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Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2011-002-002
James (Jim) Herberger served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bolivia from 1962 to 1964 as an insect specialist. He had recently graduated with a bachelors of science in entomology. He joined alongside his wife Judy, a social worker. Herberger trained at Arizona State University in Tempe, and discusses the overall young age of the trainees and the high attrition rate. In Bolivia, he worked at an agricultural experiment station in the town of General Saavedra, outside of Santa Cruz, which felt like a frontier area. He describes how he and his friends built a raft and took a trip down various rivers to the city of Trinidad. Herberger also shares his thoughts on what the Peace Corps meant to him, other young people, and Bolivians. After returning to the U.S., he earned a PhD and became a expert in weeds and weed control, including co-writing three scientific books that led to the development of quarantine protocols for exotic species. Interview by Sharleen Hirschi Simpson, June 23, 2009. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2011-002-001
Norman (Norm) Coble served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bolivia from 1962 to 1964 on an agriculture project. He had intended to study veterinary medicine but applied to the Peace Corps to take break from school. Coble was stationed in the agricultural extension offices in Santa Cruz, where he was involved in drawing blood from cows for brucellosis testing. He also taught English at the request of some local people. Coble enjoyed teaching and working with his veterinarian counterpart. The highlight of his time in Bolivia was building a raft with fellow volunteers and floating down the Yapacani and Rio Grande rivers to the city of Trinidad. After returning home from the Peace Corps, Coble taught science at the junior and senior high school levels for 36 years. Interviewed and recorded by Sharleen Hirschi Simpson, June 24, 2009. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2011-001
Barbara Richards (formerly Rich Main) served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia from June 1967 to June 1969 as an English teacher. Richards attended training in Utah for the TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) program. She discusses her life as a TESL teacher in two different communities. Her first station was in a geographically isolated area. Richards also described the effect that the Peace Corps had on her eventual career as a Montessori teacher. Interviewed and recorded by Paul Kinsley, September 23, 2010. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2010-035-004
Charlotte (Kelso) Thompson served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Chile from 1969 to 1971 on a housing project. She and her husband were recruited to participate in a self-help housing project for married volunteer couples. The husbands worked as architects and the wives worked as social workers in Chilean communities where government-supported self-help housing projects existed. Thompson's role as a social worker was ill-defined but she found other useful ways to be involved in her community. The project was terminated early before the end of the second year after the election of President Salvador Allende. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, August 14, 2010. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2010-034
Sara Williams served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru from 2008 to 2009 on a community health project. She applied at age 65, and had over 40 years of professional experience in the field of health care, having worked as a nurse, a public health educator, and a clinic administrator. Williams completed in-country training in Peru. She was assigned to a difficult location in a remote post that was six hours away from medical care with inadequate housing and a lack of clean water, which resulted in her being almost constantly ill. In spite of her declining physical health, Williams accomplished a considerable amount of work before terminating early for medical reasons. In her interview, she discusses how a different placement might have enabled her to better serve the Peace Corps during her time in Peru. Interviewed and recorded by Phyllis Noble, August 16, 2010. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2010-027
Tennie Bickham served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia from 1967 to 1969 as a high school teacher (Liberia IX). She attended training at San Francisco State University. In Liberia, Bickham was stationed in the town of Sanniquellie at a government school where she taught math and science. She discusses the challenges of being a female high school teacher in Liberia. She also talks about her interaction with her students, the political atmosphere of the time, and the effect the Peace Corps had on her life. Interviewed and recorded by Paul Kinsley, April 6, 2010. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2010-003-004
Joyce M. Bowden served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bolivia from 1963 to 1966 on a health project. She initially began training as part of Bolivia V for a project in public health education, but had to leave because her father became ill. Returning to Seattle to join Bolivia VI, Bowden completed further training in Puerto Rico and then went on with one other trainee to study at a leprosarium in Louisiana. In Bolivia, she was stationed at a leprosarium in a remote area, from which she traveled to outlying villages to educate patients' families and local health workers about leprosy. Bowden also interviewed incoming patients to obtain their medical history and began a system of record keeping at the leprosarium. Interviewed and recorded by Phyllis Noble, September 5, 2009. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2010-002-005
