Interview with Ian Fetterolf, June 3, 2023

Interview Summary

Ian Fetterolf served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ethiopia from 2015-2017 in the Education program. Ian grew up in the small town of Bogue, North Carolina (NC), in the southeast area of the state. He graduated from the University of North Carolina Pembroke with a major in history. Ian applied for the Peace Corps because he had tutored extensively in college and realized that education is his passion. Peace Corps selected Ian to join and offered him an assignment in Senegal, but the Ebola outbreak made that unsafe. So Ian chose an Education program in Ethiopia. Ian’s service began when he attended three months of in-country training starting in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. Training included the Oromo or Amharic language, depending on the Volunteer’s assignment; history and culture; teaching best practices; and safety. In Month 1, Volunteers were housed in an Addis Ababa hotel. In Months 2 and 3, Ian lived with an Ethiopian host family in a suburb of Addis Ababa. Contrary to Ian’s expectations, this home had modern conveniences like a refrigerator and BBC playing on a TV, and he had a private room. While there, Ian developed a close connection with Yohannes Tamrat, his host family brother. After completing training, Ian was assigned as a classroom teacher to Adaba (spelled Aadaabaa in the traditional Oromo language). Adaba is located in the Bale Region of southcentral Ethiopia. Ian taught grades 9 and 11 English at Adaba High School, a government public school. Adaba is a majority Muslim village (60%-70%), and most people speak the Oromo language, which Ian had learned in training. He recalled that his beard also helped him connect since Muslim men tended to have beards.

Ian’s first year of teaching was interrupted by protests, which unfortunately resulted in the death of a student at his school. Peace Corps removed Ian from Adaba for one week, but escalating protests in Ethiopia led to Peace Corps evacuating all Volunteers back to Addis Ababa. Despite the challenging times, Ian chose to stay in Ethiopia to finish his two years of service. His second teaching assignment was in the town of Mudula, where he was reassigned with his friend Chris Giorlando. Mudula is located in the Kembatta Tembaro region southwest of Addis Ababa. For this assignment, Ian received two months’ training in the Amharic language. Ian taught 11th grade English in Mudula's government high school.

At close of service, Ian traveled in Europe and then returned to his father’s home in North Carolina. He worked as a server in his father’s restaurant while job hunting, and he found help from attending Peace Corps-sponsored resume workshops for returning Volunteers. The Raleigh, North Carolina Parks and Recreation Department hired him as a tutor for people with disabilities, a new and meaningful teaching audience for him. He also tutored people to get their high school GED (General Education Development) diploma. Ian is currently expanding his skills working as a Contract Manager for the non-profit North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants (NCAPCA). Peace Corps is still an important part of Ian’s life. He remains in contact with his Peace Corps friend Chris Giorlando. They are planning to return to Ethiopia together. Ian also stays in touch with Yohannes Tamrat, his host family brother, and he hopes to reconnect with Yohannes when he visits Ethiopia. Ian has discovered a cousin who is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer(RPCV) from Indonesia, and he has met other RPCVs in his church in Raleigh, NC. Note: In this interview, Ian also describes challenges of being a Volunteer in Ethiopia during turbulent times. He highlights his appreciation for the Peace Corps’ mid-year Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training for all Volunteers because it raised his awareness of DEI issues facing women, people of color, and LGBTQ individuals. He also describes maturing in the Peace Corps and recognizes how his Peace Corps experience allowed him to focus on his own core values: to be caring and respectful to everyone.

Interview Keyword

Peace Corps (U.S.) Ethiopia (Country of service) 2015-2017 (Date of service) Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Education Program North Carolina, USA (State where volunteer grew up) Bogue, North Carolina USA (small town where Volunteer grew up) University of North Carolina at Pembroke, Pembroke, North Carolina USA (Volunteer’s university) Bachelor’s degree in history (Volunteer’s college degree) Senegal (Country in Africa) Ebola (highly contagious disease) Addis Ababa (capital of Ethiopia) Oromo (Ethiopian language) Amharic (Ethiopian language) host family Yohannes Tamrat (Volunteer’s host family brother) Adaba or Adaabaa with Oromo traditional spelling (Volunteer’s first year school assignment) Bale Region (Volunteer’s region in southcentral Ethiopia) protests Peace Corps Volunteer evacuation back to Addis Ababa Mudula (Volunteer’s second year school assignment) the Kembatta Tembaro region southwest of Addis Ababa close of service (end of Peace Corps service) Raleigh, North Carolina USA Raleigh, North Carolina USA Parks and Recreation Department people with disabilities high school GED (General Education Development) diploma North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants (NCAPCA) Chris Giorlando (Volunteer’s PC friend and colleague in Mudula, Ethiopia Peace Corps-sponsored resume workshops Returned Peace Corps Volunteer(RPCV) RPCV cousin from Indonesia Peace Corps’ mid-year Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training for all Volunteers in Ethiopia LGBTQ personal core values

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