Join Sally and Mark Zelonis for a lecture on Liberia, West Africa, the continent’s only republic to have never been colonized, and their life-changing experiences as Peace Corps volunteers:

Through a slide-illustrated lecture, Sally and Mark will highlight the warmth shown to them as young,

idealistic recent college graduates. They will show you how schools operated and how they encouraged

local farmers to grow coffee and cacao. They will also feature images of the tropical rainforest and

its inhabitants. 

This talk is prompted by the recent publication of Never the Same Again, an anthology of 63

true stories and poems written by Peace Corps volunteers, missionaries, and others who lived

and worked in Liberia over the past 60 years. The book was sponsored by Friends of Liberia,

with proceeds of book sales benefitting humanitarian programs in Liberia. The book was

written to highlight the 60th anniversary of Peace Corps presence in Liberia, where over 3,000

have served.

Presenters Sally and Mark Zelonis met as new Peace Corps volunteers in 1971. Sally taught in

the local elementary school while Mark worked with local farmers in growing cash crops to gain

them income with which they could send their children to school. They married shortly after

returning to the US. Their lives have been greatly influenced by their time in Liberia. They have

spent their entire careers in the not-for-profit world, most recently as Major Gifts Officer for

the Indianapolis Zoo and as Deputy Director for Environmental & Historic Preservation at the

Indianapolis Museum of Art. The Zelonis’ have lived in the Village of Zionsville for more than

25 years.