Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2013-004-002
Myrtis Becker Justiniano served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bolivia from 1962 to 1964 as a teacher trainer (Bolivia II). She had been involved in a lot of volunteer work through her church before deciding to join the Peace Corps. She completed training at Arizona State University, on the Maricopa Indian Reservation, and in Puerto Rico and Vermont. Upon her arrival in Bolivia, she was sent to Mineros in the Santa Cruz area, where she worked as a consultant to teachers and helped develop instruction materials and methods. Justiniano eventually married the director of the school where she was stationed and remained in Bolivia after her Peace Corps term was complete. She taught at a school for the children of Gulf Oil employees, and later was named interim director after the oil companies were nationalized. She feels that the Peace Corps taught her how to understand other people, and believes that young people need these kinds of challenges. Interviewed and recorded by Sharleen Hirschi Simpson, June 19, 2012. 1 tape.