Interview with Bob Riley, December 29, 2022

Project: Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project

Interview Summary

Bob Riley served as a volunteer in Gabon from 1979-1983. He was in the Rural Primary School Construction Program. He joined Peace Corps after graduating college during a recession. The Program needed volunteers so there was a special recruitment of volunteers to this program which was popular throughout Gabon. Bob was the only trainee to serve. In addition to schools, they built housing for teachers. In addition to language and technical training he learned to repair LandCruisers. Due to the remote sites, volunteers were given vehicles which they had to maintain. Bob describes using a winch with a rope around a tree to pull out the vehicle when it got stuck on bad roads. Bob said that he had to check every day for snakes, and scorpions would get in the bricks. Bob ate bushmeat and unusual fruits at his site. He noted that Gabonese traditional art influenced Picasso’s cubism.

Interview Accession

2023oh0093_pcrv0703

Interviewee Name

Bob Riley

Interviewer Name

Wendy Schumacher

Interview Date

2022-12-29

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Riley, Bob Interview by Wendy Schumacher. 29 Dec. 2022. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.

Riley, B. (2022, December 29). Interview by W. Schumacher. Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.

Riley, Bob, interview by Wendy Schumacher. December 29, 2022, 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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