Interview with Alan Adams, April 9, 2021

Interview Summary

Alan Adams served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador from 1967 through 1969 with the agrarian reform, focusing on farming cooperatives. This involved his traveling to nearby villages to work with community leaders to purchase and administer the land. He learned about the Peace Corps while at the University of Oregon where he majored in Spanish and anthropology while volunteering as a literacy teacher and organized the migrant labor project while being active in the anti-war movement and civil rights. His training was conducted in Boseman, Montana and in his host country in the town of Cañar, high in the mountains. Adams rented space in a home with occasional other Peace Corps volunteers and traveled to neighboring villages by horseback, then by mule, and then on foot to work for agrarian reform. He helped hacienda workers transition to members of cooperatives. He helped farmers find technical assistance from the Department of Agriculture of Ecuador, along with better types of fertilizers, and he helped plant eucalyptus trees, but they could not hold back the ground from erosion. Although lonely, Adams had many local visitors and spent vacation time on coastal beaches. After returning to the United States, Adams taught school in English as a second language and bilingual education in Chicago and New Jersey and received a master’s degree from Kean College (now Kean University). After retirement, he returned to work with the Ecuadorian community which he worked with while there. He works remotely from New Jersey to continue the work started 50 years ago.

Interview Keyword

Ecuador (Country of service) 1967-1969 (Date of service) Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Agriculture Spanish (Language) Language training Cañar, Ecuador Cultural training Boseman, Montana

Interview LC Subject

Peace Corps (U.S.) Peace Corps (U.S.)--Ecuador Ecuador 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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