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Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-022
Emily Goldman served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras from 1991 to 1993 on a beekeeping project. Her Peace Corps experience actually began at age 3, when her parents served as volunteers in Curridabat, Costa Rica. Spanish is her first language, and at age 8 she decided that she was going to be a Peace Corps volunteer herself one day. After completing a bachelor degree in cultural anthropology, she applied and was sent to Honduras. She was told that she was the first child from a Peace Corps family to be sworn in as a volunteer. Assigned to the village of La Florida de Opatoro, Goldman's primary job was to provide training to local beekeepers. Secondary projects included teaching English at the local elementary school, where she established an exchange relationship between the local school and one in Santa Fe, New Mexico, modeled on the Peace Corps' World Wise Schools program. Goldman also established a women's vegetable gardening project. Her post-service career has been in international community development, human rights, and conservation. Interviewed and recorded by Julius (Jay) Sztuk, November 13, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-021
Jacqueline (Jackie) Coolidge served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Botswana from 1980 to 1982 as a middle school teacher. Following initial training in Colorado, she traveled to Botswana for additional training in the capital city of Gaborone. Her arrival coincided with the memorial ceremonies for the first president of Botswana, Seretse Khama. After training she moved to the village of Mahalapye and settled in a one room mud and thatch rondavel (hut). Coolidge taught developmental and social studies at a middle school (grades 7-9) that had 18 teachers and approximately 250 students. During her service AIDS became rampant in Botswana, and she later learned of students, teachers, and community members dying of the disease. Coolidge says her experience gave her a special appreciation for the culture and people of Botswana, and an opportunity to share this with others when she returned to the U.S. Interviewed and recorded by Russell E. Morgan Jr., November 13, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-020
Steven Smith served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Fiji from 2008 to 2010 in an environmental program. During training he was housed with a local family in a village setting, which he feels was essential to his understanding of the local customs. Smith was assigned to Biausevu village in the Nadroga district and worked on projects in the area that included restoration of trails, re-forestation, and the revival of a traditional farming technique. He engaged village youth in the projects in order to gain acceptance and to help raise money. Smith also worked on a rubbish recycling project, introducing practices that he believes are still being followed, and arranged for a fellow volunteer to provide some public health education in his village. The interview also includes his observations about how the Peace Corps has influenced his life. Interviewed and recorded by Julius (Jay) Sztuk, October 9, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-019
Steve M. Shepard served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Fiji from 1986 to 1989 on a public health project. He joined Peace Corps at age 35, after having worked as a medical lab technician. His training was conducted in Fiji and included home stays. Shepard worked as a lab technician, originally on the island of Kadavu, and later at Sigatoka Hospital on the main island of Viti Levu. During his service, there were two military coups. He was arrested by the Fiji military after the first coup for possessing a short-wave radio. Shepard married an Indo-Fijian woman that he met while working at Sigatoka Hospital, and extended his service for an additional year. Interviewed and recorded by Jack Franklin Davies, August 26, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-018
Jeniffer Rivera Rodriguez served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Costa Rica from June 2016 to August 2018 on a youth development project. She was born and raised in Puerto Rico, with Spanish as her first language. She applied for Peace Corps at age 21, after completing her bachelor's degree in psychology in Puerto Rico. Her training was conducted in-country and included health, safety, and orientation to the local school system. Rivera Rodriguez's job assignment was in the town of Guanacaste. Per PC Costa Rica policy, she lived with a host family for the first six months and developed close relationships with them and the other volunteers and people that she worked with. Her primary job was at a high school, and she also sought out other organizations to partner with, including a women's center and health clinic. The interview concludes with a discussion of how the Peace Corps experience influenced her life after service. Interviewed and recorded by Julius (Jay) Sztuk, October 10, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-017
