Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-077
Jeffrey (Jeff) Walsh served as a Peace Corps volunteer in South Africa from July 2016 to June 2018 as a teacher. He joined in his 50s after having worked as a teacher, an Army medic, and an AmeriCorps volunteer. Walsh enjoyed the total immersion experience of living with a host family during training. He was the first Peace Corps volunteer to be assigned to Maphoitsile, where he taught English and life skills to primary school children. As the result of a letter that Walsh wrote to Bishop Desmond Tutu, his school received 500 laptop desks. Twenty-three months into his service, volunteers in the region were evacuated due to safety concerns, and he completed his final months at the Peace Corps office in Pretoria. Walsh also discusses using Grassroot Soccer as a teaching tool, an article he wrote for World Vision magazine, and bringing the Mother Bear Project to South Africa. Interviewed and recorded by Julius (Jay) Sztuk, March 5, 2020. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).