Interview with Renata Thakurdyal, July 22, 2023
Project: Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project
Interview Summary
Renata Thakurdyal served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Madagascar from 2016 through 2019, in the Education Program. Renata is of Indo-Caribbean descent. Her parents immigrated from Guyana. Renata majored in French and Spanish Literature at Hunter College in New York. Her interest in Peace Corps came about through meeting RPCVs. Renata’s Peace Corps training was in Mantasoa, Madagascar. It included Malagasy language, culture, health, and a site visit. Trainees stayed with host families. Renata’s assignment was in Fandriana, a primarily Betsileo community, where she taught English to grade 10. While there she organized a teachers’ group to encourage sharing of ideas between teachers at all schools. She also organized English clubs for junior high and post-secondary students. Renata extended her service to help train incoming volunteers, then worked with a local organization in Fianarantsoa providing sexual health education. Renata married a Malagasy man she met during her service. She returned to the U.S. to complete a master’s program, as a Coverdell Fellow, in public administration at Rutgers University in Camden, NJ. Renata’s Peace Corps experience solidified her commitment to serving others, and gave her a love of teaching.Interview Accession
Interviewee Name
Interviewer Name
Interview Date
Interview Keyword
Peace Corps (U.S.) Madagascar (coountry of service) 2016-2019 (date of service) Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Education diversity in Peace Corps many faces of Peace Corps #manyfacesofpeacecorps Indo-Caribbean American Peace Corps (U.S.)--2010-2020 Hunter College Peace Corps (U.S.) – Training (cultural, language, technical) Mantasoa, Madagascar Malagasy (language) Fandriana (assignment) Betsileo (ethnic group) Fianarantsoa (assignment) sexual health education Coverdale Fellowship Rutgers UniversityInterview Rights
All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.Interview Usage
Interviews may only be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.Restriction
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Thakurdyal, Renata Interview by Julius Sztuk. 22 Jul. 2023. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Thakurdyal, R. (2023, July 22). Interview by J. Sztuk. Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.
Thakurdyal, Renata, interview by Julius Sztuk. July 22, 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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