Click on this image to listen to Jim’s story, roughly 12 minutes.
OUTspoken is a monthly LGBTQ storytelling event at Chicago’s Sidetrack video bar, CLICK here to learn more. In August of this year, RPCV Jim Kelly spoke about his time in the Peace Corps.
From the OUTspoken Facebook page:
“August storyteller Jim Kelly recently celebrated 70 years on this earth. Born and raised in rural Minnesota, Jim entered the U.S. Peace Corps in 1969 as a recent college graduate with a big heart and no skills. After his 3 ½ year Peace Corps service in El Salvador, he joined a non-profit organization focused on community leadership development and helped initiate projects in small villages in Venezuela (1 year) and Chile (4 years). He returned permanently to the U.S. in 1981, and shortly thereafter joined Oak Park-based CHP International, a private training company that, under contract to the Peace Corps, staffed and managed pre-service training programs for in-coming Peace Corps Volunteers in many countries in Central and South America, the Caribbean and Africa. As an Associate Director, Jim supervised the CHP training centers in Central and South America, traveling often to conduct performance reviews and provide staff training focused on Adult Non-Formal Education. He retired in 2007, and continues to live with his husband, Bruce Broerman. They’ve been together for over 29 years and married since August 3, 2014. Jim is “stepdad” to Bruce’s two adult children, and is “Papa Jim” to their five grandchildren ages 14 to 3 ½. “
From Jim’s words:
“On August 1, 2017, I told a story about how my Peace Corps Volunteer service led to the 1991 publication of my Master’s thesis on the experiences of Gay and Lesbian Peace Corps volunteers during the first 30 years of the agency. My recommendations about how Peace Corps could improve its training and support systems for us were shared with Peace Corps country offices around the world. “
