 Cox served during the peak years of the Peace Corps. In the late 1960s, as many as 15,000 volunteers were in the field. She never returned to Sierra Leone, but says the experience remains dear to her. West Africa is in my heart. It always will be. A piece of me is there and a piece is in my heart. You can hear the emotion. I think I came alive and became more of a human by being in West Africa.