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).