Adam Lutynski served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bolivia from 1966 to 1968 on a rural community development project. He and his wife Marie were part of a group of four volunteers sent to a remote village district. They formed a team that traveled to surrounding villages to make presentations about community development projects in support of work done by local rural village organizers. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, September 5, 2009. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2009-065-002
William W. (Bill) Thompson served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia from 1965 to 1967 on an educational television project. Prior to joining, he worked at the WGBH television studio in Boston. Thompson was invited to join the Educational Television Program in Colombia that aimed to televise educational lessons countrywide. He attended 10 weeks of training in culture, first aid, history, and Spanish at California State College at Los Angeles. Thompson was stationed in Bogota, where he worked as a producer and director to videotape instructional television programs that would be broadcast to schools. He trained Colombians to sustain the project in the future. In addition, Thompson taught organ at the National University and played concerts. After his service, he married a fellow volunteer (Bernadette Spanuello) and continued to work in television broadcasting. Interviewed and recorded by Wendy McLaughlin, May 23, 2009. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2009-065-001
Bernadette (Bunny) Thompson (nee Spanuello) served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia from 1965 to 1967 on an educational television project. She heard about the Peace Corps from working as a secretary for Brother Leo Ryan in Milwaukee who was preparing prospective volunteers to serve in Brazil. As she had previously had taught school for seven years, Thompson was invited to join the Educational Television Program that aimed to incorporate televised instruction into classrooms. She was one of 42 teachers who received training at California State College at Los Angeles in language and culture, then another month of training in Puerto Rico on the school system. During her first year, Thompson lived in Ibague, the provincial capital of Tolima, and helped to develop the content and methodology for delivering educational television. She also assisted local teachers with incorporating lesson guides sent from the production studio in Bogota. During her second year, she did similar work in Bogota, in both city and rural schools. She subsequently married a fellow volunteer (William Thompson) and established a career in interior design. Interviewed and recorded by Wendy McLaughlin, July 11, 2009. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2009-060-004
Barbara-Jean Payne Janes served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Pakistan from 1961 to 1963 as a teacher. Janes had a degree in chemistry and was part of the very first group sent to West Pakistan. She trained at Colorado State, at the Peace Corps training camp in Puerto Rico, and in-country in Peshawar. Janes was first assigned to teach science at a girl's school in Faisalabad, but after three months she transferred to the Women's College in Peshawar where she taught chemistry and biology. Since 2002, Janes has been involved in a Pakistani-based project to strengthen girls' education and has made several return visits to Pakistan in conjunction with this work. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, June 14, 2009. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2009-060-001
Howard Ellegant served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia from 1964 to 1966 on an architecture and engineering project. Ellegant had worked as an architect prior to joining. He trained at Los Angeles State College, in Puerto Rico, and in-country. Ellegant was stationed in Medellin to work with an Alliance for Progress program to develop schools in rural areas. It was a joint Colombia-U.S. program and was staffed by both Colombians and Peace Corps volunteers. Ellegant drew up architectural plans for rural school buildings, which involved traveling out to various sites. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, June 14, 2009. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
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-2009-015-003
Linda Meinders Webb served as a Peace Corps volunteer in India from 1966 to 1968 on an applied nutrition project. She learned Telugu during training at Dartmouth College. Webb was part of a Peace Corps nutrition education team working in the village of Chandragiri in the state of Andhra Pradesh in southern India. Her role within the team was to work with the community to start nursery schools. At the end of her tour, she worked at the Peace Corps office in Bangalore for a month. She later also worked as a recruiter for VISTA and Peace Corps. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, November 3, 2008. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2009-011
Joe Zingsheim served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras from 1965 to 1967 on a rural community development project. Although he had trained for the Dominican Republic, he was sent to Honduras instead with only one other volunteer. Zingsheim was stationed in Taulabe, and ended up working on a United Nations seed and fertilizer project with the local subsistence farmers. He also encouraged individuals to establish vegetable gardens. In the interview, Zingsheim discusses his challenges with mistrust of foreigners and serving without the support of a group of volunteers. He has been back to Honduras multiple times since completing Peace Corps. Interviewed and recorded by Paul Kinsley, October 13, 2008. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2009-010
Roberta J. Vann served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia from 1970 to 1971 in a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) program. She had previously completed a degree in English literature at Indiana University. In Ethiopia, Vann taught English at Gondar Public Health College. In the interview she discusses how her Peace Corps service impacted her life and led her to complete a Ph.D. and pursue a career as a TEFL professor. Interviewed and recorded by Leslie Bloom, May 2, 2008. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2009-004-001
