Interview with Philip Coyne, Jr., February 17, 2023
Project: Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project
Interview Summary
Philip Coyne served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Central African Republic from 1976-78. He discusses fisheries training in Auburn University and further technical, cultural and language training in M’Baiki. He talks about living arrangements in Berbérati, helping local farmers start and improve the productivity of their fishponds, assisting in the local hospital’s parasitology lab, coaching a local basketball team, and training new fisheries PCVs. He discusses breaking his collarbone in a motorcycle accident and being sent to Frankfurt for consultation. He also talks about CAR President Bokassa taking over after a coup d’etat in 1966, declaring an Empire in 1976, his extravagant coronation and subsequent removal. He talks about travel during and after Peace Corps service, return to graduate school and his subsequent career as a doctor and commissioned officer in the Public Health Service. He concludes talking about the endurance of Peace Corps friendships.Interview Accession
Interviewee Name
Interviewer Name
Interview Date
Interview Keyword
Peace Corps (US) Central African Republic (Country of Service) Fisheries (Peace Corps program) 1976-78 (years of service) Diversity in Peace Corps fisheries program Peace Corps (U.S.)—training Peace Corps (U.S.) -medical treatment Jean-Bédel Bokassa, CAR president and emperor (historical context) Central African Empire (historical context) French Equatorial Africa (French colony prior to CAR independence) Bodo (town in which language and cultural training took place)Berbérati ( town where he served) Sango (lingua franca of CAR) diamond mining Eaux et Forets (ministry for which he worked)Interview Rights
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Coyne, Philip, Jr. Interview by Evelyn Ganzglass. 17 Feb. 2023. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Coyne, P., Jr. (2023, February 17). Interview by E. Ganzglass. Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.
Coyne, Philip, Jr., interview by Evelyn Ganzglass. February 17, 2023, Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
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