Interview with Steve Graham, December 10, 2021

Interview Summary

Steve Graham served as a Peace Corps Volunteer from 1974-1976 in Saba, East Malaysia, specializing working in the education field. Steve attended the University of California, Berkeley, during the time of the Viet Nam War. He was a Physical Science major and explored the Peace Corps on his own as he wanted to emphasize the word “Peace” in working for his country. He wasn’t thinking about being assigned to an Asian country, but he readily accepted his placement, and his group of volunteers met for a week of training at San Jose State College in California soon after his graduation. He stayed in a campus dormitory and learned that most of his group was to be replacing earlier volunteers. He was not pleased with much of the training as he felt that he was “being watched,” or overly scrutinized, in his daily activities. His group was one of a planefull of volunteers headed for Malaysia, and they landed in Kuala Lumpur with other secondary educators, and stayed in a hotel where he trained with other volunteers and administrators. He then took a plane to Kota, near Kinabalu Mountain, and then was transported to the town of Api-Api (also known as Jesselton) where more training occurred. Three Americans handled the training, and there were three language trainers (Cikgu) also. The language training focused on Bahasa Malaysia spoken in the region, and his training was based on the HILT (High Intensity Language Training) process. There were 14 volunteers in his group but only 12 were able to finish training. Steve had three months of further training in the town of Tuaran where he lived in a building designed to house indigenous members in a campus institution for the blind. He enjoyed the food, especially the rice varieties. Steve and one other volunteer began teaching in a government-sponsored secondary school (Arshad) in Kota Belud where the teaching was mainly in English but later moved to a Malay medium. The other volunteer was teaching mainly in Malay. They both lived in teacher housing in a new house with jalousie windows, two bedrooms, a dining area, and a kitchen. They had a supply of water and electricity. The house was elevated because of possible flooding, and they cooked and cleaned for themselves. In his teaching position, Steve was told that mostly all instruction was geared to students passing the Form 5 Exam, and his task was to teach math and science to this end. He taught six classes with one prep time period each day. He found his students to be extremely receptive to his instruction, and they were well disciplined; they even washed the boards and cleaned the classrooms each morning before classes started. He felt that the science room where he taught was well set up, although some equipment was outdated and not working to his liking. Steve was able to have some science equipment sent to his school. His students and colleagues were of mixed ethnicities, yet racial relations were not a problem. With his down time or vacation periods, Steve sailed and worked on a Hornet-class sailboat in the local harbor area, and he also traveled to Indonesia and while there visited Bali. At the end of his tour of duty, Steve underwent a debriefing in Kuala Lumpur and met with and talked with new incoming Peace Corps Volunteers in that area. His only regret was that he wished he had spent more time with the students, especially during his down time. After returning to America, Steve began graduate school at Ohio University and received a Ph. D. in Physics there. He works now as a Christian Communalist, volunteers at a bicycle shop, and manages a “Seed of Hope” farm in Illinois.

Interview Keyword

Peace Corps (US) Country of Service: Saba, East Malaysia Dates of Service: 1974-1976 Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Education Peace Corps (US): 1970-1980 Viet Nam War Language: Bahasa Malaysia Language Training: Kuala Lumpur, Api-Api Cultural Training: Kota, Tuaran, Kota Belud

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