Interview with Kate Lorig, April 23, 2021

Partial Transcript: Hi, my name is Joyce Jenkins.

Segment Synopsis: Lorig came from a family interested in foreign affairs. From the day Peace Corps was announced, she was interested in joining. She was a part of the "Kennedy Kiddy Corps."

Keywords: Family; International affairs; John F. Kennedy

Subjects: Families.; Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963; Lifestyles; Peace Corps (U.S.); Voluntarism; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: So, um, tell me about your application process.

Segment Synopsis: For Lorig, the application process involved a lengthy paper application followed by a long wait. FBI agents interviewed family members and friends. When she received her acceptance letter, she found Chile on a map to learn where it is geographically. Before leaving, she had a physical exam, and then spent eight weeks at Michigan State University in Lansing, Michigan for pre-service training, and another several weeks in rural Mexico before flying out of Miami for Santiago, Chile.

At Michigan State, Lorig was in a group of 10 nurses that was combined with a group of community development volunteers. That turned out to be pivotal for Lorig, as the University had one of the best community development programs for rural agriculture in the nation. She says that she received "superb" training in rural development there. The Spanish language program was "fair" in her estimation. Shortly prior to leaving, Lorig graduated from nursing school.

Lorig applied in December and she landed in Chile in November, nearly a year later. Lorig's time in Mexico was to acclimate to the culture, as well as a de-selection process of volunteers. Several people in her group left training. Working in the remote Mexican villages was the last part of the selection process.

Keywords: Application process; Communists; Deselection process; FBI agents; Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Invitations; Latin America; Michigan State University; Nursing schools; Physical examinations; Pre-service training; Remote villages; Rural Mexico; Rural agriculture community development; Spanish (Language); Spanish language training; Training in rural community development

Subjects: Acculturation; Chile; Culture; Language and languages; Mexico; Nurses; Peace Corps (U.S.); Peace Corps (U.S.)--1960-1970; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Chile; Rural conditions; Voluntarism; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: Um, so, um, you arrived in the capital city?

Segment Synopsis: The group was trained in Santiago by the chief nurse of the national health agency who spoke English well. Nurses in Chile are highly trained and most in Lorig's group did not have a university degree. Each person was assigned to a regional capital city; hers was Valdivia where an earthquake had decimated the city and where there was a new school of nursing.

Keywords: Chief nurse of national health agency; Santiago (Chile); Valdivia (Chile); new school of nursing; regional capital city

Subjects: Acculturation; Chile; Culture; Language and languages; Nurses; Peace Corps (U.S.); Peace Corps (U.S.)--1960-1970; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Chile; Rural conditions; Voluntarism; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: What happened when you first, uh, got to Valdivia?

Segment Synopsis: When Lorig's cohort first arrived in Valdivia, they were broken into 2 groups: those who went to the hospital, and those who went to public health. There was a new public health facility where Lorig worked in maternal health, family planning, and vaccination within a well-established system in which job responsibilities were delineated by the government. She worked for the National Health Service of Chile.

A typical day involved spending half of the day in the clinic seeing mothers with kids under five years old, which was very routine. The afternoons were spent visiting people in their homes, especially malnourished kids or those needing vaccinations. Later, she established mothers' clubs and teens' clubs, first-aid courses, and summer daycare camps for kids. The clinic had a jeep that she used monthly to visit remote villages to vaccinate people. The jeep was often met by someone with an ox cart to take her into the community. Later, they would bring the priest along, which combined the health efforts with marriages, baptisms, and burials.

Keywords: Baptisms; Burials; Family planning; First aid courses; Malnourished children; Marriages; Maternal health; Mothers and children; National Health Service; Ox carts; Priests; Summer day camps; Vaccinations; Valdivia (Chile)

Subjects: Chile; Culture; Lifestyles; Manners and customs; Nurses; Peace Corps (U.S.); Peace Corps (U.S.)--1960-1970; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Chile; Public health; Rural conditions; Voluntarism; Volunteer workers in community health services; Volunteer workers in medical care; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: So, uh, where did you live?