Patricia (Pat) Milliren served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Fiji from 1968 to 1970 in an education program. She had wanted to serve in South America and learn Spanish, but instead was invited to go to Fiji. Her training began on the island of Molokai in Hawaii, and she learned the Hindustani language. Milliren taught biology and English at Nadi College, a secondary school where the majority of students were of Indian descent. During her time there she developed strong friendships with the students and local teachers. She also discusses how the Peace Corps influenced her life after her service. Milliren returned to Fiji in 2011 on a trip organized by Friends of Fiji, to work on a Habitat for Humanity project. Interviewed and recorded by Jack Davies, July 31, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-016
Kathleen MacLeod served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Iran from June 1964 to June 1966 as an English teacher in the TEFL program (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). Her group was the fourth one to serve in Iran. After spending a year in Mexico during college, she had expected to be sent to a Spanish speaking country. Training was conducted at the University of Michigan English Language Institute and included the Farsi language and Iranian history. MacLeod initially worked in Tehran teaching English to public health engineers, and at the UNESCO School of Social Work. After a few months, she requested a reassignment to an area with more locals. In Gorgan, MacLeod taught at a girls' high school. She lived with a local midwife and sometimes accompanied the midwife when she delivered babies in nearby villages. MacLeod has maintained lasting friendships with her Iranian friends and other volunteers after her service. Interviewed and recorded by Julius (Jay) Sztuk, October 17, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-015
Richard Harkrader served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tunisia from July 1969 to February 1971 as a tourism development and urban planning specialist. His training program allowed him to become fluent in French. Harkrader's work took him to every part of Tunisia as he helped the Ministry of Tourism to better position its foreign tourism industry. After returning to the U.S., Harkrader worked briefly as a Peace Corps recruiter before starting construction and solar energy businesses and marrying fellow RPCV Lonna Dole. Harkrader returned to Tunisia in 1995 to reconnect with friends and observe the current state of the tourism industry. Richard and Lonna later set up a long-term development and education project in rural Nicaragua. Interviewed and recorded by Robert T. K. Scully, October 21, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-014
Paul Clark served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Fiji from 2005 to 2007 in an environmental program. Prior to joining Peace Corps, he served in the U.S. Army and attended graduate school at the University of Montana. His Peace Corps training was conducted in-country and included home stays with local families. Clark's job assignment was in Cuvu and included working with six neighboring villages. He lived with a local family for the first four months of his assignment, and then moved into his own quarters. While in Cuvu he organized the school library, started an environmental club at the school, conducted waste management workshops, and tutored students. He also prepared a brief dictionary of the local dialect for the benefit of future volunteers. Finally, Clark discusses how his Peace Corps experience helped prepare him for his current job with the National Park Service in Alaska. Interviewed and recorded by Jack Franklin Davies, August 12, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-013
Skip Auld served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Iran from 1973 to 1974 as an English teacher in a TEFL program (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). He was interested in serving in South Asia, but readily accepted the invitation to Iran. His in-country training included intensive language instruction and teaching techniques. Auld was assigned to teach English at a boys' high school in the town of Mahallat, where he was the only westerner. There had been Peace Corps volunteer couples at the school previously, but he was the first single volunteer. Auld found the local residents to be very fond of Americans, and was frequently invited to their homes for dinner. He was unable to complete his full tour due to medical issues. The interview also includes a discussion of Auld's continuing engagement with the RPCV Iran community. Interviewed and recorded by Julius (Jay) Sztuk, October 29, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-010
Jeff Liu served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Moldova from 2014 to 2016 on a small enterprise development project. Stationed in Balti, he was assigned to work with a regional development agency and a women's business association. As a secondary focus he worked to promote volunteerism within the community. Liu focused mainly on youth community development and recycling initiatives, but also did smaller projects with the local library and helped students who wanted to learn English or Chinese. Some of his students were able to study abroad with the merit-based government program Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX), and others pursued a university education in China. Liu enjoyed the walkability of the towns in Moldova as well as the open culture that allowed him visit neighbors at any moment. He says the Peace Corps gave him the ability to learn more about a complex country and culture. Interviewed and recorded by Kelli Haynes, May 17, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-009
