Interview with Elaine Guihan, October 27, 2022

Interview Summary

Elaine Guihan served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cameroon from 1976 to 1978. Elaine, a recent college graduate, applied to the Peace Corps after seeing a television commercial and called the Peace Corps Office for an application. She was a French major who served in the Education Sector which started her career in teaching. There were five international volunteers in her remote village which was then only accessible by ferry. She taught at a school where most of the students were 11-15 years old. She was impressed with her training which gave her the ability to learn to be a good teacher under challenging circumstance. In her second year Elaine organized a theatre production which was well attended. She said that classroom discipline was the biggest challenge she faced. Elaine lived in a mud house without running water and electricity. One of her students brought water to her house. She married another Volunteer and they lived overseas for many years.

Interview Keyword

Peace Corps (U.S.) Cameroon 1976-1978 Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Education Peace Corps (U.S.)—1970-1980 French Mud house Theatre production

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