In 1962, a newly-minted college graduate answered the call of President John F. Kennedy and joined the fledgling Peace Corps. Leslie Noyes Mass was assigned to Pakistan and given the directive to start a program-any kind of educational program she could muster-in a small Muslim village where she was the only Westerner and the only Peace Corps volunteer. After a year, she left the village, frustrated and feeling that she had made no impact at all. Nearly 50 years later, she returned to discover a much-changed Pakistan-and a village that still remembers her. She tells both her stories, from 1962 and today, by deftly interweaving her journal entries from 50 years ago with her current day story as a volunteer training female teachers for a Pakistani non-governmental institution. Leslie Mass captures the heart and the attention of the reader with her story of Pakistanis in 1962 and those of a new generation who are engaged in building a sustainable education system for their country's forgotten children. In a series of interviews with Pakistanis from every social class and educational level, Dr. Mass gives voice to those who are taking responsibility for their country's educational problems and solving these problems within the traditions, culture, and religious understanding of their people. Back to Pakistan: A Fifty-Year Journey is a compelling look into a country as it goes from its infancy into the 21st century.
Review
Leslie Mass offers a comprehensive and real picture of the education crisis in Pakistan, including her first-hand knowledge of the infamous madrassa's with solid recommendations for change and national reform. Her work in Pakistan gives her the unique credentials to present these perspectives. (Amjad Noorani )
The awe inspiring journey of Leslie Mass through the length and breath of Pakistan is a fascinating and insightful read. (Nilofer Saeed )
This book is an exceptionally useful, insightful, and interesting read from a range of perspectives. Whether concerned with social and economic development dynamics, cross-cultural interaction, or illustration of outstanding innovative initiatives by citizens of a developing country trying to reach across long engrained and stratified social and economic barriers, you’ll learn something here. (Morris, Robert C. )
A simple, engaging read. Dr Mass has emphatically made a point about Pakistanis that is missed all too often -- that Pakistanis are people: people with souls, people with opinions, people with a commitment to nurture a positive, dynamic future for their country, people with stories of positive change in the face of immense adversity -- stories that are missed all too often but captured in this very 'human' narrative. (Nida Alavi )
About the Author
Leslie Noyes Mass began her career as an educator 50 years ago in Pakistan as one of the first Peace Corps volunteers. After returning to the United States she earned her Ph.D at The Ohio State University in early and middle childhood education. She became the director of the early childhood center at Ohio Wesleyan University, from which she retired in 2007. Dr. Mass is also the author of In Beauty May She Walk, Hiking the Appalachian Trail at 60 and the former editor of The Thru-Hiker Companion, for the The Appalachian Trail Conservancy.
Description:
In 1962, a newly-minted college graduate answered the call of President John F. Kennedy and joined the fledgling Peace Corps. Leslie Noyes Mass was assigned to Pakistan and given the directive to start a program-any kind of educational program she could muster-in a small Muslim village where she was the only Westerner and the only Peace Corps volunteer. After a year, she left the village, frustrated and feeling that she had made no impact at all.
Nearly 50 years later, she returned to discover a much-changed Pakistan-and a village that still remembers her. She tells both her stories, from 1962 and today, by deftly interweaving her journal entries from 50 years ago with her current day story as a volunteer training female teachers for a Pakistani non-governmental institution. Leslie Mass captures the heart and the attention of the reader with her story of Pakistanis in 1962 and those of a new generation who are engaged in building a sustainable education system for their country's forgotten children. In a series of interviews with Pakistanis from every social class and educational level, Dr. Mass gives voice to those who are taking responsibility for their country's educational problems and solving these problems within the traditions, culture, and religious understanding of their people. Back to Pakistan: A Fifty-Year Journey is a compelling look into a country as it goes from its infancy into the 21st century.
Review
Leslie Mass offers a comprehensive and real picture of the education crisis in Pakistan, including her first-hand knowledge of the infamous madrassa's with solid recommendations for change and national reform. Her work in Pakistan gives her the unique credentials to present these perspectives. (Amjad Noorani )
The awe inspiring journey of Leslie Mass through the length and breath of Pakistan is a fascinating and insightful read. (Nilofer Saeed )
This book is an exceptionally useful, insightful, and interesting read from a range of perspectives. Whether concerned with social and economic development dynamics, cross-cultural interaction, or illustration of outstanding innovative initiatives by citizens of a developing country trying to reach across long engrained and stratified social and economic barriers, you’ll learn something here. (Morris, Robert C. )
A simple, engaging read. Dr Mass has emphatically made a point about Pakistanis that is missed all too often -- that Pakistanis are people: people with souls, people with opinions, people with a commitment to nurture a positive, dynamic future for their country, people with stories of positive change in the face of immense adversity -- stories that are missed all too often but captured in this very 'human' narrative. (Nida Alavi )
About the Author
Leslie Noyes Mass began her career as an educator 50 years ago in Pakistan as one of the first Peace Corps volunteers. After returning to the United States she earned her Ph.D at The Ohio State University in early and middle childhood education. She became the director of the early childhood center at Ohio Wesleyan University, from which she retired in 2007. Dr. Mass is also the author of In Beauty May She Walk, Hiking the Appalachian Trail at 60 and the former editor of The Thru-Hiker Companion, for the The Appalachian Trail Conservancy.