Interview with Darlene Yule, October 17, 2020

Interview Summary

Darlene Yule served as an agricultural, environmental, and health volunteer in rural Panama from 2006-2008. At the end of her service she was the diversity trainer for incoming volunteers. She shares her history of growing up on a farm and doing volunteer work in a Kenyan non-governmental organization (NGO) working to save zebras. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama, she was placed in a mountainous village that grew coffee for its income and she worked with the farmers to help them grow more productively and sustainably. She traveled with a medical team when it came to the area once a year and describes how she handled her own emergencies when the nearest clinic was 2 hours away. She tells several humorous stories about her time in Panama, including having to drink a lot of coffee while integrating into the village, giving all the volunteers food poisoning, and finding a package in the water that had fallen off a boat from Colombia. She created a fake boyfriend so the village wouldn’t question her sexual orientation, but her girlfriend visited her and they both came back for a visit in 2013 and everything was fine. She maintains contact with members of her community despite the challenge of no electricity there. She discusses what Peace Corps meant to her.

Interview Keyword

Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Environment Panama (Country of service) Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Agriculture Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Diversity Trainer Coffee plantations Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Health Environmental sustainability Medical crises LGBTQ+ Lesbians 2006-2008 (Date of service) Vacations Return home Diversity in the Peace Corps

Interview LC Subject

Peace Corps (U.S.) Peace Corps (U.S.)--Panama Panama Peace Corps (U.S.)--2000-2010 Acculturation Communication and culture Culture Culture shock Intercultural communication Interpersonal communication and culture Interpersonal relations Interpersonal relations and culture Language and culture Language and languages Lifestyles Manners and customs Voluntarism Volunteers Sexual minorities--Identity Sexual minority community Sexual orientation Coming out (Sexual orientation) Lesbian couples. Lesbians Lesbians--Identity. Sexual minorities.

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Interview Usage

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