Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2017-024
Roger Rattan served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanganyika from 1963 to 1965. (The name of the country was changed to Tanzania in 1964, in the midst of his service.) Roger and his wife entered the Peace Corps together. During training, they studied the Swahili language, and spent six weeks at Syracuse University and another six weeks in Mbeya, a city in southern Tanganyika. Rattan was assigned to teach English and math in a middle school in Mwanza, a northern city on the shore of Lake Victoria. His first placement was at a school where the students were predominantly South Asian; in the second year he transferred to a school with African students. The interview includes Rattan's recollections of receiving the news of President Kennedy's death during training in Tanganyika. He also discusses how Peace Corps volunteers participated in the ceremony to mark the changing of the country's name to Tanzania. Interviewed and recorded by Phyllis Noble, 29 January 2017. 4 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).