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Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-056-009
Joanne Powhida Roll served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia from 1963 to 1965 on a rural health development project. She trained at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque along with more than 300 volunteers training for Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, June 18, 2005. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-056-005
Thomas D. (Tom) Hansis served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras from 1969 to 1971 on a rural community development project. Prior to the Peace Corps, he had completed a degree in Latin American studies. Hansis trained first at Camp Crozier outside of San Juan, Puerto Rico, followed by another month of agricultural studies in-country at Choluteca, Honduras. He was stationed in Catacamas but his role with the local agricultural colony never really developed. After a year, Hansis requested reassignment and moved to the capital city of Tegucigalpa to work with the national cooperative development agency. He also discusses a brief war between Honduras and El Salvador that broke out two months after he arrived in the country. After his service, Hansis worked as a Peace Corps trainer in Puerto Rico for six months. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, July 30, 2005. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-056-001
Russell Breyfogle served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya from 1964 to 1966 on a secondary education project. He joined in 1963 as an experienced teacher and an Army veteran, and completed training at Columbia University Teachers College. As part of the first Peace Corps group in Kenya, he taught at an established Anglican secondary school in Maseno, north of Kisumu. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, June 22, 2005. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-052-001
Martha Herrin Jachowski served as a Peace Corps volunteer in British Honduras from 1964 to 1966 on a community development project. She also started a Girl Scout troop and a softball team. She discusses her dissatisfaction with the administration of the Peace Corps and how the volunteers had to create their own work. Following her service, she worked for the Peace Corps office in Washington in personnel and recruitment. Her husband and son both served in the Peace Corps too. Interviewed and recorded by Linda Millette, June 7, 2005. 1 tape.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-047-006
Stephen Nagler and his wife, Iris, both worked on John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign. They joined the Peace Corps and were assigned to Nyasaland. Nagler taught day and evening classes. Interviewed and recorded by Patricia A. Davis, April 23, 2005. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-047-005
Iris Nagler served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nyasaland (Malawi) from 1963 to 1964 as a science teacher. She and her husband, Stephen, trained at Syracuse University in October 1962. They arrived in Nyasaland in January 1963, and were assigned to a Church of Central African Presbyterian (CCAP) secondary school, the Henry Henderson Institute, in Blantyre. Nagler established a science lab and taught science courses. She also talks about hearing of President Kennedy's assassination and the local reaction. Interviewed and recorded by Linda Millette, April 23, 2005. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-046-003
A. Michael (Mike) Marzolla served as a Peace Corps volunteer in three different countries. He began his service in Guatemala from 1973 to 1974, where he coordinated a school and community garden project. He also was a team member on a nutrition education research project with INCAP (Institute of Nutrition for Central America and Panama). In early 1975, Marzolla transferred to a reconstruction project in Honduras. From 1976 to 1977, he worked on a nutrition education project in El Salvador. Interviewed and recorded by Lou Spaventa, March 5, 2005. 3 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-046-001
Carole East served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Fiji from 1992 to 1994. She also later served in Paraguay from 1998 to 2000. Interviewed and recorded by Sue Ward, March 12, 2005. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-042-002
Judy Struve Muncrief served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic from 1965 to 1967 on a community development project. Her training included intensive language, Outward Bound training in Puerto Rico at Camp Crozier and Camp Radley, as well as a stay in a small village. The men in the program were assigned to work with the government ministry of community development while Judy and the other women were assigned to a small village in an unstructured and unsupervised setting. In her two years, Muncrief found and participated in many creative community development and educational activities within her community. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, April 4, 2005. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-041-005
Robert Muller served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania from 1964 to 1966. He joined the Peace Corps after debating whether or not to join the military. He trained at Syracuse University where he learned the language by having meals with Tanzanian students. He was assigned to work on a roads and bridges project. He also taught English and math at the Mission School. Interviewed and recorded by Ernest Zaremba, December 18, 2004. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-041-004
