Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2008-003
Pamella Cavanna served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Iran from 1969 to 1971 on health and education projects. She had worked as a nurse prior to joining. She and her husband applied to the Peace Corps for humanitarian reasons. They trained in Fresno, California, for three months while living in a trailer. Cavanna felt well trained in the Farsi language and well prepared for the cultural differences. In Iran, her first project was establishing a women's clinic in Rezaiyeh. At the end of her first year, however, she and her husband separated and the Peace Corps administration would not allow her to return to Rezaiyeh as a single woman. Cavanna completed her term as an English teacher in Tehran. The interview also contains her observations about sisterhood among Muslim women. Interviewed and recorded by Susan Luccini, October 14, 2007. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).