Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2017-037
Amelia "Mimi" Budd was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nigeria from 1965 to 1967. Her training at Western Michigan University included study of the Hausa language, along with preparation for teaching at the secondary level. When Budd arrived in Kaduna in the Northern Region of Nigeria, she was surprised to find that she was expected to teach in a primary school. After her first year of successful teaching, inter-tribal tensions began to mount as the country moved toward civil war. Romantic involvement with an Igbo military officer also placed Budd in a precarious situation. The Peace Corps moved her to a safer location in the Midwest Region where she taught in a secondary school during her second year. Along with other volunteers, she was evacuated when the Biafran army moved into the area. That harrowing experience did not deter Budd from involvement with the Biafra relief effort after the Peace Corps. Interviewed and recorded by Phyllis Noble, 2 March 2017. 2 digital files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).