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Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-089
Doug Strange served as a Peace Corps volunteer in British Honduras from 1972 to 1974 as an architect. He continued his service in Guatemala from 1974 to 1975. Strange joined the Peace Corps after receiving a bachelor's degree in architecture. In British Honduras, he was stationed in the capital city of Belmopan and worked as an architect with the Public Works Department. He enjoyed traveling around the country to see where the buildings he was designing would be located. Strange served alongside his wife Claire, who taught Spanish at the local school. Their daughter was born during their first year of service. At the completion of two years, the couple requested an extension of service and they were assigned to Guatemala. Doug received 10 weeks of Spanish language training while Claire trained in plant identification (to plan a university botanical garden). In Guatemala they were stationed in Coban, where Doug worked in regional city planning. It was challenging because he had learned Spanish but the locals spoke Quiche, a Mayan language. In Guatemala, they connected more with other Peace Corps volunteers and enjoyed traveling around the country. Strange credits Peace Corps with giving him an understanding of cultural differences, which aided his international career as an architect, as well as an appreciation for giving back. Interviewed and recorded by Louise Liller, June 21, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-088
Charles F. (Chic) Dambach served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia from 1967 to 1969 in a community development program. Dambach talks about leading a strike when two of his fellow volunteers were about to be deselected during training. One Peace Corps trainer, Sam Farr, was fired because he opposed the deselection, and the volunteers went on strike in support of Farr and their trainee colleagues. (The strike was successful. Farr later became a U.S. Representative and a staunch supporter of the Peace Corps.) In Colombia, Dambach lived and worked in the Albornoz barrio on the outskirts of Cartagena. He discusses the work he did with the barrio's squatters to get the government to open a school to serve this community, and how he helped the villagers organize fishing cooperatives and improve their fishing practices. In addition, Dambach discusses the influence that Peace Corps service had on his career as community organizer and advocate for dialogue and non-violent solutions to conflicts. In this regard, he talks about his term as director of the National Council of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers from 1992 to 1999 (now called the National Peace Corps Association), and the program he started to provide teachers with resource materials to use in promoting intercultural understanding. Dambach also created the Emergency Response Network of RPCVs and staff to work on conflict resolution and crises in the countries in which they served; this now operates as Peace Corps Response. In addition, he discusses his conflict resolution activities in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the Congo as well as his role in founding the Alliance for Peace Building. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, May 31, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-087
Paula Hirschoff served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya from 1968 to 1970 in a secondary education program. She later served in Senegal from 2005 to 2007 as part of a small enterprise development program. In Kenya, Hirschoff first taught multiple subjects in the community-based (harambee) Nyamira Girls Secondary School and then, while still teaching, also served as headmistress for one and a half years after the Kenyan headmaster was removed for improper behavior and corruption. Under her leadership, the school became a government school. Hirschoff's return to Kenya and Nyamira in 1990 was filmed and broadcast as an episode on the Fox show Reunion. After a career as an editor and journalist, Hirschoff and her husband, Chuck Ludlam, rejoined the Peace Corps and served as volunteers in Guinguineo, Senegal. There she founded and managed a girls club; helped women start a number of small businesses, including a millet porridge enterprise; and conducted interviews around town as a trained anthropologist. The couple testified in support of Peace Corps reform legislation before Senator Chris Dodd's subcommittee in 2007. Throughout the interview, Hirschoff discusses the enduring close relationships she formed with students and others in both countries, and the many ways in which she has stayed connected to Africa. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, May 29, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-086
Genesis Castellon served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Benin from 2014 to 2016 as a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) teacher. As a first-generation Nicaraguan-American, she discusses her identity as a Latina with a foot in both countries and being treated as "white" by people in Benin. She also talks about her mother's opposition to her going to Africa in the Peace Corps as opposed to Nicaragua, where she could have lived with family. Castellon's training in Benin went well, except for her home-stay experience. The training was divided into two parts: the first focused on teaching French, and the second part, which occurred after a 2-week exploratory visit to the town in which she would be teaching, focused on pedagogy and introduction to the Beninese education system. Castellon was assigned to Kouande, in the northwestern part of the country, where she taught 6th and 7th grade English. She also started women's soccer teams in three towns and an English Club, which the students named after her. Castellon hopes that she made an impact by serving as a capable, single feminist role model for her students. She also reflects on how Peace Corps helped her learn who she really was and the enduring close friendships she made with students, teachers, and fellow volunteers. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, June 8, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-085
