Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2016-044
John Ferrick served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Lesotho from 1981 to 1984. His training began with an intensive one-week selection process in Cappahosic, Virginia, and continued for two months in Roma, Lesotho. Ferrick taught mainly math and science in a secondary school located in a remote mountain area. Teaching and learning were difficult because the school lacked desks, science lab equipment, and books. In addition to teaching, he helped build a library and raised money for educational equipment and materials. The interview includes a discussion of the volunteers’ encounters with apartheid in South Africa. After finishing his two years of service, Ferrick joined the Peace Corps staff as a recruiter and trainer (1985-1987), then as Associate Peace Corps Country Director in Papua New Guinea (1989-1990), and finally as Associate and Acting Peace Corps Country Director in Fiji (1990-1992). Interviewed and recorded by Phyllis Noble, June 28, 2016. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).