{"id":65994,"date":"2016-02-11T21:11:16","date_gmt":"2016-02-11T21:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=65994"},"modified":"2023-02-24T10:52:45","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T18:52:45","slug":"q202a-transcript","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=65994","title":{"rendered":"Q202A Transcript"},"content":{"rendered":"

This tape was transcribed by Jason Dikes. The editors gratefully acknowledge his invaluable assistance. If you use this material, please credit The Jonestown Institute. Thank you.
\n<\/strong><\/em>
\nTo return to the Tape Index, click here.<\/a>
\nTo read the Tape Summary, click here<\/a>. To listen to MP3, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[Editorial note<\/strong>: Parts of this tape are repeated, probably from the dubbing process. As a result, the same voices overlap themselves throughout the tape. There are also several bursts of sped up music throughout most of the tape.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Johnny Jones:<\/strong> Uh, good afternoon. My name is Johnny Jones from Peoples Temple Agricultural Project. And uh, this Sunday afternoon we have with us Herbie Thomas who is the uh, administrator of the Port Kaituma area for Mordecai [phonetic] uh, from the Ministry of Regional Development, and also his wife, Mrs. Thomas. And I\u2019d just uh, like to ask you, Comrade Thomas, uh, your impression of Jonestown.<\/p>\n

Herbie Thomas:<\/strong> Uh, thank you, Johnny, for asking me here, and as matter of fact I should\u2019ve said thank you for welcoming<\/em> me here. Uh. You know I\u2019ve always been impressed with Jonestown. I\u2019ve been around the project and uh, their agricultural program is tremendous. Uh, (long pause) my wife also feels very, very much impressed with everything that she has seen here. And I know that Jonestown has a long way to go.<\/p>\n

Johnny Jones:<\/strong> Uh, Mrs. Thomas, do you have anything to say?<\/p>\n

Pause<\/p>\n

Mrs. Thomas:<\/strong> I am very happy to be here at Jonestown. This is my fourth visit and I\u2019m much impressed with everything, and I am certain that it\u2019s (several voices overlap, unintelligible)<\/p>\n

Richard Tropp:<\/strong> I was just uh, listening, uh, thinking about\u2013 of the idea that we\u2019ve been here for a few years and I was wondering when\u2013 when, uh, Peoples Temple first started the project here in Jonestown, you were here, uh, Mr. Thomas, is that correct, in the uh, region? What did you think of it at that time? Did you think that this was, uh, gonna be a program that really was going to work or did you look at it with some kind of skepticism? Or, you know, maybe you had some reflection of how it looked at that<\/em> time and maybe how it\u2013 how it has come along this\u2013 this far. We\u2019ve been here now I guess, about four years or so.<\/p>\n

Herbie Thomas:<\/strong> Uh, of course I had my doubts (pause) because I felt at the time (pause) being Americans and (pause) coming to Guyana, in the raw jungle, you might not have been able to, let\u2019s say, survive<\/em>, with the type of work that (unintelligible phrase) would entail. But, over the years, I have noticed that\u2013 you, know, a tremendous uh, improvement and people here all\u2013 are working all the time. Uh, (pause) they never really give up, they just keep working, keep working. Hard work I think is the motto of Peoples Temple. And by this, I am sure<\/em> that success is bound to happen.<\/p>\n

Tropp:<\/strong> Thank you very much, uh\u2013 Johnny, did you uh, have anything else you wanted to say? I\u2019m very\u2013 I just wanted to s\u2013 say I\u2019m very grateful too and glad that you could come and visit with us at the Project, and\u2013 and uh, I hope along with everyone else that\u2013 that the Jonestown community can really<\/em>, you know, become a very integral part of this whole region, that we can all work together cooperatively, and in a spirit of uh, concern for one another and help for one another so that the uh, development of this region will really move forward and progress. Uh\u2013 We are very grateful to be able to help in what way we can and to achieve those\u2013 that development.<\/p>\n

