Interview with Beatrice Mbayo, October 25, 2016
Project: African Immigrants in the Bluegrass Oral History Project
Interview Summary
Beatrice Mbayo grew up in Democratic Republic of Congo, one of 17 children, most of whom graduated from secondary school in Lubumbashi, Katanga. She escaped from war in 1996 by walking and by truck into Zambia and Zimbabwe where she and her two children lived in a refugee camp for four years. She describes coming to the U.S. in 2006, including hard times and good experiences. Beginning as a dishwasher in University of Kentucky Food Service, she then was a case worker with Kentucky Refugee Ministries for three and a half years. After completing her nursing assistant certification at University of Kentucky in 2001, she has been on the Kentucky nurse registry. Beatrice has founded her own organization, Dreams of My Homeland, to help people back in Lubumbashi and has made annual trips since 2012. One of her eight stories in a book published by Bluegrass Community and Technical College ESL students provided its title, 'Slowly is the Journey.'Interview Accession
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Childhood Families Education Refugees Emigration & immigration Immigrants--KentuckyInterview Rights
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All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.
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Mbayo, Beatrice Interview by Angene Wilson. 25 Oct. 2016. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Mbayo, B. (2016, October 25). Interview by A. Wilson. African Immigrants in the Bluegrass Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.
Mbayo, Beatrice, interview by Angene Wilson. October 25, 2016, African Immigrants in the Bluegrass Oral History Project, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
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Persistent Link for this Record: https://kentuckyoralhistory.org/ark:/16417/xt70p26q2222