Interview with Nia Velazquez, September 4, 2020

Interview Summary

Nia Velazquez served in Ukraine from 2017 to 2019 as a youth development volunteer. Originally slated to go to Ecuador, her assignment was changed after earthquakes in Ecuador. Joining Peace Corps was a long-time dream, and she fell in love with the Ukrainian people and culture. Helped by her host mom, she worked hard her first year to learn the language, a skill that was critical since no one in her village of 3000 in the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast spoke English. She developed projects after talking to villagers to find out what they needed. Her favorite project was Culture Day, where she brought in black and brown PC volunteers, taught villagers their dances, had them try different foods, and talked about the diversity in the USA. Her parents were from Puerto Rico, and Ukraine was the first place where she didn’t find preconceived notions about people from PR. She found it quite difficult returning home because the PC was a life-changing experience and old friends didn’t understand, but her fiancé was a fellow Ukrainian volunteer who was in her cohort, and that helped.

Interview Keyword

Peace Corps (US) Ukraine (Country of Service) 2017-2019 (Years of Service) Peace Corps volunteer job: Youth development Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (district where she served) language training and dyslexia Puerto Rican diversity

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