Glenn Blumhorst, the NPCA president who will be in Portland March 19th. This is an exciting time in the history of the committee as we are preparing to move forward in collaboration with CRPCA and hopefully the NPCA to realize the vision of a museum. We welcome and encourage Portland's RPCVs to attend to be a part of our committee. For more information, contact pcmuseum AT gmail.com.

Sunday 3/06, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm - Potluck Gathering, 2090 NW Overton Ct in Beaverton. Please bring a dish to share to the 6pm potluck dinner. After dinner, starting at 7pm, there will be a program: Portland State University's Peter Bechtold discusses Reasons for so much instability in Africa and the Middle East. Hosted by Lesly Sanocki, 503-690-3391.

Tuesday 3/08, 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm - Book Club, 5450 SW 18th Dr in Portland. The book to read is Kilometer 99 (2014). Participating in our discussion–via Skype–will be El Salvador RPCV Tyler McMahon, the book’s author! Feel free to bring snacks to share. See our Book Club page for more details. Hosted by Peggy McClure, 503-453-2089.

Friday 3/11, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm - Salon Francophone. 4315 N Garfield Ave in Portland.

RSVP required to francais AT crpca.org or 509-851-8885. Please bring a dish to share. Pendant et après le dîner, nous allons parler français. Tout ce qui en parle est bienvenue, de n'import quel niveau et age. Hosted by Elizabeth Wartluft.

Monday 3/14, 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm - ¡Si se puede!. The Conquistador, 2045 SE Belmont St in

Portland. RSVP required to espanol AT crpca.org or 503-462-2426. Una noche especial para

comer, beber, y conversar en español. Para todos los que tienen interés en el idioma.

Tuesday 3/15, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm - Writers' Workshop, 2646 NW Overton St in Portland. Hosted by Jenny Tsai, restaurant AT crpca.org. Please bring a writing sample and perhaps a snack to share. See our Writers' Workshop page for more information.

Friday 3/18 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm - Restaurant Gathering - E'Njoni Café, 910 NKillingsworth St in Portland. Come join us for a delicious African meal with National Peace Corps Association president Glenn Blumhorst. The plan will be to order large family style platters with meat and vegetarian options. RSVP by Wed 3/16 to Jenny Tsai via 503-970-3387 or restaurant AT crpca.org.

Saturday 3/19, 11:00 am to 2:00 pm - Northwest RPCV Group Leaders Meeting. Portland Community College Cascade Campus, Terrell Hall room 112 ("TH" athttp://www.pcc.edu/about/locations/map/#ca). RPCV group leaders from around Idaho, Oregon, and Washington will participate in this annual meeting that's been a hallmark of the RPCV groups in our region for over 25 years. Our special guests this year will be visitors from the National Peace Corps Association and the Committee for a Museum of the Peace Corps Experience. CRPCA will be hosting this meeting. Here is the draft agenda.

updates from all groups in attendance (CRPCA, Idaho RPCVs, INPCA, SEAPAX, WCPCA) NPCA report from NPCA President Glenn BlumhorstMuseum of the Peace Corps Experience report from CMPCE President Nicole Dino future Western representation on the NPCA boardupcoming regional campout and regional meeting hosts

Monday 3/28, 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm - Pub Night - Alameda Brewhouse, 4765 NE Fremont St in Portland. Formally Soirée, now known as Pub Night. Please note this will be held at Alameda Brewhouse. This is a great way to link up with other RPCVs, hear interesting stories from around the world, and grab a drink and a bite to eat among good company.

Wednesday 3/30, 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm - Job Search Support Group - Lloyd Center in Portland. This is an informal gathering of RPCVs, CRPCA members and friends who are seeking new work opportunities and contacts. Meet at 7pm in the Lloyd Center Food Court (3rd floor west end overlooking ice rink); exit the elevator to the left side of the food court and look for a CRPCA sign plate table overlooking the ice rink edge, or call Gordon Young at 206-351-6465 for the location as you arrive. Contact Gordon at networking AT crpca.org for more information.