Richard H. Dalrymple served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali from June 1975 to May 1977 in a pit silo project. He was stationed in Gourma-Rharous on the Niger River in the Tombouctou region of the country. The project made it possible for forage grasses harvested during the rainy season to be stored and fed to cows during the following dry season, to provide nourishing milk for the children. Dalrymple worked with a counterpart for two years, and the pit silo technology continued to be used after he completed his service. He also worked on other projects including a non-profit restaurant that funded the planting of trees and the construction of sewage trenches. After the Peace Corps, Dalrymple worked for the United Nations World Food Program for 30 years. He states that it is important for all Americans to learn about the underdeveloped world and to support development. Interviewed and recorded by Christine Musa, October 11, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-008
Sara Feldman served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Micronesia from 1979 to 1981 on a community development project. She also served in Georgia from 2014 to 2016 on an individual organization development (IOD) project. For Micronesia, Feldman trained in animal husbandry in the Philippines, followed by language and teaching methods in Gagil on the island of Yap. Feldman was first assigned to Lamotrek as part of a development strategy to prepare the Outer Islands to join the Federated States of Micronesia. She worked on various initiatives that included increasing food production for export and shifting from diesel fuel to solar energy. It was very isolated, which likely contributed to a high attrition rate in her Peace Corps group. In Feldman's second year she relocated to Satawal atoll, a challenging site with scarce natural resources, and worked on development education and cooperative programs. After the Peace Corps, Feldman focused on her law career and family for 30 years before deciding to rejoin and accepting an assignment in Georgia. She worked at an NGO (non-governmental organization) in Gori with internally displaced persons from Russian occupied provinces. After completing her service, she remained in Georgia for another three years to start a business in Tbilisi to fund local programs for disabled children. Interviewed and recorded by Robert T. K. Scully, September 21, 2019. 3 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-007
Wendy Schumacher served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco from 1999 to 2001 in a library science program. The small 6-year pilot recruited American librarians to help Moroccan libraries adopt an open-stack library system, thereby increasing access to books by students of all ages and the general public. Schumacher worked in Morocco at the beginning of the internet age so much of her work also involved helping organizations develop a web presence. After her first assignment cataloging the library collection of an English-language university in Rabat didn't work out because the university was essentially closed, she worked with a USAID-funded elementary school project to help them develop a web presence for several programs. She did similar work with the Jewish Museum in Casablanca and a school supported through the Chicago Sister Cities program. She discusses resistance to this change by the male functionaries, who had previously controlled access to books. She also discusses the impact of Peace Corps service on her life, the long-term friendships she made, her return to Morocco after 10 years, and her continuing involvement in Peace Corps third goal-related activities. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, September 28, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-005
Jason Scott Pielemeier served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala from 2001 to 2004 on an environmental management project. He was assigned to the town of Chisec in the department of Alta Verapaz in the lowlands of north-central Guatemala. Pielemeier worked with the municipal government to increase the benefits that the Mayan communities received from eco-tourism in the region. Despite initial community skepticism of outsiders, he was able to work with the locals to improve access to lagoons, caves, and archeological sites in the area. This led to an arrangement whereby the government of Guatemala gave local communities exclusive rights to manage tourism at cultural patrimony sites. Pielemeier also helped foster a youth group into an NGO, unionized the town's shoeshine boys so that they could attend school, and undertook a GPS project to help communities plot their land use. He discusses two bouts with dengue fever and the challenges of working in post-conflict communities. After the Peace Corps, Pielemeier worked for an additional six months in Chisec with Idaho State University and then pursued a career in law and human rights. Interviewed and recorded by John Pielemeier, August 7, 2019. 3 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-004
