Interview with Stephanie Engelsen, July 28, 2021
Project: Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project
Interview Summary
Stephanie Engelsen served in Cameroon, 1994-1996, in Education. Her recruiter told her “you have no skills”, so she became TESL-certified (Teaching English as a Second Language) before acceptance. Stephanie spent three months training in N’Gaoundéré where she lived with a host family. Volunteers learned French but because Stephanie already had that skill she studied the local language Fulfuldé. Posted in the isolated community of Poli with once-a-week mail delivery and no phone service, she taught English, including an AIDS syllabus, to high school students. As secondary projects, Stephanie organized an all-female Muslim and Christian soccer team and a girl’s corn-growing project. Her biggest disappointment was having to leave her site two months early after filing a complaint against her school’s principal for corruption. Stephanie credits Peace Corps with giving her lifelong Cameroonian and volunteer friendships, and the skills of resiliency, empathy, patience and adaptability.Interview Accession
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Engelsen, Stephanie Interview by Joyce L. Jenkins. 28 Jul. 2021. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Engelsen, S. (2021, July 28). Interview by J. L. Jenkins. Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.
Engelsen, Stephanie, interview by Joyce L. Jenkins. July 28, 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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