Brienne Thomson
Country of Service: Paraguay
Place of Service: San Estanislao
Service Type: Community Economic Development
Dates in Service: 2013-2015
Keywords:Paraguay, San Estanislao, Community Development, Economic Development
Accession Date: November 17, 2014
Access: No restrictions
Collection Size: 9 items
Document Types and Finding Aid
Steven Orr served in the Peace Corps in Panama from 1964 to 1966. While in the city of Santiago de Veraguas, Orr worked with Emilio Jose Batista Castillo, the director of the Instituto Vocacional de Veraguas, a small vocational school.
With funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, Orr, additional PCVs, and Emilio transformed the small institute (consisting originally of essentially an empty shed) into a three building campus. Orr worked with Emilio to create the school’s curriculum. The school later became the Central Provinces Branch of the University of Panama and grew to include close to 20 buildings and classrooms. Emilio would later work in deep-water port management, working internationally in places such as Odessa, London, San Francisco, and Tokyo.
The photo below, taken in 1965 in Santiago, shows local Panamanian youths, students of the vocational school, and Peace Corps volunteers. This photograph showcases how collective efforts of various groups can make lasting changes throughout the world.
Panamanian Youths, students, and PCVs in Santiago de Veraguas, 1965. (extreme left, back row: Steven D. Orr; fifth from left, back row: Pauline Malone (PCV) ; ninth from left, back row: Louise Foy (PCV) ; eleventh from left, back row: Merrill Mazza (PCV) ; extreme right: Peace Corps Regional Director Emory Tomor.
“Marine Fisheries Trainees Doing Artificial Reef Construction,” Avram Primack, Peace Corps Community Archive
Avram Primack served his time in the Peace Corps (1987-1989) in the Philippines working with marine fisheries. One of the goals of the Peace Corps is to “to help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.” For many Filipinos, fishing is a major source of both nourishment and trade. Coastal Resources Management Volunteers continue to support the Filipino communities by creating eco-friendly environments that provide food and revenue for local fishermen.
One of the methods employed by Peace Corps volunteers is the construction of artificial reefs. The practice of artificial reef construction is thousands of years old. Recently, such reefs have been used to create semi-permanent habitats for fish as well as preventing erosion of crucial shorelines. These reefs give local communities the environmental support they need for economic development, which is especially crucial in the islands of the Philippines.
Between 1973 and 1975, Jonathan Green served in the Kanchanaburi Province of Thailand assisting with malaria control. While in Thailand, Green observed how communities use rivers to transport goods and materials. During the rainy season, roads become impassable quagmires. Rivers are thus the primary means of transportation and communication when there are no asphalt roads in the area.
Service in the Peace Corps gives volunteers the opportunity not only to assist local development, but to gain new appreciation for the environment and how other cultures live side by side with various environmental concerns.
“People are loading bamboo in barges, presumably to take down the river to sell in the big cities”, Jonathan Green, American University Peace Corps Community Archive. In other countries such as Thailand, Peace Corps volunteers observe how crucial waterways are in the economy of local communities.
Cole Shaw
Country of Service: Mexico
Place of Service: Nuevo Leon
Service Type: Engineering (CONACYT)
Dates in Service: 2009-2011
Keywords: Community Development, Information Technology, Health
Accession Date: July 10, 2014
Access: No restrictions
Collection Size: 1 item
Document Types and Finding Aid
https://wayback.archive-it.org/1435/20140825194452/http://awolverineinmexico.blogspot.com/
Anita P. Turner
Country of Service: Kenya
Service Type: Small Towns and Community Development (USAID)
Dates in Service: 1982-1984
Keywords: Business, Community Development
Accession Date: June 23, 2014
Access: No restrictions
Collection Size: 0.5 linear feet
Document Types
Related Items in Other Repositories
Finding Aid
Jeff Fletcher (John E. Fletcher)
Country of Service: Bolivia
Service Project Title: Bolivia Mines Community Development
Dates in Service: 1967-1969
Keywords: Community Development
Accession Date: March 10, 2014
Access: No restrictions
Collection Size: 2 linear inches (located in small collections) + 1 digital collection
Document Types
Digital Surrogates
Finding Aid
Peace Corps work in Paraguay began in January 1968. The majority of volunteers in Paraguay I worked as agricultural extension agents. It was their job to help local farmers improve the efficiency and output of small, rural farms.
