Training Groups
In the early 1960s, there were separate Peace Corps training programs for the country of Malaya and the British colonies of Sabah (North Borneo) and Sarawak. Malaya 1 through Malaya 6 were trained at Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, IL and the Sabah/Sarawak 1 through 4 training programs were administered by the University of Hawaii Hilo. By 1964, starting with Malaysia 7, there were unified training programs for the Federation of Malaysia at various sites in and around Hilo. Then, in the 1970s, Peace Corps shifted to hosting all training programs in Malaysia.
Hawaii-trained PCVs were typically enchanted with the beauty of the Big Island and the warmth of welcome from local residents. Following their service, many RPCVs settled in Hawaii, especially on the Big Island, and there is a very active association of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Hawaii. In December 1963, Peace Corps trainees and staff erected a monument to the memory of John F. Kennedy at the entrance of the old hospital in Hilo which was then the Peace Corps Training Center. In 2011, on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Peace Corps, the Returned PCVs of Hawaii rededicated the JFK Monument and moved it to its current location on the University of Hawaii Hilo campus--see here, here and here (photo credit Nick Cerra, PCV Malaysia IX). For more of the story of the Peace Corps training programs in Hawaii, see the following videos:
Sending Aloha Abroad (RPCVs Hawaii). This documentary film is the untold story of thousands of American volunteers who lived and trained in Hawaii prior to overseas Peace Corps service, and often settling there after their experience (30 minutes)
Peace Corps Training on the Big Island. Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and Hawai‘i Training Staff created a documentary history of the more than 7,000 young Americans who trained for the Peace Corps on the Big Island from 1962 through 1971. Co-produced by Big Island residents Bill Sakovich and Jim Carr, the 57-minute film is a visual montage of more than a thousand photos with music and voice-over narration by RPCVs. It is an evocative account of how Peace Corps trainees prepared to help others and how the experience affected not only their own lives but those of the local communities and individuals who shared that experience.
Peace Training Groups
Malaya 1 (1961-63)
Sarge Shriver with Malaya I at NIU, Dekalb 1961
Malaya 2 (1962-64)
Malaya 3 (1962-64)
Murray DeArmond: "Jungle Healing" Apa Khabar, Summer 2023
training abstract at NIU Sept-Dec 1962
Malaya 4 (1963-65)
Training Group Picture book
Malaya 5 (1963-65)
Training Group Picture book
Borneo (Sabah/Sarawak) 1 (1962-64)
Borneo (Sabah/Sarawak) 2 (1963-65)
Training Group Picture book
Sabah/Sarawak 3 (1963-65)
Sabah/Sarawak 4 (1964-66)
Training Group Picture book
Malaya 6 (1964-66)
Malaysia 7 (1964-66)
Malaysia 8 (Sabah/Sarawak 5) (1964-65)
Malaysia 9 (1965-67)
Training Group Picture book
Tom Wagner's essay on Malaysia IX Training Apa Khabar Fall 2022
Pat Taylor Bader interviewed by son, Aaron
Rich Harvey 2012 story in the Borneo Post
Charlie Hirschman "The day I made a difference." Apa Khabar Summer 2022
List of Trainees, Weekly Schedules, and Wapio Valley
Brief interviews of Malaysia IX Trainees in Honolulu Star-Bulletin May 5, 1965
Orientation in Malaysia at the U of Malaya May 10-14, 1965
Group Photo of Malaysia 9 (click to enlarge) (thanks to Gary Apgar)
Malaysia IX Survey (Google Form)
Responses (to date) to Malaysia IX Survey
August 13, 2023 Malaysia IX Reunion on Zoom
Gene Ward "Reflections on the Peace Corps" Apa Khabar, Summer 2023
Malaysia 10 (1965-67)
Malaysia 11 (1965-67)
Malaysia 12 (1965-67)
Training Group Picture book
Malaysia XII Facebook Page
Malaysia 13 (1966-68)
Malaysia 14 (1966-68)
Malaysia 15 (1966-68)
Malaysia 16 (1967-69)
Malaysia 17
Malaysia 18 (1967-69)
Malaysia 19 (1968-70)
John Dixon: "A Day in The Life" (photo essay)
David Stimpson: "Waimanu Pig Hunt" (Peace Corps training in Hawaii)
Dan Peed: "Training in Paradise"
Malaysia XIX Video--2016 Reunion
Ralph Lueck: "Snake Adventures"
Malaysia 20 (1968-70)
Malaysia 21 (1969-71)
Malaysia 22 (1969-71)
Malaysia 23 (1969-71)
Malaysia 24 (1969-71)
Training Group Picture book
Malaysia 25
Malaysia 26
Malaysia 27
Malaysia 28 (1970-72)
Malaysia 29 (1970-72)
Training Group Picture book
Malaysia 30 (1970-72)
Malaysia 31
Malaysia 32
Malaysia 33
Malaysia 34
Malaysia 35 (1971-73)
Malaysia 36
Malaysia 37
Malaysia 38
Malaysia 39 (1972-74)
Malaysia 40
Malaysia 41 (1972-74)
Malaysia 42 (1972-74)
Malaysia 43
Malaysia 44
Malaysia 45
Malaysia 46
Malaysia 47
Malaysia 48
Malaysia 49
Malaysia 50 (1973-75)
Malaysia 51 (1971-73)
Malaysia 52
Malaysia 53
Malaysia 54 (1973-75)
Malaysia 55
Malaysia 56 (1973-75)
Malaysia 57 (1973-75)
Malaysia 58 (1973-75)
Malaysia 59
Malaysia 60
Malaysia 61
Malaysia 62
Malaysia 63
Malaysia 64
Malaysia 65
Malaysia 66
Malaysia 67
Malaysia 68 (1973-75)
Malaysia 69 (1975-77)
Malaysia 70
Malaysia 71
Malaysia 72
Malaysia 73
Malaysia 74
Malaysia 75 (1975-77)
Malaysia 76
Malaysia 77
Malaysia 78
Malaysia 79
Malaysia 80
Malaysia 81
Malaysia 82
Malaysia 83
Malaysia 84
Malaysia 85 (1975-77)
Malaysia 86 (1976-78)
Malaysia 87 (1977-79)
Malaysia 88 (1977-79)
Malaysia 89 (1978-80)
Malaysia 90 (1978-80)
Malaysia 91
Malaysia 92 (1978-80)
photo "Melaka Westerly Hotel Group 92"
Malaysia 93 (1978-80)
Malaysia 94
Malaysia 95 (1979-81)
Malaysia 96 (1980-82)
Malaysia 97
Malaysia 98 (1980-82)
Malaysia 99 (1980-82)
Malaysia 100 (1980-82)
Malaysia 101 (1980-82)
Malaysia 102 (1981-83)
Malaysia 103 (1981-83)