Catherine Tansey served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco from 1970 to 1972 as a TEFL teacher (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). Her group was one of the first to receive their training in-country, in the fishing town of Safi. Training included both Moroccan Arabic and French as well as classes in culture, customs, and politics. Tansey taught in the provincial oasis town of Oujda, near the Algerian border. Her students in the lycee (high school) were mostly 18-19 years old. She discusses many experiences and challenges during her service, including adjusting to the local culture, food, and desert-like environment; experiencing an attempted coup d'etat while receiving language training in Casablanca; her students going on strike; a harrowing train ride; and the shock of learning that her first apartment, unbeknownst to her and her roommate, was in a "red light" district. Interviewed and recorded by Stanley Laser, September 13, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-002
Debra E. (Debi) Pinkney served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Niger from 1998 to 2000 as a nutritionist with an emphasis on maternal-child health. She later worked on the Peace Corps staff for 8.5 years in Washington, D.C., Lesotho, and Cameroon. Pinkney had studied French, Spanish, and German before applying to the Peace Corps. Her training began in D.C. and continued in Hamdallaye, Niger. Despite intensive training in the Zharma (or Djerma) language, she was not adequately prepared for life in Kobia, a small village of about 300. She describes the negative reception she received and recalls moments when her Americanism clashed with the Songai; frustrations with being an African American serving in Africa; and a vacation with a Peace Corps colleague that left the two fighting for life and her feeling that her "black life did not matter." Pinkney also voices her criticism of the race issues that persist within the agency, but ultimately says that the Peace Corps was the toughest job she ever loved. Interviewed and recorded by Charlaine V. Loriston, September 2, 2019. 3 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-001
Duane Karlen served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal from February 1970 to July 1972 in the education sector. He later served on Peace Corps staff as a training contractor (1977-1989), in the Eastern Caribbean (1991-1994), and at the Washington headquarters (1994-1999). In addition to living in a cooperative intercultural house during college, the Vietnam War also influenced his decision to join the Peace Corps. Karlen completed training at the University of California-Davis as well as in-country and received his teaching certificate. He lived in an isolated rural community of 100 houses, Gaunsahar, in the Lamjung District. He taught math and science and conducted teacher training. Karlen built meaningful relationships with the community members, especially through exchanges of understanding about the U.S. and Nepal. He returned to Nepal ten years after his service to see the changes. The Peace Corps altered Karlen's career path and he became interested in adult education and leadership development. As a staff member, he learned that work structure and a safe living situation are critical to volunteers' success. Interviewed and recorded by Randolph A. Adams, August 8, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-150
Melissa Loffler served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Georgia from 2013 to 2015 as a teacher. She completed in-country training in Kvishkheti, then taught English in a combined elementary and secondary school in Khashuri. Loffler talks enthusiastically about the country, Georgian food, and the close relationships she developed with her host families. She remains in touch with these friends and returned to Georgia in 2019. She also talks about friendships with other volunteers, whom she says she wouldn't have gotten to know as well under other circumstances. Loffler conducts an annual Peace Corps event in the Dallas area. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, September 10, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-149
Susan Goodman (nee Teller) served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Turkey from 1964 to 1966 as a teacher. Part of the Turkey IV group, she taught intermediate and advanced English in the Middle East Technical University in Ankara before being transferred to a primary school in Polatli, a village near Ankara. There, she taught English to 7th graders for about 5 months. Although Goodman loved Turkey and learned a lot through her experiences, she recounts two situations in which she believes Peace Corps treated her unfairly. Goodman was involuntarily transferred from the university because she failed students for plagiarism on exams, spoke up at faculty meetings, and allowed students to discuss religion in class. She believes that Peace Corps was trying to appease Turkish officials after the Peace Corps director had claimed diplomatic immunity when he killed a Turkish woman in an auto accident. Later, after she was strangled by her former Turkish boyfriend, she was denied visitors in the hospital and then summarily shipped back to the U.S. without the opportunity say good-bye to friends and colleagues. Goodman also discusses carrying papers on the Palestinian situation into Turkey and meeting with what turned out to be Turkish Maoists on a return trip to Turkey after the Peace Corps. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, September 17, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-148
