Interview with Randy Comfort, August 25, 2022

Interview Summary

Randy Comfort served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Brazil from 1966-68 in a Community Development program. She joined as a newly wed with her husband. She praises training, especially language instruction, they received at the Experiment in International Living in Vermont and tells stories about the field experience component in New Jersey. She also discusses work mostly with children and maternal health, and living in the poor rural community of Brazlandia near Brasilia during the first year and in the urban Salvador Bahia community in the northeast of Brazil. She says community development was poorly defined in the 1960’s and volunteers lacked the technical skills to do much of the work needed so she thinks volunteers benefited more than host country nationals. She says Peace Corps didn’t change her life, but it greatly impacted it. She also talks about staying in touch with some of her training cohort.

Interview Keyword

Peace Corps (US) Brazil (Country of Service) Community Development (Peace Corps program) married volunteer Vietnam War (historical context) Experiment in International Living. 1966-68 (years of service)

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Interview Usage

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