Interview with Annabelle Vanderwerf, August 5, 2020
Project: Peace Corps: COVID-19 Evacuated Peace Corps Volunteers Oral History Project
Interview Summary
Annabelle Vanderwerf served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Lesotho from September 2019 to March 2020 when she was evacuated due to COVID-19. Annabelle first learned of Peace Corps in college. She was interested in a career in foreign service, and while interning in Washington, D.C., met several people working internationally that had been involved with Peace Corps. Their experiences inspired her to join. She attended training in a village named Cana, studying Sesotho language. During training she lived with a Basotho host family, with whom she became very close. Her assignment was in Nqechane village, at a small school with 52 students. She taught English to grades 1 through 7. She also taught the students some Spanish for fun, and to broaden their understanding of the world beyond their village. She lived on the village chief’s compound in a host family arrangement. Interview includes discussion of training, work projects, village life, and evacuation due to COVID-19.Interview Accession
Interviewee Name
Interviewer Name
Interview Date
Interview Keyword
Basotho Lesotho (Country of service) Lesotho Sesotho (Language) 2019-2020 (Date of service) Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Education Evacuated Peace Corps Volunteer (EPCV) Peace Corps (U.S.)--2010-2020 Cana, Lesotho Nqechane, Lesotho Host family Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Peace Corps (U.S.)--2020-Evacuation #covid19Interview LC Subject
Peace Corps (U.S.) Peace Corps (U.S.)--Lesotho COVID-19 (Disease) Travel Voluntarism Volunteers Language and languages Culture Language and culture Intercultural communication Interpersonal communication and culture Interpersonal relations and culture Communication and culture Acculturation Volunteer workers in educationInterview Rights
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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.
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Vanderwerf, Annabelle Interview by Julius Sztuk. 05 Aug. 2020. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Vanderwerf, A. (2020, August 05). Interview by J. Sztuk. Peace Corps: COVID-19 Evacuated Peace Corps Volunteers Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.
Vanderwerf, Annabelle, interview by Julius Sztuk. August 05, 2020, Peace Corps: COVID-19 Evacuated Peace Corps Volunteers Oral History Project, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
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