Category Archives: Memoirs

Phil Fretz in Sierra Leone

Name: Philip Fretz
Country of Service: Sierra Leone
Place of Service: Kenema
Service Type: English teacher
Dates in Service: 1967-1969
Keywords: Education

Accession Date: January 8, 2020
Access: No Restrictions
Collection Size: 85 digital files

Document Types

  • Documents
  • Photographs
  • Film/Video

Digital Collection

Related Items in Other Repositories

Finding Aid

  1. Memoir, Softball, Snakes, Sausage Flies and Rice: Peace Corps Life in 1960s Sierra Leone, 2013. Transferred to general collection.
  2. Digital files including Peace Corps Sierra Leone Mende Language Manual , “Hike to the Falls” Video, digital images  

Ronald Rude in Nepal

Name: Ronald Rude
Country of Service: Nepal
Place of Service: Jaleshwar, Gorahana Panchayat (District)
Service Project Title: Junior Technological Assistants
Dates in Service: 1968-1971
Keywords: Agriculture, Community Development

Accession Date: December 5, 2019
Access: No restrictions
Collection Size: 94 digital files

Document Types

  • Correspondence
  • Photographs
  • Memoir

Digital Surrogates

Finding Aid

  1. Ron Rude, “Diary of a Peace Corps Volunteer.” https://dra.american.edu/islandora/object/peacecorps%3A2595 
  2. Photo collection of People 
  3. Photo collection of Hindu ceremonies 
  4. Photo collection of agriculture 

Sara Miller in Panama

Name: Sara Miller
Country of Service: Panama
Place of Service: Los Santos
Service Project Title: Community Environmental Conservation
Dates in Service: 2016-2019
Keywords: Agriculture, Community Development, Environment

Accession Date: October 6, 2019
Access: No restrictions
Collection Size: 1 digital file

Document Types/Finding Aid

Gene Carl Feldman in Western Samoa

Name: Gene Carl Feldman
Country of Service: Western Samoa
Place of Service: Upolu, Savai’i, and Manono
Service Type: Village Fisheries Development Project and Sea Turtle Conservation Project
Dates in Service: 1974-1977
Keywords: Agriculture, Architecture, Environment, Community Development

Accession Date: September 30, 2019
Access: No restrictions
Collection Size: 1 digital collection

Document Types

  • Photographs
  • Reports
  • Publications
  • Memoirs

Digital Surrogates

Finding Aid

  1. Documents 
    1. Fisheries Division Annual Report, 1972, 1975, 1979 
    2. Baitfish Trials, Samoa Times, March 11, 1977 
    3. Description of Peace Corps Service 
    4. Development of Fishing in Western Samoa, 1976 
    5. Expansion of Baitfish Cultural Project, 1977 
    6. FAO UNDP Samoa Baitfish Culture Project 
    7. Peace Corps Reports, 1974-1977 
    8. Report on the Design and Construction of a pilot scale bait fish culture facility 
    9. South Pacific Commission FAO Village Fisheries Development Project, Western Samoa, 1978 
    10. South Pacific Commission Fisheries Newsletter, Oct 1977 
    11. South Pacific Commission Report Fisheries Project, Western Samoa, 1975 
    12. Western Samoa fish market guide by James Hollyer PCV 
    13. Western Samoa Group 14 Information and Qualification 
    14. Western Samoa Group 14 Volunteers and Staff 
  1. Drawings 
    1. Falemauga Cave Map 
    2. Preliminary Design for Outboard Engine Workshop Salelologa Savaii, November1974  
  2. Manono Photographs 
  3. Stories  
    1. “The Cave at Falemauga,” Gene Carl Feldman 
    2. “The Shark, the Samoan, and the Boy from New York,” Gene Carl Feldman 

Gary Ender in Nepal

Name: Gary Ender
Country of Service: Nepal
Place of Service: Keraun
Service Type: Agriculture
Dates in Service: 1969- 1972
Keywords: Agriculture

Accession Date: May 3, 2019
Access: No Restrictions
Collection Size: 1 digital file

Document Types

  • Publications
  • Memoir

Digital Surrogates (and Finding Aid)

Rebecca Cors in China

Name: Rebecca Cors
Country of Service: China
Place of Service: Zigong, Sicuan Province
Service Project Title: Environmental Educator Volunteer
Dates in Service: 2004-2006
Keywords:  Agriculture, Education, Environment

Accession Date: March 29, 2019
Access: No Restrictions
Collection Size: 1 digital item

Document Types

  • Photographs
  • Memoirs

Digital Surrogates/Finding Aid

Add tags for country; type of service; primary document type

John P. Hughes in Nepal

John P. Hughes

Country of Service: Nepal
Dates in Service: 1970-2010

Accession Date: 29 October 2018; 22 September 2022
Access: Unrestricted
Collection Size: 3 items