Elizabeth (Liz) Kenton served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mauritania from September 2000 to February 2004 in an agro-forestry project. She grew up with stories from her father, Stephen Kenton, who taught mathematics as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nigeria (1962-1964). After graduating from college, she met her training group in Philadelphia then flew to Mauritania. She describes the equipment issued to volunteers, the language training, the desert climate, and the low-key but persistent religious pressure. Kenton encouraged families to grow kitchen gardens and use mud stoves. She also worked with gardening cooperatives to promote the Moringa oleifera tree. She struggled with despondence and bad dreams that in retrospect may be associated with the anti-malaria drug mefloquine. Kenton stayed a third year to complete a girls mentoring center, experiment with bio-gas production, and continue Moringa tree production. Peace Corps service left her with lingering doubts about international development, but with the confidence to face difficult situations. Interviewed and recorded by Patricia A. Wand, May 4, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-084
Norman Gordon served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand from 1968 to 1970 in a malaria eradication program. He had served in the military prior to joining the Peace Corps. His training started at a site in Hawaii and consisted of language, culture, and cooking. Job specific training was conducted in Manila, Philippines, and an additional four weeks of training was provided in Thailand. Gordon's job in malaria eradication required extensive travel throughout his assigned region, and he visited many remote villages. Gordon also provides some reflections on serving in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War era. Interviewed and recorded by Julius (Jay) Sztuk, June 10, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-083
Jack Franklin Davies served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Fiji from 1978 to 1980 as a rural development technician. He discusses his childhood in a military family and how he was recruited into the Peace Corps. His training consisted of an orientation in San Francisco and in-country language and culture training, including a village stay. Davies was assigned to the island of Vanua Levu, the second largest island in Fiji. He talks his experiences traveling to remote villages for his work in rural development. Interviewed and recorded by Julius (Jay) Sztuk, June 10, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-082
Michael Kass served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Somalia from 1965 to 1967 in an education program. Michael and his wife, Tina, joined Peace Corps as a couple. His training began when he was a junior in college, through a Peace Corps program at Dartmouth College, after which he completed his senior year. Kass was initially offered an assignment in Togo, but couldn't go there as part of a married couple. Michael and Tina eventually accepted an invitation to serve in Somalia. Training for the Somalia group was conducted in Syracuse, New York. Their first assignment was in the village of Erigavo, and second year was in Hargeisa. Michael worked in the intermediate and secondary education programs. The interview includes a discussion of his experiences in both locations. Interviewed and recorded by Julius (Jay) Sztuk, June 10, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-080
Gail B. Gall served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras from 1969 to 1971 on a public health project. She had requested a location in Latin America where she could learn Spanish, having previously studied Latin and French in middle school. Gall began her training in Puerto Rico at Camp Crozier where she received intensive language training using aural methods only (no written content). Her first assignment in Honduras was as a teacher in a nursing program in San Pedro Sula, where sanitary conditions including poor water quality made patient care difficult. Duke University doctors also worked at this site helping children with cleft lips and palate. After a year, Gall transferred to work with the Catholic relief agency Caritas. After returning to the U.S., she continued to work with Spanish speakers in the Boston area. Her Peace Corps training group still gets together every five years. Interviewed and recorded by Judith Madden-Sturges, April 24, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file). Note: In the introduction, Gall's end of service date was mistakenly read as 1991 instead of 1971.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-079
Elisa Gillette served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand from 1966 to 1968 in a community health project. She served alongside her husband. She talks about how the Vietnam War impacted their decision to join the Peace Corps and the government's decision to put more volunteers in Thailand. She describes training in California and the group she trained with. Once at their site in Thailand, the couple faced a challenge in finding a niche where they could do their work, and also experienced some cross-cultural difficulties. Gillette describes their travels throughout Thailand and the conditions of life there. Finally, she discusses how the Peace Corps impacted her life and what happened after they returned to the U.S. Interviewed and recorded by Candice Wiggum, May 1, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-078
