Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-130
Gerald Jones served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia from 1967 to 1971 as a teacher. He was inspired to join Peace Corps after first hearing about it in John F. Kennedy's 1960 campaign while he was in high school. His training began at a site outside of Boston and was completed in Ethiopia. Jones was first assigned to the town of Dessie, where he taught at a high school that was staffed by both expatriate and local teachers. He also taught English to adults in night school, and taught summer school in a different location. Jones extended his service and for his second assignment taught at a Teacher Training Institute in the town of Debre Birhan. As part of this job, he was able to travel to several other locations with teacher trainees for practice teaching assignments. After the Peace Corps, Jones worked in private industry for several years, and then returned to international work with Save The Children, the International Red Cross, and a local Ethiopian NGO. In the interview, he also discusses the changes he has observed in Ethiopia during return trips over the years. Interviewed and recorded by Julius (Jay) Sztuk, August 29, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).