Steve Manchester served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania from 1963 to 1964 as a teacher. He discusses the apprehension of individuals on being selected for the Peace Corps, his assignment teaching English in Tanzania, the local reaction to the death of President Kennedy, and general impressions of America and the Peace Corps. Interviewed and recorded by Ernest Zaremba, August 28, 2004. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-025-024
Tom Wagner joined the Peace Corps after witnessing John F. Kennedy deliver his address at the University of Michigan. Wagner trained in Hawaii. After arriving in Malaysia, Wagner found that his assignment, soil surveying in rural towns, was not the job for which he trained. He was given the task of checking the soil in the jungle for agriculture, surveying the area, and correlating his findings with all parts of the country. He describes the many aspects of living in the jungle and of meeting and sharing with hunter-gathers. He spoke of how the jungle came alive at night. His job required extensive paper work, which kept him in touch with his colleagues. Interviewed and recorded by Ernest Zaremba, September 3, 2004. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-025-022
William (Sandy) Stevenson served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia from 1963 to 1965 as an architect. He trained at the University of New Mexico with an emphasis on language. He assisted in organizing farmers into co-ops to better market produce. He also designed libraries and schools based on the function and need of individual towns. His goal was to let the townspeople realize that Americans are real people. Interviewed and recorded by Ernest Zaremba, August 21, 2004. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-025-021
Sandra (Sandy) Sefton joined the Peace Corps with her husband. They trained at Marquette University with an emphasis on language skills. Sandra and her husband were sent to Brazil as community health volunteers and spent three months in-country training in a hospital setting to become indoctrinated to the culture, traditions, and customs of Brazil. Among Sandra's achievements was the creation of flip charts telling stories on health and cleanliness to children, starting a future nurses club to encourage young adults to enter the health field, and the introduction of a water filtering system to be used in the home. Interviewed and recorded by Ernest Zaremba, August 21, 2004. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-025-007
Kay Clifford served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Uganda from 1969 to 1971 as a teacher. She applied to the Peace Corps after reading about and seeing pictures of John F. Kennedy in her hometown of Ann Arbor. Her group was the first to train in Uganda. Clifford's assignment as a teacher in an all girls' gated boarding school was difficult. Idi Amin came into power during her second year. After a Peace Corps volunteer was murdered, everyone left Uganda. In the interview she speaks about her experience in the school and as a teacher and gives an account of the process of leaving the country. Note: Interview ends abruptly. Interviewed and recorded by Ernest Zaremba, August 26, 2004. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-025-006
Theodore (Ted) Cheslak joined the Peace Corps after his congressman suggested that he acquire foreign experience. His in-country training of eight weeks focused on culture sensitivity and language. While in training, he was accused of being a CIA agent there to steal secrets. Cheslak's assignment consisted of teaching English, African history, and literacy classes to high school boys. He contacted some women from the Ford Foundation and was instrumental in raising money for the school. He wrote to his friends in the U.S. and asked for books and supplies to be donated to his school. Interviewed and recorded by Ernest Zaremba, August 26, 2004. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-025-004
David (Dave) Brush served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania from 1964 to 1966. He graduated from junior college and spent four years in the Navy before applying for the Peace Corps. News of President Kennedy's death triggered him sending in his application papers. After one month of in country training, Brush began surveying roads despite the lack of equipment and supplies. He extended his two year service for three more months to finish some of the work he had begun. Note: Interview ends abruptly. Interviewed and recorded by Ernest Zaremba, November 22, 2004. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-025-001
Cindy Annchild served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Iran from 1968 to 1972 as an English teacher. She joined with her husband; only couples were allowed to be stationed in Iran. Annchild trained in Vermont with intensive language training in Persian. In-country training consisted of cultural courses, especially on how to dress and act appropriately as a woman. Cindy and her husband both taught high school children in segregated boys and girls schools. During the first year, she found it difficult to do everything "correctly" and fit into the local culture, but says Iranians were the most hospitable and kind people she has ever met. The couple re-enlisted and served for another two years from 1970 to 1972. By this time all Peace Corps volunteers were training in-country and they joined the staff as cross-cultural directors. Interviewed and recorded by Ernest Zaremba, August 27, 2004. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-020
