Interview with Sonia Desai, September 27, 2021
Project: Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project
Interview Summary
Sonia Desai served as a Peace Corps Education volunteer in the Dominican Republic from 1991-1993. She was raised in an Indian-American family in Malaysia and the US, and international work always appealed to her. During her last year at San Franciso State University, she applied to Peace Corps end eventually was assigned to the Dominican Republic. Training emphasized language and culture, and included many trips into the country from the training site in Pantoja. Her first site was in Blanco Arriba, but due to challenges in finding work and a threatening incident with a local man, she opted to change sites. Settling in El Pujador, she continued to face challenges to her Americanness due to her South Asian descent, but she raised funds to contstruct a school. On returning to the US she joined a non-profit aiding persons displaced by the war in El Salvador and has continued to work internationally since.Interview Accession
Interviewee Name
Interviewer Name
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Interview Keyword
India Malaysia Burma (Myanmar) San Francisco State University Dominican Republic (Country of Service) Peace Corps Peace Corps training Pantoja, Dominican Republic Peace Corps pre-training Peace Corps Education sector South Asian women Peace Corps diversity Blanco Arriba, Dominican Republic Sexual assualt Catholic Church El Pujador, Dominican Republic Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Sexual harassment Peace Corps volunteer secondary projects Family of Peace Corps volunteers South Asians in the United States Teaching English as a second language primary school education community integration acculturation Christmas celebration Semana santa celebration Trinidad Cultural re-entry Non-profit work State Department Peace Corps goals 1991-1993 (Dates of Service)Interview Rights
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Desai, Sonia Interview by Craig Tower. 27 Sep. 2021. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Desai, S. (2021, September 27). Interview by C. Tower. Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.
Desai, Sonia, interview by Craig Tower. September 27, 2021, Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
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