April 2016

Friday, 4/01 - Registration Begins for CRPCA Campout, The Campout this year will be

held at Lake Sylvia State Park, 1812 Lake Sylvia Rd N, Montesano, WA on June 24-27. Pricing information will be forthcoming in the April Newslettter.

Sunday, 4/10, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm - Potluck Gathering, 4261 SE Alder St in Portland. Please

bring a dish to share to the 6pm potluck dinner. After dinner, starting at 7pm, there will be a

business meeting, at which we'll elect our 2016-2017 board members and award up to $2,000 in

grants. Hosted by Anne Kimberly, 503-234-4094.

Sunday 4/17, 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm - ¡Si se puede!. 5405 NW Deerfield Way in Portland. Una

cena especial con comida a la que cada invitado lleva un plato y vamos a conversar y practicar

español. Para todos los que tienen interés en el idioma. A potluck gathering hosted by Paul and

Susie Robillard, 503-430-1776. RSVP to espanol AT crpca.org or 503-462-2426.

Tuesday 4/19, 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm - Book Club, 2373 NW Pettygrove St in Portland. The book to read is Those Were the Days: A Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines in the Late '60s (2014). Participating in our discussion-–in person-–will be the author, CRPCA's James Beebe! See our Book Club page for more details. Feel free to bring snacks to share. Hosted by Maria and James Beebe, 971-229-0780.

Friday 4/22, 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm - Salon Francophone, 5545 N Greeley Ave in Portland.

RSVP required to francais AT crpca.org or 509-851-8885. Please bring a dish to share. Pendant

et après le dîner, nous allons parler français. Tout ce qui en parle est bienvenue, de n'import

quel niveau et age. Hosted by Elizabeth Siping, .

Monday 4/25, 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm - International Development Happy Hour, Lucky

Labrador Tap Room, 1700 N Killingsworth St in Portland. Co-hosted by CRPCA, IRCO, Jubilee

Oregon, RESULTS-Portland, and Women's International Leadership and Learning. An informal

gathering to share information, resources and network and just plain chat over food and drink.


Saturday 4/30 - 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade. Join us as we participate in Portland's most

multicultural parade, proudly carrying our country-of-service flags. Stay tuned to CRPCA for more

details. The parade will begin at 9:30 am so our group will meet earlier. The parade goes from

Eastport Plaza north to SE 80th & Yamhill.

May 2016

Monday 5/02, 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm - Peace Corps Sendoff - Multnomah County Central Library, 801 SW 10th Ave in Portland, US Bank room (just to the right of the front door). From PeaceCorps.gov: "This is our most exciting Portland event of the year. Here's who you will meet: local people who will soon be leaving for Peace Corps service; people who have recently returned from Peace Corps service; and family members of people who are currently serving. If you've ever thought of going into the Peace Corps, this event will give you a good sense of what people are doing at their posts around the world. It's a great meet-n-greet, informal event. Come join us as we wish those going off into the Peace Corps well!"

Tuesday 5/03, 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm - Book Club, at the home of Ellen Urbani in West Linn. The book to read is Landfall (2015). Participating in our discussion–in person–will be CRPCA's Ellen Urbani (Guatemala 1991-1993), the book’s author! Contact bookclub AT crpca.org for directions to the venue. See our Book Club page for more details on the book. Feel free to bring snacks to share.

Saturday 5/14, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm - Potluck Gathering - 4104 SE Yamhill St in Portland. Hosted by Shelley Bedell, 503-233-1471. Please bring a dish to share to the 6pm potluck dinner. After dinner, starting at 7pm, there will be a TBA program.

