Interview with Chikamso Chukwu, July 29, 2020

Partial Transcript: This is Evelyn Ganzglass.

Segment Synopsis: Chikamso Chukwu talks about her interest in service which led to her application to the Peace Corps. She briefly talks about her childhood and her college experience. She talks about how her parents' immigration from Nigeria to the United States also influenced her decision to join Peace Corps.

Keywords: College majors; College of William & Mary; Diversity; Fairfax County (Va.); Family; First generation Americans; Influences; Interests; Joining; Linguistics; Nigeria; Nigerians; Service; United States; Virginia

Subjects: Childhood; College students--Attitudes.; College students--Conduct of life.; Education, Higher; Emigration and immigration.; Families.; Immigrants; Language and languages.; Peace Corps (U.S.); Universities and colleges.; Voluntarism.; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: That was my next question: what did your parents think about all of this?

Segment Synopsis: Chukwu talks about her parents' and siblings' reactions to her decision to join Peace Corps. She talks about how their own immigration to the United States affected their reactions.

Keywords: Attitudes; Decisions; Distance; Encouragement; Family; First generation Americans; Influences; Joining; Law schools; Nervous; Nigeria; Nigerians; Parents; Peace Corps interviews; Proud; Reactions; Siblings; Support; United States

Subjects: College students--Attitudes.; College students--Conduct of life.; Emigration and immigration.; Families.; Immigrants; Peace Corps (U.S.); Voluntarism.; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: Had you applied to go to East Ti--East Timor?

Segment Synopsis: Chukwu talks about how she became familiar with the country of Timor-Leste and why she was interested in volunteering there.

Keywords: Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste; East Timor; Education programs; Independence; Post-conflict society

Subjects: Education; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Timor-Leste; Timor-Leste.; Voluntarism.; Volunteer workers in education; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: So you applied. You were accepted. How long did that whole process take?

Segment Synopsis: Chukwu talks briefly about the process from applying to Peace Corps, her acceptance into the program, and staging in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania before traveling to Timor-Leste.

Keywords: Acceptance; Application; Community development; Community economic development (CED); Education programs; Interviews; Invitations; Philadelphia (Pa.); Recruiters; Staging

Subjects: Education; Voluntarism.; Volunteer workers in education; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: So you all hopped on a plane. And how does one get to East Timor from here?

Segment Synopsis: Chukwu talks briefly about her journey to Timor-Leste from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She talks about her training in Ermera Municipality and the host family she lived with during training. She talks about language, cultural, and technical trainings and how her host family assisted her in learning one of the languages of Timor-Leste, Tetum.

Keywords: Airports; Buses; Classrooms; Dejected; Differences; Difficulty; Education programs; Emotions; Ermera Municipality (Timor-Leste); First; Germany; Help; Host families; Host family; Jet lag; Language Proficiency Index (LPI); Language training; Learning; Norms; Philadelphia (Pa.); Practicums; Preparation; Prepared; Schools; Singapore; Support; Teaching; Technical training; Tetum (Language); Towns; Trains

Subjects: Culture.; Education; Language and languages.; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Timor-Leste; Timor-Leste.; Travel; Voluntarism.; Volunteer workers in education; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: So you finished training. And then where were you assigned?

Segment Synopsis: Chukwu talks about the site she was assigned to within Timor-Leste: Liquiçá. She talks about how the people of the town reacted to her, saying that she was often mistaken for someone from either Timor-Leste or Africa and was often questioned about whether she was really an American. She talks about how she felt about this experience.

Keywords: Americans; Appearances; Assignments; Beaches; Blending in; Buses; Colorism; Discrimination; Expectations; Explanations; Fascination; Liquiçá (Timor-Leste); Misconceptions; People of color; Perceptions; Reactions; Schools; Sites; Skin color

Subjects: Culture.; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Timor-Leste; Timor-Leste.; Travel; Voluntarism.; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: So you, so you got--you started teaching.

Segment Synopsis: Chukwu talks about her experience teaching at a school in Liquiçá, Timor-Leste. She says that the school housed both middle school students and high school students during different parts of the day and she taught both, making her work days very long. She talks about her relationships with her co-teachers, the difficulty of language barriers, and the culture of the school, comparing it to schools in the United States.

Keywords: Busy; Challenging; Children; Class sizes; Classrooms; Co-teachers; Cooperation; Counterparts; Dialects; Differences; Difficult; English education; High schools; Kids; Language barriers; Learning; Local languages; Middle schools; National languages; Partnerships; Schedules; Schools; Students

Subjects: Culture.; Education; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Timor-Leste; Teachers; Teaching; Timor-Leste.; Voluntarism.; Volunteer workers in education; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: So it sounds like you were really busy in school.

Segment Synopsis: Chukwu talks briefly about what she did for recreation in her little free time away from the school. She talks about her relationship with her host family, the house they lived in, and visiting with their extended family. She talks more about how they helped her learn the local language, Tetum.

Keywords: Busy; Communication; Community English classes; Dancing; Dogs; Friends; Goats; Host families; Host family; Host sisters; Host uncles; Hosts aunts; Houses; Land; Learning; Local languages; Lottery; Outhouses; Overprotective; Parties; Pigs; Population; Recreation; Tetum (Language); Towns

Subjects: Culture.; Education; Language and languages.; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Timor-Leste; Timor-Leste.; Voluntarism.; Volunteer workers in education; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: So when did you first start hearing about COVID?

Segment Synopsis: Chukwu talks about when she first became aware of COVID-19 and her initial reactions to the news she was receiving about it. She talks about being so focused on her project of creating a library within the local school that she was not really aware of the seriousness of the situation until shortly before the Peace Corps volunteers were evacuated. She talks about how the healthcare infrastructure in Timor-Leste was not well-equipped to handle a pandemic and talks about the Timor-Leste citizens' reactions to the pandemic.

