Interview with Loren Grobsmith Kajitani, August 28, 2020

Interview Summary

Loren Grobsmith Kajitani served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Somalia from June 1964 to April 1967. For two years, she taught English in the mornings at a boys' school and in the afternoons at a girls' school. In the third year, she taught at NTEC, a new school for nomadic children in Afgoi. She is critical of Peace Corps language training, the red-light district in which she was housed, and her placement in the boys school where she felt marginalized. She is especially critical of the Peace Corps country director in the third year, accusing him of caring more about himself and politics than volunteers. She also discusses the lack of support she got in readjusting to the U.S. She offers her perspective on post-colonial Mogadishu, the capital where she lived, and Somali attitudes towards women, “Bantus,” and animals. She says that she lost her innocence in Somalia and she still has negative feelings about the experience.

Interview Keyword

Somalia (Country of service) Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Education 1964-1967 (Date of service) Post-colonial and regional conflict historical context Cross-cultural experiences Peace Corps administration Peace Corps (U.S.)--Management Peace Corps (U.S.)--1960-1970

Interview LC Subject

Peace Corps (U.S.) Peace Corps (U.S.)--Somalia Somalia Jewish women English language--Study and teaching--Foreign speakers Jewish teachers Women teachers 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

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