Johnny Jones:<\/strong> Thank you, Dick. Uh, Dick Tropp is uh, our acting headmaster of our school that we have here in uh, Jonestown. Herbie, I\u2019d also like to get your impression of our medical program. As you know, quite a few of our neighbors come in from time to time to see uh, our licensed people that we have in our clinic. Uh\u2013 Do you have any, any comment on that?<\/p>\n

Herbie Thomas:<\/strong> Your doctor [Laurence Schacht] has been doing a very good job here, Johnny. As a matter of fact right now there are about three teachers here that\u2019s awaiting to be attended. Uh, children also from Port Kaituma have been coming in here and are well taken care of. Ah, words are not easy for me to\u2013 to explain\u2013 to express myself really about the goodness being done by your doctor here. All I can hope is that he keeps the good work up.<\/p>\n

Johnny Jones:<\/strong> Uh, thank you very much.<\/p>\n

(28 seconds tape edits and bursts of sped up music)<\/p>\n

Johnny Jones:<\/strong> Good afternoon, my name is Johnny Jones of Peoples Temple Agricultural Project. And in the room we have Sharon Amos, Dick Tropp, Gladys and Bunny Boyer, and I\u2019d like to ask uh, Gladys her impressions of Jonestown.<\/p>\n

Gladys Boyer:<\/strong> Good afternoon. This is Gladys Boyer. My impression of Jonestown, it\u2019s very, very good. I was here twice for medical to my baby. He had all<\/em> the attention you can find from the nurses in here and also the doctor. And also, many friends I meet in Jonestown, they\u2019re very, very nice. I was out on the flight from Jonestown, and uh, went to Georgetown, spent three months uh, caring for my babies there, at their headquarters. I was well-treated, and everything that I need, I get. And also, I\u2013 I met\u2013 They are very, very nice people. They are most people I ever seen that in Guyana, I never see before. They work together, play together, eat together, cook together, almost everything together. I wasn\u2019t a stranger anymore after spending such a long time, I become a part of their family there. (Small laugh)<\/p>\n

Sharon Amos: <\/strong>Also, Gladys, uh, you rode on our uh, on our mercy\u2013 mercy boat uh, going into Georgetown and\u2013 and back out again. Isn\u2019t that uh, true?<\/p>\n

Gladys Boyer: <\/strong>I went there uh, from Matthews Ridge by plane, then came back by Cudjoe<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Amos:<\/strong> Oh, that\u2019s right. Uh, that was a plane that we paid for and uh, made the arrangements for you to\u2013 to fly into Georgetown, isn\u2019t that true?<\/p>\n

Gladys Boyer:<\/strong> Yes, it is. Flight\u2013 my flight was paid, and my transportation was waiting for me at Timehri, but I didn\u2019t land there, I landed over\u2013 I was well-taken care of there until they reached (unintelligible place name)<\/p>\n

Tropp:<\/strong> (clears throat) I understand that uh, you came back on a boat, is that right?<\/p>\n

Gladys Boyer:<\/strong> Yeah, I did. I had a ride on the Cudjoe<\/em> after (unintelligible word) and went home by the tractor also\u2013 also was the Peoples Temple tractor.<\/p>\n

Amos:<\/strong> I wanted to say that, uh, those of us who stayed with uh, Gladys in Georgetown had a wonderful experience because uh, she uh, became just like a sister to her, and that\u2019s been true of all<\/em> the people that\u2019ve stayed with<\/em> us, uh, the people from the surrounding areas that we\u2019ve brought in on our mercy ship and stayed with us, and it\u2019s been a very good experience, I think, for all of us.<\/p>\n

Johnny Jones:<\/strong> Bunny, uh, do you have anything you\u2019d like to say about Jonestown?<\/p>\n

Bunny Boyer:<\/strong> This is my second visit to George\u2013 Jonestown. When I was here the first time, there was development, but when I come this time, there were much bigger and better (unintelligible word) and the right (unintelligible)<\/p>\n

The people\u2013 the people\u2013 the people of\u2013 (stumbles over words) Jonestown are very friendly, they\u2013 they meet you, they talk to you, you\u2013 you talk to each other as\u2013 like brothers and sisters, \u2018cause you been known for a long time. They\u2019re very, very nice people and they works very hard and they are doing a very good job here.<\/p>\n

