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.