Interview with Charles Hanner, April 5, 2022

Interview Summary

Afghanistan, 1971-1973, Education Paraguay, 1999-2000, Community Economic Development (CED) Charles Hanner was born in Oklahoma on the Choctaw reservation. He was raised in California of an itinerant farmworker family picking cotton and grapes. He attended over 20 high schools. While attending the University of Idaho for a degree in drama and a teaching certificate, he met a Peace Corps recruiter and applied immediately. Coincidentally, his future wife did the same. After attending a PRIST, a pre-service assessment of suitability, and requesting the South Pacific, they were invited to Afghanistan to teach English. Charles was assigned to teach English to employees of the Ministry of Finance based in Kabul who were selected for a USAID funded program to study abroad for advanced degrees. He also integrated a cultural interactive orientation to the United States in his curriculum. It was difficult in a Muslim culture to develop many friends as a couple although they were invited to dinners at students’ homes. Charles also served in Paraguay having a totally different experience.

Interview Keyword

Choctaw reservation Oklahoma California itinerant farmworker family University of Idaho drama teaching certificate sports music dance recruiter adventure application married PRIST Chicago Afghanistan Kabul Pre-Service Training Farsi health sickness Ministry of Finance USAID Ministry employees students Callie Chad housing Bokaree fire place bicycle friends American social group assignment teaching cultural orientation situational model friends Peace Corps staff vacations India Nepal, Afghanistan Bamiyan Valley Buda statues Khyber Pass Red Fort stalking coming home depression changed person Merrill Lynch Peace Corps Paraguay community economic development young Volunteers different Peace Corps chaos cooperative zero sum game crochet products Fair trade Peace Corps accomplishments people connections personal change confidence

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