Peace Corps…Alive and Well?
(Click on any of the highlighted links for these blogs) This message goes to all those in the “service industry.” I’m speaking of people like teachers, nurses, NGO workers, Peace Corps volunteers, and others: people who want to make a difference. I have often wondered if I made a difference or influenced others because of…
Tonga, Post Volcanic Explosion
I was on a hiatus, traveling internationally, but I’m back and wanted to give attention to and an update about Tonga where I served as a Peace Corps volunteer from 1973-74. As a member of Friends of Tonga (FOT), this past year has been the most challenging for FOT since their inception. January 14th marked…
“Letters Never Written”
John Kucij served as a Peace Corps volunteer from 1971-1973 in Voinjama, Liberia. John returned to Liberia in 1997 with a Friends of Liberia (FOL) delegation to be an “Observer” of the Liberian presidential election that was to end to civil war. His heart wrenching story of what he found when he returned to Liberia…
“Ripping Out the Seams”
Rebekah Schulz reads an excerpt of her story about the deep bond she formed with a Liberian woman who taught her a valuable lesson during her sewing classes. The fragility of life in Liberia culminated with an ending that Rebekah will never forget. Read the full story and 62 others from 50 authors in our…
“The Concerned Women of Weamamuo”
Nimu Sidhu shares an excerpt of her touching story of how she joined the women in her village in Liberia to protest a dangerous bridge.Their success shows the power of uniting for one common cause. Nimu served two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Vaye Town, Liberia from 2013-14. Read her full story and…
“Peace Corps Goals Liberian Ways”
Maxwell Sines writes a beautiful story contrasting eating, sleeping and living in the Silicon Valley, his home in California, versus Tappita, Liberia where he served as a Peace Corps volunteer from 2010-2012. Read his full story and 62 others from 50 authors in our anthology, Never the Same Again: Life, Service, and Friendship in Liberia.…
PEACE CORPS MAN
Sixty-three short stories and poems were published in the anthology, Never the Same Again: Life Service and Friendship in Liberia. Five of the authors have videoed their experiences and writings and I am honored to share the first one with you. Sit back and allow John to transport you from his hometown in Pennsylvania to…
West Coast Book Launch Video
Here is our taped West Coast Book launch of our Anthology, Never the Same Again, hosted by Village Books in Bellingham, WA with the introduction by the chief editor, Susan Greisen. We had readings from 6 of our authors: Dorothy Hares, John Miller, Joan Hamilton, Susan Greisen, Barbara Burke, and Maxwell Sines. Nearly 100 people…
Planting a Seed
In 1971, my first year as a 20 year-old Peace Corps volunteer in Zorgowee, Liberia, my role was to teach health education to mothers regarding antenatal and well-baby care. In the 70s, infant mortality in the first two weeks of life and maternal mortality was 40%, respectively. This meant that 4 in 10 mothers and…
Beyond Campfire Chatter
While on a camping excursion with friends and neighbors sitting around the campfire on a warm August evening, for some strange reason, the discussion turned to protein foods. Some of us shivered with “Oohs,” “Awes,” and “Yucks” as a few recalled tasting unsavory insects in certain parts of Asia. One of my neighbors, Chris, who…
West Coast Book Launch Success
Thanks to all you for attending the West Coast hybrid book launch for Never the Same Again on September 25th, 2022 held at Village Books in Bellingham, WA. I emceed the event that had close to 70 attend via Zoom and about 20 in person. Conducting a hybrid event was a technical challenge, but we…
War and Reunion
WARNING: This blog may be longer than most and more difficult to read, but for those who want to understand what happened in Nimba County and to the Liberians in my village of Zorgowee including the surrounding areas in 1990, I give you the courage to read on. Do you ever make assumptions from what…
The Passing
Those of you who have read my memoir, In Search of Pink Flamingos, may recall Clara as my house girl in Zorgowee, Liberia. Her real name is Sarah. (I have permission to use her name.) Sarah was older than I thought when I was in Liberia. Though she hadn’t finished grade school, she was about…
PC Liberia’s 60th Celebrations
Three days of celebration honored Peace Corps entry into Liberia in 1962. My last blog focused on the Book Launch of our Anthology, Never the Same Again. Enjoy a selection of photos of FOL members during happy hour 7/22/22 at the Deco Bar in Washington DC. Many of us met for the first time after…
