Adventures in Service with Peace Corps in Niger

Following its creation by President Kennedy in 1961, Peace Corps became an icon of American idealism in action on an international scale. It inspired a generation of American youth, and it continues to attract thousands of youthful Americans to opportunities for international adventures in service to their fellow man. This book recounts the experience of the author, a retired Foreign Service Officer and Ambassador, as Peace Corps director in Niger from 2000 to 2006, leading and supporting 430 Volunteers. He offers vignettes of Volunteer life and adventures, often in their own words, as well as a foreign affairs professional's informed perspective on poverty, development, politics, culture, and security in the world's poorest country, a fascinating land of heat and hunger, squalor and beauty, turmoil and peace, where the unimaginable becomes commonplace.