Interview with Steve Honore, July 9, 2021

Interview Summary

Steve Honore, near the end of his service as a Volunteer in Colombia, was invited by telegram to accept an Associate Peace Corps Director (APCD) position in the Dominican Republic. As an APCD he provided support for Volunteers in the Eastern Region of the country. Later APCDs were assigned to oversee projects, rather than geographic areas. Some of the projects he found positions and sites for included: rice experimentation station, university Madre y Maestra, fishing, and appropriate technology. Steve, who is African American, noted only one case of a Volunteer of color early terminating (ET) citing racial discrimination as one of the factors causing him to leave. Steve noted the difference between his APCD role and subsequent Country Director (CD) role is that the former gave him direct contact with Volunteers and project partners. Although the CD was responsible for and directly involved in program strategy and development, relationships with host country government agencies and private partners, and made occasional field trips to visit Volunteers, the CD’s time and attention was more often than not focused on personnel, administration, finances, etc. In addition, Country Directors, at the time, were political appointees who could be replace with a change in administrations. Steve was Regional Associate Peace Corps Director (APCD) from 1963 to 1966 and Country Director (CD) from 1978 to 1981.

Interview Keyword

Dominican Republic (Country of service) Regional Associate Peace Corps Director (APCD) 1963-1966 (Years of service) Country Director (CD) 1978-1981 (Years of service) Staff invitation Associate Peace Corps Director (APCD) Dominican Republic Volunteer support projects rice experimentation station university fishing appropriate technology discrimination sexual harassment revolution D.R. Red Cross Country Director post administration political appointment flexibility local language young people

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