Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-041
Barbara Kelly served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal from 1971 to 1973 as a coordinator of a social center. At that time, the social centers in Senegal were all staffed by women from Peace Corps. Kelly trained in Dakar at a school of social work where she and the other volunteers lived in a dormitory. She was already fluent in French so studied only Wolof and learned it well enough to converse with people who spoke only Wolof. Stationed in M'Bour, Kelly worked with another Peace Corps volunteer who had extended their service in order to insure continuity in the program. They had a library and taught classes at the center, but their primary job was mother and infant healthcare in the surrounding neighborhoods and villages. They trained local women as "animatrices" (leaders) who then taught the mothers how to keep their infants healthy. Kelly discusses some of the challenges and how they overcame them. She also discusses her travels and how Peace Corps impacted her life. Interviewed and recorded by Candice Wiggum, December 8, 2018. 1 digital audio file.