A Peace Corps Volunteer's Experience in a far corner of
Sierra Leone, West Africa in the 1960's
Just a few months out of college, Philip Fretz was living in a small, remote West African city, a Peace Corps volunteer sent to teach English at the Kenema Technical Institute in Sierra Leone, a former British colony that had been left in poverty and underdevelopment when independence was achieved.
Half a century later, he began to pore through the diaries he had kept, sporadically, during those two years in Kenema. These diary entries plus all the letters Philip had written home to his parents, which had been kept by his dad, formed the basis of this book. It is a reliving of his teaching experiences, tropical illnesses, and adventures across Sierra Leone and other parts of West Africa. He writes about the pain he felt watching his students struggle amid poverty and tribalism, in bare-bones classrooms without books and supplies. The interaction with the local staff, the students who invited him to their homes in towns and villages, and the sheer joy of learning about and living in another culture are described in these pages.
You are welcome to explore the photo gallery inside. It is a tribute to the people of Sierra Leone captured in photos from fifty years ago. There is also a very small photo sample of the volunteers, both in training and in Sierra Leone.
For a list of my other writings, please visit: http://www.philipfretz.com
Half a century later, he began to pore through the diaries he had kept, sporadically, during those two years in Kenema. These diary entries plus all the letters Philip had written home to his parents, which had been kept by his dad, formed the basis of this book. It is a reliving of his teaching experiences, tropical illnesses, and adventures across Sierra Leone and other parts of West Africa. He writes about the pain he felt watching his students struggle amid poverty and tribalism, in bare-bones classrooms without books and supplies. The interaction with the local staff, the students who invited him to their homes in towns and villages, and the sheer joy of learning about and living in another culture are described in these pages.
You are welcome to explore the photo gallery inside. It is a tribute to the people of Sierra Leone captured in photos from fifty years ago. There is also a very small photo sample of the volunteers, both in training and in Sierra Leone.
For a list of my other writings, please visit: http://www.philipfretz.com
