Fellows/USA Profile: Jamal Nasafi

Kyrgyz Republic 1997-1999

Afghan American and Illinois State University Fellow Jamal Nasafi drew upon the skills he learned in the Peace Corps to maintain a positive outlook after the events of September 11, 2001.

Born to an Uzbek family in Kabul, Nasafi lived in Afghanistan until he was 13 years old. Even at this young age, his life was touched by the Peace Corps. His aunts and uncles attended the American Institute in Kabul to learn English and were taught by Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs). Also, PCVs befriended his parents before they emigrated to the United States in the 1970s.

The positive interactions between PCVs and his family during his childhood motivated Nasafi to join the Peace Corps and apply to a Fellows/USA program. “All of my siblings have at one time or another inquired to become Peace Corps Volunteers themselves,” he said. “The course for my becoming a Volunteer was inevitable.”

Nasafi served in the Kyrgyz Republic from 1997 to 1999. There, he taught English as a foreign language to grades six through 11 in a school in the northern city of Tokmok. Later he moved south and taught EFL using a curriculum of communicative activities at Osh Technological University’s Department of International Relations.

It was only three months after Nasafi returned to the United States that he decided to apply to Illinois State University’s Fellows/USA program. “I decided while in the Kyrgyz Republic to return home [to Illinois] and pass on my knowledge while developing my own career path by joining Fellows/USA.”

Nasafi studies applied community and economic development. According to Nasafi, the transition back into American life was not easy. In the Kyrgyz Republic many people wondered how someone of Central Asian descent could call himself an American. Many also overlooked his American values and character because he did not “look American,” he said, treating him as a Central Asian instead.

In America, especially post-September 11, Nasafi had to confront similar assumptions. “People hear my slight accent and treat me like a foreigner,” he said. “In Chicago, there were many protests and teenagers waved the American flag in my face for looking different, and I worried about leaving the house.”

“The fact that I happened to have been born in Afghanistan sets me apart in a unique way,” he said. “All of the things I have done suddenly go out the window as soon as people find out where I am from.”

However, Nasafi believes, “‘America the Beautiful’ is a nation of diverse peoples, and is always honestly striving toward harmony.” He asserted, “You can witness this effort at striving toward maximum benefits of liberty, justice, and democracy for everyone through the diversity in all areas of life and in every public institution in America.”

This belief strengthens his commitment to his Fellows/USA experience. “Being a Fellow means being a multifaceted citizen ambassador spreading goodwill and understanding among all peoples and contributing to the betterment of society,” he said.

Nasafi also recognizes the practicality of the Fellows/USA program. “The transition between school and work is so much more meaningful when there is a period of professional practice internship, in which a Fellow can put her/his education and life skills in the context of the community development process and connect it to world development in general.”

Nasafi is currently an intern in Milwaukee at the Department of City Development. There, he writes grant proposals, monitors grant compliance, and does outreach to other organizations.

Robert Hunt, Ph.D., Nasafi’s fellowship advisor, commented on Nasafi’s participation in ISU’s Fellows/USA program. “The thing that will stick with me most about Jamal is his willingness and ability to be a social catalyst. We have been blessed here, since our program began in 1994, with several Peace Corps Fellows who helped to create community among the faculty and students in a community development program. Jamal is one of the very best of these. He is, I think, what some would call a social capital entrepreneur, generating community relationships wherever he goes.”

“I would like to think my ethnic heritage and knowledge of Central Asian cultures and languages, and constructive insights into the challenges of life in developing societies, were of some contribution to Fellows/USA,” Nasafi added.

Last updated Sep 29 2008