1. Cameroon Short, Dark, Handsome Stranger

    My Peace Corps training period took place in Dang – a small village of around 80 in Cameroon’s Centre Province. Although only five people lived at my host family’s home, there was a crowd of 10-15 gathered around in our living room most evenings to watch the new American guy eat couscous de maïs (thick corn mush with a doughy consistency) and hear him attempt to communicate with his broken French and hilarious accent. As no one in my village, other than the other trainees, spoke more than two...

  2. Honduras Truckstop Wall Garden

    El Moral, Sinuapa has charm.  The weathered cowboy community sits along the curve of a single paved road stretching all over Central America.  With the heavy traffic this, otherwise seemingly remote and rural, Western Honduran village gets crafty with the excess waste. 

  3. Bangladesh Getting there

    A rickshawalla pulls his customer to thier destination in the sweltering Bengali heat, a common sight in daily Bangladesh living...

  4. Senegal Mr. Cool

    Adama was taken by a PCV to a hospital participating in Operation Smile to have his cleft lip repaired.  Then he put on a hat and sunglasses to highlight his cool new looks to his friends and family when he got back home.

  5. Senegal Healthy Porridge

    A boy in Senegal eats healthy porridge his mom learned how to make from a PCV healthy porridge demonstration.

  6. Cameroon In the Dark

    A darkness known only to those who have set eyes on a midnight sky in Africa.  A single flame from an ordinary kerosene lamp spilled dancing, tribal-like silhouettes on the walls of my living room.  The crankshaft of the shortwave radio produced a machine-like hum, but did not interfere with the French play-by-play commentary.  Huddled around the cross-section of an oak tree turned coffee table we resembled primitive people eavesdropping on the modern world.  The smell of fresh popcorn was go...

  7. South Africa Dancing With Joy

    Starley Talbott Thompson (aka Anderson) dances with an elder during a traditional wedding celebration in the village of Moruleng, Northwest Province, South Africa.  Onlookers cheered as Starley and her partner danced with joy.  Village weddings are events that take weeks to prepare for, and are attended by most of the residents of the village.

  8. Bangladesh Momentum

    I go back in time, to a surreal memory. The Peace Corps experience was nearly 6 years ago, but the experience still feels close. When I receive e-mails from friends and colleagues, I feel like I’m no longer the Adam they once knew.  After returning to the States – returning to the chaotic hum of other people’s lives -- I never fully reflected on my time in Bangladesh.  I can do that now. Walking down the street in Bangladesh workers yelled from behind, pushing large carts down unpave...

  9. East Timor Talk to a peace corps trainer: Giving up.

    It seems like my whole life was about sitting in training, itching and wishing I had something to eat.  This was a mixed blessing because the rash and the starving were the only things keeping the afternoon swelter from putting me to sleep.  Every so often I would tune back in to our shocks and sandal training coordinator to make sure I didn’t miss something I thought was relevant.  I was excited when I heard his normally hopeful voice drop an octave and become brittle.   I wait on these ...

  10. Zambia Delilah's New Friend

    Delilah my cat looking at my newborn goat Chaco.  They were fascinated by each other.  

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“Sunset at the Railroad” by PCV Nicholas Baylor Hall. Namibia, 2011.