Monday 5/23, 6;30 pm to 8:30 pm - Salon Francophone - 3748 SE Salmon St in Portland. Salon Francophone is a gathering of French speakers. All levels and ages are welcome! Please bring an appetizer (French, healthy, delicious would be nice) and/or beverage to share. RSVP to Lee at 503-236-0998 or chuckandleen AT gmail.com


Monday 5/30, 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm - Pub Night, Lucky Labrador Brew Pub, 915 SE Hawthorne

Blvd in Portland. Meet other Returned Peace Corps Volunteers in an informal surrounding over a

glass of beer or wine. For this month only we're back at the front of the SE Lucky Lab, our historic

venue.

Events after May can be found on our event calendar: http://www.crpca.org/crpca-events/

World Friendship Day

Commemorating the founding of Friendship Force International in 1977. Sponsored by

Friendship Force Columbia Cascade at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 426 E Fourth Plain,

Vancouver, WA, Saturday, March 12 11:30 am - 3:30 pm.

Come to World Friendship Day:

• Say hello at the CRPCA table!

• Learn about travel opportunities with homestays.

• Learn how you can host international guests.

• Savor international foods in the World Food Sampler

• Learn how the high school Model UN provides opportunities for new world leadership.

• Find out how Health in Harmony provides health services to Indonesians to protecting the

environment and Orangutans.

• Listen to the great music provided by the NW Harmony Chorus.

• Meet the leaders and spokespersons from international focused organizations located here, so

you can get involved.

• Create Artist’s Trading Cards that will be given to international hosts on world travels.

• Buy quality hand-made gifts from around the world

Event is Free & open to the public. A fabulous World Food Sampler lunch is available from C & L

Catering at $16.50. Reservations for lunch must be made before the event. Make checks payable

to FFCC and mail to 4326 SE Woodstock, #481, Portland, OR 97206. Checks must arrive no

later than March 1, 2016. Questions? Call Lori Reynolds, 503-504-0408. Facility has ADA-wheel

chair access. Ample off street parking Easy access to facility – look for balloons.

RPCVs: West Coast career fair comes to Portland

Attend the West Coast Regional RPCV Career Conference and Job Fair and learn strategies to

make yourself stand out from other job-seekers while networking with other RPCVs and

RPCV-friendly employers.

Register to attend any or all sessions - or just the career fair!

***Note: This event is open only to returned Peace Corps Volunteers.

Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building

Conference Room 1B

1220 SW 3rd Ave

Portland, Oregon 97204

Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at 8:30 AM - Wednesday, March 23, 2016 at 4:00 PM (PDT)

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2016:8:30 – 9:00 a.m. Registration9:00 – 10:00 a.m. Readjustment and Storytelling for the Job Search10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Networking: LinkedIn, Elevator Pitch, InformationalInterviews12:00 – 1:00 p.m. LUNCH (on your own)12:30 – 1:00 p.m. Optional Peace Corps Response Info Session1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Cover Letters: Making the Case2:00 – 2:15 p.m. Break2:15 – 4:00 p.m. Resume Writing 1014:00 - 5:00 p.m. Resume Writing Lab—Group Breakouts & Feedback5:00 - 7:00 p.m. Informal Networking Mixer, Killer Burger, 510 SW 3rdAve.

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2016:8:30 – 9:00 a.m. Registration9:00 – 10:00 a.m. Leveraging Your NCE & Federal Employment10:00 – 10:15 a.m. Break10:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Acing the Job Interview12:00 – 12:30 p .m. Making the Most of the Career Fair/Q&A12:30 – 2:00 p.m. LUNCH (on your own)2:00 – 4:00 p.m. Career Fair—featuring regional employers

CRPCA Book Club to host six authors in 2016

CRPCA’s Book Club gatherings are open to all who have read that month’s book. Typically

we start out discussing the book, and inevitably someone relates a theme in the book to their

own experiences or other readings, so the conversation takes an interesting turn.

Our Book Club discusses books of broad interest set in parts of the world in which Peace Corps

Volunteers have served, or books which were authored by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers.

We discuss fiction and nonfiction works by authors from around the world, and we love author

appearances! Between March and October 2016, authors James Beebe, Tyler McMahon,

Edith Mirante, Tim Schell, Kilong Ung, and Ellen Urbani are joining our discussions of their

books.

