1. Ukraine Angel Tree

    This about a project we did at Christmas time called "Angel Tree"  It went like this: Peace Corps Volunteers and our University Students went to local orphanages and had kids write down gifts that they wanted on paper angles.  Many of the kids asked for gifts that were far to expensive, such as bikes, Playstations and cell phones (some specified models).  One boy actually asked for a Rolex.  Then we put the paper angels on a tree outside a mall and asked people to take an angel ...

  2. China Defying Gravity

    Classes are canceled, spring has arrived, and faculty, staff, and students at universities around this country thrill with excitement. In Chongqing, the usually staid and serious teachers gather out on the track in matching jumpsuits, waving banners and talking trash while they prepare to march before crowds of students cheering from the sidelines. Ride the wave of anticipation that resonates through the air as loudspeakers blare with spirited commentary and call out events—the long jump, the...

  3. Ukraine Celebrating freedom a backbreaker

    Monday, September 24, 2001 By Christie Appelhanz SELESHCHINA, Ukraine -- The fall of the Soviet Union changed the way the world works from Beijing to the Beltway. It didn't, however, change the way Luda works in this quiet village of 5,000, where the cows still walk down the main street unescorted every morning to graze. Well, maybe things are a little worse, she says, since they lifted price controls and the cost of food soared. Luda survived the economic collapse of the ...

  4. Azerbaijan Ouch!

    I couldn't believe my eyes when I first saw this.  The person in the picture was my host mother who had a cold or something (I was to new to the country too understand what the deal what), but this was one remedy for it. 

  5. Liberia Fishing in Lofa

    This is a photo of a neighbor girl who was out waist deep in the lagoon fishing with her grandmother, she came upon this nest and brought it out of the reeds to show me. The sun was setting and everything came out better than I could have planned.

  6. Bangladesh Metalworking in 150 degrees

    An extremely skilled artisan who worked in a  non-air-conditioned room with a fire in it.    

  7. Bangladesh Intervida Children's Home

    My best friend in Peace Corps, Xaviera worked at Intervida Children's Home.  She invited me to a birthday party for some of the orphans who called it home. 

  8. Bangladesh CLosing Ceremony for English Class

    Closing Ceremony for Department of Youth Development English Class.  Certificate ceremony for my co-ed class. 

  9. Bangladesh Rickshaw wallah in a flood

    2004 was a terrible rainy season.  Don Chamber Road the main road by my house was totally flooded.  Cars could not really pass, but the rickshaws sure did.   

  10. Bangladesh Bangladeshi Wedding.

    My host sister got all dolled up for her wedding.  Then completely freaked me out when she cried the whole time and screamed not to be taken from her family.  Only later did I learn that was all part of the ceremony.  When I saw her a week later, she and the new husband were so happy. 

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