Interview with Feruza Ghias, June 12, 2021

Interview Summary

Feruza Ghias served as an education sector Peace Corps Volunteer in North Macedonia from 2017 to 2020 when she was evacuated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to Peace Corps, Ghias was a full-time college student who was also working part-time as a peer-instructor to first-year students. Ghias was first motivated to serve in Peace Corps when she was in middle school. Ghias’s training cohort was MAK22. Macedonian language, culture, and technical training were conducted in the city of Sveti Nikole. Her assignment was in a village near the city of Kocani where she was co-teaching English in a public school. She was also involved in secondary projects with an after-school English language club, adult English classes, and organizing the painting of a world map mural at her school. In her free time, Ghias read books, exercised, gardened, and socialized with local friends and Peace Corps friends. Ghias was completing the last few months of her thirty-three month service when the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

Interview Keyword

North Macedonia (Country of service) Macedonia (Country of service) 2017-2020 (Date of service) Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Education Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Evacuated Peace Corps Volunteer (EPCV) Evacuation Language training Training Cultural training Diversity in the Peace Corps Muslim Americans First generation Americans

Interview LC Subject

Peace Corps (U.S.) Peace Corps (U.S.)--North Macedonia Peace Corps (U.S.)--Macedonia North Macedonia Macedonia COVID-19 (Disease) Acculturation Communication and culture Culture Culture shock Intercultural communication Interpersonal communication and culture Interpersonal relations Interpersonal relations and culture Language and culture Language and languages Lifestyles Manners and customs Voluntarism Volunteers

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Interview Usage

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