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Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2004-002-005
Alan Burrus was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Tonga I group. His degree is in pre-architecture. Burrus trained in Hawaii with groups for Tonga, Fiji, and Samoa. The Tonga Peace Corps Director developed a special assignment for an architect in the Public Works Department. Burrus designed, helped construct, and replicated simple schoolroom buildings, as well as other small scale projects throughout Tonga. He helped design a modest residence for the Peace Corps Director that later caused a modest scandal within Peace Corps/Washington. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, April 27, 2003. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-024
Paul Jurmo served as a Peace Corps volunteer in The Gambia from 1976 to 1979 on a literacy project. He later joined the Peace Corps staff as the country representative in Tonga from 2012 to 2017. Jurmo discusses how he had to figure out what to do as a functional literacy advisor in the Gambia, and describes the large-scale adult literacy project he eventually developed in conjunction with the National Literacy Advisory Committee (based in the Gambian National Cultural Archives and a collaboration of multiple Gambian and international agencies). UNESCO recommended that the project be formalized, which led to the development of a new agency on non-formal education within the Department of Education. Jurmo also describes life in Pakalinging, the village in which he was initially stationed, and mentions the friends he made. He also talks about the impact that the Peace Corps had on his personal life and on his career in adult literacy, which led to a subsequent five-year stint running a Peace Corps English literacy project in Tonga, 33 years after his initial service. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, October 5, 2018. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-035
Ingrid Nishimoto served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tonga from July 1967 to October 1969 on a maternal child health project. She received her training on Molokai island, Hawaii, where she studied language, cross-cultural skills, and basic prenatal and infant care. Nishimoto was stationed in Tonga's middle group of islands, Ha'apai, on the island of Lifuka. She worked with a Tongan counterpart, who was a trained nurse and midwife, and communicated using the local language. Nishimoto helped set up clinics on other islands in the area, performed house calls in the afternoons, and was part of a program to issue oral polio and tetanus vaccinations. She also served as an interpreter during the moon landing, translating the radio broadcast coverage of the event to local residents. Interviewed and recorded by Christine Musa, October 31, 2019. 5 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-028
Margaret (Peggy) Bangham served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay from January 1980 to March 1983 as an elementary education teacher trainer. She later served as a Peace Corps recruiter in the 1980s, and as Associate Peace Corps Director (APCD) in Tonga from 1993 to 1996. Bangham was already an experienced teacher when she joined the Peace Corps. She attended training in Aregua, a town outside of Asuncion. The preparation focused on cultural studies, teaching techniques, and the Spanish and Guarani languages. Bangham was based in Villarrica, Guaira Department, but she was part of a roving team that also visited other schools in the region. In the interview, she describes her workdays, free time activities, and summer projects. She concludes by discussing the lessons she learned and how her service influenced her career. Interviewed and recorded by Randolph (Randy) Adams, September 20, 2019. 1 digital audio file.