Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Wendy Syer can be contacted at syerautkdedu
Country of Service: Malaysia
Training Group: Can't remember (1972)
Cities you served in: Serdang
Arrival Year: 1972
Departure Year: 1974 as PCV
Work Description: Math/Physics/English Teacher in Agriculture Institute)
Other Countries you served in, Training Group Name Arrival Year, Departure Year, Work
Description:
Started as PCV in Uganda in 1972 (Math teacher); transferred to
Malaysia after we were all evacuated from Uganda; after service in
Malaysia, I worked as a trainer in two training programs in 1974-75
Bring us up to date on your life after the peace corps:
Returned to the US seeking employment as Peace Corps staffer in
Washington. With a federal government hiring freeze, I ended up,
instead, working for a private organization, the Institute of International
Education. Since then, I have stayed in the field of international
education, first getting a Masters Degree in Intercultural Communication
from the University of Minnesota. Since 1985, I have worked as an
advisor for international students and scholars at The University of
Tennessee in Knoxville. Along the way, I also acquired a husband (an
RPCV from Ghana)and a son (now 15).
Any thoughts you have now looking back on peace corps days?:
A life-changing experience. Impossible to answer in less than 1000
pages, so, I won't try. But we need to ensure that more Americans can
have such an experience, that they refuse to be used as political tools,
and that we remember the third goal of Peace Corps and share our
changed World View with others.
Anyone you are looking for or would like to hear from?:
I would really like to hear from others who were evacuated from Uganda.
We became so close in times of great stress and were then spread
across the globe with little or no time to say good-bye. Where are you all
now? Also seek anyone in Malaysia from 1972-75 or anyone at all who
worked for the Institiut-institiut Pertanian.
Originally posted: February 4, 2002