Keywords: Alert; Anxious; Attitudes; Awareness; Busy; Challenging; Coming home; Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19); Dengue fever; Difficult; February; Flights; Foreigners; Grants; Healthcare infrastructure; Hospitals; January; Leaving; Library projects; March; News; Peace Corps offices; Peace Corps staff; Perceptions; Quarantine; Reactions; Returning; Safety and security managers; Scary; Schools; Seriousness; Standby

Subjects: COVID-19 (Disease); Culture.; Education; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Timor-Leste; Teachers; Teaching; Timor-Leste.; Voluntarism.; Volunteer workers in education; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: So what happened then?

Segment Synopsis: Chukwu talks about being on alert due to a riot in a nearby town when the local citizens learned that a person from Italy was quarantining there. She talks about when she learned that they would be evacuated and her initial perception that it would only be for a few weeks. She talks about not being able to say a proper goodbye to her host family.

Keywords: Alert; Anxiety; Anxious; Budgets; Cases; Closing borders; Counterparts; Denial; Dili (Timor-Leste); Directors; Districts; Emails; Evacuation; Expectations; Global call for evacuation; Go bags; Healthcare facilities; Healthcare infrastructure; Host families; Host family; Italians; Italy; Quarantine; Riots; Standby; Towns; Wardens

Subjects: COVID-19 (Disease); Culture.; Education; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Timor-Leste; Teachers; Teaching; Timor-Leste.; Voluntarism.; Volunteer workers in education; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: So how did you feel being back home?

Segment Synopsis: Chukwu talks about how she felt upon returning home to the United States. She talks about being quarantined in her home for two weeks upon her arrival and her shock that the United States was in a lockdown.

Keywords: America; Close of Service; Cold; Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19); Expectations; Family; Going back; Grandmothers; Home; Host families; Host family; Jarring; Leaving; Lockdowns; Mothers; Plans; Quarantine; Reactions; Returning; Shock; United States; Weather; Weird

Subjects: COVID-19 (Disease); Culture.; Families.; Peace Corps (U.S.); Travel; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: So, so it's been several months now. How are you thinking about it now?

Segment Synopsis: Chukwu talks about her disappointment in leaving in the middle of the library project they had begun at the school in Timor-Leste. She talks about how the project has progressed since she left and her hopes to someday return to see the fruits of her labor and to say a proper goodbye to her host family.

Keywords: Adjustment; Cases; Close of Service; Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19); Difficult; Disappointment; Funding; Goodbyes; Grants; Host families; Host family; In touch; Library projects; Lockdowns; Paperwork; Returning; Schools; Small Project Assistance (SPA) Program; United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Subjects: COVID-19 (Disease); Culture.; Education; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Timor-Leste; Teachers; Teaching; Timor-Leste.; Voluntarism.; Volunteer workers in education; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: So what are you doing now?

Segment Synopsis: Chukwu talks about how she became interested in possibly pursuing a career in librarianship through her work on the library project at the school in Timor-Leste.

Keywords: Career paths; Childhood; Clientele; Community libraries; Community-school libraries; Fulfilling; Grants; Interests; Jobs; Learning; Librarianship; Libraries; Library patrons; Library projects; Schools

Subjects: Education; Librarians.; Library science.; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Timor-Leste; Public libraries.; Teachers; Teaching; Timor-Leste.; Voluntarism.; Volunteer workers in education; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: So as you think back on your Peace Corps experience, you know, there--we always talk about three goals of Peace Corps.

Segment Synopsis: Chukwu talks about the impact she made on the country of Timor-Leste, and especially the community in which she worked, during her time in the Peace Corps. She talks about how her main contribution was introducing people to new possibilities.

Keywords: Activities; Assistance; Children; Contributions; Country; Goals; Impact; Influence; Kids; New countries; Possibilities; Projects; Resources; Schools; Students

Subjects: Culture.; Education; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Timor-Leste; Teachers; Teaching; Timor-Leste.; Voluntarism.; Volunteer workers in education; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: What did it--what did Peace Corps do, do for you?

Segment Synopsis: Chukwu talks about how her Peace Corps experience impacted her own life, making her more confident and empowered.

Keywords: Capabilities; Comfort zones; Communication; Confidence; Empowering; Experiences; Fluency; Fluent; Impact; Influences; Learning

Subjects: Culture.; Education; Language and languages.; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Timor-Leste; Timor-Leste.; Voluntarism.; Volunteer workers in education; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: So the third goal of Peace Corps is to kind of bring the world back, improve Americans' understanding of the world.

Segment Synopsis: Chukwu says she is interested in sharing her Peace Corps experiences with other Americans, but has not had much opportunity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She talks about how she may have influenced the people of Timor-Leste's impressions of Americans, talking more about introducing them to new possibilities. She talks specifically about talking with her young host sister about her career possibilities and new perspectives regarding marriage and relationships. The interview is concluded.

Keywords: Americans; Appearances; Autonomy; Awareness; Career paths; Careers; Children; Expectations; Family; Goals; History; Host sisters; Ideas; Impact; Influences; Jobs; Kids; Lockdowns; Marriage; Mindsets; Mothers; Perceptions; Perspectives; Possibilities; Relationships; Resilience; Success; Third goal; Timorese people; Understanding; United States; Women

Subjects: Culture.; Education; Families.; Peace Corps (U.S.)--Timor-Leste; Teaching; Timor-Leste.; Voluntarism.; Volunteer workers in education; Volunteers