The Fortunate Few is first and foremost a book about people, most of them recent college graduates, who volunteered their youth, time, and skills to improve the lives of millions in Asia, Africa, and Central and South America.

Almost 100 volunteers who served with International Voluntary Services speak of their lives, and the impact their work had on their futures and that of others. These men and women were, as one former volunteer put it, The Fortunate Few, whose adventures and accomplishments are described here for the very first time.

Some served at great cost to themselves. Almost a dozen volunteers died, victims of the armed conflict that raged across Southeast Asia. Some stayed in the countries where they served and are still working there to better the lives of their neighbors. Others returned to the United States and applied the lessons they learned in their volunteer years to the betterment of their own environment. Others still witnessed events that forever radicalized them.
The Fortunate Few, The IVS Legacy from Asia to the Andes is an important book, a chronicle of development efforts, and of those whose service would eventually lead to the creation of the Peace Corps.
This book should be in the library of anyone interested in the history of American development efforts, from the Thomasites’ work in the Philippines to projects initiated by IVS in the Andes that even today continue to improve the lives of communities in need.