Daniel Jasper served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Turkmenistan from 2008 to 2010 and as a Peace Corps Response volunteer in St. Lucia from 2013 to 2014. In Turkmengala, Turkmenistan, a small town near the Iranian border, he taught English to elementary, secondary, and adult students, and helped develop English language testing protocols and 4th and 5th grade English language curriculum. After returning to the U.S., Jasper earned a Masters degree in public policy from Duke University and worked at several non-profits as part of the Peace Corps fellows program. With Peace Corps Response in St. Lucia, he helped pilot-test the teaching of chess as a mandatory part of the elementary school curriculum. He also taught chess at youth detention centers. Jasper talks about the importance of understanding and respecting the perspective of the person you are trying to help. He also reflects on the various ways communities cope with different forms of poverty. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, April 27, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-077
Celia D'Arienzo (nee McAvey) served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Swaziland from 1976 to 1978 as a secondary education science teacher. She joined the Peace Corps to get away, have an adventure, and hopefully to do some good. She ended up meeting her future husband and teaching a lab-based science curriculum in a school that had no electricity or running water. D'Arienzo discusses some of the cultural differences, like the challenge of being left-handed in a culture that sees the left hand as dirty, how marriages involved the payment of a bride price over time, and how the girls often got pregnant and had to leave school early. She also speaks about how she tried to help the girls. D'Arienzo describes the daily challenges of living there, including a "kidnapping" when officials from a larger school came and got them because they wanted the couple to teach at their school instead. She also recounts a time of danger they faced and her difficulty staying healthy while eating a vegetarian diet. Interviewed and recorded by Candice Wiggum, April 23, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-076
Dennis D'Arienzo served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Swaziland from July 1976 to December 1978 as a secondary education math teacher. He had little previous experience traveling and he recounts his family's response when he decided to join the Peace Corps. He relates how he met his future wife in training at the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland, and how training was comprised of different stages, including a home stay, to prepare them for their assignment. After volunteering for a site in the bushveldt (bush country), D'Arienzo and his girlfriend arrived at a school and residence far from any town and with no one around. He taught math classes to middle-school students in English and speaks of the challenges and sacrifices of the job, but also how much education was valued there. He remembers with sadness what has happened to Swaziland since they left due to the devastation of AIDS, and states that the maturity he gained in the Peace Corps helped him in his later career. Finally, D'Arienzo closes with an account of his travels home and the shock of arriving back in the U.S. Interviewed and recorded by Candice Wiggum, April 23, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-075
Edythe Ben-Israel served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Malawi from 1968 to 1970 on a health project. She was motivated to join the Peace Corps to learn about other cultures, travel, and do some good in the world. Her training was interrupted by her mom's unexpected illness, and when she was ready to return to training she had to change from the health program to TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). Fortunately, when Ben-Israel arrived in Malawi she was able to switch back. She and her counterpart set up clinics to work with mothers and children to help teach them how best to supplement the children's diets. She also taught health at a local school. Ben-Israel relates a frightening incident in Malawi when a volunteer got stoned, but also recalls a rewarding time when she danced for and met the president. She felt accepted into the community and feels she got more out of her experience than she ever could give. She also talks briefly about the importance of Peace Corps in connecting Americans to other cultures and peoples. Interviewed and recorded by Candice Wiggum, April 6, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-072
Ria O'Brien (now Edens) served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali from 2003 to 2005 in the water and sanitation sector. She did her training near Bamako, Mali, where she learned French and the Bamanankan tribal dialect. O'Brien lived in a Bamanan village with a host family and surveyed the needs of the village before starting her project. After a dialogue with the villagers, they decided on building a new well near the school. O'Brien recounts the building of a device used to lower her down into existing wells so she could assess soil composition and water levels. During this process, she began seeking funding for the well and training the villagers to build it. Interviewed and recorded by Ivan Browning, February 23, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-071
Russell E. Morgan Jr. served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya from 1966 to 1969 as a secondary school teacher. He trained at Columbia University Teachers College in New York City. In Kenya, he was stationed for a short time in Kitui, then moved to the Marsabit Boys Secondary School in the Northern Frontier District (NFD) near the borders of Somalia and Ethiopia. This school got substantial funding from the Kenyan government in a political move to demonstrate the benefits of Kenyan rule over the district. Morgan discusses his success in preparing nomadic children for the British Cambridge exams in biology, chemistry, and physics, and touches on the outcomes for some of his students. One of them became a surgeon and was named Chairman of the Board of the Kenyan Red Cross Society and was awarded the Harris Wofford Global Citizen Award by the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) in 2014. Morgan also discusses his travels to other countries, the broadening impact of his Peace Corps experience, and his subsequent career with global preventative health organizations. He continues to contribute by leading the 2014 Ebola Relief Fund of the NPCA; co-founding the Friends of Kenya group and Encore (later merged with Peace Corps Response); and serving as a member of the Advisory Board of the NPCA Community Fund. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, March 20, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-070
