Interview with Erin Eckert, August 5, 2021

Interview Summary

Erin Eckert was a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English in a Moroccan high school from June 1988 through August 1990, followed by a 3rd year extension as a Volunteer Leader in the Education Sector. At the outset of the first Iraq War in 1991, she was evacuated, returning 6 months later for a 4th year teaching at the National School for Health Administration (INAS). Eckert requested a Peace Corps assignment to North Africa due to her French and Arabic language skills and experience living in that part of the world. Training prepared her well for life in Morocco and her teaching assignment but not for the region’s Berber language. She focused her teaching on encouraging independent thought and self-expression among her students. Her experiences living in rural Morocco stimulated her interest in public health, which led to graduate school and her current career as an epidemiologist specializing in malaria. She values the “resourcefulness, self-motivation, cultural insight, and experience in resource-poor developing countries” that Peace Corps volunteering fosters.

Interview Keyword

Morocco (Country of service) 1988-1992 (Date of service) Education sector Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Education Rabat (Morocco) Schools Marrakesh (Morocco) Marrakech (Morocco) Berber (Language) Arabic (Language) Evacuated Evacuation National School for Health Administration (INAS) First Gulf War Maternal health Teaching English as a foreign language Peace Corps Response Volunteers

Interview LC Subject

Peace Corps (U.S.) Peace Corps (U.S.)--Morocco Morocco Acculturation Communication and culture Culture Culture shock Intercultural communication Interpersonal communication and culture Interpersonal relations Interpersonal relations and culture Language and culture Language and languages Lifestyles Manners and customs Voluntarism Volunteers Teachers Teaching Volunteer workers in education

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Interview Usage

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