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Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-068
Sara Holtz served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Togo from 1995 to 1998 in a safe motherhood and child survival program. She trained in-country at a dedicated Peace Corps center in Pagala. Afterwards she was stationed in the rural village of Affem Kabye with 1,200 residents, who welcomed her and named her Naka. Holtz worked in the health hut with two Togolese to provide maternal and child health care and health education to school students. After a tragedy where her neighbor had obstructed labor and died awaiting a cesarean section, Holtz knew she wanted to pursue a degree in public health. She later obtained a doctoral degree and wrote her dissertation on cesareans in developing countries. The Peace Corps made her who she is and shaped her global public health career. Interviewed and recorded by Elaine Staab, December 15, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-053
James E. Hill served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Togo from October 1974 to December 1976 on a primary school construction project. After completing program training in-country, he was stationed in Tsevie. His French language skills were strong to begin with but he had to work hard to understand the construction aspects of the job. One project in Kplaba, a remote village, involved him living with the school director's family for an extended period. Hill worked to build a 3-room primary school and cistern and latrine complexes in cooperation with local subsistence farmers who volunteered to provide the materials and labor. Hill states that he matured greatly from this experience, and learned to appreciate another culture and the importance of small things in life. His international cross-cultural work in the Peace Corps prepared him well for a subsequent career with the Red Cross and the Pan American Health Organization. Interviewed and recorded by Christine Musa, January 14, 2020. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2006-073-004
Melanie Spence served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Togo from 2003 to 2005 in a community health and HIV/AIDS prevention project. She discusses her training, her host family, and her work in community health and peer education. Interviewed and recorded by Gloria G. Curtis, July 31, 2006. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-056
John Stoney served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo from 1989 to 1991 in an appropriate technologies program. He talks about teaching local women how to build and use ameliorated cook stoves, cisterns, and other low technology tools to save energy and improve their lives. He discusses the importance of these stoves in producing beer and the role of beer in the local Mobo culture. Stoney discusses his experiences during a coup that overthrew the dictator, President Gnassingbe Eyadema, and the ensuing fighting among villagers in many places, as well as the effect on large elephant herds in the Fosse aux Lions national game park near where he was stationed. In addition, he talks about his relocation from Dapaong, a small border town near Burkina Faso, to Tambong, a smaller village, after using a knife to defend himself when he was attacked by a mentally ill young man whom he had befriended. The process of building a forge with local materials and producing metal sculptures in Togo convinced him to remain an artist when he returned to the U.S. Finally, Stoney reflects on how he did not experience culture shock overseas, but rather on his return to rampant consumerism in the U.S. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, December 23, 2018. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-054
Stephen A. Jonathan served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo from 1975 to 1977 as an English teacher. He talks about his motivation to join the Peace Corps and have an on-the-ground experience in a developing country, despite the wishes of his parents. Jonathan's training was in Philadelphia and then continued in Atakpame, Togo. He received instruction in French and some local dialects, teaching methods, and some cultural training. Jonathan worked at a girls' Catholic private school. In addition to teaching English to middle school girls, he coached the girls' basketball team and enjoyed it immensely. He traveled extensively through Western Africa, mostly on his own, and spoke of observing some of the after-effects of colonialism and the many changes happening in Africa. Finally, Jonathan discusses how his degree in international relations and his Peace Corps experience guided his career in international business and currency exchange and what he might do after he retires. Interviewed and recorded by Candice Wiggum, February 10, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2018-014
Amy Amessoudji (nee Waldren) served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guinea from 1995 to 1997 in a public health and community development program. She was a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Madison. Amessoudji received initial training in Senegal and finished her training in-country before going to her rural site in south Guinea. Later, she volunteered for Crisis Corps (now called Peace Corps Response) in Togo in 2001 for a 6 month period, where she served as a technical adviser on HIV and AIDS. She met her husband while serving in Togo. Interviewed and recorded by Harry E. Bennett, April 10, 2018. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2018-013
Brenda Brown Schoonover served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Philippines Group One from 1961 to 1963 as a 5th and 6th grade English teacher. She began training at State College Pennsylvania and then continued her language and cultural training in-country at Los Banos in a group of 128 volunteers. In the Philippines, she was stationed in the town of Magarao in the Bicol Region where she worked in the elementary school and established a community library. In her interview, she describes the warm relations she enjoyed with host country nationals. While interacting with students, teachers, and other host-country nationals, she says she learned valuable lifelong lessons in cross-cultural sensitivity -- lessons she believes have served her well throughout her subsequent career as an American diplomat. After completing her teaching assignment, Schoonover continued working as a Peace Corps staffer in Tanzania and at the Peace Corps office in Washington, D.C., and eventually became a foreign service officer. President Bill Clinton appointed her Ambassador to the West African nation of Togo, and she served there from 1997 to 2000. Interviewed by Ivan C. Browning, April 6, 2018. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2016-041
Elinor Carstens Gbedey served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Togo from 1965 to 1967. Her training took place during two summers: first at Dartmouth, between her junior and senior years in college, and then in Quebec, after her college graduation. The emphasis was on learning French, in preparation for going to a Francophone West African country, and on teacher-training. In Togo, Gbedey was assigned to teach math in two boys’ secondary schools. After her first year, she transferred to a different assignment. During her Peace Corps service, Elinor began a relationship with a Togolese man to whom she is still married. 3 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file). Interviewed and recorded by Phyllis Noble, June 16, 2016.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2002-014-005
Part of a series of research interviews conducted by Jonathan Zimmerman for his article "Beyond Double Consciousness: Black Peace Corps Volunteers in Africa, 1961-1971." Homer L. Butler served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Togo from 1962 to 1964. He later joined the Peace Corps staff in Senegal and Chad. Interviewed by phone, February 15, 1994. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2002-014-016
Part of a series of research interviews conducted by Jonathan Zimmerman for his article "Beyond Double Consciousness: Black Peace Corps Volunteers in Africa, 1961-1971." Marie Gadsden served on Peace Corps staff in Kenya and Uganda from 1965 to 1967; as training coordinator in Washington, D.C., from 1968 to 1970; and as country director in Togo from 1970 to 1972. Interviewed in person, January 13, 1994. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).