Oral history interview with Divine Irambona

Oral history interview with Divine Irambona [Sound Recording 01]

Identity elements

Reference code

SR 12297

Name and location of repository

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Series

Title

Oral history interview with Divine Irambona

Date(s)

  • 2019-05-18 (Creation)

Extent

1.11 gigabytes; 1 online resource (1 audio file (1 hr., 44 min., 1 sec.)) WAV

Name of creator

Biographical history

Divine Irambona was born to Burundian parents in the Kanembwa refugee camp in Tanzania in 1995. Her mother died a few days after Irambona's birth. After a decade, her family was approved for asylum in the United States and they were resettled in Beaverton, Oregon. She attended Western Oregon University, where she founded the African Students and Friends Association and served as president of the International Student Club. She continued her education while experiencing life-threatening health problems, and she graduated from WOU in 2018 with a degree in sociology. She worked as a peer support specialist at Northwest Human Services and volunteered with refugees in Salem, Oregon.

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Scope and content

This oral history interview with Divine Irambona was conducted by Sankar Raman on May 18, 2019. The interview was recorded for The Immigrant Story, an organization that documents and archives the stories of immigrants and refugees in the United States. Shea Seery was also present and occasionally contributed interview questions.

In this interview, Irambona discusses her family background in Burundi and the reasons her parents fled to Tanzania. She talks about her early life in the Kanembwa refugee camp in Tanzania, including an attack on her home just before the family was resettled in the United States; living conditions in the camp; and her education. She also discusses the significance of her name. She then talks about being resettled in the United States and adjusting to life in Beaverton, Oregon, including jobs her father and stepmother worked. She speaks at length about her education, including racist bullying she experienced, learning English, and making friends. She talks about her experience studying sociology at Western Oregon University, and discusses continued racist bullying she endured, founding the African Students and Friends Association, and health problems that affected her education. She closes the interview by describing her work with Northwest Human Services at the time of the interview in 2019, her volunteer work with refugees in Salem, and her plans for the future.

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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/.

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Languages of the material

  • English

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Finding aids

Acquisition and appraisal elements

Custodial history

Immediate source of acquisition

Gift of The Immigrant Story, February 2021 (Lib. Acc. RL2021-009).

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Publication notes

An article about Divine Irambona, "Dignity in Helping Others" by Shea Seery, was based on this interview and published on The Immigrant Story website at https://theimmigrantstory.org/dignity-in-helping-others/.

Notes element

General note

Preferred citation: Oral history interview with Divine Irambona, by Sankar Raman, SR 12297, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

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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

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