Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2018-023
Abby Thomas served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Somalia from 1966 to 1969. Thomas served as an English language instructor in a primary level boarding school in Bulhar on the Gulf of Aden in northern Somalia from 1966 to 1968, and then as an English as a Second Language (ESL) trainer for Somali Peace Corps volunteers in 1969. During the summer, she and three other volunteers visited towns in the South of Somalia as a traveling theater group. In the 1980s, Thomas served as a development consultant in Somalia and in 2018, she was an election observer in Somaliland. Prior to joining the Peace Corps, she had read that where you grow up determines your worldview and she sought an assignment in an isolated location to explore this idea in real life. Although her assignment was difficult, Thomas says that she accomplished what she set out to do. Much of the interview covers Somali language and cultural issues, including how she was treated as a woman, and her continuing connection with personal Somali friends she made. She also discusses the Peace Corps language and teaching training she received at Columbia Teacher's College. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, 4 and 6 June 2018. The final interview segment is an addendum that was completed two days later. 3 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).