This fall we will survey members regarding our 2017 books; title recommendations are

accepted for the next six months at bookclub AT crpca.org. In the meantime, consider joining

the discussions of any or all of our next ten book selections.

March 2016 Book Club Selection

McMahon, Tyler*: Kilometer 99 (2014)

* RPCV El Salvador (1999-2002)

Discussion: Tuesday, March 8, 2016, 6:30-8:00 pm. Location at the home of Peggy

McClure, 5450 SW 18th Dr in Portland, 503-453-2089. Participating in our discussion–via

Skype–will be Tyler McMahon, the book’s author! Feel free to bring snacks to share.

Review: © Booklist: In his second novel (after How the Mistakes Were Made, 2011), McMahon

once again focuses on an adventurous young woman, this time a Peace Corps volunteer in El

Salvador. Hawaiian-born Malia has come to El Salvador with a newly minted engineering

degree, and she throws herself into helping a rural village build an aqueduct to bring

much-needed water to the villagers. She spends her weekends with her boyfriend, Ben, surfing

the perfect waves just off the coastal city of La Libertad. Then a devastating earthquake wipes

out a year’s worth of her work, and she finds herself reluctantly agreeing to spend the next

year surfing with Ben, torn between her ambitions and her desire for the perfect adventure.

But a robbery and an ill-timed meeting with a shady developer derail the couple’s travel plans.

Instead of following the waves south, they find themselves desperately short of money and

involved in a dangerous scheme to deliver drugs to renegade dealers. In this dark adventure

tale, McMahon summons both the mystical joys of surfing and the angst of young people trying

to navigate a treacherous world.

Where to find it:

Libraries: Ft Vancouver | Multnomah Co

Vendors: Powell’s | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

April 2016 Book Club Selection

Beebe, James*: Those Were the Days: A Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines in the

Late ’60s (2014)

* RPCV Philippines (1968-1973)

Discussion: Tuesday, April 19, 2016, 6:30-8:00 pm. Location at the home of Maria and James

Beebe, 2373 NW Pettygrove St in Portland, 971-229-0780. Participating in our discussion–in

person–will be CRPCA’s James Beebe, the book’s author! Feel free to bring snacks to share.

Abstract: A series of vignettes of significant, often funny, sometimes quite serious, events and

encounters based on James’ Peace Corps experience in the Philippines. As a Volunteer from

October 1968 to May 1973 James was profoundly changed by the joy of life and economic

inequality he discovered while serving in the Philippines. He helped introduce a new

activity-based approach to science teaching, learned the truth of the children’s rhyme that

“Planting Rice is No Fun,” and taught part-time at a College. Life included buying a one-of-

a-kind mosquito net, being offered a love potion, witnessing the funeral processions of poor

babies, holidays, and being attacked by dogs after eating dog meat. The cloud of the Vietnam

War had a significant impact. The most life-changing event almost didn’t happen when Maria,

the “matchmaker’s” intended choice, accused the Peace Corps of “fascism, imperialism, and

neocolonialism.” Renewed efforts the next year resulted in an accepted marriage proposal 6

weeks later. James then had to secure the blessings of her grandmother, Huk Kumander

Dayang-dayang, for a marriage 2 weeks later. They had to wade through a waste-high flood on

their wedding day and spent their honeymoon in a 350 year old Catholic convent. Maria’s

naturalization as a US citizen and acceptance into Peace Corps occurred during a 6 week trip

to the US after which they returned as Volunteers to the Philippines.

Where to find it:


May 2016 Book Club Selection

Urbani, Ellen*: Landfall (2015)

* RPCV Guatemala (1991-1993)

Discussion: Tuesday, May 3, 2016, 6:30-8:00 pm. Location at the home of Ellen Urbani in

West Linn. Participating in our discussion–in person–will be CRPCA’s Ellen Urbani,

the book’s author! Contact bookclub AT crpca.org for directions to the venue. Feel free to bring snacks to share.