Judith Stadler served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador from 1967 to 1969 on a community development project. She worked at the village level in an obstetric clinic, doing health education work. Note: Beginning of interview is missing. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, September 6, 2008. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2008-082
Charles (Chuck) Kreiman served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia from 1968 to 1970 as a teacher (Ethiopia X). He was part of a large group trained for secondary education, primarily English as a Second Language (ESL). After training in St. Thomas and in-country in Addis Ababa, Kreiman was assigned to a secondary school in Asella in what was then known as Arusi province. Many Peace Corps teachers had been placed at that school since 1965 in an effort to measure improvements in student performance based on the national 12th grade examination. Kreiman first taught English and later took over seven 10th grade history classes when several Ethiopian teachers were expelled as suspected instigators of student strikes. He also served on the committee to select students for positions as elementary school teachers upon completion of a one-year program at teacher training institutes. At the end of the 1969-1970 academic year, Kreiman was the only Peace Corps teacher remaining at that school. Interviewed by Gloria Curtis, June 24, 2008. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2008-081
Mitchell A. Seligson and his wife Susan (Sue) Berk-Seligson served as Peace Corps volunteers in Costa Rica from 1968 to 1970. They were stationed in a rural area not far from the border with Panama. Mitchell worked on cooperative and community development projects, while Susan worked on nutrition and community development projects. Interviewed and recorded by Barbara Kaare-Lopez, June 6, 2008. 3 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2008-080
Bruce Lang served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Costa Rica from 1968 to 1971. He worked on a co-op program with local farmers that is still in existence today. He also assisted in a local land reform measure so that farmers could eventually own their own land. Interviewed by Katie Langland, June 7, 2008. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2008-076
Diana Howard served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Uruguay from 1965 to 1967 on a community development project. She participated in a Peace Corps training program during her junior and senior years of college. In Uruguay, Howard worked in the poor areas outside of the capital, Montevideo, and had to learn barrio Spanish. She enjoyed her experience and fell in love with the people, especially the children with whom she worked. Howard also met her husband, got married, and had her first child in Uruguay. Interviewed and recorded by Melanie Spence, March 10, 2008. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2008-075-002
Sally H. Foote served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Costa Rica from 1968 to 1970 on a public health project (Costa Rica IX). Her project was originally designed for a three-member team with one person focusing on public health, the second on agriculture, and the third on microeconomics or co-ops. However, once in Costa Rica, Foote was assigned by herself to a small town in the interior of the country. She worked with her community to raise funds to construct a small clinic building for public health services. For her second year, Foote transferred to San Jose and worked at a special education school for the visual and hearing impaired. In the interview, she also describes the psychological strategies employed during the Peace Corps training and selection process. Interviewed and recorded by Joanne Roll, June 6, 2008. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2008-075-001
Jennifer Walter Fowler served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Costa Rica from 1968 to 1971 on a public health project (Costa Rica IX). As part of a three person team, she trained in public health while her other two team members trained in agriculture and microeconomics. In Costa Rica, Fowler worked with the community to raise money to build a public health clinic. She also taught nutrition in the local elementary school. Early in her service, Fowler married a fellow Peace Corps volunteer. Their home became a gathering place for other volunteers as well as Costa Ricans. In her interview, Fowler also discusses how health care was delivered at her site and how male and female volunteers were perceived differently. Interviewed and recorded by Joanne Roll, June 5, 2008. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2008-074-001
Cheryl Nenn served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador from February 1995 to June 1997 as a forestry extension worker. Her interview includes observations on the Peace Corps experience, the people and situations she encountered, and her thoughts on how the Peace Corps has affected her life and career. Interviewed by Paul Kinsley, April 15, 2008. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2008-071
Tom and Sarah (Sally) Kaesemeyer served as Peace Corps volunteers in Peru from 1966 to 1968 in a rural community development program. They were the only married couple to last through their two-year Peace Corps service, and are still married today. Tom had a background in Latin American studies while Sally had a passion for travel. During their time in Peru, they lived in both a rural village, Yanaoca, and a regional capital, Cusco. While they felt inadequately trained prior to entering the country, they were able to find their place once they got there. Interviewed and recorded by Melanie Spence, February 26, 2008. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).