Paw'd Defiance

Growing Mangos in the Desert

UW Tacoma Professor Katie Baird Season 1 Episode 104

In this episode UW Tacoma Professor Katie Baird talks about her new book "Growing Mangos in the Desert." The book chronicles Baird's experience in the Peace Corps. The then twenty-something was sent to Mauritania to teach farmers there how to grow rice. Baird had very little training and couldn't speak the local language. Needless to say things didn't go as planned. Baird talks about her experience in Mauritania, how the transition to rice upended Mauritanian culture and whether or not the project worked. She also talks about the friendships she made and what the experience taught her.