Interview with Carole Sojka, September 10, 2020

Interview Summary

Carole Sojka, together with her husband Boris served in the first group of Peace Corps volunteers in Somalia from 1962-64. She discusses joining the Peace Corps as Kennedy kid and a desire to live in Africa. She talks about the inept training the group received at New York University, the drunkenness of fellow volunteers on the flight to Somalia, and mismanagement by and the dismissal of the Peace Corps country director, director in the north and doctor. She says that nevertheless she had a wonderful experience during the first year living and teaching in Merca. She and Boris were relocated to Mogadishu in the second year because of disfunction in the intermediate school in which she was teaching when the headmaster left for further education in Italy. She says she learned a lot about herself, bonded closely with other volunteers, and hopes that their experience paved the way for subsequent groups.

Interview Keyword

Peace Corps (U.S.)--1960-1970 Somalia (Country of service) Merca, Somalia Mogadishu, Somalia Burt DeLotto Sal Tadesco Khalif Intermediate school headmasters Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Education 1962-1964 (Date of service) Very early Peace Corps experience Post-colonial and regional conflict historical context

Interview LC Subject

Peace Corps (U.S.) Peace Corps (U.S.)--Somalia Merca (Somalia) Mogadishu (Somalia)

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Interview Usage

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