Document Types

  • Publications
  • Film/Video

Digital Surrogates

Related Items in Other Repositories

Finding Aid

  1. Peace Corps/Nepal 22: A Retrospective on the Post-Peace Corps Careers of Trainees, Trainers, PC Staff and RPCVs (1/2) 
  2. Peace Corps/Nepal 22: A Retrospective on the Post-Peace Corps Careers of Trainees, Trainers, PC Staff and RPCVs (2/2) 
  3. Nepal 22 Chronicles: A Virtual Reunion

Raymond Fisher in Malaysia

Country of Service: Malaysia
Service Type: Community Development
Dates in Service: 1964-1966
Keywords: Community Development

Accession Date: October 8, 2018
Access: No Restrictions
Collection Size: .5 linear feet

Document Types

  • Correspondence
  • Reports
  • Publications
  • Memoir

Finding Aid

  1. Correspondence (to Raymond), 1963-1967, 1973, 2001, undated 
  2. Correspondence, 1964 
  3. Correspondence, 1965 
  4. Correspondence, 1966 
  5. Malaysian as Second Language, n.d. 
  6. News Clippings, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1973 
  7. Orientation Materials, 1964 
  8. Project Planning, 1964-1966 
  9. Recent Trends in the Socio-economic Life of Villages on the Malaysian Peninsula 
  10. Reflections, 1965 
  11. Report on Prior Field Experience, 1967 
  12. Request Letter, 1976 
  13. Review: Projects at Gedangsa, 1964-1966 
  14. Travel, 1965 

Paul Jurmo in the Gambia

Country of Service: the Gambia
Service Type: Education (Adult Literacy)
Dates in Service: 1976-1979
Keywords: Education, Community Development, Literacy

Accession Date: October 5, 2018
Access: No Restrictions
Collection Size: 2.75 linear feet and a USB containing Photos, Slides, and Audio; .01 linear feet of audio cassette tapes

Document Types

  • Audio Cassette Tapes (September 9, 2020)
  • Reports
  • Publications
  • Memoir

Related Items in Other Repositories

  • Amulets [Museum of the Peace Corps Experience]
  • A Simple Tool [Museum of the Peace Corps Experience]
  • Fans [Museum of the Peace Corps Experience]
  • Sling [Museum of the Peace Corps Experience]

