Interview with Mark Kohn, October 18, 2022

Interview Summary

Mark Kohn served in Micronesia on the small island of Kosrae, the Sleeping Lady Island, 1979-1981, as an agricultural generalist. Kosrae is a 3-day boat ride from Mark’s in-country training site on Pohnpei. Stateside training had been in Frogmore, SC where Mark studied animal husbandry and horticulture. He settled in a town called Lelu on Kosrae. He lived with a family of 18 for six months, then found a house on the beach for himself! Mark wasn’t assigned a job by Peace Corps; he made his own work. He reopened and operated a farmers’ market for six months before creating a position for himself at the area agricultural station. There he located blueprints to build an egg-packing and grading shed from unused materials. Mark says what he learned in PC got him his wife and his career as a prison social worker. He felt he could handle anything after PC.

Interview Keyword

Peace Corps (U.S.) Micronesia (Country of service) 1979-1981 (Date of service) Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Agriculture Micronesia/Kosrae Peace Corps (U.S.)--1970-1980 Peace Corps (U.S.)--1980-1990 Peace Corps (U.S.)—Management Peace Corps (U.S.) – Training (cultural, language, technical) Peace Corps (U.S.)– Recruitment and intake English Kosraen

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