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Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-093
Gary Mount served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Micronesia from 1967 to 1970 on an agriculture project. He served alongside his wife Pam. The couple was among the first volunteers to be trained in-country in Udot on Truk. After that they were sent to Colonia in the Yap District where Gary worked with an agriculture extension agent. They moved to the small, remote Satawal Island after the leaders there requested them. Mount recalls their initial trepidation at leaving the ship, but after being greeted by the entire village with song and dance, they quickly settled in. He describes his many projects working with the men of the island and his special closeness with three of the leaders. After being a part of a very small community for three years, returning home presented challenges, and Mount describes how they were ultimately solved. He also recalls a return visit to Micronesia 25 years later and his happiness at seeing that the results of his projects were still helping the people there. Interviewed and recorded by Candice Wiggum, June 10, 2019. 4 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-066
Pam Mount served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Micronesia from 1967 to 1970 as a teacher. She was initially inspired by meeting a Peace Corps recruiter at a Girl Scout Jamboree in high school. She married her boyfriend right after she graduated from college, and a week later they left for training together. Because of some political pressure, a lot of volunteers were sent to Micronesia in 1966. The couple was initially assigned to the Yap district (and had learned Yap in training), but before long they were asked by the chief of the island of Satawel to come there instead. Mount taught English first, then became an all-purpose teacher. She speaks of the communal culture and how much could be learned by her husband sitting with the men in the canoe huts and her cooking on the beach with the women. She is proud that the people of Satawel have become leaders in Micronesia, which the islanders attribute to the help that the Mounts gave them. Mount also talks about her father's death during her service and the trip home for his funeral. Finally, she discusses the challenge of figuring out what to do after their tour of duty and how the lessons of the Peace Corps continue to guide their activism in their community. Interviewed and recorded by Candice Wiggum, February 26, 2019. 3 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).