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Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-046
Joanna (Jody) Gemmell (nee Schmeucker) served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras from 1969 to 1971 as a nurse. She had seven years of acute care nursing experience. Training in Camp Crozier, Puerto Rico, focused on language and culture but omitted preparation for nursing practice and education in Honduras. Gemmell was assigned to the hospital in Santa Rosa de Copan, and was the only nurse on staff. She managed multiple wards, devised innovative solutions in primitive conditions, and developed operating room training for the nursing assistants. She found the pediatric and maternal losses, lack of respect by local physicians, and isolation from her peers to be daunting. However, Gemmell is proud that she was able to lay a foundation for subsequent nursing volunteers. The Peace Corps was very influential in her life, and now she volunteers in clinics caring for the under-served populations and supports pediatric neurological care in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Interviewed and recorded by Gail B. Gall, September 12, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-045
John-Peter (JP) Dunn served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana from 1974 to 1976 as a teacher. After graduating from Brandeis University in 1974, he accepted an invitation to a secondary education program in Ghana. Assigned to NSASS, a co-ed secondary school in Nsaba with 200 students, Dunn's first task was to secure a UNESCO grant for supplies in order to properly teach science. During his tenure he also founded a debating society and a student newspaper. He disciplined through student engagement rather than caning. Dunn developed close relationships with NSASS graduates, who have since organized an alumni association to support the school (which now enrolls 3,000 students). He states that volunteering taught him the art of teaching, fostered self-sufficiency, and enhanced his introspective abilities. Interviewed and recorded by Gail B. Gall, October 22, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-044
Richard (Rich) Klingner served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras from 1969 to 1971 as a civil engineer. He wished to counter the destructive effects of the Vietnam War by sharing his skills. Klingner worked with SANAA (a Honduran government agency), Caritas, and local governments to build gravity water systems for villages, with labor provided by the inhabitants. Fieldwork challenges required devising quick solutions. Klingner emphasizes the value of developing language proficiency and cross-cultural understanding through collegial relations, and tells the story of how Honduran engineers taught him to roll his Rs properly. He describes how access to clean water freed the community members (especially women) from the arduous task of fetching water, losing children to dysentery, and repeated risky pregnancies. The Peace Corps was the foundation for Klingner's subsequent career in teaching earthquake-resistant building techniques throughout Latin America. Interviewed and recorded by Gail B. Gall, September 10, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-043
Lon J. Lembert served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras from 1969 to 1971 as a cooperative savings and loan agent. He was invited to join the Honduras XV group in the summer of 1969, and completed social, linguistic, and technical training in Puerto Rico and in-country. As a cooperative extension agent in a rural village, Lembert worked to improve accounting practices and became involved in community development by helping remote schools acquire building materials. He states that language proficiency was key in establishing relationships with his Honduran colleagues and neighbors. His experience in the Peace Corps influenced his view of the United States and the world, and prompted his later decision to complete a master's degree in social work. Interviewed and recorded by Gail B. Gall, September 10, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-041
Donald J. (Don) Stierman served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras from 1969 to 1972 as a teacher trainer. He enrolled in the Brockport Teacher Training Program (at the State University of New York – Brockport) which was designed to train Peace Corps volunteers for Latin America. There he earned a bachelor's degree in physics and a teaching certificate while experiencing rural Honduran life, improving his Spanish, and gaining cultural awareness. Assigned to the teacher professionalization program in Honduras, Stierman worked with elementary school teachers to replace memorization with experimentation. He also introduced science fairs that were replicated countrywide. Stierman recalls the challenges of getting permission to marry his fiance, a Peace Corps nurse, and their life in Tegucigalpa. He coached and refereed baseball in his free time. The Peace Corps influenced him to earn a PhD in geophysics, specializing in earthquakes. When he returned to Honduras in 2002 as a Fulbright scholar, he found that skills he had learned in the Peace Corps were still helpful. Interviewed and recorded by Gail B. Gall, September 11, 2019. 1 digital audio file.