Julia Zagar entered the Peace Corps with her husband. She worked as a Food for Peace volunteer focusing on crafts native to each of the three regions in which they resided. Julia discusses her triumphs and her learning process. She describes her connection to the people and how they positively shaped and influenced her life. Interviewed and recorded by Jessica Naugle, August 31, 2004. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-013-008
Billie Jean Chambers (nee Ellsworth) was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador from 1962 to 1964 on an agricultural extension project. She served along with her husband Dave. Chambers had a farm background and joined the Peace Corps before completing the degree program at Western Illinois University. She trained at Montana State University at Bozeman in intensive language, tropical agriculture, and home economics. In the second stage of her training she worked in Puerto Rico in a small village with a local counterpart. In her first year in Ecuador, Chambers was assigned to Guayaquil to work with an extension agent affiliated with the Heifer Project. In her second year, the couple moved to a more remote area where she worked more on her own. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, July 27, 2004. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-013-007
Noel Roger Chapin served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru from 1966 to 1968 working in community development. After obtaining his degree in history from the University of Wisconsin, Chapin trained at the University of Kansas rural training center. He was assigned to the small village of Chiquan in the mountains off the coast in the north to work in cooperative development. There was little productive activity until he shifted to Austrian Peace Corps - like civil engineering to work as a surveyor on small village engineering projects. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, July 25, 2004. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-010
Emilie Roy Corey served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Brazil from 1964 to 1966 on a public health project. She discusses training in Vermont and life in Brazil. Interviewed and recorded by Joan Kane Boyle, June 8, 2004. 1 tape.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-008-002
Jenifer McCurry served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras from 1967 to 1969 on community development and public health projects. She joined along with her husband. They trained at Camp Crozier in Puerto Rico with the Honduras VIII group. She was stationed in Puerto Cortes, where she worked with the national welfare agency to establish an educational program for young children in conjunction with the local feeding center. McCurry also arranged medical care and health education for the families. Her biggest regret was alerting authorities to the resale of CARE products, which resulted in that aid being withdrawn. Later McCurry helped establish a school for the Garifuna community in the nearby village of Travesia. After she became pregnant, the Peace Corps terminated the couple early, but they successfully appealed the decision and were allowed to return to Honduras. Jenifer worked in the Peace Corps office in Tegucigalpa for the remainder of her pregnancy, and discusses caring for their newborn daughter during the brief war between Honduras and El Salvador in 1969. Interviewed and recorded by Barbara Hodgdon, July 8, 2004. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-007-002
Rowland Bennett served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nyasaland (Malawi) from 1962 to 1964 as an English teacher. He was in the first Peace Corps group sent that country. Bennett trained at Syracuse University. He was assigned to Robert Blake School in Kongwe, which was a boys' secondary school run by Protestant Afrikaner missionaries. There Bennett taught English, supervised night study, managed the choir, and introduced basketball. He was also able to attend Malawi's independence ceremony in 1964. Bennett feels that his Peace Corps experience has allowed him to effectively serve diverse populations in his career as a librarian. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, October 5, 2004. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2004-028-009
Reid Melton served as a Peace Corps volunteer in India from 1965 to 1967 on a rural public health and nutrition project. He had studied Indian history and Hindi in college to prepare. Training for his group, India 20A, was held at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Melton was stationed in a village outside of Jabalpur and worked at the local hospital where he assisted with medical procedures, smallpox vaccinations, and family planning. He also started other projects with poultry and kitchen gardens, and taught in the social work school. He became very close with the local doctor's family. Melton struggled with health problems throughout and was medically evacuated slightly before the end of his service term. He later continued to study Hindi in graduate school and returned to India as a Peace Corps trainer before establishing a career in international organizations. Interviewed and recorded by Norma Wilder Benavides, November 8, 2003. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).