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Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2016-040
Zoe Schroeder served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Lesotho from 2012 to 2014. She had been bilingual in French and English since childhood, and was also fluent in Spanish by the time she applied to the Peace Corps. However, she was sent to Lesotho where neither French nor Spanish is spoken. Training was conducted in-country in the village of Makola, where Schroeder lived in her own rondavel (hut) on the compound of her host family. Much of the training focused on learning the Sesotho language. For her service, Schroeder was placed in the village of Tabola. She taught English in two different primary schools, developed a library, and helped to fund and build two additional classrooms. The interview includes a discussion of the difference between government schools and private schools in Lesotho. Schroeder also endorses the Peace Corps strategy of using older volunteers who are retired teachers as teacher-trainers and advisers. Interviewed and recorded by Phyllis Noble, June 5, 2016. 3 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2016-001
Madeline Uraneck served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Lesotho from 2007 to 2009 as a teacher trainer. She applied to the Peace Corps at age 59, after working for Wisconsin Public Radio, teaching English in Japan, and serving as an international education consultant. Her training was in Maseru, Lesotho, and the village of Ha Makebe. Uraneck was assigned to Mount Moorosi in the district of Quthing, a remote area where she had to walk for hours to reach the rural schools. After extending her service for a third year, she joined the Peace Corps staff from 2010 to 2012, and was based in Washington, D.C., Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan. The interview includes discussion of life as a older volunteer, and the contrast between being a volunteer versus agency staff. Interviewed and recorded by Phyllis Noble, September 23, 2015. 3 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).