Glorious Broughton (née Leatherwood) served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya from December 1980 to February 1983 in a cooperatives program. She first spent several months in Kaimosi working with a women's tie-dye cooperative and teaching business at a local college. She left that assignment because the women in the cooperative expected her to be an artist and to provide financial support as previous volunteers from Germany had done. Broughton spent the rest of her time in Mombasa working as a business advisor with an Akamba men's wood carving cooperative. She discusses being robbed several times and living next door to two wives in a Somali family. She talks about her interactions with the Somali children and her friendships with some of the men in the cooperative. In addition, she describes her travels in Kenya and other countries in sub-Saharan and North Africa. Broughton concludes the interview by discussing her use of noncompetitive eligibility to obtain a job with the Federal government after her service, and her continued involvement with the Peace Corps community. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, March 14, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-067
Stephen McLaughlin served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sierra Leone from July 1968 to July 1970 as a teacher educator. He trained at Fourah Bay College and Njala University, both in Sierra Leone, and received instruction in the Krio language, African history, and teacher education. He was stationed at the Magburaka Government Teacher Training College in Magburaka, Northern Province, where he taught African and Sierra Leonean history to students who were training to be primary school teachers. McLaughlin also reorganized and cataloged the college's library and did some adult literacy instruction. He was an experienced secondary school history teacher, and came to Sierra Leone with the hope of teaching critical thinking through class discussions, but instead found that his students were more acclimated to lectures and memorization. After some adaptation to prevailing practices, he guided his students through the curriculum and prepared them successfully for their year-end exams. In his second year, McLaughlin was able to introduce more dialog among students and helped to create a more interactive classroom, which was a mutually beneficial give-and-take experience. Interviewed and recorded by Ellen Gagne, January 18, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-066
Pam Mount served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Micronesia from 1967 to 1970 as a teacher. She was initially inspired by meeting a Peace Corps recruiter at a Girl Scout Jamboree in high school. She married her boyfriend right after she graduated from college, and a week later they left for training together. Because of some political pressure, a lot of volunteers were sent to Micronesia in 1966. The couple was initially assigned to the Yap district (and had learned Yap in training), but before long they were asked by the chief of the island of Satawel to come there instead. Mount taught English first, then became an all-purpose teacher. She speaks of the communal culture and how much could be learned by her husband sitting with the men in the canoe huts and her cooking on the beach with the women. She is proud that the people of Satawel have become leaders in Micronesia, which the islanders attribute to the help that the Mounts gave them. Mount also talks about her father's death during her service and the trip home for his funeral. Finally, she discusses the challenge of figuring out what to do after their tour of duty and how the lessons of the Peace Corps continue to guide their activism in their community. Interviewed and recorded by Candice Wiggum, February 26, 2019. 3 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-065
Lew Hemmer served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Macedonia from 2011 to 2013 on a community development project. He later completed two more service terms with Peace Corps Response, first in Saint Lucia on a youth development project (2014-2015), and then on the island of Dominica with the Ministry of Education (2016). Hemmer had wanted to join the Peace Corps for a long time, and found a good opportunity once he had retired but his wife was still working. He joined at age 68 and was sent to Macedonia, where he worked at a non-governmental organization (NGO) for disabled adults to expand services and activities and to decrease discrimination. Hemmer established a sports and exercise program which eventually expanded to include community members, and in the process broke stereotypes about what older men could do. He talks about training and his difficulty connecting with the younger volunteers and language challenges, but he had success once he reached his site. After feeling restless upon returning home and wanting to contribute more, Hemmer volunteered to go to Saint Lucia to develop protocols to strengthen the resiliency of youth and decrease suicidal ideation, especially among young girls who were frequently bullied. He mentions the differences between being a regular volunteer and a Response volunteer. After returning home from his year in Saint Lucia, he saw another Response position perfectly suited for him and went to Dominica to work with autistic children. However, the island was very small and had few truly autistic kids, so due to lack of work and a knee problem he returned home early. Interviewed and recorded by Candice Wiggum, March 21, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-064
Betty Ansin Smallwood served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Fiji from October 1969 to December 1971 as an elementary school teacher. She discusses her motivations for joining the Peace Corps, and mentions attending an event at age 12 where John F. Kennedy spoke. Smallwood was recruited as a married couple with her husband John, and their training was conducted in Hilo, Hawaii. She then taught at the Navukailagi District School on the outer island of Gau. In the interview she discusses her life and work in Fiji, and her continued connections with fellow volunteers and students. Interviewed and recorded by Julius (Jay) Sztuk, November 6, 2018. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-062