Amos:<\/strong> Uh, wh\u2013 what are some of the things you\u2019ve seen today? You were in the herb, uh, experimental herb, uh, uh, building today, is that right, and wha\u2013 anything else you might want to comment about?<\/p>\n

Gladys Boyer:<\/strong> Uh, yes, I have, I have experience in different herbs and different other areas, I went in this uh, nursery. They were very nice.<\/p>\n

Amos:<\/strong> (off mic) The baby nursery?<\/p>\n

Gladys Boyer:<\/strong> Baby nursery, (pause) very nice and I went all the way around Jonestown. The sawmill is very nice, making a lot of different things inside there. Uh, I also went to see right away\u2013 Well, not directly right away, but most of the places that they usually have around there.<\/p>\n

Johnny Jones:<\/strong> Okay, thank you very much.<\/p>\n

(tape edit; 90 second pause)<\/p>\n

Tropp:<\/strong> Good evening. My name is Dick Tropp and I\u2019m here at the Peoples Agricultural\u2013 Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, Jonestown. We\u2019re in the radio room here, and there are several people here who have come in to visit Jonestown, to be with us this evening. We have uh, Trenton London, who\u2019s an industrial arts instructor and a civil engineering instructor at the Port Kaituma Community School and Rafael Lucas who\u2019s also at the Port Kaituma school, and he\u2019s working as a basic science instructor, and Colin McAllister who\u2019s on study leave, and he is employed with the Guyana National Engineering Corporation. These three gentlemen came in today, uh, I believe for the purpose of getting a physical examination and uh, we\u2019d just like to hear some of their<\/em> impressions and comments about Jonestown. I\u2013 I think they had some time to go around and see the different parts of the community and uh, that\u2019s what we\u2019ll do, I\u2019ll just ask them to make a few comments and uh, perhaps we\u2019ll hear also from Sharon Amos, who\u2019s also with us in the radio room with\u2013 with our project staff. Okay, Trenton?<\/p>\n

Trenton: <\/strong>I remember when I first came to the gate (pause) and we were proceeding down the trail into Jonestown. I remember looking at (pause) you know, a very good impression at the layout of the farm, the very straight rows of cassava, and to me everything looked neat and tidy and, you know, very efficient. We came in, we were taken on a tour around the whole compound, saw how everything worked, (pause) and how the people lived. And now I\u2019m here to take a med\u2013 a physical examination, and well, I can tell you that I never had a physical examination that was so thorough<\/em>. I mean, the doctor just examines\u2013 examined everything<\/em>, you know, he doesn\u2019t leave any\u2013 anything out. I\u2013 It would be very right for me to say that not leaving anything out, he took everything in<\/em>. Well, uh, (pause) to me, the project that\u2019s going on here now still has a long way to go, and they have problems, but I could see that (pause) from the people I\u2019ve met in here, they will overcome these problems as time goes by.<\/p>\n

Amos:<\/strong> Thank you very much, Trenton. Uh\u2013 Now the other\u2013 this other gentleman with us is Rafael, and uh, is this your first visit to Jonestown today?<\/p>\n

Rafael:<\/strong> Well, uh, not exactly. This\u2013 In fact this has been my second<\/em> visit to Jonestown because, uh, last (pause) Easter, that is Easter Sunday gone, a group of teachers from the Port Kaituma\u2013 Port Kaituma Community High School, we were in<\/em> Jonestown, and we spent entire day here, uh, having a good<\/em> look around at the various projects and the various ways in which things are being im\u2013 implemented in Jonestown. In fact, today, myself and two other friends, we came in to have a medical examination.<\/p>\n

Amos:<\/strong> Did you uh, find, uh, uh, many changes since you had been here the last time, Rafael?<\/p>\n

Rafael:<\/strong> Uh, from the last time to now (pause) one thing I have observed (pause) is that (clears throat) the roads seem\u2013 seems to be a little muddy. And uh, I guess this is because of the rain. Because the immediate surroundings around the buildings, et cetera, where the tractor does not drive, I find it is fairly okay to walk and so on. It is only the roads coming in, because probably of the tractor.<\/p>\n

