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Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-054
Jenna Waites (then Jenna Butts) served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala from 2001 to 2003 on an environmental education and ecotourism project. She trained in Santa Lucia Milpas Altas prior to being stationed in the rural Mayan town of San Juan La Laguna, Solola department. She was assigned to teach environmental education but did not have local school support, so she looked for other ways to help. Waites teamed up with a local park ranger to implement a community ecotourism program, which differed from other aid programs that conditioned local residents to rely on others to provide for them. She continued her service in Danli, El Paraiso department, Honduras, from 2003 to 2004 in a water and sanitation program. Unfortunately, that government agency was not interested in what Waites could offer, so she sought work elsewhere. She ended up partnering with Action Against Hunger to provide expertise and guidance to local technicians on how to improve construction of water systems in rural areas. Interviewed and recorded by Christine Musa, January 22, 2020. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-053
James E. Hill served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Togo from October 1974 to December 1976 on a primary school construction project. After completing program training in-country, he was stationed in Tsevie. His French language skills were strong to begin with but he had to work hard to understand the construction aspects of the job. One project in Kplaba, a remote village, involved him living with the school director's family for an extended period. Hill worked to build a 3-room primary school and cistern and latrine complexes in cooperation with local subsistence farmers who volunteered to provide the materials and labor. Hill states that he matured greatly from this experience, and learned to appreciate another culture and the importance of small things in life. His international cross-cultural work in the Peace Corps prepared him well for a subsequent career with the Red Cross and the Pan American Health Organization. Interviewed and recorded by Christine Musa, January 14, 2020. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-035
Ingrid Nishimoto served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tonga from July 1967 to October 1969 on a maternal child health project. She received her training on Molokai island, Hawaii, where she studied language, cross-cultural skills, and basic prenatal and infant care. Nishimoto was stationed in Tonga's middle group of islands, Ha'apai, on the island of Lifuka. She worked with a Tongan counterpart, who was a trained nurse and midwife, and communicated using the local language. Nishimoto helped set up clinics on other islands in the area, performed house calls in the afternoons, and was part of a program to issue oral polio and tetanus vaccinations. She also served as an interpreter during the moon landing, translating the radio broadcast coverage of the event to local residents. Interviewed and recorded by Christine Musa, October 31, 2019. 5 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-032
Leslie Newall served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia from 1965 to 1967 in an education program. While still an undergraduate student in New York, she attended the Peace Corps secondary education training program at the University of California, Berkeley in the summer between her junior and senior years, then completed elementary education training at San Francisco State University the summer after she graduated college. Newall was stationed in Cape Palmas, Liberia, and taught fourth grade students in a corner of a one-room school house set up in the local church's nave. She says that her Peace Corps service was the most carefree and fun, yet also formative, time of her life. Interviewed and recorded by Christine Musa, November 10, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-009
Richard H. Dalrymple served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali from June 1975 to May 1977 in a pit silo project. He was stationed in Gourma-Rharous on the Niger River in the Tombouctou region of the country. The project made it possible for forage grasses harvested during the rainy season to be stored and fed to cows during the following dry season, to provide nourishing milk for the children. Dalrymple worked with a counterpart for two years, and the pit silo technology continued to be used after he completed his service. He also worked on other projects including a non-profit restaurant that funded the planting of trees and the construction of sewage trenches. After the Peace Corps, Dalrymple worked for the United Nations World Food Program for 30 years. He states that it is important for all Americans to learn about the underdeveloped world and to support development. Interviewed and recorded by Christine Musa, October 11, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).