Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2011-002-005
Larry (Butch) Oglesby served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bolivia from 1962 to 1964 on a rural development program (Bolivia II). He had previously graduated from a high school program in vocational agriculture. He was assigned to work with the Heifer Project based in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Oglesby focused on the rural area west of Cochabamba and lived with local families. He learned that trying to change the world was harder than he thought and that the volunteers should not try to make the Bolivians be like Americans, but rather help improve their lives. He was drafted into the Army after getting out of the Peace Corps and believes that his experiences in Bolivia enabled him to adapt to anything. Interviewed and recorded by Sharleen Hirschi Simpson, June 21, 2009. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into file).