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About Oral History
Digital Identifier
RPCV-ACC-2019-007
Interviewee(s)
Mowbray, Robert
Interviewer(s)
Ganzglass, Evelyn
Access Restriction Status
Open
Use Restriction Status
None
Description
Robert Mowbray served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador from 1963 to 1996 in an agriculture and forestry program. He also served as Associate Peace Corps Director for Agriculture and the Environment in Paraguay from 1973 to 1978. Prior to the Peace Corps, Mowbray had been stationed in Okinawa, Japan, in the U.S. Marine Corps and then completed a master's degree in forestry at Yale University. His group was the first to train in Mexico at the UNESCO Patzcuaro facility, but did not receive much technical training. He discusses the "de-selection" of volunteers in his group. In Ecuador, he was located in Ibarra and Otavalo and first worked as part of the Heifer program in conjunction with the Forestry Service, assisting with reforestation, the development of farmer forestry cooperatives, and research. During his second year, Mowbray and other volunteer foresters assisted the Forestry Service in developing a request for more volunteers for the program. In his third year, he moved to Quito and served as liaison between the Peace Corps and the Forestry Service. Following his service term, Mowbray trained new forestry volunteers going to Ecuador at Montana State College. Later, in Paraguay, he worked with the Basico training company to develop more specifically defined jobs and more technical training for volunteers. He also worked on a Peace Corps project with the Smithsonian Institution and expanded the program from 30 to 100 volunteers. He discusses whether volunteers who are expected to "find their own way" or those with clearly defined jobs are more useful to the host country. He concludes the interview by recalling the reactions of volunteers and Ecuadorians to President Kennedy's assassination. After the Peace Corps, Mowbray spent his career in USAID agriculture and forestry projects in South and Central America. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, August 28, 2018. 3 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Date(s) of Materials
28 August 2018
Extent
3 digital files (audio; stereo; 99 minutes)
Deed Status
Deeded
Copyright Status
Public Domain (Donated to the United States Government)
Collection
Series
027. Ecuador.
Preferred Citation
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection. Ecuador. Mowbray, Robert (1963-1966): Oral history interview
Subject(s)
Organization(s)
Use Restriction Note
Consult with archivist to determine copyright holder.
Accession Number
ACC-2019-007
Transcript
Page Last Updated
October 28, 2023 9:18:57 AM EDT