Archives West Finding Aid

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.