Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-066
Jimmy Cloutier served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Armenia from August 2015 to September 2017 in a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) program. His family had immigrated to the U.S. from Quebec, Canada, which helped him relate to students learning a new language. After training in Baghramyan, Jimmy and his wife were stationed in the village of Aragatsavan. Early in their service a neighbor was murdered, and they were pulled out of their site for a week while an investigation ensued. Cloutier's work teaching English involved a trainer-of-trainer approach and experiential learning. He also set-up English clubs, an environmental education program, and a "Border-to-Border" project where he visited 30 communities along a conflict zone to teach a variety of health education topics. Cloutier sees the U.S. differently after his Peace Corps service, and appreciates the value of a strong community helping each other. Interviewed and recorded by Randolph Adams, November 14, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).