Finding Aid

  1. Box 1
    1. 3 Audio Cassette Tapes (each tape is double-sided)
      1. Tape 1, Side A: “Religious Practices in a Gambian Village”
      2. Tape 1, Side B: “Lecture at UMass CIE by ?, Early 1980s”
      3. Tape 2, Side A: “Pakalinding, 1977”
      4. Tape 2, Side B: Blank
      5. Tape 3, Side A: “Guitar Music: Pakalinding Interview (11 March 1978)”
        1. Additional inscriptions: “Guitar; Class Vvsit; 2 drummings”
      6. Tape 3, Side B: “Japine: 10 March 1978”
        1. Additional inscriptions: “Japine classes; songs by girls”
    2. Background Info re: the Gambia, 1976-1982
    3. Curriculum Materials & Assessment Tools, 1976-1979 (1/2)
    4. Curriculum Materials & Assessment Tools, 1976-1979 (2/2)
    5. Documents Prepared by Paul Jurmo, 1967-1979 (1/3)
    6. Documents Prepared by Paul Jurmo, 1967-1979 (2/3)
    7. Documents Prepared by Paul Jurmo, 197601979 (3/3)
    8. Financial Reports of Nat’l Literacy Advisory Committee, 1979
  2. Box 2
    1. Ideas for Reading Materials for Adult Literacy, 1977-1981 & undated (1/3)
    2. Ideas for Reading Materials for Adult Literacy, 1977-1981 & undated (2/3)
    3. Ideas for Reading Materials for Adult Literacy, 1977-1981 & undated (3/3)
    4. Info About Attempted Coup D’état, 1980-1982 (1/2)
    5. Info About Attempted Coup D’état, 1980-1982 (2/2)
    6. Minutes of National Literacy Advisory Committee Meetings, 1976-1979 (1/3)
    7. Minutes of National Literacy Advisory Committee Meetings, 1976-1979 (2/3)
  3. Box 3
    1. Minutes of National Literacy Advisory Committee Meetings, 1976-1979 (3/3)
    2. Newsletters of Gambian Agencies, 1976-1979
    3. Notebooks, 21 September 1976-14 January 1977
    4. Notebooks, 18 January 1977-20 June 1977
    5. Notebooks, 20 June 1977-12 January 1978
    6. Notebooks, 20 January 1978-1 April 1978
    7. Notebooks, 7 April 1978-20 July 1978
  4. Box 4
    1. Notebooks, 22 July 1978-9 December 1978
    2. Notebooks, 10 December 1978-2 February 1979
    3. Notebooks, 2 February 1979-11 May 1979
    4. Notebooks, 12 May 1979-13 August 1979
    5. Notebooks, 13 August 1979-December 1979
    6. PC the Gambia “Bantaba” Newsletter with Article about Paul Jurmo’s Adult Literacy Project 1977-1978
    7. PC Project Description and Pre-Training Candidate Booklet 1975-1978 & Undated
  5. Box 5
    1. Personal Reflections, 1976-1979 & Undated
    2. Project Planning Doc’s and Reports, 1976-1982 & Undated (1/4)
    3. Project Planning Doc’s and Reports, 1976-1982 & Undated (2/4)
    4. Project Planning Doc’s and Reports, 1976-1982 & Undated (3/4)
    5. Project Planning Doc’s and Reports, 1976-1982 & Undated (4/4)
    6. Public Awareness Flyer Re: Adult Literacy by PCV Karl Warma, Undated
    7. Reports about Adult Literacy Efforts in Various African Nations 1977-1979
    8. Supervisor’s Log (To Document Site Visits), 1978
    9. Training Materials Used to Train Community Development Staff 1977-1979
    10. Workshop on Formal Ed as Component of Integ’d Rural Development, April 1979
  6. Box 6
    1. Donation Information and Co-Op Logo, Undated
    2. MEP Program Evaluation (Documents from 2 Formative Evaluations and 1 3rd-Year Evaluation (1982-1984); Program Evaluation
      1. MEP Formative Evaluation, June-July 1982
      2. MEP Formative Evaluation, November-December 1982
      3. MEP Program Evaluation, Numeracy Program Quarterly Report, March 31, 1983
      4. MEP Program Evaluation, Planning of the Evaluation, June-September 1983
      5. MEP Program Evaluation, Information Collected for Evaluation, 1983
      6. Evaluation Report Draft by Jurmo (1983) and Final Report, Revised by MEP Staff, 1984
    3. MEP Staff Training
      1. Early MEP Staff Training, October 1981
      2. MEP Staff Training, Workshop For Co-op Inspectors/ Education, Yundum, July, 1982
      3. MEP Workshop For Co-op Inspectors/Education, Training Schedule and Lesson Plans, November 1982
      4. MEP Workshop For Co-op Inspectors/Education: Workshop Report, Feedback from Participants, November 1982
      5. “Workshops for “Village Facilitators” of MEP Numeracy Classes, Administrative Tasks; held: Jenoi, December 1982; Chamen, January 1983
      6. Workshops for “Village Facilitators” of Numeracy Classes; Feedback and Workshop Report; held December 1982, Jenoi, and Chamen, January 1983
      7. Workshops for “Village Facilitators” of Numeracy Classes, Training Schedule, Lessons Plans, Notes, Participants and Staff; December 1982, Jenoi, and Chamen, January 1983
      8. Workshops for “Village Facilitators,” Assessment Tools Interviews, Written Tests;  December 1982, Jenoi, and Chamen, January 1983
      9. Evaluation of “Intermediate” Course For CIES; Final Report, Feedback From CIES and Facilitators; Yundum, July-August 1983
      10. Initial Planning for “Intermediate” Training Workshops For Coop Inspectors/Education (CIES’s), Held in July-August 1983 at Yundum
      11. Schedule and Lesson Plans for “Intermediate” Course for CIEs; includes written work by CIEs; Yundum, July-August 1983
      12. Assessments of Participants in the “Intermediate” Course for Co-op Inspectors; includes quiz, essays, and interviews; held in Yundum, July-August 1983
      13. Workshop For MEP Supervisors, Held at New MEP Office at Co-op Department Headquarters at Banjul, March 1983
      14.  Workshop for Co-op Inspectors/ED, Proposed Agenda Interview, September1983
      15. Workshop for Representation of Co-ops in 5 West African Countries, and of US-A and International Organizations Related to Co-Operatives: Lesson Plans, Schedule, “Study Notes” (Handouts); held at Atlantic Hotel in Banjul, October 1983
    4. MEP Learning Resources 1982/1983: Curriculum Materials For Numeracy/Literacy Instruction
        1. MEP Learning Resources: Core Numeracy Curriculum: Learners Notebook, 2 editions (1983 and unknown), Co-Op Numeracy Facilitator’s Guide (1983, Second Edition)
        2. Homework Assignment Books: Bood 1, Addition, Book 2: Subtraction; Book 3: Money and Procedure Receipts, Undated
        3. Guidebook of Training Support Activities, 1983
        4. “Fun Activities:” Assorted Activities For Numeracy Facilitators, 1982
        5. Picture Stories” adopted as visual aids (Discussion Starters) in Numeracy Classes: Prototype Sketches by Jurmo; more-finished versions by Various Gambian Artists
        6. Numeracy Games: Farming Game, Extension Worker Game, Urban Worker Game, undated
  7. Box 7
    1. MEP Learning Resources 1982/1983: Curriculum Materials For Numeracy/Literacy Instruction (con’t)
      1. “Simplified Bookkeeping” Guide for Numeracy/Literacy Training Groups, 1983
      2. “Specific Literacy” Activities: UMass/CIE Book (198); Handouts for MEP Staff (1982); Follow-up Project with IBAs and NEF Services of Ministry of Education (1982)
      3. Income-Generating Projects: Handouts for MEP Staff Training (1983); Meeting with Peace Corps Volunteers (1983)
      4. Curriculum Overviews/ History, c. 1982
    2. MEP Miscellaneous
      1. Proposal for Calculator Project with UMass/CIE, 1983
      2. Miscellaneous Background Readings Re: NonFormal ED From: UNESCO, Co-Op ED-Materials Advisory Service, MAP International, UMASS/CIE Health Education Games, c. early 1980s
      3. Tree-Planting Curricula Prepared For Peace Corps Volunteers (by Jurmos): “Word Problems” Adapted from MEP Curriculum For Use in Forestry Dept. Training, 1983
      4. Staffing Plans for Supervisors, Driver Performance Issues, Numeracy Education Coordinator Job Description, c. 1983
      5. Proposal For Study at UMass/CIE by MEP Staffer Dodou Jome, 1982
      6. Consultant Housing, 1983
      7. Consultant Paul Jurmo Expenses Book, 1983
  8. USB containing digitized audio, photographs, and slides

