Honored to Be Called a Peacemaker
I was a Peace Corps forestry volunteer in Morocco in 1971-73 and later came back to Peace Corps as a country director in Burkina Faso (2008-10), Ukraine (2010-14), and Guinea (2014-16). Like many others who served, Peace Corps service is a defining aspect of who I am today, having shaped many important life experiences. This includes my volunteer work with Braver Angels (https://braverangels.org/) and co-authoring the book Beyond the Politics of Contempt: Practical Steps to Build Positive Relationships in Divided Times (https://beyondthepoliticsofcontempt.com/) and our free “Together Across Differences” substack newsletter (https://togethernow.substack.com/).
I appreciated that the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) recognized my work in the “Peacebuilding in America” story by James Rupert. NPCA is a nonprofit, national network of returned PCVs, former staff, and friends. This story appeared in the spring/summer 2026 issue of WorldView magazine (see https://heyzine.com/flip-book/41b2bd20aa.html#page/44). Rupert advocates for former Peace Corps volunteers (PCVs) to use their talents to help rebuild civic trust at home. He served with the Peace Corps in Morocco and is a former international affairs correspondent with the Washington Post and writer/editor for the US Institute of Peace.
Partnerships are so important if we are to create a national movement to better our country. It was exciting to see Rupert and Carla Brown, our NPCA President/CEO, at the Braver Angels national convention in Philadelphia last month (see photo of Carla l on the left and James on the right). I am delighted that Maury Giles, the Braver Angles CEO, will be attending the NPCA convention in Washington, DC this summer.
In his article, Rupert mentioned that it was folksinger Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul, and Mary fame) who introduced me to Braver Angels. As I wrote in a prior Together Across Differences post, I first met Peter in Ukraine in 2010 when I was Peace Corps country director and even joined him on stage to sing “If I Had a Hammer.” In November 2019, I reconnected with Peter at the Lebanon NH Opera House with his long-time partner Noel Paul Stookey. After a big hug, Peter told me about Braver Angels. Given my concerns about our country, this turned out to be exactly what I was looking for.
Jim also mentioned in his article the work of Peace Corps Guinea staff in ending Ebola which I also shared in this substack. Back in 2019 I wrote about this in WorldView: “Beating Ebola: Peace Corps’ Untold Story of Fighting the Virus in Guinea” https://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/articles/beating-ebola.
Founded by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, some 250,000 Americans have served overseas with the Peace Corps. This federal agency has three goals: (1) to help the countries interested in meeting their need for trained people; (2) to help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served; and (3) to help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans. I always thought, too, that there is an unofficial fourth goal: for those who served to bring their knowledge and experiences learned to help make our country better.
It is wonderful to have the National Peace Corps Association reaching out to do this important work to build bridges across division. And people do not have to be former Peace Corps volunteers to do that same. We can each apply our talents, skills, and experiences to the service of our special country as we celebrate 250 years -- and hopefully many more.
