Do the Change with Mulika Musyimi, MPH

Part 1: Do the Change with Mulika Musyimi, MPH

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Hi everyone, welcome to the Do the Change podcast, where we're challenging you to reimagine OEHS. And so in this podcast we focus on highlighting some leaders in their field and how they got to where they are today with a special focus on the field of Occupational Health and Environmental Sciences, but as always we dip into other topics as well and so we're going to be talking about the Hills and Valleys of our speakers journeys, get some insight into non-traditional paths into the field. And so my name is Tyra Parrish, I am a recent graduate from the MPH program here at Cal and our guest speaker for this episode is Mulika Musyimi.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Wooooo!

Tyra Parrish, MPH: So Mulika is originally from Kilifi which is a small town in the coast providence of Kenya and he is the son of farmers, cooks, teachers, tailors, hotel workers, and storytellers, and he wants to acknowledge them and their impact because without them there wouldn't be a story thread featuring him. In addition to having various relatives experience health challenges throughout his life, there was also realization that as a sub-Saharan African migrant living in a U.S context there was now this different exposure perspective of seeing and making sense of the surroundings. The markedly poor overall health outcomes experienced by black communities on the continent and in the diaspora is dire and needs addressing particularly because of the sum of stressors that the social determinates of health place on an individual, a family, and a community. In short these were some of his motivators in pursuing his MPH in Global Environmental Health, so welcome Mulika, so happy to have you.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Thank you so so much Tyra, it is so happy to be had. Thank you for your time.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yes. Okay so before we start with the podcast, we're going to start with a check in question. So the check in question is: describe a family or individual tradition that holds a special place in your heart.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: This is, this is tough because I come from a big family-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: So it is hard to pick just one member but if it was one tradition, which I think that will bring a lot of these characters-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Into the foreground, is our grandfather used to be a choir master in church.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Oh cool.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: And when we lived together, because both he and my grandmother lived with us for a while, they would gather all of us after dinner and we would sing or he would conduct us singing Kamba songs every single night before we prayed and went to bed. So this is one of those memories that I remember as a kid because it was just the older folk plus us kids with my grandfather doing his thing.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Oh I love that, that's so cute. I love that, that's so cute.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: It's a story I haven't shared much-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: But it's a-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Oh, that's so cute. Okay, my tradition, or I guess family tradition that we would do is every Christmas or just even winter time, since I don't even remember how old we were, but we watched Polar Express, the same movie. I love Polar Express.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yes.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: And when we were kids we used to make the hot chocolate, like oooh hot chocolate.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yeah.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Like we literally would have it and like be watching that part and so even now like, last Christmas I was like, we're watching Polar Express, right? Like there's something about having something where it happens every time, anyways-

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: I'm curious, real quick.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: I guess I'm the one-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Asking a quick question.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Why Polar Express of all the films, I'm just curious?

Tyra Parrish, MPH: I think the first time we watched it there was something about it that we all loved.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Wow.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: And I think too, that one of the main characters is like a black girl and that was super cool to see, and she was the one who like made sure to include the other kid, like it was just cool.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Wow.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: She was the one who was keeping those those kids together because they were running around acting crazy and she was like sit down. There was just something about it and I think the music was good, the storyline was good.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Okay.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah and it was just one of those like, I don't know, I actually don't know what it is about it, but every time I watch it, it like, I pretend like it's brand new. I'm like oh-

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Wow. Guess who's about to watch Polar Express?

Tyra Parrish, MPH: I love it.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: I have to remember this weekend, I am.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yes, it's so good. But yeah it's definitely like a-yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: [Unintelligible]

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Let me know what you think because it definitely can be, it's definitely a little corny. But it's like cute, I don't know.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: There's no corny here.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah, yeah. All righty so we're going to jump into the first question, which is walk us through how you got to the field of Public Health and particularly what drew you into Environmental health? 

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: That's a- again another good question in the sense that I feel like I am one of those humans and lifelong students who took many paths to get to where they are. So for me it was never direct, and I feel like a handful of things happened in my life that sparked that interest. One of them was growing up in a single parent home. In Kenya, and my mother and my dad when my dad was still alive, lived in a small rural town so once he passed away my mom needed to move in order to get better, better work in the city so I guess my life period in Kenya was partly rural, partly city, but then fast forward to me migrating to the US and our grandmother developing memory loss and later became Alzheimer's, I- that was those were some breadcrumbs that I guess were getting laid all throughout my life. I think work at the International Rescue committee which is a refugee resettlement agency headquartered in New York, but has like different offices in the United States, also introduced me to facets of you know Refugee and migrant health.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Then COVID also happened, and also that contributed to I guess you know the bigger conversation. So for me it was either directly through just watching my mom living through just the premature death of a parent as a result of like a heart attack. An elderly grandparent who had, was responsible for raising me but also had Alzheimer's, a pandemic, and also just like experiences as a volunteer and also as an interpreter at the International Rescue committee were all reasons why I ended up where I did.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah. Well one, thank you for sharing that with us because I know that, that, yeah, just thank you, thank you for sharing like how you got there or how you got into public health. And so my follow-up question would be what drew you to the specific area of like Global Environmental Health once you realized, okay public health is for me, and then how did that kind of get you to Berkeley?

