Interview with Lyn Dobrin, November 23, 2020
Project: Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project
Interview Summary
Lyn Dobrin served with her husband Arthur in Kenya from 1965-1967 as a Rural Community Action Volunteer. Her parents were upset when she and Arthur joined the Peace Corps shortly after their marriage and were going to Africa. After 3 months of training in Milwaukee, she was assigned to Kisii, a small town close to Lake Victoria to work with farmers' cooperatives. Her Kenyan boss was surprised to discover they were a married couple and not two men, as he had planned to post them 30 miles apart. Lyn needed to develop her own projects and started a women’s group and taught sewing, agriculture and literacy. She also wrote a book on local folklore, "The Magic Stone," that is still being used in schools in Kenya and Tanzania. She had her first child, Eric, in Nairobi. The family, with daughter Kori, lived in Kenya for 5 months in 1975. Lyn and Arthur have maintained a life-long connection to Kenya, returning often to teach, lead safaris, and visit. Peace Corps contributed to an on-going life of service and a love of travel.Interview Accession
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Interview LC Subject
Peace Corps (U.S.) Peace Corps (U.S.)--Kenya Women--Societies and clubs. Women employees. Mothers. Childbirth. Parenthood. Kenya. Sewing. 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 FamiliesInterview Rights
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Dobrin, Lyn Interview by Candice Wiggum. 23 Nov. 2020. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Dobrin, L. (2020, November 23). Interview by C. Wiggum. Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.
Dobrin, Lyn, interview by Candice Wiggum. November 23, 2020, 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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