Interview with Phil Lange, May 3, 2021
Project: Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project
Interview Summary
Phil relates the many aspects of his life that led him to apply to the Peace Corps and accept the invitation to do Community Development in Brazil 1965-1967. He recalls the excellent training he received at Marquette University, especially in the Portuguese language. He describes his first-year service in Condado, and his second-year service in Baia da Traição, both in the State of Paraìbo. He tells of the challenges he faced in Condado, including the threat of violence, suspicion of Americans, heat and drought, local politics, and one of his Brazilian colleagues being murdered. He describes the very different environment and culture he enjoyed in Baia da Traição working with fishermen’s cooperatives. He reflects on the positive impact his Peace Corps experience had on his career, which included doing community development with the Inuit in Canada; and on his life, which included enjoying Brazilian literature and many Brazilian friends.Interview Accession
Interviewee Name
Interviewer Name
Interview Date
Interview Keyword
Peace Corps (U.S) Brazil (Country of service) 1965-1967 (Date of service) Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Community Economic Development Brazil Alliance for Progress (international aid organization) Baia da Traição (town on Brazil NE coast) Catholic Action (international aid organization) Claude Levi-Strauss (anthropologist) Colonia (a fishermen’s organization) Condado (town in Brazil) Cuba Cururu (a large toad) Jangada (a sailing raft) João Pessoa (Paraìba State capital) Language training Marquette University Paraìba (a State in Brazil) Portuguese (Language) Republic (a Portuguese term for student housing) Sertão (a region in Brazil) USAID Federal University of Pernambuco in Recife.Interview Rights
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Lange, Phil Interview by Carl K. Cheney. 03 May. 2021. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Lange, P. (2021, May 03). Interview by C. K. Cheney. Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.
Lange, Phil, interview by Carl K. Cheney. May 03, 2021, Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
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