Interview with Virginia Anita Williams, October 4, 2021
Project: Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project
Interview Summary
A grueling Miami Vice internship in the producer’s office led Virginia to pursue her childhood dream of Peace Corps service. Originally considered for a stint growing Tilapia in Central Africa, she waited a year and accepted teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in Morocco. Staging was briefly in Philadelphia; a flight from Paris to a dirt runway at Mohammedia on the coast brought her to 3 months of excellent training in Arabic language and culture. Her post was L’ecole Nationale d’Agriculture in Meknes between Rabat and Fes, and she strove to make learning English fun for her 350 male and female agricultural engineering students. As a USAID-funded second project, she used her university's TV studio to film a national PSA on Hydatid disease, which was causing a huge public health problem. Three months before her completion of service (COS), the Gulf War caused her group’s immediate evacuation to Lyon, France, then back to the United States. After earning an MA in Communications, she combined it with her expertise in filmmaking to focus on international development and global health issues.Interview Accession
Interviewee Name
Interviewer Name
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Interview Keyword
Peace Corps Morocco Morocco1989-1991 Education ESP English for Specific Purposes Agricultural engineering TOEFL Philadelphia Meknes L'ecole Nationale d'Agriculture Rabat Fes Mohammedia Casa (Casablanca) hanut Hydatid Disease Stage Fatima Meskeen Azrou Dr. Massouda Jalal Arabic clothes harrassment USAid grant Hydatit debutants (beginners) Gulf War Lyon, France work-study Peace Corps Communications Office International Rescue Save the Children Family Health International Somalia Ethiopia Film meskeen EcoMorocco DiscoveryInterview Rights
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Williams, Virginia Anita Interview by John Croes. 04 Oct. 2021. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Williams, V.A. (2021, October 04). Interview by J. Croes. Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.
Williams, Virginia Anita, interview by John Croes. October 04, 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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