Interview with Behzad Roohi, November 10, 2022

Project: Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project

Interview Summary

Behzad Roohi, RPCV, Ghana, 1998-2000, Water Sanitation Behzad Roohi’s decision to join Peace Corps was through a myriad of life events, starting from when he had to leave Iran during the 1979 Revolution. He had since moved to India and eventually settled with his mother and siblings in Holyoke, Massachusetts where he never quite felt “at home”. After spending a religious “year of service" in the Caribbean, he came back to Holyoke, but decided to leave Massachusetts altogether for Washington DC where the diverse nature of the city and the university which he attended helped inform his next steps. It was through another volunteer who convinced him that his Iranian background and accent has no bearing on whether he “fits” the the “ideal” Peace Corps volunteer profile. Behzad explains how at ease he felt from the moment he landed in Accra through his three month training and for the rest of his two year service in Namoo where he lived with a large family. He attributes his recent work successes with USAID in Afghanistan to the Peace Corps’ culture and approach where collaborating with the village elders to see projects through is absolutely essential.

Interview Accession

2022oh1706_pcrv0676

Interviewee Name

Behzad Roohi

Interviewer Name

Urvi Mehta

Interview Date

2022-11-10

Interview Rights

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Roohi, Behzad Interview by Urvi Mehta. 10 Nov. 2022. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.

Roohi, B. (2022, November 10). Interview by U. Mehta. Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.

Roohi, Behzad, interview by Urvi Mehta. November 10, 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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