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Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2015-021
Sam Farr served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia from February 1964 to February 1966 in an urban community development program. He trained at the School of Social Work, Columbia University, and was assigned to the barrio of Castilla in Medellin, Columbia. Tasked to work with the newly formed government program Accion Comunal, Sam's first project supported the barrio in the construction of a soccer field. That introduction to rudimentary but effective construction techniques and the dynamics of local culture led to more projects and eventually to his offering community development training to Colombians in the office of Accion Comunal itself. Witnessing the "culture of poverty" in Columbia, and suffering the deaths of both his mother and his sister during this period, profoundly affected Farr and left him committed to a life of service. After the Peace Corps, he was a budget staffer in the California Assembly before winning election to the Monterrey County Board of Supervisors in 1975. In 1980 he won a seat in the California State Assembly where he served until his election in 1993 to U.S. House of Representatives for the 20th District of California. At the time of the interview, Farr had just been elected to his 12th term in the House. Interviewed and recorded by Patricia Ann Wand, 2 December 2014. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2015-037
Ivan Carroll Browning applied to Peace Corps after serving as a VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America) volunteer in a youth services program in Idaho. After joining the Peace Corps, Browning was stationed in Colombia. After training in Bogota, he worked in an adult rehabilitation program in Neiva where he offered athletic activities to prisoners. He served in Colombia from February to September 1974. Thinking he could be more effective elsewhere, he accepted a new assignment in Kenya as an audiovisual specialist in the Nairobi Hospital Medical Training Center. The first months were slow but over time he became engaged with the University of Nairobi African Studies Institute where he did photography and audio recordings, helped publish a scholarly research journal, and participated in various research and medical projects. Browning was in Kenya from January 1975 to December 1976. He states that "the Peace Corps inspired me to be a life-long community volunteer." 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file). Interviewed and recorded by Patricia Wand, August 1, 2015.