Close
Not finding the information you're looking for? Please contact the Archives research staff.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-018
Courtney Roberts Arnold served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ethiopia from 1964 to 1966 as a secondary school teacher. She trained at the University of California at Los Angeles, where she and her new husband David joined a dozen other married couples among the 200 trainees. The recruits prepared to teach English as a second language while learning Amharic and being concerned about the selection process. After a brief orientation in Addis Ababa, they traveled to Asebe Teferi, a town of 10,000 people with no electricity or running water. The volunteers enabled the school to add 9th and 10th grade classes. Arnold taught large classes of 7th and 8th grade English and 9th and 10th grade geography with no textbooks, no resources, and few supplies. She and the other volunteers joined Ethiopian teachers in organizing clubs for science and girls' health, as well as summer projects. She describes a special project to open a shuttered school library. Arnold reflects on relationships with the local teachers and community, her appreciation of the U.S. and Ethiopia, and the fatigue, frustrations, and lasting rewards. She remains in contact with former students and fellow volunteers. Interviewed and recorded by Patricia Wand, September 3, 2018. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-017
David Fryar Arnold served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ethiopia from 1964 to 1966 as a secondary school teacher. As newlyweds, David and his wife Courtney trained at the University of California at Los Angeles where they studied Amharic, Ethiopian history and culture, teaching methods, and endured physical training and selection-related evaluations. After a brief orientation and an introduction to Ethiopian food in Addis Ababa, they traveled to their assigned village, Asebe Teferi, where they shared a house with two other volunteers. Their arrival allowed the school to offer 9th and then 10th grade classes; David taught 8th to 10th grade English, social studies, and math. In the interview, he describes the surrounding natural environment, riding in local buses, being required to take students to watch a public whipping, going on weekend camping trips with students, and difficulties learning the unspoken cultural differences between local Oromo and Amhara ethnic groups. Arnold relates numerous stories, including those of several students who made notable contributions and have resurfaced in his life. After the Peace Corps, he established a career in journalism and is now editor of WorldView, the quarterly magazine of the National Peace Corps Association. Interviewed and recorded by Patricia Wand, September 10, 2018. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2017-004
Patricia "Patti" Wilkinson Garamendi served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia from June 1966 to July 1968, along with her husband John Raymond Garamendi. Immediately after completing their undergraduate education at the University of California, Berkeley, they entered Peace Corps training at the University of Utah and on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico. They learned the Amharic language and how to teach English as a second language. Three days after arriving in Ethiopia, Patti and John were assigned to Metu, a town of 2,000 people in the western province of Illubabor. They lived in a hut with no electricity or running water, and quickly integrated into village life. They worked with villagers to build a bridge, imparting concepts of collaboration. Often using her guitar and songs, Patti taught English to 7th and 8th graders, with 60 children per classroom. Besides teaching, she set up a school library and offered sewing classes, Girl Scout meetings, vegetable garden demonstrations, and small pox immunizations. After the Peace Corps, Patti earned a law degree and worked in various state and federal government positions, including as Associate Director of the Peace Corps (1993-1998). Three of her six children have also served in the Peace Corps. Currently she assists her husband in his position as a U.S. Representative for Northern California. Interviewed and recorded by Patricia Wand, September 26, 2016. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-132
Edwin Fuller Torrey served as Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia from 1964 to 1966 as a staff doctor. He applied after medical school and completed two days of orientation to tropical medicine at Columbia University, but no language training. Torrey initially flew to Dire Dawa and began volunteering in local hospitals and visiting the remote sites of other Peace Corps volunteers. After three months, he was assigned to Addis Ababa where he continued supporting volunteers in remote villages while learning Amharic with the help of a tutor. Working alongside Ethiopian and missionary medical practitioners taught him which doctors were reliable to assist sick volunteers in remote villages, introduced him to viable local practices, and awakened his interest in mental health care. Torrey's other projects included organizing the first health program for 7th and 8th graders using closed circuit TV, a two-week workshop to train biology teachers in secondary schools (resulting in an Ethiopian textbook), observing local witch doctors and results of their practices, and conducting an extensive medical survey and vaccination initiative in the remote reaches of the Blue Nile Gorge. Through the two years, Peace Corps volunteers remained the healthiest of his patients, but nevertheless one volunteer died (eaten by a crocodile). Torrey's experience in Ethiopia prompted him to become a psychiatrist and researcher in mental health. Interviewed and recorded by Patricia A. Wand, August 31, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).