Synopsis: Two mothers and their teenage daughters, whose lives collide in a fatal car crash,

take turns narrating Ellen Urbani’s breathtaking novel, Landfall, set in the wake of Hurricane

Katrina. Eighteen-year-olds Rose and Rosebud have never met but they share a birth year, a

name, and a bloody pair of sneakers. Rose’s quest to atone for the accident that kills Rosebud,

a young woman so much like herself but for the color of her skin, unfolds alongside Rosebud’s

battle to survive the devastating flooding in the Lower Ninth Ward and to find help for her

unstable mother. These unforgettable characters give voice to the dead of the storm and, in a

stunning twist, demonstrate how what we think we know can make us blind to what matters

most.

Where to find it:

Libraries: Clackamas Co | Ft Vancouver | Multnomah Co | Washington Co


June 2016 Book Club Selection

Mirante, Edith: Wind in the Bamboo: A Journey in Search of Asia’s “Negrito” Indigenous

People (2014)

Discussion: Tuesday, June 7, 2016, 7:00-8:30 pm. Location at the home of Carole

Beauclerk, 1500 SW Park Ave in Portland. On-street parking in downtown Portland is free

beginning at 7:00 pm. Upon arrival, call 503-780-2722 to be buzzed in, then turn right into the

building’s lobby and then take an immediate left into the community room. Participating in

our discussion–in person–will be Edith Mirante, thebook’s author! Feel free to bring snacks

to share.

Synopsis: Historically defined as ‘Negrito’ because they physically resemble small Africans,

these hunter-gatherers may have the most ancient ancestry in Asia. Nearly exterminated by

disease and a cataclysmic volcanic eruption, they now survive in forests of Malaysia, the

Philippines and India’s Andaman Islands. Some are armed with spears and blowpipes, a few

with mobile phones and graduate degrees. Edith Mirante reveals the story of the ‘Negrito’

peoples through a compelling Chatwinesque narrative of journeys into their remaining lands.

Where to find it:

Libraries: Multnomah Co


Murphy, Dervla: Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle (1965)

Discussion: Tuesday, July 5, 2016, 6:30-8:00 pm. Location at the home of Jackie

Spurlock, 4101 SW Hillsdale Ave in Portland, 503-827-4126. Feel free to bring snacks to share.

Review: © Publishers Weekly: Here is the first American appearance of a book by Irish travel

writer Murphy. Originally published in 1965, it is the diary of her bicycle trek from Dunkirk,

across Europe, through Iran and Afghanistan, over the Himalayas to Pakistan and India.

Murphy’s immediate rapport with the people she alights among is vibrant and appealing and

makes her travelogue unique. Venturing alone, accompanied only by her bicycle, which she

dubs Rozthe indomitable Murphy not only survives daunting physical rigors but gleans

considerable enjoyment in getting to know peoples who were then even more remote than

they are now.

Where to find it:

Libraries: Multnomah Co | Washington Co


August 2016 Book Club Selection

July 2016 Book Club Selection

Ung, Kilong: Golden Leaf: A Khmer Rouge Genocide Survivor (2009)

Discussion: Tuesday, August 2, 2016, 6:30-8:00 pm. Location at the home of Mari

Levesque, 1946 SE 22nd Ave in Portland, 503-858-0621. Participating in our discussion–in

person–will be Kilong Ung, the book’s author! Feel free to bring snacks to share.

Synopsis: This is a first-hand account of the life of Kilong Ung who grew up in Battambang,

Cambodia and whose life dramatically changed in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge took over

Cambodia. Told from the eyes of the boy that he was, this is an honest, real account that takes

the reader through Kilong’s experiences as if one were actually there, without any need for

embellishment of the story. This book gives the readers an insight that no history book could.

