Did you know March is National Reading Month?

Reading is definitely one of the more popular leisure activities for Peace Corps Volunteers. What were some of the books you read during your service? Did you bring home any books from your country? How many times did you read War and Peace during your 27 months overseas?

Peace Corps Ukraine Group 39 arrived in Ukraine and was welcomed with traditional bread, dipped in salt.

- Peace Corps Education Volunteer Jeramie Heflin

This is how I remember September 11th. 

I went on a school field trip with my teachers and students to the ruins of Old Leon, Nicaragua. After the field trip I was exhausted and hungry. I wanted to get home and make tuna casserole. However, my neighbors were adamant that I watch the news on their television. I acquiesced and found them watching a movie. I kept watching and watching, waiting for the credits to roll across the screen. They kept saying that this was real and happening in real life, that this was no movie, that this was a great tragedy in my country and for the world.

After we understood what was going on, my teachers and friends came to my house to check on me and my family in the States. I had not felt so much love and concern before that moment.

 For me, this picture evokes those memories of concern, love, and friendship. I like to remember September 11th as this picture.

- Peace Corps Volunteer R Diehl

While building wells in a rural community in the hottest months of the year, I stumbled upon this little guy trying to cool off inside a chamber pot.

Peace Corps Education Volunteer Keiko Valente

At my village’s middle school, I started a girl’s soccer team to get them active and show that they can play just like the boys. Family and friends from back home donated authentic balls and other equipment to outfit us.

Peace Corps Health Volunteer Hayley Droppert

“This mother was one of the first women in my village to receive PMTC (Preventing Mother to Child Transmission) treatments. She is HIV positive and her baby Ausi Bonolo was born HIV negative. This photo was taken in a remote mountainous district of Lesotho, where over 23% of the population is infected with HIV/AIDS. With the increase health care opportunities in Lesotho, help of HIV support groups and village health care workers, Ausi Bonolo has a greater chance of growing up in an AIDS-free generation.” - Peace Corps HIV/AIDS Volunteer Pamela Rogers