Amos:<\/strong> Colin, uh, uh, you are a visitor from uh, Georgetown, and you\u2019re spending a couple of weeks here for some exams, is it\u2013 uh, as I understand. Uh, why don\u2019t you tell us, uh, some of your impressions, and I understand you had quite a dramatic little uh, (pause) medical uh, test<\/em> today and maybe you could tell us about that?<\/p>\n

Colin:<\/strong> Uh, good evening. I\u2019m tremendously impressed in what I have seen here today in Jonestown. As a matter of fact, I think I\u2019m truly in the middle of true socialism. And I would really like to know that this spreads from, not only Jonestown to the immediate surroundings in Port Kaituma throughout the whole of Guyana. Uh, with relations to my medical test, it was dynamic, something was done to me that has never been done. For three years, I\u2019ve had a cyst (pause) three years. And it was taken out today. Thank you.<\/p>\n

Amos:<\/strong> We might describe, uh, a little bit about the cyst<\/em>. Uh, Dick, you had some background on uh, the exact, uh, kind of cyst he had. Uh, uh, do you want to go into that?<\/p>\n

Tropp:<\/strong> (Clears throat) Well, from what I understand that, there was a uh\u2013 these were cysts on the inside of his lip. And uh, the contents were removed uh, from his cysts, uh, and we\u2019re very hopeful that uh, this will be an end of uh, the problem for him. And uh, he also\u2013 I believe Colin, was\u2013 Was it you, Colin, that was tested for glaucoma or was it\u2013<\/p>\n

Colin:<\/strong> (off mic) Uh, no, it was\u2013 (inaudible)<\/p>\n

Tropp:<\/strong> Oh, it was Trenton, right. Yeah, like uh, Trenton was tested for glaucoma and uh, as he did say, the medical examinations are quite thorough and uh, Dr. Schacht is uh, more than happy, along with the rest of the medical staff and with the uh, project here at Jonestown to make our facilities available for people who have a medical need and uh, this is the kind of service\u2013 of human<\/em> service, uh, that we believe is the most, uh, effective way for us as human beings to relate<\/em> to one another, to help<\/em> one another, to meet one another\u2019s needs. So, uh, we\u2019re very happy that you gentlemen were able to come and visit with us and uh, right now \u2013 let\u2019s see \u2013 Rafael, did you want to say something?<\/p>\n

Rafael:<\/strong> One more thing I would like to say that I have observed in Jonestown is the way that all the citizens are treated. I think (pause) a lot of (clears throat) respect and care is given for the\u2013 all the citizens, and I think this is very good. Anybody?<\/p>\n

Colin:<\/strong> There is another observation I would like to make. When I came, I saw some retarded kids, and to me, they were treated just like an ordinary kid. I mean, no one was laughing at them, making fun of them. And in this way, a kid will be able to (pause) believe that he belongs somewhere, that he\u2019s accepted, and that there\u2019s nothing wrong with him. See, act normally.<\/p>\n

Amos:<\/strong> I want to thank you very much for your kind words. Uh\u2013 By the way, our relations uh, ship with\u2013 with uh, the Kaituma school and Kaituma has been a great help to us<\/em> as well, because we have gotten much assistance from advisers from the Kaituma school that\u2019ve helped us greatly. And we uh, share movies with the town of Kaituma. We send them movies in and they share movies with us. And all together, we\u2013 we feel a very close relationship uh, with the whole\u2013 with all our neighbors in the community. Is there anything else uh, anybody wanted to say? We certainly appreciate these kind words. Any\u2013 any oth\u2013 other comments? Well, we\u2013 we enjoyed the day very much uh, with\u2013 with you\u2013 all of you and uh, hope to see you again soon.<\/p>\n