Processed by Chloe Eastwood and Emily Messner

Records We Collect; Records That Tell Stories

Throughout the blog, you have probably noticed the various records we use to tell the stories of Peace Corps Volunteers. This post highlights some of the more common types of records that volunteers donate and record their experiences with.

The most common type of record that PCVs donate that tell their story is letters. Volunteers send correspondence back and forth with their family and friends for two years in which they express their accomplishments, frustrations, and describe their everyday life. A letter like the one below, air mail, was a familiar sight for families as it was the fastest and most common way volunteers sent letters.

Joyce Emery Johnston served in the Philippines in Education from 1965-1967.

Similar to correspondence is volunteers’ journals or diaries. These are where volunteers write more in depth about their daily activities and daily thoughts. Diaries are used to preserve memories, and some volunteers even start keeping diaries in the language of their host country as seen below.

David Day served in Kenya and India in Agriculture from 1965-1967.

David Day served in Kenya and India in Agriculture from 1965-1967.

A way that volunteers formally share their experiences is through memoirs. Alan Crew compiled his memoir as a gift to his son upon his graduation from college. In it he details his life in Nigeria and includes pictures of where he worked.

Alan Crew served in Nigeria in Education from 1965-1966.

Along with writing, volunteers also take many photos during their service to show their friends and families where they work and live. While most volunteers take regular digital photos, many early volunteers also used slides.

Patricia Kay served in Kenya in Education from 1966-1968.

Patricia Kay served in Kenya in Education from 1966-1968.

Volunteers also send home postcards when they travel or want to share more photos of their host country.

Tina Singleton served in Benin in Health Education from 1992-1996.

Along with these records, some volunteers also take videos of their service experience. The video below was taken by Brian Adler who served in Suriname with his wife Cindy from 2002-2004. In this clip he gives a tour of where he and Cindy lived, and the video goes on to show a village party, soccer game, and conversations with the villagers.

Bryan and Cynthia Adler in Marchall Kreek 

For volunteers who either could not write home or found this method easier, they recorded audio tapes. This audio clip is from Richard Holmquist to his fiance Ann. In the full recording, he discusses his work as a professor at UMBC, how he met Ann, and what he did in Nigeria from 1966-1968. In this clip he discusses a need in Nigeria for lifeguards.                                           (play button is on the far left).

 

Along with these personal records, Peace Corps Volunteers also donate some of their official Peace Corps paperwork. These include certificates of training and service completion, letters of service acceptance, and volunteer ID cards like Debby Prigal’s below.

Debby Prigal served in Ghana in Education from 1981-1983.

The Peace Corps Community Archives holds many other different types of records such as architectural drawings, posters, newspapers, training materials, correspondence from the Peace Corps and various governments, and much more. But the handful of records highlighted here are the main forms of learning about what a Peace Corps Volunteer experienced while abroad.