Interview with Natalie Tallie Firnhaber, October 24, 2022

Interview Summary

Natalie “Tallie” Firnhaber, Afghanistan 1968-1970, Health Talli joined Peace Corps after graduating from college with a degree in nursing. She explains that while her three months of language, cultural and technical training was very limited due to its training location in the US rather than 'in country', the people in Puli Khumri helped her learn Dari and improve her communication. It was in Puli Khumri where she served as a nurse along with another Peace Corps volunteer for two years where they created a clinic to treat patients' wounds caused by tuberculosis and also provide eyeglasses for those who were noticing issues with their eyesight. Tallie returned to the US with culture shock that helped form her next steps to study anthropology and leave nursing for a career in archaeological conservancy. She found herself back in Kabul, Afghanistan years later for work and explains how the war zone changed the face of the capital but the people’s warmth and kindness had not. She now teaches English to Afghan refugees and is able to harness her Peace Corps experience of the past to help families from Afghanistan adjust to live in the US today.

Interview Keyword

Nebraska Peace Corps Afghanistan hospital Dari nurse nursing John F. Kennedy Fort Lupton, CO training migrant labor camp poverty Afghan Lutheran psychologist Kabul missionary program St. Louis, MO Farsi chadari Hindu Kush Mountains Puli Khumri Himalayas obstetrics clinic tuberculin sores UNESCO used soap mud brick homes hydroelectricity compound tuberculosis (TB) sanitation endemic nomadic camp (Kuchi, Kochi) women men women’s clinic sterilization needles medicine soap Isoniazid bazaar tailor Hazaras tea teahouses pantaloons call to prayer adhan Bamiyan Valley Bamiyan Buddha Buddhas of Bamiyan turbans culture shock University of Chicago anthropology archaeological conservation NATO mullahs Iraq war zone Pashto Khamak Kandahar embroidery conservator of artifacts girls’ education Smithsonian Hawaii Sarasota, Florida Washington, DC Afghan refugees ESL

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