Youth; Pre-service Training (PST); Host families; Transportation
During the second phase of my pre-service training, I stayed in a village on the main island of Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia. My host family there is from the Lamotrek Atoll, but they moved to the main island as Callistus (host father)...
Celebrations; Food and meals; Pre-service Training (PST)
Peace Corps Ukraine Group 39 arrived in Ukraine and was welcomed with traditional bread, dipped in salt. In this picture, trainees are dipping their pieces of the bread in salt.
This is a picture of a lake in Ukraine at the end of fall. My group and I are lucky enough to be able to study the Russian language during training not far from this lake. It is a great view in the mornings on our way to class.
1987, Botswana, Molepolole College of Education in the village of Molepolole. This was my first graduating class: Tiny, Soks, Shelia, Dennis, Kelone, Old Man, Debra, Dolly, Rejoice, and teacher - -Manatsa.
This was written about me in our College...
Mark Purcell was in Ecuador '91-'93 and was working in Giron, a small village south of Cuenca, as an architect and urban planner. This photo was taken in the high country of the Andean mountains not far from Cuenca, the third largest city in...
Part of the job is sometimes just hanging out with the kids in the community. These two siblings were my favorite "muchachos" in my community in the Dominican Republic from 2008-1010. They would be at my house from the second I opened my doors to...
While on duty in Liberia, West Africa, I would occasionally walk to the ocean for a swim. On the way I would pass a boat yard busy with workmen busy at rebuilding their old vessels. A perfect topic for the watercolors studies I was creating while...
While on duty in Liberia, West Africa, I would watch the statuesque, proud women walk to market each morning, gracefully balancing their towering wares on their heads. It was a beautiful insight to the West African day. The parade of swaying...
While serving in Liberia, West Africa in 1981-82, I was stationed in Cape Palmas teaching Architecture. Because I am an artist I made many watercolor studies of the people and their environments throughout the area.
Now I have revived several of...
I took this photo of myself with three second grade girls in a village in Guatemala, where my site mate and I worked with the community to build a three-classroom bottle school. These girls helped us collect bottles and fill them with trash....
Abimael and I helped to start this women's group -- an hour bus ride and 30 minute walk from the municipality. They were motivated to start a group savings account and sustainable gardening projects.
After a two hour hike up nearly 1,000 meters, my counterpart and I arrive at a women's group meeting in Tuicoy, a small village outside of Todos Santos, Guatemala. The view is incredible.
Celebrations; Counterparts; Host community friends
Cande, my counterpart and best friend in the community, her mother, two daughers and I share a laugh during one of my many despedidas (going away parties) that she held for me.
Men in Todos Santos wear traditional clothing daily. The materials for the pants and shirts are produced within the municipality and the women spend months weaving the colorful, traditional collars for their shirts.
Riders take a dangerous fall during the Todos Santos Feria in the Western highlands of Guatemala. Todos Santos Cuchumatan hosts a horse race every Nov. 1 (All Saints Day). The riders and horses are typically intoxicated as they ride back and forth...