Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2006-060
Janet Gerardy served as a Peace Corps volunteer in India from 1965 to 1967 on a poultry project. She trained at the University of California, Davis with the India 13 group. She learned Hindi Urdu, but was assigned to work at a gram sevak training center near Nabha in a Punjabi speaking area. Her initial entry into the country was difficult due to heat and illness. Gerardy taught poultry science to the female students and teachers at the training center. She also accompanied veterinarians to rural villages to check on established poultry projects. In the second year, Gerardy moved to the village of Mandour and taught various subjects at the elementary school. She discusses her experiences as a woman in India, as well as the temporary evacuation of all volunteers in the Punjab region to New Delhi due to fighting between India and Pakistan. After the Peace Corps, Gerardy completed an anthropology degree and worked as an ESL teacher. Interviewed and recorded by Joanne Roll, April 7, 2006. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).