Interview with Janina Victoria Acevedo-Yates, March 8, 2022
Project: Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project
Interview Summary
Janina Acevedo-Yates served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Botswana from 2012-14 as a Community Capacity Builder in health and education and as a Youth Outreach Coordinator with Peace Corps Response in El Salvador from 2014-15. She discusses conducting health talks in an antiretroviral clinic, helping in schools, organizing camps for girls and LGBTQIA+ youth, creating a soccer club for young parenting mothers, and supporting fellow PCVs in a Peer Support and Diversity Network. She talks fondly about her friends, gaining emotional strength, and about the support she received when she experienced sexual harassment. She contrasts her loosely defined assignment in Botswana with her more tightly defined role, shorter service, and the restrictive political environment in El Salvador. She discusses how stepping out of her comfort zone changed her world view, Peace Corps’ impact on her international development career, and mentoring American University students about Peace Corps service.Interview Accession
Interviewee Name
Interviewer Name
Interview Date
Interview Keyword
Peace Corps (US) Botswana (Country of Service) health (Peace Corps program) 2012-14 (years of service) El Salvador (Country of Service) Response, Youth in Development (Peace Corps program) 2014-15 (years of service) Gobojango (worksite in far eastern Botswana) Kanye, (training site) GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) LEGABIBO (Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana), organization serving the LGBTQIA+ community in Botswana Big Sister Football Club Lorato (her closest friend and confidante in Botswana) Topo (her supportive Tswana counterpart) La Palma (worksite in El Salvador) American University.Interview Rights
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Acevedo-Yates, Janina Victoria Interview by Evelyn Ganzglass. 08 Mar. 2022. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Acevedo-Yates, J.V. (2022, March 08). Interview by E. Ganzglass. Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.
Acevedo-Yates, Janina Victoria, interview by Evelyn Ganzglass. March 08, 2022, 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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