David Jarmul writes Not Exactly Retired, chronicling the adventures he and his wife, Champa, have been pursuing since mid-2015, when he stepped down as the head of news and communications for Duke University.
David previously held senior communications positions at the National Academy of Sciences and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He and Champa met when he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal, in the same school where Champa was teaching.
Married in 1979, they have been living for many years in Durham, N.C. They have two sons and daughters-in-law and seven grandchildren. In June 2016, they began serving as volunteers with the Peace Corps in Moldova, in eastern Europe. They completed their service there in July 2018 and now live again in Durham, where David is an active volunteer with several organizations.
"Not Exactly Retired" 
Hi David, My name is Akaisha Kaderli from Retire Early Lifestyle. I like your post about volunteering in Moldova as an older Peace Corps member. May we reprint it on our site with your permission? Let us know. Our email address is below. Thanks!
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Hi Akaisha and many thanks for your message. My apologies for not responding faster. I would be very pleased if you and Billy reprinted the post. Please do include an attribution and link to the original post. Thanks indeed.
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How may I join you both on this quest?
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Christina, thank you for the kind message. If “join you” means following along with our adventures, I invite you to subscribe (free!) on the blog’s home page. If you are responding to my recent post about older people joining the Peace Corps, you’ll see a link there to a special Peace Corps website for 50+ applicants. Either way, thanks!
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You are living my dream! I will be living it soon enough, I hope. Wish you the best.
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Hi David, I have started following your blog. I am trying to start a blog of my own but am new to this business of blogging and am finding some difficulties. Would you mind sharing your email address with me, (or responding to my email address) so I could converse with you directly? Thanks Joyce H-G
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Great stuff! I’d love to know more about how you got into this with the Peace Corps.
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Hi Bob, and thanks for your message. From your own blog, I’m guessing you’re especially interested in the post about Hour of Code and teaching coding to kids. I’d encourage you to look at the Hour of Code site, which you probably already know about. My Peace Corps colleague, Sara Hoy, has been my guide in this; her excellent blog is at https://sarajoyhoy.com. If you’re asking about Peace Corps more generally, please look at my earlier posts, or at the Peace Corps site. Again, thanks for reaching out to me.
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Thanks for the reply. I actually teach computer science in middle school, and we do all kinds of cool stuff with coding and robots. So my classes are way past hour of code! My interest is in the Peace Corps part of your story. If you’d like to discuss it off-blog, I’m bobirv AT gmail. Thanks again!
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Hi David, Hope you both are enjoying the transition to a new/old life. Mona would like a snailmail address for Champa. You can send to wdshaw@verizon.net. All is well on this side of the Pond (if you discount the election). Will
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David: To promote the story of the Peace Corps through nonfiction, fiction and poetry is the central reason why Marian Haley Beil and I –both PCVs in Ethiopia 1962-64–started Peace Corps Writers & Readers back in the Seventies and continue that mission today on this website: http://www.peacecorpsworldwide.org. We would love to have you write something for our site. John
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Hey David, I recently moved to Durham and am working at Bridge II Sports, providing opportunities for people with physical disabilities to play. I lived in India and then Nepal from March 2009-August 2016 as a VSO volunteer. I’d love to connect with you.
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Hi David and Champa,
I too would like to connect with you. My late husband Chuck and I were also Peace Corps Volunteers in Moldova, from 1996-1998. I was 61. Chuck was 70. I only read about you and your book (which I haven’t read yet) very recently. I’d love to compare notes on our respective experiences. Peace Corps was one of the highlights of our life together. We lived and served in Balti.
Best,
Lee
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Lee, bună ziua from Durham and thanks for reaching out. Please send a message to me via e-mail (djarmul@gmail.com), so I can follow up with you offline. I look forward to it. -David
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DAVID, I am expecting a visit today from a man who was my student when I served in Peace Corps in Swaziland over 40 years ago. In preparation, I pulled out a scrapbook and in found a copy of your “Peace corps Macho” article. That saying has reminded me many times not to get too caught up in myself over the years. I thought to look you up and I’m glad to see that you are still writing thought-provoking words on a very interesting life. Thanks for sharing your gifts and talents. Mary Palmer (currently serving in East Tennessee)
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Hi Mary, and many thanks for this unexpected message, which made my day. I had almost forgotten about that article and am amazed you still have a copy of it!
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