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Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2009-015-004
Michael Ford served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya from 1964 to 1966 on a rural community action project. He was in the very first group assigned to Kenya; these volunteers worked as land settlement officers in a program developed after the country's independence to transfer property from white Europeans back to native Kenyans. Ford trained at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, with agricultural training in Madison. In Kenya, he was assigned to the Shamata settlement scheme near the town of Thomsons Falls in a Kikuyu area. After four months, he was transferred to the larger Ol Kalou settlement scheme nearby. At both places, Ford provided accounting, administrative, and agricultural support. He also tried to go out and visit every farmer on the scheme in person. After the Peace Corps, Ford completed a PhD in African studies and political science. He returned to visit Ol Kalou in 1987. In the interview, Ford also discusses his experiences as a Black American in Kenya. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, November 6, 2008. 3 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-056-001
Russell Breyfogle served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya from 1964 to 1966 on a secondary education project. He joined in 1963 as an experienced teacher and an Army veteran, and completed training at Columbia University Teachers College. As part of the first Peace Corps group in Kenya, he taught at an established Anglican secondary school in Maseno, north of Kisumu. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, June 22, 2005. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2004-002-023
Mary Parsaca served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya from 1968 to 1970 as a teacher. She served alongside her husband, Jim Beverwyck. The couple trained at Columbia Teachers College in New York City. Parsaca was a medical technologist and was offered a hospital position in Nairobi, but chose to become a teacher instead because the couple wanted to serve in a rural setting. She taught a wide variety of classes at a boys secondary school in Taranganya that was just coming under government support. She also worked with a well baby clinic run by local nuns and participated in a vaccination project. In her second year, Parsaca became pregnant and refused Peace Corps' suggestion that they return to the United States. She had the baby at a mission hospital 100 miles away and was warmly welcomed back to the village, then resumed teaching for the remainder of her service. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, April 29, 2003. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2004-002-003
Jim Beverwyck served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya from 1968 to 1970 in a secondary education project. He served alongside his wife Mary Parsaca. Beverwyck trained at the Teacher's College, Columbia University, with four weeks of intensive language courses, three weeks of home-stay in Brooklyn, and practice teaching in a Catholic school. Once in Kenya, Beverwyck taught at a secondary school. He states that they functioned well despite being remote from the Peace Corps, even with the birth of their child during service. He taught and was totally involved with the life of school, resisting the influences of a U.S. Protestant mission that started the school, which was now coming under government control. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, April 29, 2003. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2002-020-001
Roland H. Johnson served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya from 1964 to 1966 as a land settlement officer. After graduating from Lincoln University, he worked for Peace Corps headquarters in classification and recruitment. He decided to join as a volunteer and trained at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee with the Kenya I group. After additional in-country training at Kabete, Johnson was assigned to the Lessos settlement scheme in the highlands region to help manage farmland that was being transferred from European colonists back to the local Nandi tribe. As a settlement officer, he provided administrative and agricultural assistance to the farmers and the cooperative. He was also involved in building two bridges and planning a water system. At the end of his service, Johnson and another volunteer wrote a report evaluating the settlement project but their constructive criticism was poorly received by the Kenya government. In the interview, he also describes his experiences as a Black volunteer. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, April 26, 2002. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2002-001-002
Thomas (Tom) Bruyneel served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya from 1964 to 1966 as a land settlement officer. He was part of the first group sent to Kenya, one year after the country gained independence. His training at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee focused on the Swahili language and featured lectures by well-known African scholars. In Kenya, Bruyneel worked for the Ministry of Lands and Settlement to administer settlement schemes where native people were being resettled on farmland previously held by British colonialists. He was first stationed at the Lietego scheme outside the town of Sotik, where he worked with the Kisii tribe. After about six months, he also assumed management of the much larger Manga scheme. Bruyneel's duties as settlement officer included cooperative development, agricultural outreach, crop management, and general administrative tasks. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, November 18, 2001. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).