1. Ukraine A Ukrainian Spring

    It’s Spring. Warmer weather, longer days. Granted, I wear a sweater and a coat when I go on walks, but! — I go on walks. In Russian, there are two versions of the verb “to go by foot.” “Идти” means to go to a certain place in a particular moment; my Russian teacher translated it as “to head to” somewhere. “Xодите,” on the other hand, lacks that sense of immediacy; it is more general, more leisurely, less tied down to a specific time. This winter, when the ice and cold were brutal, I practice...

  2. Papua New Guinea Wah-kah

    It was my first week at homestay in Goroka, the southern highlands of Papua New Guinea. I was excited and nervous, and adjusting to all the details of a new life in a village with no electricity or running water. Over the first few days, my homestay papa Lomsea took me around to meet everyone in the village. I was just learning pigeon, so I didn’t understand much of the conversation, but I could follow that each family we met with talked excitedly about “wah-kah,” and confirmed that it would ...

  3. Indonesia A Wave of Prayer

    morning prayer at the islamic high school where i teach, just before sacrificing 2 cows in our school yard.  later that day, the students distributed the meat to the poor. eid al-adha is celebrated around the world by muslims to commemorate abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son.  as a non-muslim, i watched from behind with the girls who were menstruating and therefore could not participate.

  4. Philippines America

    There is a little girl who lives down the street.   I see her sometimes on my morning walk to work.   She’s a tiny thing, maybe four or five, and she’s usually wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and flip-flops.  I don’t think that she goes to school.  Any time I do see her she stops in her tracks, grins from ear to ear, sort of leans back a little, points, and yells at the top of her voice, “AMERICA!”  It always catches me off-guard.  She communicates only that one word, but her body language shows h...

  5. Philippines FILIPINAS on a JEEPNEY, Talamban, Cebu, Philippines

    Three of our Language Trainers on the way to a PC Training event of some kind in late 1985.  All were wonderful and extremely patient ladies!  Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat!

  6. Philippines PEEPING CHILDREN, Camiguin Island, Mindanao, Philippines

    PEEPING CHILDREN, Camiguin Island, Mindanao, Philippines This photo was taken during a trip to visit another Deaf Ed PCV's site on the southern-most and largest island, Mindanao.  Unbeknownst to us, the PCV we were supposed to visit had been evacuated for peace and order problems several days earlier.  As we were taught during training, we heeded the advice of the host country nationals in her village who encouraged us to leave the highly charged area we were supposed to visit and go visit n...

  7. Belize Global Handwashing Day

    October 15, 2009 Global Handwashing Day at Progreso RC School PCV with Infant I and Infant II students talking about the importance of washing hands with clean water and soap while singing the handwashing song.

  8. Mozambique Beach with Students

    With my students on the beach, next to the Indian Ocean

  9. Mozambique Mozambique

    Maxixe, Inhambane

  10. Mozambique Peregrinação

    My school was on a Catholic Mission and once a year the whole community walked 23 kilometers in a religious pilgrimage to a beautiful spot right on the Indian Ocean. I snapped this photo during the walk.

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