Tag Archives: woman

Character Reflections from Kambia, Sierra Leone

In 1983, Jim and Carolyn Hitter left a notebook in the Peace Corps Rest House in Kambia, Sierra Leone, as a way to remember the work of their fellow volunteers. Scrawled on the inside cover of the faded notebook: “Dedicated to us, the PCV’s, VSO’s of Kambia. Twenty years of Volunteers have been here and left no record, no footprints…With this small beginning maybe our successors will know us by our deeds and misdeeds.” 

Once the first journal filled, other PCVs added another in 1988. Many of the entries are a bit of gossip, others are firsthand reflections and memories of their time in Sierra Leone.

Here are some entries from the two notebooks:

Dewey- N. Carolina

Econ major at UNC? Aggie [Agriculture] at Bapinga 1980-1982. Extended to fisheries winter of ’82. Lived with Pa Laurin. Seemed to get along well with farmers. Speak languages well. Mr. Generosity. Dewey gives things away!

Extremely conservative politically. 

Married Sierra Leonean, Regina Durwig, at Pt. Loko on 9 July 1983.

No; Dewey’s father came to S.L. to convince him that this was not a wise thing so Dewey’s wedding apparently turned into an “engagement party.” 

In fact, Dewey went home without Regina and apparently with an agreement that he would never come back, nor send for her.

Page from Jim Hitter’s Notebook, Jim Hitter Collection, Peace Corps Community Archives.

Logan 72-74

History at Kolenten. Had a masters in World History and a BA in African History. (Orland was in his Form III Class). There was a riot at school because all the history students were getting poor grades. “Logan must go or die” was chalked on the streets. According to Orlando, “he resembled Jesus and he never laughed.

Jim Hitter, 1982-1984 Kambia
…”Lived” (in a matter of speaking) through 2-3 extensive beer droughts. Saw the price of STAR [beer] go from $.80 to $4.00.

…Never taught before this experience and never will again. In fact I expect never to work again. My background for this was some years as an engineer in the aerospace industry, VISTA (in a veterans project in Seattle) and 10 years retirement. I would have been long gone if it hadn’t been for the support/love/and good humor of Carolyn, my wife!

Martin Seviour, 
1980-1982, Sewafe/Kono
1982-1984, Kambia

I’m leaving this country tomorrow after 4 years, and it does seem a day too long! I’m a VSO. I taught secondary English in Sewafe for two years and came to Kambia to work in the KELT Primary English Project.

I dislike Kambia only slightly less than Jim Hitter and know only slightly more Temne…I would like to deny all rumours that I extended only to avoid the draft for the Falklands War. 

Hopefully, I will be the first of a long line of VSO’s using the Kambia Rest House. I would like to express my thanks to all the PCVs who have strived at all time to let me not feel inferior. Special thanks should go to Douglas whom I’ve only known for a short time but who has been a good friend (Keep the toilet clean Dough!) and to the Hitters who have put up with my verbal ramblings late into the might and have cooked wonderful meals and given me lots of encouragement and advice…”

Carolyn Hitter
1982-1984, Kambia, Primary Workshops

…The Hitters lived in the “suburbs” –on the fringe of Kambia at Kolenten. The greatest thing thaat happened in Kambia was finding Kemokoh, an excellent cook, an honest man, and the only Sierra Leonean to complete a job on time…

Jim and Carolyn, old enough to be the parents of other Kambia volunteers (47 and 45) showed their age by drinking more beer than most. All those years of practice, you know!

Jim and Carolyn Hitter, 1982. Jim Hitter Collection, Peace Corps Community Archives.

[Added by another volunteer:] “Pictured above in typical form. Great people who are well worth visiting should anyone pass through Seattle.”

And in the second journal…

Bernadette
“I succeeded Chris Lavin in Bayonde village. I have enjoyed living with the Jimbra people, and tell God “tenki” everyday that I was not placed in Temne-land; Bayonde is a “seke-free zone.”

