![Oral history interview with Jean Paul Mugisha [Sound Recording 01]](/images/generic-icons/audio.png){kind=icon}
Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Series
Title
Oral history interview with Jean Paul Mugisha
Date(s)
- 2017-04-30 (Creation)
Extent
43 megabytes; 1 online resource (5 audio files (1 hr., 32 min., 50 sec.)) MPEG-4
Name of creator
Biographical history
Jean Paul Mugisha was born in Masisi, North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo around 1994. His family, who are Tutsi, fled in 1997 as a result of violence in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, and he spent his childhood in a refugee camp in Rwanda. The refugee camps only offered education through the ninth grade, but Daydon Harvey, an American woman working in the refugee camp, funded Mugisha's continued education outside the camp. After graduating from high school, he returned to the camp to help other refugee children with their education. He received a scholarship from These Numbers Have Faces, a nongovernmental organization based in Portland, Oregon, and he majored in electrical engineering at the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology in Rwanda for a year. Then, in 2014, his family was approved for resettlement in the United States. They settled in Portland, Oregon, and he continued his studies at Portland Community College. He transferred to the University of Portland and continued to study electrical engineering.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
This oral history interview with Jean Paul Mugisha was conducted in two sessions by Sankar Raman on April 30, 2017. The interview was recorded for The Immigrant Story, an organization that documents and archives the stories of immigrants and refugees in the United States.
In the first session, Mugisha discusses his early life in a refugee camp in Rwanda after his family fled from their home in the Democratic Republic of the Congo when he was 3. He describes living conditions in the camp, including his education. He then talks about attending Kigali Institute of Science and Technology, where he majored in electrical engineering for a year, before his family was resettled in the United States. He describes his last day in the camps, the journey to the U.S., and his first days in Portland, Oregon. He talks about navigating the American education system to continue his studies in electrical engineering at the University of Portland, and his plans for the future.
In the second session, Mugisha discusses the Rwandan genocide, the conflict that led his family to flee Congo in 1997. He talks again about his education in the refugee camp and being resettled in the United States. He particularly talks about the Portland-based NGO, These Numbers Have Faces, that helped him go to college in Rwanda. He describes his college experience at the University of Portland; reflects on the factors that led to his current success; and discusses his cultural and ethnic identity. He closes the interview by talking about his family, and his activities mentoring immigrant students.
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
Joint copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society and The Immigrant Story. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/.
Physical access
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
Gift of The Immigrant Story, 2020 (Lib. Acc. RL2020-017).
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
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Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
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Related descriptions
Publication notes
An article about Jean Paul Mugisha, "It Takes a Village to Raise a Child" by Sankar Raman, was based on this interview and published on The Immigrant Story website at https://theimmigrantstory.org/raise-child/.
Notes element
General note
Preferred citation: Oral history interview with Jean Paul Mugisha, by Sankar Raman, SR 12262, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Specialized notes
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Rules or conventions
Finding aid based on DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard), 2nd Edition.
Sources used
Archivist's note
Sarah Stroman
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Raman, Sankar (Contributor)
- These Numbers Have Faces (Portland, Or.) (Subject)