Washington DC Book Launch, 7/24/22 at Busboys and Poets for Never the Same Again: Life Service and Friendship in Liberia
It was all we had hoped for. We packed Busboys and Poets in Washington DC, our launch venue, to capacity with an eager audience of 85. John Coyne from Peace Corps Worldwide sent a roving reporter, Steve Kaffen (RPCV Russia – 1994-96), to document the event. Please click HERE to view his wonderful write-up.Many of…
Going Back
The Covid epidemic put a damper on many of the class reunions over the past two years. This June I returned to Nebraska for a special gathering of my rural one-room grade school students. I write about this iconic school in my memoir. In Search of Pink Flamingos. However it was demolished due to school…
A Thanksgiving Tour
When I arrived in Nebraska in early June, I was returning primarily for my 53rd high school reunion – delayed 3 years because of the pandemic, and a reunion of students from my one-room school house. Both of which I wrote about in my memoir, In Search of Pink Flamingos. But along with reuniting with…
The Rest of the Story
An epilogue is a writing at the end of a piece of literature, usually used to bring closure to the work. When I published my memoir, entitled In Search of Pink Flamingos, the epilogue reflected upon my Peace Corps experience and gathered historical information about Liberia that told a narrative summary of what happened there…
Never the Same Again
After publishing my award-winning memoir, In Search of Pink Flamingos in 2020, FOL (Friends of Liberia) asked me to become the chief editor of their anthology project. Never the Same Again was released in June 2022 and is an incredible historical non-fiction book of its time depicting Liberian life with a collection of stories, poems,…
This Mother’s Day
Have you ever met someone and said, “I want to be like that person some day?” When I was twenty, serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia in 1971, I met such a woman, Ruth Jacobson. Here she is in 1940 graduating with her 3-year diploma of nursing from Tacoma General in WA State.…
Are We Connected?
Once a year, my local bookstore, Village Books provides a writing challenge. This year I was to write something relating to the theme Interconnectedness. Yes, it’s a mouthful. But in the end, we and everything on this planet from the solar system right down to the food chain is connected. I knew immediately what I…
Girls and Women Still Dying
5 decades later I would have hoped things could be better for young girls and women in many parts of the world. But click on this article in the Guardian to learn that the beliefs about womanhood run very deep. Read this article in the Guardian a few days ago. (Delete all the popups so…
Tragedy in Tonga
I arrived in Tonga in 1973 as Peace Corps volunteer supervising a TB and Typhoid vaccination campaign throughout the islands. Here is an excerpt from my memoir, In Search of Pink Flamingos, Chapter, An Island Paradise, about the my work and the wonderful people of Tonga. Despite the general good health of the population, I…
Empty Shelves
No, I didn’t experience the Dust Bowl. I didn’t grow up during the Great Depression, although I was raised by parents who lived through them. The media is having a heyday with our stores having empty shelves depicted with this bone-chilling image. Check out this recent story in the Washington Post. Social media is adding…
Clan Chiefs and the Midwife
(New photo to behind the scenes of In Search of Pink Flamingos) In Chapter, Indigenous Midwives (Part III) I explore how the head midwife, Bendu, wanted the midwives to begin charging families $1.00 for delivering their babies. I had just completed a midwifery course with eleven other midwives and supplied them with a starter delivery…
Truth
If I ever wanted to be mentioned in another author’s book under a specific chapter, I would want it to be entitled “Truth.” My developmental editor, Laura Kalpakian, author of nearly 20 books with numerous awards, mentioned me and In Search of Pink Flamingos as an example in her chapter called Truth. Her newest book,…
Old Boyfriend Resurfaces
Oh yes, the young and restless – I was 19 and Steve, 24. We met in the Virgin Islands at the Peace Corps training in 1971. I was heading to Liberia and he was on his way to Niger. A brief encounter…well because, I was spoken for – pearled to my high school sweetheart. But…
Best Peace Corps Memoir – 2020-21 BOOK AWARD
