Dangerous Times: RPCV John Granville Slain in Sudan

John Granville, a 33-year old U.S. diplomat and his driver were shot to death Tuesday in an attack in Sudan.  Granville, who served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon, was working for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on a program to bring radios to the population of South Sudan, according to USAID's Web site.

You can read more here and here.

The following message was sent by the Peace Corps country director in Cameroon to the U.S. Ambassador there:

...Mr. Granville was an RPCV from Cameroon. He entered training in June 1997 and swore in as an official volunteer in August 1997. He served in the Education program as a TEFL/AIDS teacher at a high school in the village of Bamendjou in the West Province. His work was well received and appreciated by his community.

Among his many activities, he created an English Club, planted trees around the school, organized IST workshops for his counterparts, developed his English Teacher colleague into a very good trainer who later became a Peace Corps Cross Culture trainer and served several generations of Volunteers from 1998-2001. He was responsible for building one of the first bilingual primary schools in his village; the first students will attend the university this year.

Mr. Granville completed his service on July 01, 1999. Upon his departure he was given an honorary title of "Notable" by the Chief of the village. This is an honor bestowed upon exceptional volunteers for the work they do in and for their community.

Mr. Granville was an outstanding volunteer and model RPCV. He was a Fulbright Scholar and completed research on HIV AIDS in Cameroon focusing on two provinces the West and the Extreme North. His work was well received by Peace Corps Cameroon and during his time here in country he gave several presentations of his findings at the US Embassy in Yaoundé. During his research in Cameroon he came and spoke with volunteers and trainees on his experience as a volunteer.

Peace Corps Cameroon will be sending a card to the family of Mr.Granville and will officially send condolences to his community in Bamendjou.

The National Peace Corps Association joins in extending its condolences to the Granville family and those in the Peace Corps community whose lives he touched.

Comments

[Debbie]

It was nice to read the comments about John. He was truly a wonderful man. My mission is to have him nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Never have I met nor had a more worthy person in my life. I believe John's life is the exact definition of what Peace is.
Sincerely,
Debbie - John's cousin