The Springs of Namje A Ten-Year Journey from the Villages of Nepal to the Halls of Congress

In 2001, Rajeev Goyal was sent to Namje, a remote village in Nepal. Brimming with hope and idealism, he expected to find people living in abject misery, but instead, he was greeted by villagers filled with humor and compassion. After organizing 500 villagers to build a water pump in Namje, he discovers how complicated rural development really is and what role a development worker should play. He learns how the seemingly lowest villagers hold profound power to influence not only their own villages but also the highest rungs of government. The world has transformed since the Peace Corps was established in 1961, but Kennedy's brightest child has not. Does the Peace Corps still matter? How can the agency be fine-tuned to meet the challenges of climate change and other challenges affecting the planet? These are some of the questions which underpin this unique, deeply personal book. When Goyal is hired to lead a campaign to double the size of the Peace Corps in 2008, he approaches Congress like a Nepali village. Drawing on lessons from the villagers of Namje, he strategically positions himself outside the Men's Room of the Senate building and manages to make allies of hundreds of lawmakers. He also ruffles feathers with some of the most powerful figures in Washington including Valerie Jarret and Senator Patrick Leahy. At times, Goyal's idealism fades into fear, anger, frustration, and confusion, and this struggle is very much the subject of this honest and open account, which eschews and turns upside-down the traditional paradigm of Westerners saving the third world. Goyal offers a daring new model for the Peace Corps, and other organizations and invites environmentalists, educators, farmers, and designers to come together. Filled with history, politics, personal anecdotes and colorful characters, this is a unique and inspiring book about the power of small change.

Rajeev Goyal, a graduate of Brown University and the New York University School of Law, is a lawyer, activist, rural-development worker, and former Peace Corp volunteer. Since 2008, he has served as the national coordinator for the Push for Peace Corps Campaign.  He leads environmental and sustainable agriculture initiatives in eastern Nepal through several NGOs.