Tag Archives: Health Education

Combatting Malaria in Thailand

During the 1970s, Jonathan Green worked with a malaria control program in South Central Thailand’s Control Zone 3.  Accompanied by a crew, Green ventured into the jungle to spray local villagers’ homes with DDT.  If individuals suspected they might have malaria, the organization administered a blood test and provided medication for those who tested positive.

Here, Green wears his khaki uniform, like other Thai civil servant officials. According to Green, his boss suggested this type of uniform because villagers would be more trusting and recognize him as an official.

Green’s work took him into the jungle to visit local villages.

Green traveling by boat. Rain often made traveling on dirt roads impossible.

Members of the spray team walk along the trail carrying their equipment. Jonathan Green wrote, “Each sprayman carries a canvas bag containing several plastic bags of powdered DDT, his sprayer, and a bucket in which to mix the DDT with water. Powdered DDT is not soluble in water, so it is hard to mix. But then the whole idea is to spray a suspension on the interior walls of homes, so the water will evaporate and leave the powder adhering to the walls to kill mosquitoes who like to rest there.”

Spraying DDT underneath a dwelling’s eaves.

“Mr. Winai, the malaria control sector chief for Tongphum and Snagkhlaburi districts, examining a blood sample under the microscope.”

Jonathan Green’s collection is the only one currently in the Peace Corps Community Archive documenting a volunteer’s experience in Thailand.  Green wrote detailed captions explaining each image and elaborating on his Peace Corps service.

To view more photos, visit Jonathan Green’s Facebook page.

Daily Journaling: A Volunteer’s Experience

Journals and diaries offer space for reflection.  For many Peace Corps volunteers, journals provided an unbiased place to flesh out one’s private thoughts.  Whether written in frustration, excitement, or simply recording the mundane events of the day, journals and diaries promoted a safe opportunity to think and write about experiences in a country far from home.

For young, inexperienced volunteers, keeping a journal provided a way to process and cope with new surroundings.  Journals also include reflections on new foods, community events, local culture, and the living and working conditions experienced abroad.

Winifred Boge, Journal, January 31, 1966

Winifred Boge, Journal, January 31, 1966
Boge recalls trying a traditional Indian cheese for the first time.

 

Boge, Journal, February 19, 1966

Winifred Boge, Journal, February 19, 1966
In addition to working with local citizens, Boge encountered a variety of creatures: mice, lizards, and dogs.

Journals also allow us to understand the routines, experiences with illness, and the developing relationships which occurred between volunteers and local citizens.  Boge reflected on her first year as a Peace Corps volunteer in India–including the challenges she faced working with people very different from herself.

Winifred Boge, 1 Year Report, February 1966

Winifred Boge, 1 Year Report, February 1966

 

Winifred Boge, 1 Year Report, February 1966

Winifred Boge, 1 Year Report, February 1966

Most people who journal or keep a daily diary do so without considering the benefits it may yield to researchers in the future.  Rather than document their daily activities for someone else to read, many authors record events for their own memories.   Winifred Boge’s diary provides a window into the events of a volunteer’s day, in addition to discussing the complexities and challenges of serving in a foreign country with strangers.  Journals and diaries provide insight into the individuals who served and the experiences in country that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.

Improving the Health of a Community

Peace Corps volunteers educated local citizens about topics other than math, English, and science.  Health care and wellness provided an opportunity for volunteers to share basic information with citizens, while working to improve the community’s overall well-being.  Assignments included educating local citizens about the importance of clean water and sanitation, in addition to other issues of public health.  However, in order to educate local citizens, volunteers not only had to understand another language, but also needed to speak proficiently.  Knowledge of the country or region’s native language ensured volunteers’ ability to communicate essential information to local citizens.

Dahl Trainees 1963

Peace Corps Trainees at Presbyterian Clinic, Penasco, New Mexico, Oct. 1963

The image shows the Peace Corps trainees, of the Rural Community Action and Health Program, at the Presbyterian Clinic in 1963.  While they were not nurses, volunteers provided essential instruction to locals regarding hygiene, nutrition, child care, and health practices for expectant mothers.

Dahl Sweeping 1964

Dana Dahl, Piojo Health Center, June 1964

Volunteer Dana Dahl Seaton, learned Spanish in college before joining the Peace Corps.  Her knowledge paid off because she delivered a speech to the people of Piojó, Colombia shortly after arriving in-country to work as a health educator.  She explained to community members what the volunteers would be doing.  Her handwritten speech is in the collection.

In addition to the initiatives for community development and health education, the Peace Corps began sending professionally trained nurses to Colombia in the 1960s.  Peggy Gleeson Wyllie, one of eighteen who volunteered, served in the Peace Corps’ first group of nurses sent to Colombia.  Training took place at Brooklyn College, where nurses were paired together and prepared for working in urban locations.  Sent to Fusagasuga, Colombia, Wyllie trained in local hospitals before she taught practical nursing classes, in Spanish, to local students.

Such stories show the diversity of educational projects carried out by Peace Corps volunteers.  Many experiences highlight the importance and value of understanding and speaking the country’s native language.

Dana Dahl in Colombia

Dana Dahl

Country of Service: Colombia
Place of Service: Piojo
Service Project Title: CARE Project (health education)
Dates in Service: 1963-1965
Keywords: Community Development, Education, Health

Accession: Friends of Colombia Archive
Access: No restrictions
Collection Size: 1 folder

Document Types and Finding Aid

  • Photographs
  • Slides
  • Journal
  • Publications (training materials)
  • Story

Jonathan Green in Thailand

Country of Service: Thailand
Place of Service: Kanchanaburi Province
Service Type: Malaria Control
Dates in Service: 1973-1975
Keywords: Environment, Health

Accession Date: July 10, 2013
Access: no restrictions
Collection Size:

Document Types

  • Photographs
  • Publications
  • Training Materials

Digital Files

  • Photographs
  • Memoir

See Also:
Jonathan Green’s facebook photo album.

Finding Aid

  1. Memoir 
  2. Digitized photographs and maps  
  3. Training Manuals in the Thai language 
  4. Mary Haas Thai dictionary issued to Green by the Peace Corps 

Winifred Boge in India

Winifred Boge

Country of Service: India
Place of Service: Andhra Pradesh
Service Type: Health Nutrition Project
Dates in Service: 1965-1967
Keywords: Asia, Education, Health

Accession Date: May 9, 2013
Access: No restrictions
Collection Size: 0.5 linear feet

Document Types

  • Correspondence 1965-1967
  • Diaries 1965-1966
  • Photographs
  • Publications
  • Training Materials

Finding Aid

  1. Correspondence (1 of 2) 
    1. February 1965-December 1965 
  2. Correspondence (2 of 2) 
    1. January 1966 – February 1967 
  3. Pamphlets and Handbooks 
  4. Peace Corps 
    1. ID and Certificate 
  5. Photographs 
  6. Training 
    1. Schedule and Syllabus 
  7. Farewell Scrapbook 
    1. Postcards 
  8. Two Journals 
  9. In box “PCCA Oversize” – photograph