Diane Bendahmane served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco from 1966 to 1968 as an English teacher. Later, after taking part in the Peace Corps Fellow program, she returned to Morocco as a Peace Corps staff member. Bendahmane talks about her independent spirit and the hardship it was on her parents to see her leave initially. Her training was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and in Beirut, Lebanon, where she was excused from the physical training because of the after-effects of having had polio as a child. She had taught French and English in high school before joining, so she was able to take high-level French classes and Arabic during training and utilized her teaching experience on site. Bendahmane taught in the city of Fes. She reflects on the continuing impact of French colonization on Morocco and the educational system, and the difficulty of integrating into the culture as a woman. She served in Morocco during a tumultuous time in the U.S. and the Middle East, and reflects on its impact on training, her identity as an American, and the change she saw in the volunteers she supervised. Directly after completing her volunteer service, Bendahmane joined the Peace Corps staff as a training instructor for Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) volunteers headed to Morocco. She next completed the Peace Corps Fellow program (1968-1969), and worked as the TEFL Program Technical Representative for the Peace Corps staff in Morocco (1969–1972). She served under Richard Holbrooke as a staff member and discusses the close relationship they developed. Finally, Bendahmane talks about the impact that the Peace Corps, Morocco, and Islam have had on her life. Interviewed and recorded by Candice Wiggum, February 19, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-059
Philip Lilienthal served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ethiopia from 1965 to 1967 as a legal advisor, then as Peace Corps staff from 1969 to 1974 in several different positions. He served alongside his wife in Ethiopia and worked as a legal advisor for government agencies. He also started a youth summer camp in response to a request by the emperor's granddaughter, who was interested in breaking down ethnic barriers. This experience and his work running a summer camp in the U.S. later led him to create Global Camps Africa, which operates in South Africa. From 1969 to 1972, Lilienthal worked at Peace Corps headquarters in the General Counsel's office as an Attorney-Advisor, where among other issues, he dealt with free speech related to volunteer protests against the Vietnam War, and the proposed consolidation of Peace Corps into the umbrella volunteer ACTION agency. Next Lilienthal served as Peace Corps Regional Director for Mindanao, Philippines, from 1972 to 1973, then Deputy Peace Corps Director for Thailand from 1973 to 1974. In these posts, he gained a perspective of the other side of the conflict between the central office and the field. In 2013, Lilienthal was awarded the National Peace Corps Association's Sargent Shriver Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Service for his contributions to humanitarian causes at home and abroad. Interviewed by Evelyn Ganzglass, January 7, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-058
Natalie Gee Hall served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand from 1967 to 1969 as an English teacher. She met and married her husband during training in Hawaii. Due to Peace Corps policy, they were forced to resign from training with their first group, Thai 18, because they had been accepted initially as single volunteers. They were required to reapply as a married couple. After being accepted again, they trained in DeKalb, Illinois, with the Thai 19 group that received part of its training during the summer of their junior year in college and part after they graduated. Hall discusses the negatively competitive "de-selection" process that asked trainees to rate each other's likelihood to succeed. Once the Halls arrived in Narathiwat, Thailand, Natalie taught English in the girls' high school and her husband taught in the boys' high school. Together, they also taught English to adults using a language curriculum developed in Thailand. Hall discusses the on-going insurgency in southern Thailand as well as the presence of Air America U.S. contractors conducting secret supply runs to Vietnam, and local support for the U.S. fighting the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. She ends by talking about her advocacy work for Peace Corps funding and changes in Peace Corps health care and disability policy. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, January 16, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-057
Don Boileau served as a Peace Corps volunteer in South Korea from January 1968 to November 1969 as an English teacher. He briefly discusses training in Bisbee, Arizona, and speaks extensively about the close lifelong relationship he developed with his host family. Stationed in Seoul, Boileau worked as an English instructor at the Central Officials Training Institute. Although he says that his official job didn't amount to much, he talks about various night or after-work jobs he held that did have an impact. These include tutoring a number of Ministry of Forestry officials in English in preparation for their trip to New Zealand for a reforestation project, and tutoring people working in the port and harbor authority. Boileau discusses the impact that Peace Corps had on his career as a professor in intercultural communication. He concludes by discussing his return visit to Korea with other RPCVs and spouses at the invitation of the Korean government. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, January 7, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).