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yeah, so my undergrad degree at San Diego State.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Go Aztecs.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Woo!

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Love the Bears, but also Aztecs first.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Was environmental geography and sustainability so I- in terms of like the environmental side of the program I think that was already steeped just in undergradand I feel so strongly about just like the, the foundations that were laid for me in undergrad just because it was the first big school that I'd ever attended in my whole life. It was also the program was unique in the sense that I think it had professors who had just this way about how they viewed Academia, how they had also driven their own careers in them becoming professors amongst all the other things that they did. And I think it's just like this sense of possibility I think they've bestowed on all of us as students that yes, you can get a geography degree, but a geography degree is more than just maps, you know?

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yes.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: It's just so much more than just like you know the title of the degree and I think it was just like those, those moments you know that I was getting to connect with a handful of them, that I think sparked this sense of like I think wonder and possibility, because yes, I probably got into sustainability and environmental geography just because I, I grew up in a different place-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: And there was always a sense of wonder about what lies outside my postal code, my ZIP code, my-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: But I feel like it was just like this other way of seeing my world and impacting my world through, through learning and through Academia and I think that made me realize that I could do something bigger then once, once the talk and the conversation of Public Health started to feel a little bit more real that came from a mentor who had, who I still look up to to this day, he attends, he's a PhD student at UCSB. And that's the University of California, Santa Barbara and he's a sociology student and he was a valedictorian at SDSU and I think it's watching his journey and him just the ability of him being a storyteller for himself, for his community, I think allowed me to to look at this evolving interest in public health and feel that I could also contribute to it in my own unique way.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: I attended a workshop that UC Berkeley was holding for prospective students and I remember watching a student and I'm gonna give her a shout out, her name is Lena Musoka, and she was a year ahead of me and she was just talking about just how she ended up at Berkeley Public Health. She also happened to be a migrant as well from a part of the world that I was also from. So I think just all these parallels for me were just confirming that, that I needed to pursue a global environmental health degree.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: And if not at Berkeley just, somewhere else, so.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah. Well, dang, you answered my next question which was like any mentors and role models, you just shout out, you just shouted somebody out, period. Because I mean like it's it's hard-

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: I have so many [Unintelligible].

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Right, right.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: No, no, please, please, please.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: No I was gonna say, shout them out like if there's anyone else that's been like-

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Shout them out.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah. Like in your journey to and through public health-

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Oh my god. Yes, yes. I will reach back as far back as Community College, because I-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: I'm a product of community college and if it was not for those foundational roots when I was still very very young and a very new migrant in a very new society, attending U.S schools, I think I would not be where I am today, so I want to shout out, give a shout out to just my academic advisors in junior college in Reno, Nevada. They saw me and they were able to like plant all these seeds. I want to shout out to my professors there, my professors at SDSU, and Dr. Costello, Dr. Katie. Like I have, like I'm spacing out on words right now.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah, its a list. Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: But just like-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: No it's okay.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: And just like every

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Every internship they they dropped on my lap.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: They were willing to write letters of recommendations for me on just every single one of them. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them and fast forward then once I got accepted to UC Berkeley and-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: An ever-present mentor is Dr. Jay Graham and I want to give him like a huge shout out right now because the man has calmed me down.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: And he has helped me see the world beyond, beyond school work.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah. I will second that Jay is, he was an anchor and still is anchor for a lot of our class, the classes before and the classes in the future. It's really hard to explain Jay's impact until you meet him and when you meet him you get it. Like he was an anchor for people who weren't even in our department, like they knew him. So definitely shout out to Jay and also I want to highlight what you said about coming from a community college, because I feel that there's still kind of this belief that, or maybe misunderstanding of how impactful going to a community college is before like transitioning into a four-year. And so I want to take space one to highlight for folks who are listening and are thinking about options to go to school that Community College is a fantastic option in your pathway of education of any form, or at any level you wish to reach for.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yes.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: And as someone who, I've taken Community College that's helped me kind of like in regards to my degree, not stress. I loved Community College a lot better especially when you go to big UC schools it's easier to connect with faculty-

