The Peace Corps in Cameroon by Julius A. Amin 1992, 248 pp ISBN 0-87338-450-4 Cloth, $32.00 courtesy of our partner, Atlas Books Call (419) 281-1802 to order by phone.

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“Capturing the Cameroonian persona of directness and honesty, the guileless voice of Dr. Julius Amin proffers a history of the Peace Corps from the viewpoint of a foreign citizen served by the organization. It is a viewpoint long-awaited, filled with new insight into the Kennedy administration's motivations in creating the Peace Corps, the volunteers' successes and trials, and an emerging nation's poignant struggle as it overcomes the ravages of colonial oppression.”

—Mary-Ann Tirone Smith, author of Lament for a
Silver-Eyed Woman and other novels, and
Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon, 1965-1967.

“This kind of country study will be important in assessing the long-term impact of the Peace Corps. It has been ably researched through interviews and archival collections and should offer new perspectives in evaluating the significance of the Peace Corps and the role of people-to-people diplomacy in cold war foreign policy.”

—Scott L. Bills, Regents Professor of History,
Stephen F. Austin State University, and author
of The Libyan Arena: The United States, Britain,
and the Council of Foreign Ministers, 1945-1948 .

The Peace Corps was established in 1961 during the Kennedy administration, symbolizing a new direction in foreign policy-making for the United States. Founded on large aid programs staffed by volunteers, the agency's primary goal was to help modernize Third World countries while guarding against the expansion of communism.

Julius A. Amin interprets the motives behind the development of the Peace Corps and analyzes the program and performance of its volunteers in Cameroon during the 1960s. He bases his study on previously unused primary sources, including the completed questionnaires of returned volunteers and the diaries and letters they donated to him. He also provides extensive interviews conducted in Cameroon where, as a student, he was taught by the volunteers and later worked as their colleague.

Amin finds that the volunteers contributed greatly to the social and educational development of Cameroon and made many new American friends within the host country. On a broader level, they learned about themselves and other people, and returned to the United States determined to reeducate Americans about Africa. Amin notes, however, that the volunteers expressed difficulty in justifying the ideals of American democracy to the Cameroonians in light of such issues as racism in America and U.S. intervention in Vietnam.

Washington policymakers have seldom involved returned volunteers in discussions concerning the Third World. Amin believes that the volunteers could be invaluable in stimulating a renewed friendship between America and Third World countries, and in helping to explain why programs designed to assist Third World development often fail at the implementation stage.

The Peace Corps in Cameroon also contains a comparitive analysis of the agency's work in the neighboring countries of Ghana and Guinea, where its efforts were not as successful. In addition, it features numerous photographs of volunteers at work in Cameroon and maps to complement the text.

This pioneer study contributes to Africanist/American scholarship in general, and specifically adds to the historical literature about Peace Corps volunteers in a Third World country. It is must reading for anyone interested in similar endeavors in African countries or in the overall effectiveness of the Peace Corps program.

Julius A. Amin was born and raised in Cameroon, where he received his baccalaureate from the University of Cameroon. He obtained his M.A. from West Texas State University and Ph.D. from Texas Tech University, and is presently Chairperson of the Department of History at The University of Dayton. His publications include contributions to the Handbook of Texas and numerous journal articles.

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