It provides not just an insight into the Khmer Rouge and the terrible extermination of two

million people but an insight into humanity, how it is possible for a people to be subjected to

mass cruelty and hardship by a ruling power, and yet how an individual against the odds could

endure this and do what it took to survive, even as tragedy befell his family. Kilong saw

himself as a leaf, a golden leaf, at the mercy of mercurial winds. Yet through fortune and the

help of others he survived against the odds, and was able to come to America, penniless and

unable to speak English. The tale follows how he adapted to the new culture and made himself

a success. The story is filled with humorous incidents as he adapts to American culture as well

as poignant emotional times where he grapples with the demons of the past, struggling to

overcome the terrible experiences and memories, even as he gains material success in

American life. Then when an opportunity for revenge presents itself he is faced with a moral

dilemma that will decide his life. Kilong has painstakingly composed a chronicle of his life over

countless hours, testing the limits of his emotions. Much of this book was written in an unlikely

environment; Starbucks café, whom Kilong publicly thanks for “providing power outlets, public

restrooms, soft music, and Americano-inspired recoveries from writing blocks.”

Where to find it:



September 2016 Book Club Selection

Eire, Carlos N.M.: Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy* (2003)

* 2003 National Book Award for Nonfiction

Discussion: Wednesday, September 14, 2016, 6:30-8:00 pm. Location at the home of Teri

Kaliher, 4841 SW Richardson Dr in Portland,503-246-7103. Feel free to bring snacks to share.

Review: © The New Yorker: At the start of the nineteen-sixties, an operation called Pedro Pan

flew more than fourteen thousand Cuban children out of the country, without their parents,

and deposited them in Miami. Eire, now a professor of history and religion at Yale, was one of

them. His deeply moving memoir describes his life before Castro, among the aristocracy of old

Cuba—his father, a judge, believed himself to be the reincarnation of Louis XVI—and, later, in

America, where he turned from a child of privilege into a Lost Boy. Eire’s tone is so urgent and

so vividly personal (he is even nostalgic about Havana’s beautiful blue clouds of DDT) that his

unsparing indictments of practically everyone concerned, including himself, seem all the more

remarkable.

Where to find it:



October 2016 Book Club Selection

Schell, Tim*: The Drums of Africa (2007)

* RPCV Central African Republic (1978-1979)

Discussion: Wednesday, October 5, 2016, 6:30-8:00 pm. Location at the home of Rosemary

Furfey, 7022 SW 33rd Ave in Portland, 503-708-8937. Participating in our discussion–in

person-–will be Tim Schell, the book’s author! Feel free to bring snacks to share.

Synopsis: Tim Schell’s first novel, THE DRUMS OF AFRICA, is a gripping and timely tale of two

young Americans, Val and Glen, arriving in Africa as Peace Corps volunteers in the 1970s, filled

with altruism, naivete and a thirst for adventure. As the line between adventure and

catastrophe narrows, Schell masterfully creates a mosaic of cultural perspectives and ethical

tensions between faith and its lack, politics and revolutionary coups, lust and love set against

an exotic backdrop rife with sorcerers, priests, corrupt politicians, poachers, coffee farmers,

Peace Corps workers and prostitutes, a place leading each character inward to unexpected

self-revelation and self-sacrifice. A richly panoplied novel, alive with sensuous detail and

compelling narrative, THE DRUMS OF AFRICA is both an adventure tale and a philosophical

rumination on the power of crisis and contradiction to test and ultimately transform ideals,

laws, ancient instincts, faith and the challenges presented by human love met by human

courage.

Where to find it:


November 2016 Book Club Selection

Park, Yeonmi, with Maryanne Vollers: In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to

Freedom (2015)

Discussion: Monday, November 7, 2016, 6:30-8:00 pm. Location at the home of Anne

Kimberly, 4261 SE Alder St in Portland, 503-234-4094. Feel free to bring snacks to share.

