Mark Wentling

I was born in Wichita, Kansas, in 1945 but I was truly made in Africa. I left Kansas in 1970 to become a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) in Togo. What began as a three-year assignment turned into a lifelong connection with the African continent. Now, over 50 years later, I remain deeply involved in Africa and its development.

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of visiting or working in all 54 African countries. While I have published numerous professional articles on Africa's development challenges, I began telling my personal African story in a trilogy of books: Africa's Embrace, Africa's Release, and Africa's Heart. These works reflect a journey unlike any that has been told before.

Later, I added a fourth book, Dead Cow Road, inspired by my experiences in war-torn Somalia. A fifth book, Blue Country, draws from my pre-Africa days as a PCV in Honduras. In late 2019, I completed my three-volume work Africa Memoir – 50 Years, 54 Countries, One American Life, which chronicles my firsthand experiences in each African nation and offers my perspective on their future prospects.

Today, I continue to work remotely from my home in Texas, still engaged with projects and initiatives across Africa.