Today (March 1st) is Peace Corps Day - 60th Anniversary

[dourbalistar]

Several recent threads got me thinking back to my time as a Peace Corps volunteer, serving as an English teacher in Chad, Africa. Coincidentally, today (March 1st) marks the 60th anniversary of the Peace Corps, established by President John F. Kennedy in 1961. Another member (Freakscene) encouraged me to share some photos from Chad, so I thought today would be an appropriate day to start! 🙂

I took this photo shortly after I was installed at my site, taken on a walk outside of the town where I lived and worked for two years from 2003-2005. I was probably the only foreigner within a 60 mile (100km) radius, and my nearest Peace Corps colleague was in another village several hours away. I remember having a feeling of fear and excitement, as a stranger living alone in a totally new and foreign place.


Outside of Dourbali, Chad by dourbalistar, on Flickr

I may add more photos and stories to this thread from time to time. Are there any other Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) on the forum? Feel free to add your photos and stories as well! 😀

 

[Freakscene]

Remote indeed. Show more photos please!

 

[Trask]

I'm right there with you, dourbalistar: Peace Corps Volunteer in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) from 1975-77, going on 45 years ago. An experience that certainly changed my life more than I changed any of my students' lives, but I hope I did some good. As I was always the photographer, I don't have a lot of pictures with me out there, but I'm attaching one here: I'm the guy with his elbow hanging out of the truck -- no car, no motorbike, so trucks like these are how I got around, though as time when on I took to riding on top of the truck instead of inside. Took a Nikon S3 and several Nikkor lenses with me, and a bottle of Rodinal and a bulk loader of film (IIRC Ilford Pan F). The camera and lenses were stolen, so they're presumably somewhere out there south of the equator. At least I like to think they are, and someone's using them...

 

[jarski]

I wasnt in Peace Corps, but met one in a train in Tanzania, 10 years ago. At the time I had never heard there existed such an institution so was quite surprised and interesting to hear what he told me. He lived in a hut in a remote Tanzanian village. If I recal he was some kind of expert of wateries and fishing, and sent to Tanzania to instruct and help locals about them. He was still well into his 20's so I remember being bit surprised. Peace Corps experience for many young Americans is probably once in a lifetime experience.

Here's photo (taken with M8) as our train pushed towards Zambia.

 

[dourbalistar]

Remote indeed. Show more photos please!

This photo is just a poor drug store scan, but I intend to go back to some of these negatives to properly digitize them. I'll definitely share more photos to this thread.

I'm right there with you, dourbalistar: Peace Corps Volunteer in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) from 1975-77, going on 45 years ago. An experience that certainly changed my life more than I changed any of my students' lives, but I hope I did some good. As I was always the photographer, I don't have a lot of pictures with me out there, but I'm attaching one here: I'm the guy with his elbow hanging out of the truck -- no car, no motorbike, so trucks like these are how I got around, though as time when on I took to riding on top of the truck instead of inside. Took a Nikon S3 and several Nikkor lenses with me, and a bottle of Rodinal and a bulk loader of film (IIRC Ilford Pan F). The camera and lenses were stolen, so they're presumably somewhere out there south of the equator. At least I like to think they are, and someone's using them...

Wow, great to meet another volunteer! I also have no illusions about the impact I made on my students (probably very little), but completely resonate with your sentiments about it being a life changing experience. I'd love to see more of your photos from Zaire, even if you're behind the camera! The Nikon S3 is quite the camera to bring into the heart of Africa. 😀

That said, I have a huge amount of respect for the volunteers like you who served in the early days of Peace Corps. You guys were really out there, serving without a lot of support. I first heard about the Peace Corps from my high school physics teacher, who also served in the early days. No doubt, getting around from place to place was definitely one of the most dangerous parts of Peace Corps service. I didn't ride on top of any trucks, but I certainly rode in my fair share of very sketchy and overloaded vehicles, rolling along horrendous dirt roads across the bush.

I wasnt in Peace Corps, but met one in a train in Tanzania, 10 years ago. At the time I had never heard there existed such an institution so was quite surprised and interesting to hear what he told me. He lived in a hut in a remote Tanzanian village. If I recal he was some kind of expert of wateries and fishing, and sent to Tanzania to instruct and help locals about them. He was still well into his 20's so I remember being bit surprised. Peace Corps experience for many young Americans is probably once in a lifetime experience.

Here's photo (taken with M8) as our train pushed towards Zambia.

Yeah, Peace Corps is a pretty unique institution. It has its flaws, but like you said, it's a seminal experience for many Americans, young and old alike. It was definitely a life-changing experience for me. After I completed my two-year service in Chad, I spent about three months traveling around different countries in southern Africa. Zambia (Victoria Falls, specifically) was one of my last stops before returning home to the United States.

 

[dourbalistar]

I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Chad, so this is significant news. On April 20, 2021, one day after he was re-elected for a 6th term, the Chadian military announced that President Idriss Déby was killed in a clash with rebel forces. Some news links for those who are interested:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/20/world/africa/president-chad-killed.html
https://apnews.com/article/business...-africa-chad-f21fc203a3596d45da7d651a3a0458b9
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56815708
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/20/9890...by-reportedly-killed-during-clash-with-rebels