Join CARV at the Reds Game June 19th

All CARV members, family, friends and anyone involved in the Peace Corps application process are invited to see the Cincinnati Reds take on the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday June 19th at 7pm. We have a block reserved in the Mezzanine section 414 and seats are just $17 (regularly $25). This will be a fun family outing BUT there is a deadline. You must reserve by May 19th to be seated in the CARV section. Last year we had to rely on the Jumbotron to locate several CARVites who missed the deadline, so send in your form today. Click on the button at the bottom of the page and fax or mail it to the Reds. See you there!

CARV Member Seeking Training Documents in French for Work in Democratic Republic of Congo

CARV member Mariel Frankl (El Salvador '10 - '12)needs our help. She writes:

I currently work at an NGO called Resolve Network (resolvenetwork.org). We provide leadership and business administration trainings, followed by micro-loans, to small women's cooperatives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The new areas into which we are expanding necessitate bigger, more complex cooperatives. In El Salvador we had volunteer-written small business development manuals that included outlines and talking points for talks about bookkeeping, budgets, transparency, etc etc. I was wondering if there are any RPCVs in the Cincinnati network who have access to similar documents that are written in French. Please contact me at marielvfrankl@gmail.com if you have information which might be helpful to me. Thanks so much,
Mariel Frankl
El Salvador 2010-12

Peace Corps Response Journal

Jean Wallace (India 69-71) is serving as a Peace Corps Response Volunteer in Jamaica and is recording her experiences in a journal, which CARV will feature on the website. Jean and her late husband, Dave, were in Jim and Susan Robinson's Peace Corps group in India, posted to a remote area of the country where they worked with tribals doing village level agriculture. After returning to the States, they raised four children in a small town in rural Montana and worked as teachers and social workers for many years. Several years after Dave's untimely illness and passing, Jean decided to rejoin the Peace Corps through Peace Corps Response, which offers assignments up to one year in length.

Follow Jean's journal as she reflects on her current and earlier Peace Corps experiences.

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Cincinnati Native Currently Serving in Ecuador

Christopher Morriss is a Cincinnati native now serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador. He is the the stepson of CARV member Ken Bordwell (Brazil 66-68). Click on the "more" button at the end of the article for a link to his earlier emails. Click on the title of the article for a link to his album (you may need to register to view it).

Hello Everyone:

The past week I have mostly been spending in Guayaquil, where I have been taking it, perhaps, too easy. Relaxing, really the only productive thing I am accomplishing at the moment is the process of my preapplication, namely working on getting medical tests done, especially blood tests for varicella resistance and to prove that I am clear or tuberculosis. I am not sure that the tests offered in Ecuador are exactly the ones required in UC, but it can probably be enough to convince them to give me time to get back to the US to get whatever is insufficient worked through.

One of the nice points recently was finally being able to visit the beach in Salinas, Santa Elena Province. Well, firstly I will say that the only good thing about Salinas is the beach, but it is a nice one. The water was okay, not too cold (the first time I have been to a not-cold beach in many, many years), and the scenery was nice too. Fortunately we had arranged to buy and bring out own food, because the food there was way overpriced. The ambiance was somewhat diminished by the constant stream of peddlers trying to sell things, though eventually they quieted down. The sand was also pretty intermingled with beercaps, so you can see that drunkenness is pretty commonplace in Salinas, unfortunately. We were able to get there on Monday, so there wasnt much of a crowd, fortunately.

Then, after a 26 hour bus ride from Guayaquil starting Wednesday and ending Thursday, I got back to Lima. Party to visit, partly to get my Peruvian transcript, I have been having an okay time here. Lima hasn´t changed much, nor La Universidad Catolica, but there is at least stuff to do. I went to the theater last night, and will see A Long Day´s Journey Into Night tonight. It is about as good a way to spend my money as I have, and something I have missed since I have been in rural Ecuador.

I am, by the way staying with my old Peruvian host family. They have continued hosting IFSA students, and had the one spare room open for me. They seem to be doing okay, though Nelly recently had some fairly major spine surgery, though is walking somewhat. Other than them, i have not met anyone I previously knew in Peru, oh well.

I go back to Guayaquil leaving Sunday, and should be in Ventura back Tuesday. A bit of a relief, but of course the real relief will be getting to Cincinnati...

Christopher Akos Morriss

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