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yes.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: And staff at a community college versus school, big schools like any school in the UC system. So I want to uplift that because that's, Community College I'm pro. I'm always pro.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Thank you for that Tyra-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: And I think for me honestly that came later to be quite honest because I feel like initially maybe I, just out of my youth and maybe my lack of experience Ididn't know better and I thought initially that maybe I was going to a lesser institution.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yes.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Now that I look back I- that is not the case.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah. No but that's- yeah but I'll acknowledge that was something I had to grow into as well. Like I was totally on the like, don't- like, viewing colleges as lesser than-

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yes.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Comparatively, when really that it's all education at any form and any level and no one is better than someone else just based off the university you go to, which I understand attending and graduating from UC Berkeley. I- we come from a very like privileged position to be like well, Berkeley prestigious schools don't mean anything, but I genuinely mean that like no matter where you go, whether you go to Berkeley or whether you go to any other university, education is education at the end of the day.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yes.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: By any means, by any means so.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yes.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yes, so now we're going to shift into what you are currently doing now, so you already mentioned it but so before we talk about your human rights Fellowship that you are still in right now, so cool, can you talk about your present work as an interpreter facilitator at the International Rescue Committee in San Diego? And then can you also define the definition between translator and interpreter because they're two different things.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yeah, absolutely. First before I forget just-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yes.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: I just want to call out or shout out to Trevor Aldridge he is my mentor from UCSB.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yes.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: And I just want to mention because without Trevor I would not know how to write a statement of purpose.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Oh my goodness.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: I'm gonna give him that space and that acknowledgment because without him as a mentor-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: I really probably wouldn't even have finished writing my statement of purpose. Alright. To answer this question.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Shout out Trevor. No. Shout out Trevor. I love that.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Shout out to Trevor. So, to answer this question, the difference between an interpreter and a facilitator is simply is that a facilitator is a person who makes a process-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Easy within an organization so-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: In the roles that I was able to play this part at the International Rescue committee that was either as a as a co-ESL teacher or a co-CPR teacher.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Got you.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Core DMV test taker, just because these are situations where migrants and refugees because of just like the way things are worded or just like situational just situational processes that might be just harder.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Even English speaking person are hard.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: So, just being the facilitator in those settings and those contexts just make it a lot more easier.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Interpreters, on the other hand work with oral and sign languages translators who deal with like written language-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: And as an interpreter, like you're often translating language on the fly and like in the context of like real conversation, so again that was a hat that I also wore and-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yes.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Sometimes like accompanying like one of our clients to a doctor's visit. Again, those sometimes are happening on the fly and just feeling capable to to be able to grasp what the client is trying to communicate aptly and also making sure that the doctor understands exactly what the client is trying to say. Like those were the things that I had to really work with sometimes.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yep. And I want to add on to what you said in regards to between like a translator and an interpreter only because I feel that sometimes in I'll say, I'll speak to like healthcare settings or even just settings where like, let's say like a team setting where someone knows that someone there is like multilingual. Being a translator and being an interpreter like you said two different things where you're having to- interpreters more so interpret to the context of the conversation and so you're literally having to actively like translate whatever you're hearing and then communicate that in a way in which that group understands and the other group or whatever groups understand and translating is just you remove the context and these are the things I'm seeing or hearing or reading and I'm just writing it like as is without putting any context. Not, I wouldn't say putting any context but it's kind of like you said where it's like words. You're just trans- you're simply translating it while interpreting is kind of like in the context of a hospital setting or in a doctor's space you may have to interpret it. Like, do you understand like your rights in this conversation-

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yes.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Or in this space and that, that doesn't mean that one is harder than the other it's just a different approach.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yes.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: And so that's, that's why sometimes I- and I had to learn this because someone told me where they've had to advocate for themselves to get pay that is equal to that of an interpreter and not a translator because of the labor that comes with that. But they just assume oh you speak xyz language, just translate it and it's just like. Anyway, so that's the reason I wanted to ask one to highlight from someone's personal experience of being an interpreter and then highlighting the synthesis for folks who are maybe in that space or being asked to translate or interpret but not being fairly compensated please advocate for yourself. And there's also I think a certification you can get as an interpreter.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yeah.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: As well, so.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: And I feel like for me one thing that becomes more and more clear in this work is just how hard the process-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Even in one's comfortable home and and I'm gonna say comfortable right now actually with quotations, quotation marks because and maybe what I should have said is the process of coming from a setting in a context that one is familiar with.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Right.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: And that can be a country, a language, a region, or space and moving into a completely different context in this case the United States and trying one to assimilate and two coping with every other thing that is bombarding one as a newcomer and I think for me that is, as I go through the process of interpreting is I just want to give a shout out to you know our clients because it is not easy.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: And constantly constantly like having to navigate these very difficult, hard spaces where sometimes individuals can on this other side can get very impatient with the process, and just like the process is not easy it's not meant, it's not easy for native English speakers so it's even twice if not harder-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: You know, English is not their first language so again, I sit back in awe but I also want to just give space to just like these amazing individuals that go through traumatic experiences most of the time to just create new homes and just-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Right. Well I also want to uplift you for being a part of making that process not as challenging as it's going to be, because that's amazing and so now I want to transition into your experience as a human rights fellow at, saying this right Sanergy?

