Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2016-011
Diana Zurer served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand from January 1966 to December 1967. She served in the Nikhom Self-Help Land Settlement in southern Thailand across the river from the border with Malaysia. Diana speaks of the frustrations of being one of six female volunteers (all married to other volunteers) in a largely male oriented program. She discusses midwifery training she received and the influence she had in getting village women to seek better prenatal care in a hospital in a larger, more distant town. She also talks about how the difficulties and time-consuming nature of "keeping house" in the settlement kept her, at least initially, from having much time to carry out her development activities. She tells a wonderful story of her parents visiting her and her husband in the settlement and staying in the Queen Mother's fancy house in this town. In addition, she talks favorably about the training her group received at the University of Missouri, including a field assignment in Centralia, Missouri, home of the John Birch Society. 1 digital audio file. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, November 14, 2015.