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Your RVP is proud to announce our newest sponsor – the Seattle Parks and Recreation’s Try It For $2 Campaign:

Try something new for just $2 at any Seattle Parks and Recreation community center.

Attend a program or class session once for $2. If you like it, register for the remainder of the class for a prorated amount.

Sample classes include Yoga, Zumba, Aerobics, Karate, Hip Hop Dance and more. More.

Southeast Seattle Community Centers:

• Jefferson Community Center (3801 Beacon Ave. S.)
• Mt. Baker Rowing & Sailing Center (3800 Lake Wash Blvd. S.)
• Rainier Community Center (4600 38th Ave. S.)
• Van Asselt Community Center (2820 S. Myrtle St.)

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Your RVP is proud to announce our newest sponsor – Court Street Press presents ‘You Never Try, You Never Know: Six Years in Liberia’:

Letters Home — Rich in Detail, Generous in Spirit:

In 1971, Ruth and Harold Jacobson—a registered nurse and a maintenance mechanic in their 50s—joined the Peace Corps and went to Liberia.

During their three years as volunteers and three more years as staff at a mission hospital, Ruth chronicled their experiences in weekly letters to her mother and family. From the mundane to hair-raising, she described the details of their life and work, the events of the times, the everyday life in the villages where they lived, and people’s customs.

Ruth taught midwifery and did village nursing, tending to the wounds and ills people brought to her door, and sometimes delivering babies in lamplight in people’s homes. Harold did maintenance work, keeping everything from diesel caterpillars to hospital equipment running, and after work repaired sewing machines, cars, and whatever else needed fixing.

You Never Try, You Never Know: Six Years in Liberia is a compilation of Ruth’s letters. It presents a generous but unvarnished view of life as volunteers in a developing country, and offers a portrait of the Liberian people in pre-war (and pre-cell phone) Liberia. In the end, the letters also paint a portrait of Ruth herself, revealing a strength of character and an approach to life instructive and inspiring for anyone who is thinking about or planning to work in a developing country.

If you enjoy reading other people’s letters, if you’d like to vicariously experience African village life, if you enjoy entertaining, detailed travel writing…this book is for you.

What readers have to say:

“This collection of letters from a middle-aged Peace Corps volunteer and mission worker is a fascinating insight into the life of American volunteers abroad.” Mike Wold

“Openness. Honesty. Integrity. All these shine in this book. I recommend this book to anyone interested in serving overseas or in a new and different culture.” Jordan Holtam

‘You Never Try, You Never Know’, by Ruth Jacobson (Court Street Press, 2011) is available in Soft cover ($18.95) and e-book ($6.95)  from Amazon and Amazon Kindle Store, or directly from Court Street Press (info@courtstreetpress.com).