Segment Synopsis: Lorig lived in a German-speaking area and lived in a house at the clinic doing her own cooking on a wood stove. Lorig lived there for 2 1/2 years to see students do their last rotation at the clinic where Lorig supervised them. Lorig says children kiss people a lot and she had a chronic staph infection while there. During the summer, she did large vaccination projects for measles and smallpox.

Keywords: Extended service; German-speaking areas; Living arrangements; Staph infections; Supervising students; Vaccination projects

Subjects: Acculturation; Chile; Culture; Language and languages; Lifestyles; Manners and customs; Nurses; Peace Corps (U.S.); Peace Corps (U.S.)--1960-1970; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Chile; Public health; Rural conditions; Voluntarism; Volunteer workers in community health services; Volunteer workers in medical care; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: So what did you do on weekends?

Segment Synopsis: During the weekends, Lorig interacted with local people and other Volunteers. She also was close with a local family with parents who immigrated to Chile, with whom she is still in contact.

Keywords: Families; Local family; Recreation; Relationships within the community; Weekends

Subjects: Acculturation; Chile; Culture; Intercultural communication; Interpersonal relations; Language and languages; Lifestyles; Manners and customs; Nurses; Peace Corps (U.S.); Peace Corps (U.S.)--1960-1970; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Chile; Rural conditions; Voluntarism; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: If you want another story, um, Chile had lots of peanuts and no peanut butter.

Segment Synopsis: Chile had peanuts but no peanut butter, so Lorig and several other volunteers asked a local candy maker if he would make peanut butter. They wrote to Skippy and the CEO offered to work with the candy maker to make it. It sold well.

Keywords: Candy makers; Peanut butter; Peanuts; Skippy Peanut Butter

Subjects: Chile; Culture; Food habits; Lifestyles; Peace Corps (U.S.); Peace Corps (U.S.)--1960-1970; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Chile; Rural conditions; Voluntarism; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: Did you get to travel when, uh--

Segment Synopsis: While in Chile, Lorig traveled extensively, hitchhiking, in particular, all around the country. She also went to Brazil, Argentina, Peru, and Bolivia. Volunteers were not allowed to go back to the U.S. Travel was expensive. Making phone calls was arduous and involved reserving a trunk line to the U.S. days ahead of the call. Because she was a nurse, ill volunteers came to her clinic. One had mental health issues and was given a sample medication prescribed by a doctor. In the end, a Navy plane med-evaced him.

Keywords: Argentina; Bolivia; Brazil; Communication; Hitchhiking; Med-evac (Medical evacuation); Med-evaced volunteers; Medically-evacuated volunteers; Mental health; Peru; Public health; Telephone calls

Subjects: Chile; Culture; Language and languages; Lifestyles; Nurses; Peace Corps (U.S.); Peace Corps (U.S.)--1960-1970; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Chile; Rural conditions; Voluntarism; Volunteer workers in community health services; Volunteer workers in medical care; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: Did your Spanish get a lot better?

Segment Synopsis: Lorig's proficiency in speaking Spanish improved. Living with another Volunteer interfered with gaining fluency. At the German school, she taught English. The Germans arrived in Chile to export lumber, and others arrived after World War II as Jewish refugees. That war was never discussed while she was there. In fact, her host family told her to "leave that alone," as they had to survive there.

Keywords: German schools; Lumber; Refugees; Spanish (Language); WWII; World War II

Subjects: Chile; Culture; Intercultural communication; Interpersonal communication and culture; Interpersonal relations; Interpersonal relations and culture; Language and culture; Language and languages; Lifestyles; Manners and customs; Peace Corps (U.S.); Peace Corps (U.S.)--1960-1970; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Chile; Voluntarism; Volunteers; World War, 1939-1945

Partial Transcript: Well, as you look back, um, other than the peanut butter or including the peanut butter, um, what did you view as, well first of all, your, um, greatest accomplishments and then, secondly, your greatest challenges?