…Unlike the other Kambia PCV’s and VSO’s, I was not particularly fond of Kambia, mostly because of the rude, obnoxious, ruff bobos that hung around the rest house, whose hobby was to taunt me…

Anyway, back to Bayonde and my Peace Corps “work.” I think all of us PCV’s have realized that we are not here for the work we do; we are here as cheap P.R. for the American government. I guess that’s not so bad as long as we realize that, and also realize that we are not going to “develop” this country. As I’m sure you’ve heard a zillion PCV’s say: It’s not the work that counts so much, it’s enjoying the people and the culture where you will get the most satisfaction. At least, this has been true in my case…

I am a living example of why the Peace Corps has decided to bag the motorcycles. I broke my ankle in a Honda spill and was unnecessarily sent back to D.C. (a Salone doctor wanted to operate–yikes!) Even though an operation was unnecessary, I tell Peace Corps plenti plenti tenki for that wonderful holiday!”

Bernadette on her motorcycle in Sierra Leone. Featured in her entry in the second notebook. Jim Hitter Collection, Peace Corps Community Archives.

After the program in Sierra Leone disbanded in the ‘90s, the journals made their way to the United States. In his own notes about the journals, Jim explains: “In 1994, when rebel activity became too much, the Peace Corps was ordered out of the country. The diaries (and the large US flag that hung on the Resthouse wall) were rescued by the Catholic fathers and sent to the US.” 

Another RPCV preserved the journals until 2002, when they were ceremoniously revealed at the Friends of Sierra Leone annual meeting and 40th Peace Corps Anniversary Celebration in Washington, D.C.

Lorelei Christl Robinson and Gary D. Robinson in Colombia

Name: Lorelei Christl Robinson and Gary D. Robinson
Country of Service: Colombia
Service Project Title: Peace Corps Staff, 1965-1971
Dates in Service: 1961-1963-; 1963-1965
Keywords: Education

Accession Date: January 17, 2020 (updated May 7, 2021)
Access: No restrictions
Collection Size: 1.5 linear feet (Friends of Colombia Boxes 58 and 59)

Document Types

  • Photographs
  • Reports
  • Publications
  • Training Materials

Finding Aid

Box 58 

  1. Peace Corps Training, Guatemala, 1968 
  2. Recruitment Pamphlets 
  3. “Evaluation of the Peace Corps Program in the Eastern Caribbean,” Interview Formats by
  4. Gary D. Robinson 
  5. Field Data Collected by Dorial Blackett-Molloy and Gary D. Robinson, Evaluation of the Peace
  6. Corps in the Eastern Caribbean 
  7. Final Evaluation, On-Site Observation and Final Evaluation, Eastern Caribbean, April-May 1972 
  8. Guidelines for Peace Corps Cross-Cultural Training, Part 1-3 
  9. Interim Report, Staff Training, Eastern Caribbean, March-April 1972 

Box 59 

  1. Instructor’s Manual, Self-Assessment Workshop, 1969 
  2. Photographs, 1963 
  3. Publications, 1963-1986 
  4. Slides Finding Aid  
  5. Slides, trays 1-5, 1965-1966 
  6. Slides, trays 6-9, 1967 
  7. Slides, trays 10-11, 1967 and 1973 
  8. Binder: “Peace Corps Training Program; Colombia XI, Ecuador V; The University of New Mexico; July 12 to October 12, 1963”: contains training materials, schedules, and various notes 

Peter J. and Kathryn W. Hansen in Nigeria

Name: Peter J. and Kathryn W. Hansen
Country of Service: Nigeria
Place of Service: University of Ife, Ibadan
Service Project Title: Chemistry faculty
Dates in Service: 1966-1968
Keywords: Education

Accession Date: December 18, 2019
Access: No restrictions
Collection Size: 0.25 linear feet (located in small collections)