Friday, August 13th was my lucky day. I was camping on the Olympic Peninsula when I drove to access cell phone reception to check the ferry schedule. My first email was a “Hurray!” from one of my sage counsels. Here is what I read: Peace Corps Worldwide has selected In Search of Pink Flamingos as…
Fulani Woman, Liberian Woman
I am an occasional poet. Unexpectedly, stanzas flow from my brain, to my hand, to the keyboard. I took a poetry class recently that helped me create these two pieces that I want to share with you. Both reflect stories written in my memoir. The first poem of Fulani Woman helped to write the second…
The Priceless Goatskin Handbag
Why is the value of an object not fully appreciated until its gone? When I returned from my three years in the Peace Corps, I had many artifacts and memorabilia. But with retirement and downsizing in my future, I began to unload some of my treasures that I had kept for almost 50 years. One…
From Dream to Reality
It’s one thing for your friends, family, and colleagues to like your book. But it is another when the critics/experts select it for an award. I didn’t actually understand what I was applying for in April of 2020, just a few days after my book was published. I thought it was a local reviewing Award…
Malaria, the Killer
News Release 23-Apr-2021 / University of Oxford https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-04/uoo-mvb042221.php Malaria vaccine becomes first to achieve WHO-specified 75% efficacy goal Researchers from the University of Oxford and their partners have today reported findings from a Phase IIb trial of a candidate malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix-M, which demonstrated high-level efficacy of 77% over 12-months of follow-up. When I arrived in…
Icing on the Cake
April is my month; my birth month. It is always special to me. But this one was extra special. I not only celebrated the big seven zero with a some fanfare, but also was the guest author at another Zoom book club (more about that in my next blog). In addition, this was the month…
How Will I Know?
My essay, How Will I Know?, was accepted in the Whatcom Reads Anthology of stories and poetry entitled Reconciliation. It was published this week. I will be reading a 3 minute excerpt of the essay on 2/21/21 at my local bookstore, Village Books. This was rewritten from the chapter entitled “Reconciliation” in my memoir, In…
Zoom Book Club – A Success!
My one-room school teacher, Velma read my book, told her PEO book club members about it, and then procured 12 of my books for her club. On February 10th, 2021 I was invited as the guest author. Kally, Janie and Velma led a robust discussion and Q&A with several of their members living in Arizona.…
Ruffles and a Little Red Purse
“…the purity and vulnerability of this incredibly earnest child…” is a quote from Christopher Davenport, author of The Tin Can Crucible. His description of little Susan in her memoir is telling. Yet, this was only the beginning.Susan recently discovered this 1954 photo on a View Master slide in a box of old pictures. Here she…
SFSU Magazine
My alma mater, San Francisco State University, just published their Fall/Winter 2020 Magazine and I’m now in the who’s who listing for those who graduated in the ’70s. SFSU gave me the best nursing education and I am proud to be one of its alumna.
Timbuktu, a Place Lost in Time
Forty-seven years ago almost to the day, just before New Years, I was traveling West Africa on vacation from my Peace Corps assignment in Liberia. The iconic Timbuktu was one imperative stop on my route. Following are excerpts from my book of this journey and proof this place really exists. Part VI: Chapter; Planes, Trains,…
Opposite Ends of the Globe
A Foreign Service Officer stationed at the American Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia (Central Asia) wrote me for a request. I paused in amazement wondering why I was contacted by this stranger from the State Department. How did he find me? In his quest for authors to endorse his upcoming memoir, Christopher came across my book,…
Deportation
So what was I thinking? I felt invincible at age 20 until I was strong- armed by two soldiers each sporting an AK-47. I entered Niger, a country on the edge of the Sahara Desert, without a visa where I didn’t speak the language. So what’s the big deal? This never mattered to me back…
I Refuse
I refuse to let the cloud of Covid -19 and the pandemic get me down. Some days it wins, but mostly I rise above it. I actually have much to be thankful for regarding my memoir. Here is one acknowledgment I can add to my resume. My publisher, (now Sidekick Press) has nominated my memoir,…
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Susan E. Greisen 