Interview with Maggie Thielen, April 11, 2021

Interview Summary

Maggie Thielen served as an 4-H Agricultural Extension Agent for the northeast region of Thailand from 1977-1979. Her pre-service training entailed an immersion in the Thai language, cross cultural awareness, and a home stay. In Khon Kaen, the regional center, she worked with 4-H club members on nutritional and personal hygiene projects, and a field-to-market vegetable project. In a remote village, she designed projects that were designed to incorporate trainings from local Thai Extension officers introducing club members to previously unknown resources. The idea was that the club members could call on these local resources once Thielen left. These projects included building bamboo furniture such as tables and stools and cutting and then sewing shirts. In a rural village, she was instrumental in building rain collection tanks. As a result of her service Thielen says that she gained respect for other ways of doing things that, in the end, were better solutions than her own. She also realized that she learned more than she contributed. Her home is replete with Thai items; she talks about her service readily with others as her friends know that her Peace Corps experiences were pivotal in her life.

Interview Keyword

4-H agricultural extension agent Thailand Khon Kaen nutrition personal hygiene local resources shirts rain collection tanks repect Thai items pivotal experiences bamboo furniture Thailand (Country of service) 1977-1979 (Years of service)

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