Interview with Susan Boohaker, July 27, 2020
Project: Peace Corps: COVID-19 Evacuated Peace Corps Volunteers Oral History Project
Interview Summary
Susan Boohaker served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal from September 2018 to March 2020. Her parents worked for Foreign Service. She lived in eight countries while growing up, and met Returned Peace Corps Volunteers in some of them. She decided in high school that she would volunteer, and applied while studying for a master's degree in food studies, in Rome. She was selected for Senegal’s Agriculture Program. Training consisted of 10 weeks language and technical studies in Thies. Languages studied were Jahanke and Malinke. Her work site was in Saraya, southeast Senegal. She worked with farmers, village women, and a middle school girls club. She helped to encourage empowerment of girls through continuing their education. Work consisted primarily of training facilitation and grant writing. Acceptance by local women came slowly due to cultural differences. The interview includes discussion of training, work projects, village life, and evacuation due to COVID-19.Interview Accession
Interviewee Name
Interviewer Name
Interview Date
Interview Keyword
Peace Corps (U.S.)--2010-2020 Senegal (Country of service) 2018-2020 (Date of service) Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Agriculture Evacuated Peace Corps Volunteer (EPCV) Evacuation Jahanke (Language) Malinke (Language) Saraya (Volunteer site) Empowering women Foreign Service Peace Corps-related medical issues Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Peace Corps (U.S.)--2020-Evacuation #covid19 Diversity in the Peace CorpsInterview LC Subject
Peace Corps (U.S.) Peace Corps (U.S.)--Senegal Senegal 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 VolunteersInterview Rights
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Boohaker, Susan Interview by Julius Sztuk. 27 Jul. 2020. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Boohaker, S. (2020, July 27). Interview by J. Sztuk. Peace Corps: COVID-19 Evacuated Peace Corps Volunteers Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.
Boohaker, Susan, interview by Julius Sztuk. July 27, 2020, Peace Corps: COVID-19 Evacuated Peace Corps Volunteers Oral History Project, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
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