Document Types

  • Correspondence
  • Photographs
  • Publications

Finding Aid

  1. Correspondence, 1966-1969 
  2. Licenses, Passports, and Vaccinations 
  3. Publications, 1968 and 1986 

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

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)

Vickie Larson in Thailand

Name: Vickie (Newhouse) Larson
Country of Service: Thailand
Place of Service: Bangkok
Dates in Service: 1965-1967
Keywords: Education

Accession Date: July 17, 2019
Access: No Restrictions
Collection Size: 0.5 linear feet

Document Types

  • Correspondence
  • Photographs
  • Scrapbooks
  • Reports
  • Publications
  • Diaries
  • Training Materials

Finding Aid

  1. Box 1 
    1. Articles, Newspaper, 1965-1966 
    2. Certificate, n.d. 
    3. Correspondence, 1964-1965 
    4. Correspondence, 1966-1967 
    5. Diary, 1965 
    6. Diary, 1967 
    7. Drawings, n. d.  
    8. Miscellaneous, money and signed poster 
    9. Northern Illinois State University Training Lessons, n. d. (2) 
  2. Box 2 
    1. Outgoing Shipment Forms, 1967 
    2. Photo Album (2) 
    3. Photos, Christmas, 1964 
    4. Photos, Training in Rice Hotel, Dekalb, Illinois, 1965 
    5. Recipes, Peace Corps Training Project, n. d.  
    6. Slides, removed due to mold 
      1. Bangkok, Thailand 
      2. Japan 
      3. Russia 
      4. Waipeo, Hawaii PC Training, 1965 
    7. Thailand Peace Corps Program X- Northern Illinois University, 1965 
    8. Training Materials, 1965 
    9. Yearbook, Pranakorn Teacher Training School, 1966 
    10. Yearbook, Pranakorn Teacher Training College, 1967 
    11. Identification Card, RESTRICTED 
    12. Leather

Fortune Zuckerman in Colombia

Name: Fortune Zuckerman
Country of Service: Colombia
Place of Service: Antioquia, Bolivar, Atlantico Department
Service Type OR Service Project Title: Associate Peace Corps Director
Dates in Service: 1974-1980

Accession Date: July 31, 2019
Access: No Restrictions
Collection Size: 1 folder (located in small collections)

Document Types

  • Reports

Finding Aid

  1. Peace Corps Volunteers and Staff, 1980 

David and Anita Kaufman in Puerto Rico

Name: David and Anita Kaufman
Country of Service: Puerto Rico
Place of Service: Arecibo
Service Type OR Service Project Title: Peace Corps Training Center, Camp Lawrence Radley
Dates in Service: 1966-1972
Keywords: Education

Accession Date: April 10, 2019
Access: No Restrictions
Collection Size: 0.25 linear feet

Document Types

  • Publications

Finding Aid

  1. Bolivia, Columbia, and Peru Mug book and Venezuela Mug Book, Camp Lawrence Radley, 1966 
  2. Colombia Mug Book, Camp Lawrence Radley, 1967 
  3. Guatemala Mug book, Camp Crozier, 1966-1968 
  4. Honduras Mug book, Paraguay Mug book, Nicaragua Mug book, Camp Crozier and unknown, 1968,  1972 
  5. Panama Mug book, Camp Crozier 
  6. Peru Mug book, Camp Lawrence Radley, 1966 

Ellen Chapman in Brazil

Name: Ellen (Laurence) Chapman
Country of Service: Brazil
Place of Service: Rio Tinto, Paraiba
Dates in Service: 1964-1966
Keywords: Health

Accession Date: April 11, 2019
Access: No restrictions
Collection Size: 0.25 linear feet

Document Types

  • Publications
  • Training Materials

Finding Aid

  1. Language Training Material, June- September 1964 
  2. Peace Corps Memos, 1964-1966, n.d. 
  3. Peace Corps Publicity and Publications, 1963-1966, 1971, 2004, n.d. 
  4. Training Program Syllabi Pt I-II, June – September 1964 

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