Interview with Robert Horsch, October 30, 2021
Project: Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project
Interview Summary
Robert followed graduation from James Madison University in 1995 by joining Teach For America, where he met his future wife. Together in 1997, they were accepted into the Peace Corps and an assignment in the relatively new nation, Suriname, and new Peace Corps host in 1998. Training in the capital, Paramaribo, for 3 months with 20 other trainees, mostly couples, consisted of language instruction in this multicultural/multi-linguistic nation followed by a very helpful site-visit with departing PCVs. Their rather unspecified task was community research and rural development: “Go to your post and do well.” A boat accident up the Suriname River deprived them of much of their supplies. Gradually, they established their roles by conversing with all village members, first in Bofakule, later in Djumu: infrastructure of all kinds, health, and education. Late in his service, PC informed him of his mother’s impending death and brought them stateside for 40 days where they completed an early termination of service in 2000.Interview Accession
Interviewee Name
Interviewer Name
Interview Date
Interview Keyword
Peace Corps Suriname 1998-2000 Rural Development Community Specialist James Madison University Teach for America Houston tsunami Guyana Community Research Specialist Navy Paramaribo independence Dutch indentured workers slaves infrastructure health sanitation Bofakule Atjoni married couple pidgin Portuguese Spanish Javanese Saramakan English literacy library gathering food premise of Peace Corps PC staff with Guyana shortwave radio mother’s illness salmonella sandflies “seca” amoeba Leishmaniasis health clinic inventoried supplies childbirth case managerInterview Rights
All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.Interview Usage
Interviews may only be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.Restriction
Interviews may only be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.
Add this interview to your cart in order to begin the process of requesting access to a copy of and/or permission to reproduce interview(s).
Horsch, Robert Interview by John Croes. 30 Oct. 2021. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Horsch, R. (2021, October 30). Interview by J. Croes. Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.
Horsch, Robert, interview by John Croes. October 30, 2021, Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.
If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.
Persistent Link for this Record: https://kentuckyoralhistory.org/ark:/16417/xt719mqrjsbss