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Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-046-001
Carole East served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Fiji from 1992 to 1994. She also later served in Paraguay from 1998 to 2000. Interviewed and recorded by Sue Ward, March 12, 2005. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2004-002-006
Warren Chapman was a member of the first group of Peace Corps volunteers in Paraguay. He spent three months in Las Cruces mostly acquiring language instruction. He taught English at a consolidated high school (a brand new facility funded by USAID) in Villarrica. He left in the fall of 1968 to attend Columbia. He started teacher training programs for math and science. The Peace Corps then started recruiting math and science teachers. Interviewed and recorded by Ann Marie Quinlan, February 8, 2003. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-102
Heather Michelle Lynn Reed served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay from 2018 to 2019 on an environmental project. She began her service in September 2018 and had to return to the United States in May 2019 due to medical reasons. In this interview, she reflects on her service as she waits to learn whether she will be able to return to Paraguay. Reed formed many close friendships, both with other volunteers and the members of her community in Santo Domingo. She taught hands-on agriculture classes to middle school students, and worked with a local women's committee. One of her favorite projects was teaching English classes at the local elementary school. Even with less than a year in country, Peace Corps taught her to make the most of every situation and to see the value not only in success but also in the effort made. Interviewed and recorded by Christeen Pusch, June 21, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-007
Robert Mowbray served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador from 1963 to 1996 in an agriculture and forestry program. He also served as Associate Peace Corps Director for Agriculture and the Environment in Paraguay from 1973 to 1978. Prior to the Peace Corps, Mowbray had been stationed in Okinawa, Japan, in the U.S. Marine Corps and then completed a master's degree in forestry at Yale University. His group was the first to train in Mexico at the UNESCO Patzcuaro facility, but did not receive much technical training. He discusses the "de-selection" of volunteers in his group. In Ecuador, he was located in Ibarra and Otavalo and first worked as part of the Heifer program in conjunction with the Forestry Service, assisting with reforestation, the development of farmer forestry cooperatives, and research. During his second year, Mowbray and other volunteer foresters assisted the Forestry Service in developing a request for more volunteers for the program. In his third year, he moved to Quito and served as liaison between the Peace Corps and the Forestry Service. Following his service term, Mowbray trained new forestry volunteers going to Ecuador at Montana State College. Later, in Paraguay, he worked with the Basico training company to develop more specifically defined jobs and more technical training for volunteers. He also worked on a Peace Corps project with the Smithsonian Institution and expanded the program from 30 to 100 volunteers. He discusses whether volunteers who are expected to "find their own way" or those with clearly defined jobs are more useful to the host country. He concludes the interview by recalling the reactions of volunteers and Ecuadorians to President Kennedy's assassination. After the Peace Corps, Mowbray spent his career in USAID agriculture and forestry projects in South and Central America. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, August 28, 2018. 3 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2016-047
Rosemary Calhoon Takacs served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay from September 1988 through December 1990. She applied to the Peace Corps while she was working as an accountant and auditor, and accepted an invitation to work with small business and agricultural cooperatives. Takacs was among 40 volunteers who trained in-country on both the Spanish and Guarani languages, local culture, and business and cooperative laws of Paraguay. Following a coup that overthrew President Alfredo Stroessner’s government, her job focused solely on cooperatives licensed by the Ministry of Agriculture, which required her to draw heavily upon her auditing skills. Twenty-five years later, Takacs took a position with Peace Corps Response in Guatemala (August 2015 through February 2016) where she worked in small villages organizing farmers to sell their goat milk. She instructed the villagers in hygiene, contamination testing, marketing, and accounting. She also assisted in goat vaccination rodeos and studied their diets to improve milk output. 1 digital audio file. Interviewed and recorded by Ivan C. Browning, July 14, 2016.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-030
Elaine Staab served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay from 2000 to 2002 on an agriculture project. She had an interest in anthropology and several of her family members had also served in the Peace Corps. In Paraguay, Staab did three months of in-service training outside of the capital. She was then assigned to her community, San Francisco, Calle 15, a rural Guarani speaking community. Staab's primary project was working as an agricultural extension agent to promote crop diversification and soil conservation. She worked with several families and also created model gardens. Her secondary activities included teaching English at the high school; teaching health, nutrition, and sanitation classes; building sanitary latrines; and building fugon brick ovens in several homes. The Peace Corps contributed to her decision to pursue a career as an English teacher in public school. She also serves on the Northern Virginia RPCV Board. Interviewed and recorded by Randolph (Randy) Adams, October 9, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-028
Margaret (Peggy) Bangham served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay from January 1980 to March 1983 as an elementary education teacher trainer. She later served as a Peace Corps recruiter in the 1980s, and as Associate Peace Corps Director (APCD) in Tonga from 1993 to 1996. Bangham was already an experienced teacher when she joined the Peace Corps. She attended training in Aregua, a town outside of Asuncion. The preparation focused on cultural studies, teaching techniques, and the Spanish and Guarani languages. Bangham was based in Villarrica, Guaira Department, but she was part of a roving team that also visited other schools in the region. In the interview, she describes her workdays, free time activities, and summer projects. She concludes by discussing the lessons she learned and how her service influenced her career. Interviewed and recorded by Randolph (Randy) Adams, September 20, 2019. 1 digital audio file.