Josephine (Jody) Olsen served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tunisia from 1966 to 1968 as a teacher. Subsequently, she has held numerous Peace Corps positions in the field and in headquarters culminating in her being appointed agency director in 2018. As a volunteer in Sousse, Tunisia, Olsen first taught English in an all-boys secondary school and later taught English to adults in the evening. She served alongside her husband, who was in a separate architecture program. Olsen talks about her struggle with learning French during training and the negative impact of the de-selection process in place at the time. She describes her close friendship with the family of a fellow teacher who taught her Arabic. She muses about the personal vulnerability and risk-taking that enables such deep cross-cultural friendships to form, and believes that this has been the essence of the Peace Corps experience over the years. Olsen also discusses the impact of her service on her career in and out of Peace Corps. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, August 26, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-147
Natasha (Tasha) Prados served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru from 2011 to 2013 on a water and sanitation project. She was stationed in Rio Grande, right off the Pan-American Highway about 8 hours south of Lima. There she worked to increase access to potable water, build the local community's first sewage system, install improved cook stoves for women cooking on open fires, and reduce trash burning. She also taught classes on HIV prevention, sanitation and hygiene, English, vocational orientation, and more than 300 hours of exercise classes. Prados talks positively about her host family and the general openness and friendliness of people in the community. However, she notes that she found the machista (machismo) culture and the relaxed attitude toward punctuality challenging. She concludes that in her experience, Peace Corps volunteers were not colonial imperialists, as she had feared, because local communities were deeply involved in development activities. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, August 25, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-146
Clinton Kellner served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala from 2016 to 2018 in the youth and development program. He had a 30-year career as an environmental consultant prior to joining. Kellner served along with his wife, Madeline, and they were stationed in an indigenous K'iche' community in the highlands of Guatemala. He was surprised by the cold temperatures there and felt unprepared for the conditions. Clinton worked with middle school students and taught lessons on such topics as life skills, self-esteem, sexual education, and leadership. In the interview he reflects on the behaviors and disinterest of the children in the classroom, but he enjoyed challenging their notions of gender roles. Kellner was also able to travel to a variety of places in Guatemala during his service. Interviewed by Margaret (Mardi) Nott, June 21, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-145
Pat Colonna served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mongolia from 1993 to 1995 as a teacher. She was stationed in the city of Ulan Bator and lived in an old Russian apartment complex. Colonna endured food shortages during her service, and her group experienced quite a bit of violence and deep cold. She provides detailed descriptions of Naadam (a festival of archery, wrestling, and horse racing) and other Mongolian traditions. Interviewed and recorded by Margaret (Mardi) Nott, June 22, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-132
Edwin Fuller Torrey served as Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia from 1964 to 1966 as a staff doctor. He applied after medical school and completed two days of orientation to tropical medicine at Columbia University, but no language training. Torrey initially flew to Dire Dawa and began volunteering in local hospitals and visiting the remote sites of other Peace Corps volunteers. After three months, he was assigned to Addis Ababa where he continued supporting volunteers in remote villages while learning Amharic with the help of a tutor. Working alongside Ethiopian and missionary medical practitioners taught him which doctors were reliable to assist sick volunteers in remote villages, introduced him to viable local practices, and awakened his interest in mental health care. Torrey's other projects included organizing the first health program for 7th and 8th graders using closed circuit TV, a two-week workshop to train biology teachers in secondary schools (resulting in an Ethiopian textbook), observing local witch doctors and results of their practices, and conducting an extensive medical survey and vaccination initiative in the remote reaches of the Blue Nile Gorge. Through the two years, Peace Corps volunteers remained the healthiest of his patients, but nevertheless one volunteer died (eaten by a crocodile). Torrey's experience in Ethiopia prompted him to become a psychiatrist and researcher in mental health. Interviewed and recorded by Patricia A. Wand, August 31, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).