Interview with David Bond, November 9, 2022

Interview Summary

David Bond served as a married Peace Corps Volunteer in an education program in Papua New Guinea form 1992-4. He talks about quitting his technical job in his 30’s to join the Peace Corps and teach in a marginalized community. He discusses training that helped him rapidly participate in the local culture, but that didn’t adequately prepare him for teaching in a strict boarding school with young people who fought or been affected by warfare in the region. He talks about initial feelings of isolation in Nissan; befriending people in the community and the support they provided, even as he remained a curiosity; and lack of Peace Corps support. He says that despite the very different cultures and experiences, people have more in common than differences. He concludes discussing the impacts of climate change and population growth on the region and the profound impact Peace Service had on his life, including his teaching career in the Ozarks.

Interview Keyword

Peace Corps (US) Papua New Guinea (PNG)(Country of Service) education (Peace Corps program) 1992-94 (years of service) Peace Corps training Grokow, town in the mountains where Peace Corps training was conducted Nissan Island (island where he lived) . Central Gosha University in South Dakota (where he studied and became intrigued about how to educate children in marginalized communities without imposing an external culture) secessionist revolt on the island of Bougainville (historical context) cargo culture (historical context) Port Moresby (capital of PNG) volcanic eruptions in Rabaul (historical contact).

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