Tropp:<\/strong> Okay, (clears throat) thank you very much.<\/p>\n

(10 second pause)<\/p>\n

Tropp:<\/strong> We have with us in the radio room now Mr. David Patrick, who came into our medical facility with his wife, Bella Patrick and their little baby, Arlex. And I believe, uh, they leave\u2013 they live at uh, Barima Bridge. And uh, David Patrick works at Arakaka. I\u2019m just gonna ask David uh, to say a couple of words now about why you and your wife and the baby came into the clinic.<\/p>\n

David Patrick:<\/strong> Well, to be truthful, uh, I got my brother. Uh, he came and invite me a couple of days ago and he give me all\u2013 all encouragement to bring the baby (pause) and see the doctor at uh, Peoples Temple. And I take his\u2013 take his advice and I bring the baby to see the doctor.<\/p>\n

Tropp:<\/strong> Right. Di\u2013 was your bro\u2013 did your brother come in and see the doctor himself?<\/p>\n

Patrick:<\/strong> (off mic) Yeah, he come himself.<\/p>\n

Tropp:<\/strong> And uh, what was\u2013 Did he have a\u2013 He had a medical problem and\u2013<\/p>\n

Patrick:<\/strong> (off mic) Yeah, he had a (on mic) \u201cI\u2019m having a bad time,\u201d uh, so he come himself to see doctor.<\/p>\n

Unknown:<\/strong> (off mic) I treated him.<\/p>\n

Tropp:<\/strong> OK, very good. Well, we\u2019re glad that you\u2019re able to come in and we certainly hope that uh, the baby\u2019s all right. What was the baby\u2019s uh\u2013 been the baby\u2019s problem?<\/p>\n

Patrick:<\/strong> He, uh, he\u2019s suffering from f\u2013 fever and cold all<\/em> the time. From the time he born. Fever and cold all the time.<\/p>\n

Tropp:<\/strong> How\u2013 how old is the baby?<\/p>\n

Patrick:<\/strong> Well, he\u2019s now, uh, a year and six months.<\/p>\n

Tropp:<\/strong> I see. OK, David, well, we really hope that, uh, can help the baby out so, the problem will be solved. We\u2019ll see what we can do. Okay, very good. Well, thank you very much, David. It was\u2013 it\u2019s good to have you come in and uh, hope everything goes all right with you and your family.<\/p>\n

(tape edit)<\/p>\n

Tropp:<\/strong> Uh, Hector Joseph, who lives, uh, is that in, uh\u2013 that\u2013 that\u2019s six miles, which is, uh, in this, in the area, came in uh, today, also to the medical clinic, uh, and uh, I\u2019ll let him explain why he came.<\/p>\n

Joseph:<\/strong> So then I must explain of why I came here to you?<\/p>\n

Tropp:<\/strong> (off mic) Right.<\/p>\n

Joseph:<\/strong> I came here to the doctor yesterday, and I made an\u2013 an appointment for myself and my brother\u2019s baby. So. We get answer to come in here today ten o\u2019clock. And our treatment was very nice from the Peoples Temple here.<\/p>\n

Tropp:<\/strong> What was the, uh\u2013 the problem that you had that you came in for?<\/p>\n

Joseph:<\/strong> I came in here to have a check on my right thumb that (unintelligible word) that accident by the train. And I was very glad for the attendance that we got from the doctor from the Peoples Temple.<\/p>\n

Tropp:<\/strong> Thank you very much, uh, Hector and uh, hope that your thumb heals up real good. \u2018K.<\/p>\n

(click recording off)<\/p>\n

Unknown:<\/strong> The broadcast we just did was for May 29th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

(Other voices in background)<\/p>\n

Balance of Side 1 blank<\/strong><\/p>\n

Side 2 blank<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tape originally posted February 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This tape was transcribed by Jason Dikes. The editors gratefully acknowledge his invaluable assistance. If you use this material, please credit The Jonestown Institute. Thank you. To return to the Tape Index, click here. To read the Tape Summary, click here. To listen to MP3, click here. [Editorial note: Parts of this tape are repeated, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":27291,"menu_order":72,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-65994","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/65994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=65994"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/65994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":121859,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/65994\/revisions\/121859"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=65994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}