Interview with Cathryn Poff, April 6, 2023

Interview Summary

Cathryn Poff served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Niger from 1990-93. She discusses living as a foreign woman in a traditional Moslem Fulani village with strict division of male and female roles and adapting to life in a hot desert environment She talks about failures of some of her community farming and women’s literacy efforts and her success in helping the community build cement-lined wells while working as part of an African Food Systems Initiative interdisciplinary team. She discusses returning to the village 7-8 years after completing her service. She reflects on the privilege of getting to know and help people who live so differently from what she knew as an American and the benefit of Peace Corps’ flexibility in addressing real community needs rather than those envisioned by the development agency. She also discusses a culturally insensitive visit to her village by then Peace Corps Director, Elaine Chao.

Interview Keyword

Peace Corps (US) Niger (Country of Service) community forestry (Peace Corps program) 1990-93 (years of service) African Food Systems Initiative (AFSI) (USAID funded program) Fulani (ethnic group) senior volunteers Elaine Chao Peace Corps in Niger (historical context) Dandiré and Diomoga (villages in which she served).

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