Interview with Jane Willard, November 12, 2021

Interview Summary

Jane Willard served in Afghanistan, 1972-1974. She said she joined Peace Corps for an adventure, not to make a difference; indeed, her advice to aspirants is do it, but “without expectations that you’re going to save the world”. Jane was in the Teacher Corps Program, whereby Peace Corps paid for graduate school if the participant fulfilled a one-year teaching commitment stateside, which included language training (in Jane's case, the languages Dari and Pashto) and cultural training, before spending two years abroad. Technical training took place in-country in Kabul. Jane’s permanent site was Lashkar Gah(???). She taught technical English to male engineers and accountants at a desert construction camp, the “desert of death”, with 120 degree temperatures. A dampened bale of hay served as an evaporative cooler. In 1973 Jane lived through a coup in Afghanistan. She traveled widely during and after her service. She now is head of Minnesota RPCVs.

Interview Keyword

Peace Corps (U.S.) Afghanistan (Country of service) 1972-1974 (Date of service) Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Education Afghanistan India Pakistan Sri Lanka Peace Corps (U.S.)--1970-1980Peace Corps (U.S.)—Management Peace Corps staff Regional conflict English (Language) Dari (Language) Pashto (Language) Language training Peace Corps-related medical issues Teacher Corps

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