Peace Corps Polyglot

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.

Peace Corps Community Mourns the Loss of Volunteer John Roberts

It is always very, very sad news when we learn that a Peace Corps volunteer has died in service.  On October 11 John D. Roberts (pictured far left), a Peace Corps Volunteer in Vanuatu, died as the result of an accident while working at his site.

Click here for the Peace Corps press release announcing the death.

A blog entry by a Vanuatu trainee describing the memorial service held in Port Vila can be read here.

There have also been numerous news stories about John and his family.  Click here, and here for two.

Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter sent this message to the Peace Corps community immediately after learning of the news:

"I am sad to inform you that we have lost a member of our Peace Corps family.  Peace Corps Volunteer John D. Roberts died while working at his site on Thursday, October 11, in Vanuatu.  A student was cutting branches from a tree at the school where John and other students were cleaning the garden, and when one of the branches fell, it struck John and another member of the community.  Tragically, both were killed. 

John was 24 years old and hailed from Omaha, Nebraska.  He was a construction and skilled trades Volunteer with the Vetumit Rural Training Center in the village of South River on the island of Erromango.  He had just celebrated his two-year anniversary and was preparing to close his service. 

By all accounts, John was an extraordinary Volunteer.  The Rural Training Center became the centerpiece for South River’s community development program with John’s carefully measured support. In his aspiration statement, he wrote: “Coming from a stable farming family I was always taught to help my neighbors, but I also feel an internal pull to help lend a hand.  Somewhere back in my short life…I made a choice to serve and have been doing so ever since.  Instead of a single moment defining my reasons to serve, a whole lifetime of learning is driving me to volunteer for the Peace Corps.”

Steps are being taken now to notify all of John’s fellow Volunteers, and I have sent a representative from the Office of Special Services to help the Vanuatu post through this difficult time. 

I spoke with John’s parents very early this morning.  As you can imagine, they are devastated.  We are working to bring John home to them as quickly as possible and offering whatever support we can. 

All of our hearts go out to his family, and I do ask that you keep them in your thoughts and prayers during this tragic time."

Richard Graham: Early Peace Corps Staff, Helped Found NOW

Richard A. Graham, an original member of the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission who was moved to help found the National Organization for Women, died on Sept. 24 at his home in Royal Oak, Md. He was 86. Graham entered public service in 1961, becoming a deputy to R. Sargent Shriver, the first director of the Peace Corps. From 1963 to 1965, Graham was the Peace Corps’ director in Tunisia.

According to the New York Times, A 1963 article about the Tunisia program noted Graham’s concern that his volunteers’ living conditions not be too soft: he moved them out of modern apartments into less opulent local quarters among the people they were serving.

Read obituaries at the following links:

New York Times, October 8, 2007

Washington Post, September 29, 2007  

Boston Globe, September 30, 2007

Los Angeles Times, September 29, 2007 

Baltimore Sun, September 29, 2007