Interview with Rut Mulero, October 21, 2020

Interview Summary

Rut Mulero’s parents are from Colombia and Puerto Rico. She remembers watching World News on the famine in Ethiopia as a five-year old. After graduating from Rutgers University with a degree in political science she worked in multiple jobs looking for her niche before joining the Peace Corps at 27. Her first Peace Corps service in Ukraine was with youth development. She felt training was paternalistic, but found her host family extremely helpful, especially in learning Ukrainian. She was considered Black in her assigned town of Buryn and encountered blatant racism. She moved to a new site after three months. Rut co-taught health education, ethics, English, and peer educators on preventing HIV/AIDS. In Benin, training was not well organized. However, her experience was opposite that of Ukraine. She taught in Madjatom about maternal/child health care, HIV/AIDS, and water and sanitation. She didn’t feel taken care of medically by the Peace Corps.

Interview Keyword

Immigrant parents Rutgers University Political science Ukraine (Country of service) Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Youth Development Pre-service training Host family Prolisok Healthy lifestyles Racism Buryn Health education Ethics English (Language) HIV/AIDS World Wise Schools Youth optimism Nursing schools Benin Maternal and child health Water and sanitation MDGs Jadjatom Maternal clinics Trainers Doulas Peace Corps health care Diversity in the Peace Corps

Interview LC Subject

Peace Corps (U.S.) Peace Corps (U.S.)--Ukraine Ukraine Acculturation Culture Intercultural communication International travel Interpersonal communication and culture Interpersonal relations Interpersonal relations and culture Language and culture Language and languages Lifestyles Manners and customs Voluntarism Volunteers Peace Corps (U.S.)--Benin

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Interview Usage

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