Ernie Zaremba is on a mission to tell the stories of every National Peace Corps Association member who has ever served.
Zaremba is traveling the country to talk to former volunteers and record conversations about their careers in the Peace Corps. He then posts the recordings on YouTube.
So far, he has recorded more than 900 interviews with former Peace Corps volunteers.
Zaremba asks the questions, while Helene Biegel records the conversations. The two were in Cortez recently to find Montezuma County residents that volunteered.
Zaremba said he wanted to tell stories of people and decided to focus on the Peace Corps due to his experience as a volunteer. He worked in Tanzania in East Africa from 1964 to 1966.
He said he hopes to have more than 1,000 recorded interviews after he travels to California later this year.
This is what I do, Zaremba said, adding that he worked as a college instructor at a community college in Michigan, where he taught students how to write and tell their life stories.
After Zaremba conducts the interviews, he uploads them to YouTube so people can see the former volunteers stories.
He said people contact him and email him in an effort to tell their experiences of being a Peace Corps volunteer. Most of the former volunteers contact him through word of mouth.
Its a grassroots thing, he said. This is not meant to be a project that glorifies the Peace Corps but is for people to tell their stories.
Most former Peace Corps volunteers consider their time in assisting others in a foreign country a special time in their lives, and they want to talk about it, Zaremba said.
One of the activities Zaremba was involved in as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania was starting a boxing program.
He said one of the nicest things about this organization is that when a program is started, the organizer is expected to see it through to its completion.
So far, Zaremba and Biegel have been in more than 30 locations throughout the nation to get the stories of the volunteers on tape.
Zaremba was even interviewed on the radio station KSJD during his visit to Cortez.
He said he is going to continue to provide this avenue for former volunteers to tell their stories as long as he is able. Since there are more than 20,000 former volunteers nationwide, a lot of work remains.
This is my legacy. This is what I can leave my kids telling stores rather then complaining, he said.
Biegel said she became involved in the project because she thought it was a unique way for former volunteers to relive their experiences and added she enjoys the stories.
Its a great project, and I am happy to (help), she said.
Michael Maresh can be reached at michaelm@cortezjournal.com.