“P-I Volunteer Rich Stockton and interim PC Paraguay Director Mike Doyle.”
In addition to assisting farmers, PCVs helped to establish and promote the 4-C clubs—an equivalent of 4-H in the US—among Paraguay’s youth.
“P-I PCV Rick Mines with ag. extension agent Ojeda doing grafting demonstration with a 4-C club in Pedro Juan Caballero.”
“4-C garden in Cheiro-Cue.”
Peace Corps Volunteer Robert Meade served in multiple locations throughout Paraguay promoting public health and agriculture. According to Meade, PCVs played an instrumental role in encouraging local farmers to plant new crops and experiment with diverse agricultural projects visible in the images below.
“Two Paraguayan farmers (“campesinos”) showing off melons grown in their gardens. PCVs were instrumental in getting farmers to try new crops for the market. Eusebio Ayala.”
“An ag. Extension agent with a local farmer with a tank to grow tilapia, another project started by Peace Corps Paraguay, Eusebio Ayala.”
“Raising rabbits for food and fur, another 4-C program backed by Peace Corps.”
All image captions above were written by Robert Meade.
These are only a few of the fascinating images documenting the work and experiences of PCVs in Paraguay. To view more images, visit the Archives and Special Collections.
In a statement issued March 1, 1961, President Kennedy acknowledged that Peace Corps Volunteers would never make a fortune from their service abroad. Most made enough to subsist. Nevertheless, volunteers often went above and beyond—taking on additional projects to satisfy the community’s needs. Projects included recruiting volunteer labor and additional funding for renovating and construction projects.
During his service in Paraguay, Robert Meade oversaw a school partnership project to build an elementary school. A school in Bethesda, Maryland partnered with the Paraguay community and raised $700 for the construction. Meade documented the efforts of local volunteers, as well as the entire building process, through photography. The partnerships created during the school project represent the essence of the Peace Corps. Robert Meade created the captions below.
“Paraguayan workers on the building of Maria Auxiliadora Elementary School. Bricks were made nearby and all labor on the school was voluntary.”
“Putting on the roof of Maria Auxiliadora.”
“Oxcart delivering bricks for the school project.”
To learn more about Peace Corps Volunteers in Paraguay, visit the Peace Corps Community Archive at American University.
Stephen Bossi, Peace Corps Training Letter, 1966
The Peace Corps Community Archive includes many fascinating stories conveyed through letters, photos, and diaries of returned Peace Corps volunteers. However, many of the collections also include volunteers’ handwritten notes, outlines, exams, and other materials from their Peace Corps training. All volunteers attended some form of training prior to their departure, or, in later years, immediately upon arriving to the country of service.
Jennifer Frum, Certificate of Completion of Training, 1965
The training materials provide insight into what the Peace Corps considered essential for volunteers to know about the country’s culture, history, and language. They also demonstrate the process Peace Corps trainers used to educate and prepare volunteers for living and serving in a culture very different from their own. Several collections include images of service and construction projects undertaken during the volunteers’ training. Construction projects, as well as visits to local social, industrial, and government agencies provided experiential knowledge for volunteers preparing to work in community development.
Jennifer Frum, Introduction to Field Experiences, 1965
Other documents in the collection include training schedules, exams, note outlines, and diary entries detailing the daily training experience.
The Peace Corps not only educated students in school classrooms, but used the wider community as a platform for spreading information to local citizens. Although many volunteers worked in formal education, others were assigned to community development projects. Non-formal education sought to establish community programming and workshops based on areas of need. While some focused on a specifically on health care or sanitation, others were encouraged to assess the local community’s greatest needs before developing projects on-site. Community outreach included youth and business development, in addition to environmental and health education.
In Colombia, Christine Hager sought to educate young girls and women about cooking and sewing. Serving in Dagua Valle, Colombia (1968-1970), Hager organized clubs for mothers and young girls to provide support. The community development also included experiential learning on raising chickens, planting seed beds, and gardening.
Brian Adler and Cynthia Elliott also worked with non-formal rural community education in Marshall Creek, Suriname. Instead of formally teaching students in a classroom, Brian and Cynthia organized community libraries, after-school programs for youth, and workshops to teach English to adults in the community.
The collections documenting the variety of community development reinforce the Peace Corps’ commitment to educating communities and improving people’s lives.