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Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-097
David Gittelman served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zaire from 1982 to 1984 on a health project. He had taken courses in African Studies and French at Georgetown University, and spent his junior year at the University of Dakar, Senegal, where he honed his French language skills and learned about development work from Peace Corps volunteers he met. Gittleman's Peace Corps training in small animal husbandry and cross-cultural skills was conducted at the Penn Community Center in South Carolina. After arriving in Mbuji-Mayi, Zaire, he learned the child immunization program needed a good French speaker, so he switched programs and became the Deputy Regional Supervisor for immunization program in the Kasai Oriental Region. Gittelman discusses getting host country nationals out of jail, confronting corruption, and still learning to contribute and thrive professionally. After the Peace Corps, he had a long career in global health with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Interviewed and recorded by Edwin Blanton, June 22, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2017-035
William "Bill" Lawrence was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zaire from 1972 to 1974. His training began in the Virgin Islands with French language instruction, then continued with practice teaching for a month in Lubumbashi, Zaire. Lawrence was assigned to a secondary school in a very remote area where he taught science in the French language. After completing his two years in Zaire, he then extended his service to work on a public health project in Upper Volta from 1974 to 1975. In this WHO-sponsored program, Lawrence worked on the eradication of river blindness (Onchocerciasis). Interviewed and recorded by Phyllis Noble, 28 February 2017. 3 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2016-036
Keesia Harrison Hyzer served as a Peace Corps Volunteer from 1972 to 1974 in Zaire (later known as the Democratic Republic of Congo). Hyzer taught English in a secondary school for girls. Before applying to the Peace Corps, she had already obtained a teaching certificate in the United States. The first part of Peace Corps training occurred in the Virgin Islands, where the trainees were taught French using a very effective method of language learning developed at S.I.T. (School for International Training in Vermont). The idea was that the volunteers would then use that same method to teach English later in Zaire. Hyzer's training continued in Zaire for another month. Her group was the first group of Peace Corps teachers to be assigned to Zaire. The interview includes a discussion of the differences between the American volunteers and the several Belgian ex-patriots who worked in Zaire, and also touches briefly on an episode of violence in her home near the end of her service. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file). Interviewed by Phyllis Noble, May 10, 2016.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-111
Nancy Cooper served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zaire from July 1990 to October 1991 in healthcare administration. She had previously sold a successful business and retired at the age of 48. She applied with her husband Gary after seeing a Peace Corps television ad seeking older volunteers. Their training included an orientation in New Orleans; three months of French, history, and culture classes in Bukavu, Zaire; and a home stay in a small local village. Cooper was assigned to work in the town of Kimpese with the director of the local medical service. She traveled around to villages to provide basic healthcare services and education. After economic turmoil and rioting erupted in Zaire, the Coopers were evacuated from their site to Kinshasa, and then by boat to Brazzaville, Central African Republic. Nancy later returned with Crisis Corps, which led to a second evacuation down the Congo River to the coast. Interviewed and recorded by Julius (Jay) Sztuk, June 22, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-025-013
Frank Gorman served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco from 1969 to 1971 as an architect. He joined instead of going into the military. His in-country training consisted of intensive language classes with an emphasis on French and some Arabic. In his architectural work on housing in Morocco, Gorman learned from trial and error that designing houses to blend in (or resemble old city buildings) led to instant acceptance. During his tour, an assassination attempt was made on the king. Everyone heard this news except for Gorman and his friend, who realized something was wrong after encountering trucks of armed soldiers on the otherwise empty streets. After serving in Morocco, Gorman re-enlisted for another year and was sent to the Congo (later called Zaire). No white people had been seen in the Congo since missionaries were slaughtered there ten years before. Gorman had to work with a local Black man so as to not be perceived as hostile. He was able to build a school for the blind with a floor plan tailored to their needs. Interviewed and recorded by Ernest Zaremba, August 19, 2004. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).