MAY 2024 FOURTH FRIDAY-PERU-SONIA KINCAID

Sonia Rivadeneyra Kincaid is from the northern part of Peru near Chiclayo and has lived in the United States for thirty years.  She is a graduate of Purdue University Northwest having earned a degree in Behavior Studies with a concentration in Social Work.  Sonia works in case management for La Jornada, a program under the National Youth Advocate Program, that facilitates the reunification of immigrant minors with their sponsors in the United States.  She has also been employed by Dunebrook in Michigan City as a family services worker as well as an interpreter and translator. Sonia has partnered with a Peruvian NGO in the past called Caritas Felices (Happy Faces).

Sonia touched on Peruvian culture and food and her personal journey in the United States.  She values the opportunities that the United States has given her, especially in terms of education and career, but insists that “you can take the woman out of Peru but you cannot take Peru out of the woman.”

Sonia’s husband, Kenny, is an associate professor of History whose focus is Latin America.  His research focus is the Andes and he assisted Sonia to discuss Peru’s political climate today.