Segment Synopsis: For Lorig, her major accomplishment was graduating the first class of nurses who then took her job, which was the purpose of Peace Corps. Many had accomplished careers in the National Health System. She helped Peace Corps make some of the rules for Volunteers, such as prohibiting taking flying lessons. If patients needed special treatments, she took them to Santiago, but, otherwise, Lorig was in her community. For Lorig, she didn't always understand what was going on around her due to her lack of proficiency in Spanish and lack of knowledge of the politics of the area. She feels that she wasn't really as prepared or knowledgeable as her counterparts, which put her at a disadvantage. She also was paid less than the Chilean nurses who then thought she was inferior to them.

Keywords: Accomplishments; Challenges; Lack of fluency in Spanish; Language fluency; Salary; Spanish (Language); Wages

Subjects: Acculturation; Chile; Culture; Intercultural communication; Interpersonal communication and culture; Interpersonal relations; Interpersonal relations and culture; Language and culture; Language and languages; Lifestyles; Manners and customs; Nurses; Peace Corps (U.S.); Peace Corps (U.S.)--1960-1970; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Chile; Rural conditions; Voluntarism; Volunteer workers in community health services; Volunteer workers in medical care; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: So, how--so any other, any other, uh, stories or comments you want to make about your experience in Chile?

Segment Synopsis: In Peru, Lorig went specifically to serve in a crisis situation. The group of 10 had one day of training. They were to be sworn in by President Nixon but they objected and so were sworn in by the Deputy Director of the Peace Corps instead. From Lima, officials said to the group, "Go north and do some good." They went to Chimbote, Peru where a Navy hospital ship took the most seriously injured patients. Helicopters took them into the mountain communities hardest hit by the earthquake, where they spent about 10 days. The Marines dropped them food. After walking 8 hours down the mountain, the group met a Salvation Army group with which they then worked. The mayor wrote to Nixon thanking him for sending the group to his community. She worked in public health for a while, and then with a midwife association in London, followed by Native American health centers in the U.S. She earned a doctoral degree in public health and has worked at Stanford University. Peace Corps was important throughout her career.

Keywords: Chimbote (Peru); Crisis; Crisis relief work in Peru; Deputy Director of Peace Corps; Peace Corps' effect on her career as a whole; President Richard Nixon; Public health; Stanford University

Subjects: Chile; Nurses; Peace Corps (U.S.); Peace Corps (U.S.)--1960-1970; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Chile; Rural conditions; Voluntarism; Volunteer workers in community health services; Volunteer workers in medical care; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: Well, do you have advice for people today that want to join the Peace Corps?

Segment Synopsis: Lorig says that the world is so different than it was when she went to Chile. Now, Peace Corps has structure that was not yet in place when Lorig joined. Lorig states that this was "the opportunity of a lifetime" to learn language skills, to serve well, and to have adventure. Lorig didn't understand that she joined a club, much like the army, due to this shared experience. She has friendships with volunteers to this day. For Lorig, Peace Corps was a "seminal" experience, one that she encourages others to experience. In her opinion, the U.S. would be less polarized if more people had similar experiences. Because we don't know one another well, we have problems in the world. Getting out of our comfort zones allows us to know others. During her service, Lorig lived with a Japanese-American Volunteer who she never would have met otherwise, which was one of the most important aspects of Peace Corps for Lorig.

Keywords: "Opportunity of a lifetime"; Clubs; Cultural exchange; Friendships; Japanese-American Volunteers; Perspectives; Reasons to join the Peace Corps; Seminal experiences

Subjects: Chile; Culture; Interpersonal relations; Language and languages; Lifestyles; Peace Corps (U.S.); Peace Corps (U.S.)--1960-1970; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Chile; Voluntarism; Volunteers