Review: © Kirkus Reviews: The latest in an increasing number of narratives of escape from

North Korea. Human rights activist Park, who fled North Korea with her mother in 2007 at age

13 and eventually made it to South Korea two years later after a harrowing ordeal, recognized

that in order to be “completely free,” she had to confront the truth of her past. It is an ugly,

shameful story of being sold with her mother into slave marriages by Chinese brokers, and

although she at first tried to hide the painful details when blending into South Korean society,

she realized how her survival story could inspire others. Moreover, her sister had also escaped

earlier and had vanished into China for years, prompting the author to go public with her story

in the hope of finding her sister. The trauma underlying Park’s story begins in her hometown of

Hyesan, North Korea, just across the Yalu River from China. There, the state-supported

economy had collapsed, leaving the people to fend for themselves. The author survived the

famine of the 1990s thanks to the black-market trading of her enterprising parents. In an

oppressed, heavily censored society where one is not allowed to think for oneself and “even

the birds and mice can hear you whisper,” the police hounded the family and eventually

nabbed the father for smuggling. Rumors that North Korean women could find jobs in China

lured the women to agree to be smuggled across the river, where rape and hideous

exploitation awaited from the hands of a network of Chinese human traffickers. In a fluid

narrative facilitated by co-author Vollers (Lone Wolf: Eric Rudolph: Murder, Myth, and the

Pursuit of an American Outlaw, 2006, etc.), Park offers poignant details of life in both North

Korea and South Korea, where the refugees were largely regarded as losers and failures before

they were even given a chance. An eloquent, wrenchingly honest work that vividly represents

the plight of many North Koreans.

Where to find it:



December 2016 Book Club Selection

Yousafzai, Malala*, with Christina Lamb: I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood up for Education

and Changed the World (2013)

* 2014 Nobel Peace Prize

Discussion: Monday, December 5, 2016, 7:00-8:30 pm. Location at the home of Mike

Waite, 7008 Kansas St in Vancouver WA, 360-314-4117. Note the later than usual start to avoid

most of rush hour on our region’s most congested bridges. Feel free to bring snacks to share.

Review: © Library Journal: On October 9, 2012, the teenage Yousafzai was very nearly

assassinated by members of the Taliban who objected to her education and women’s rights

activism in Pakistan. Currently, she lives in Birmingham, England, under threat of execution by

the Taliban if she returns home to Pakistan’s Swat Valley. Through this book, however, she can

continue arguing for her beliefs. Named Foreign Correspondent of the Year five times, Lamb

has been reporting from Pakistan for 26 years and seems like just the right person to help

Yousafzai tell her hugely significant story.

Where to find it:



International Service Opportunity

An experienced Habitat for Humanity Global Village trip leader, is co-founder of The

Community Project/Ethiopia (http://communityproject.org). This is a service project in a

community of 600 families outside of Debre Birhan (two hours outside of Addis Ababa). The

project is being overseen by Engineers Without Borders (http://www.ewb-usa.org):

constructing five school buildings, a community garden and a community center. Most likely we

will be working on one of the school buildings. We will be leading a service trip to this

community May 14-28, 2016 (before the rainy season begins in July) and are inviting you to join

us.

The trip cost of $1700 (plus airfare) is tax deductible in our experience. This covers your hotel,

meals, and local transportation for 14 days. Air fares seem reasonable at this time (for

example: $800 RT on Turkish Airlines from JFK to Addis). A tourist visa fee of $50 will be

collected upon arrival at the Addis Abba airport. You will need to have a “ current” passport (=

not expiring for at least 6 months). Please check the CDC site (http://www.cdc.gov) or with

your doctor regarding necessary and recommended shots. (Debre Birhan is at 9000 feet

elevation, so mosquitoes are not a problem).

You are one of a group of people we feel would enjoy this experience, make a good team

member, and bring special skills to those we will meet on this journey. We would like to have

our team of 10 selected by the end of March. If you are interested, or have any questions,

please let us know. We have done a Habitat project in Addis Ababa and look forward to

another visit to amazing Ethiopia. We are very excited about the possibility of sharing this

tremendous experience with you! For more information contact info at communityproject.org.

Copyright © 2016 Columbia River Peace Corps Association, Allrights reserved.

crpca march 2016 newsletter · crpca member and film festival committee member portland thorns...

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