Interview with Sylvia Uwamaliya Stainback, February 25, 2015

Interview Summary

Sylvia describes growing up in Uganda as the fourth of eight children in a struggling Rwandan refugee family, striving for an education. With the persistence of her mother and her older brothers' contributions, she got a secondary school education in Uganda and then Rwanda where her parents returned after the 1994 genocide. On scholarship, Sylvia graduated from the University of Rwanda with a degree in social work in 2004. After meeting a visiting American doctoral student, she came to the US in 2005 for English as a Second Language, graduate work, and marriage. She talks about her work as an ESL instructor at the University of Kentucky helping newcomers learn about U.S. culture and how she keeps in touch with family in Rwanda through social media and visits.

Interview Keyword

Amin English as a Second Language Family Iganga, Uganda Igishegabo Kampala, Uganda Makerere University Museueni Nyungwe National Park Obote Refugees Rwanda Teaching Uganda

Interview LC Subject

Education University of Kentucky

Interview Rights

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.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.