Interview with Ian Hamilton, November 19, 2021
Project: Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project
Interview Summary
Ian Hamilton served as a Peace Corps Volunteer with the Rural Education Development (RED) program in Zambia from 2015-17. He talks about learning Bemba and cross-cultural issues with his host family during training. He discusses his experience teaching English to 5th and 6thgraders in a small agricultural village and his work with an adult literacy club, a girls empowerment camp, and a youth soccer club focused on HIV and malaria prevention. He discusses the power of witchcraft in Zambia and his experience dealing with it alongside his host family. He also reflects on learning to value the slow pace of life in his village and utilizing quiet observation to further understand his community environment. He notes the impact of service on his career in public health fundraising and his realization that he couldn’t live in Zambia because of its anti-gay polices. He concludes with thoughts on professionalizing Peace Corps moving ahead.Interview Accession
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Interview Keyword
Peace Corps (US) Zambia(Country of Service) Rural Education Development (RED) (Peace Corps program) 2015-2017 (years of service) Lusaka (capital of Zambia) Chipembi (training site) Kaombe (village where he served) impact of Peace Corps on his students, his career and his person diversity in Peace Corps Many Faces of Peace Corps.Interview Rights
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Hamilton, Ian Interview by Evelyn Ganzglass. 19 Nov. 2021. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Hamilton, I. (2021, November 19). Interview by E. Ganzglass. Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.
Hamilton, Ian, interview by Evelyn Ganzglass. November 19, 2021, Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
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