Folder 6

1961 Jun 01, 3 p. w/env. Letter to Brother Had contacted a Home Ec that had been in Africa working for I.C.A. to ask about the situation; had got a bunch of used Christmas cards and Suheyla was rather disappointed when Mary mentioned she was to donate them to the orphanage; talked to a gal about the peace corps and she had said that they send a doctor and a sanitarian with every crew in Africa; “I really pushed on the job today. Madne is shocked at the amount of written material I put out. I write all the letters and reports I want Suheyla to get out.”
1961 Jun 03, 20, 2 envelopes without letter
1961 Jun 12, 4 p. w/env. Letter to Folks Finally got the notice about her assignment in Africa, “The money is $, the language (official) is English and they are Christian”; discusses her preparation plans for the trip, including her financial situation; is getting her shots for travel to Africa; there’s a new Turkish law about Americans selling to the Turks where the Turkish people have to pay the customs and bring the Americans a receipt which has to be submitted to the Embassy; fired her old maid Delbir and hired one that she is paying double the price for, the new maid can sew and fix Mary’s dresses.
1961 Jun 16, 4 p. w/env. Letter to Brother Is having an awful time with Turkish customs; has contacted another technician who is in Liberia and he is giving her suggestions; having problems with her landlady; finally has a terrific maid who works from 8-5 and has altered Mary’s clothes; is packing and preparing
1961 Jun 16, 1 p. w/env. Letter to Abe from Tony Is in the hospital and writing; describes the hospital experience; “Being in the hospital was an interesting experience. I was in a room with two Negro patients and the staff is thoroughly ‘integrated.’ That part of it was good for me. But the administration of the hospital, the ward care, ect., was incredibly bad. From the nursing staff on down, the great majority of the personnel were simply incompetent.”
1961 Jun 20, 4 p. w/env. Letter to Folks The landlady had messed up the electricity in her apartment by fiddling with some wires and nobody took care of it for almost 5 days; the U.S.I.A presented her with a set of a dozen 8x14 prints of her working in the villages and she gave them to Suheyla to make exhibits from; the gal replacing Mary wanted her to hunt down Suheyla but Mary told her it was her job now to hunt down her own counterparts; is trying to get her folks to save up and take a freighter to Africa in order to visit.
1961 Jun 26, 1 p. no env. Customs Declaration
1961 Jun 27, 4 p. w/env. Letter to Brother “It is beginning to be embarrassing. Even the Mission is in a tight place on me. On their own they cabled Thurs. to see what they are to do with me. Evidently my orders are lost somewhere;” gives new Liberian mailing address; received information on how to treat snake bites and to carry a flashlight at night, “We were warned the same in Pakistan.”
1961 Jun 29, 4 p. w/env. Letter to Folks “Boy this Foreign Service is for the birds;” “If I get a place to live in Liberia where every faucet is broken and wired on and every drain stopped up and every toilet is stinking and no water but one hour or so a day, I’m going to quit and come home;” is having a tough time getting out of Turkey and still hasn’t got her orders from Washington D.C.; is impressed with the current general service man who gives the Turkish employers a hard time, Mary thinks things are slowly getting better.
1961 Jun, 2 p. no env. Mary E. Border Monthly Report
1961 Jun, 3 p. no env. Letter to [?] Jokes about stealing a Liberian post report; “Kennedy wants to send pony tailers here. Well maybe they would do better. Who can tell. Maybe Africa will look good to me. Now don’t believe one d___ thing they tell you in Wash. Don’t be so naïve”