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Sanergy. Exactly.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Sanergy, cool, collaborative in Nairobi, Kenya. So how was that?

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Eye opening, instructive, humbling, and the reason why I choose these three words is because going into going through this space, even when I was selected which as- even when I was selected as a fellow to participate in this Fellowship I knew I was also coming in very green in the sense that I had not truly worked in a traditional water and sanitation and hygiene space.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yes.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: So I knew I was coming in with a lot of learning that I needed to dobut the fact that one they gave me an opportunity, I purposed to make it as immersive and as enriching as far as new knowledge is concerned as anyone could possibly make it to be in a period of three months. And I think also for me it was it was important for me to be in a space where like meaningful wash work happens because this is the type of work that I've professed that I want to do. And just like being in a context where like 60 percent of people that live in Nairobi which is the capital city of Kenya don't have access to, to easy accessible sanitation in in the traditional way or at least in the way where we imagine it-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Right.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: In the context of like Oakland or like San Francisco and that was really really eye-opening because when you think of like 60 percent of a ity's population is not using a sanitation modality that you and I can say, oh yeah like I flushed it and it went somewhere.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Right.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Again, for me that was, it was important to see that type of work, it was important to see where the work happens particularly like in the informal settlements that it seeks to serve and also uplift. Two it was also addressing a gap that is a right that is provided within the Kenyan Constitution, that says every Kenyan should have right to this this service. But again having lived in that context prior to me migrating to the US and also going back to see that it hasn't changed-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Was also instructive. Three, the fact that also government or the systems of government have also been devolved in the sense that we do have a national government that sets laws and sets policies but again the county governments also do governance separate from the national government so the fact that the two are decoupled, so whatever might be happening in the national, federal level might not be the exact story-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: happening at the county governments, so it was also really nice to be exposed to, because the Constitution changed when I was away.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Oh.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: So this is the 10th year that the constitution has actually been in operation so I think also just like seeing the mechanics of like these big visions that were set up like in 2010 and actually now 10 years later people can say like this is working, this is not working I think was also instructive for me and also just humbling, like being in this spaces where sometimes I just needed to listen.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah. And I really like, I think one only because I know like the background extent of the, when you got the fellowship, I just want to highlight that like from what I don't know about Mulika this was literally exactly what he asked for, manifested in his life and so one this is my first time hearing about what happened during his fellowship and it's always just, it is amazing one to see like it's amazing to hear that not only you're doing global work but that you're able to do global work back like, back in your home country and to still be around family but then also I really loved how you shared that even in your time in the US and then coming back, how it had changed so then you're kind of re-in a space of learning also in your home community which is really cool. Yeah, so I just really enjoyed hearing that and I want to uplift that I'm so happy that you had a good time up there.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Thank you, thank you.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: It was, it was, and it was also challenging as well.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Because I think also one thing I- I'm also learning is it's easy for me to call out just the good times and the successes but I think for this conversation of ours to be also very authentic,

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yes.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: I also want to call out that it was also hard because-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Like having not known what it means to to be a team member in a functioning group already, right? Like you- I was the new member showing up in a team that had already been working on a few projects and also just trying to find where I truly fit and where I can contribute the most was challenging at times.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: So two, in as much as I am culturally Kenyan I've also been removed.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yes.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: For a couple years. So I think it's also trying to re-establish, you know what my identity is, going back to my culture and also doing that in a work setting, was also a little bit difficult. Three, there were just things also within my goals that I had set out, that I'd mentioned in my essay before I got accepted and also just goals to keep myself on track, some of those goals were not met. So just like knowing how to pivot or communicate them.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Those were almost a difficult moment so I think also acknowledging that in this podcast session I think is also important. I don't want to just highlight the fact that it was all good.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah. And you know what, that's so real because, this is a side note y'all, me and Mulika went to this really great meeting on it's called decolonizing global health I believe?

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yes. Madhu Pai.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: And yes, and I actually can't remember what the speakers name was, but he had made a great point about at some point as you go higher up in your education you become a double agent where your hand and your like, your spirit, and like basically your spirit and like let's say like a foot just for lack of better phrasing, like half of you is still with the social kind of advocate version of yourself where you're advocating and fighting for all the things that your community or other communities want and need, then the other half of you is like now a part of the community of which you were fighting against and that's hard and that's kind of like not saying that's what you're going through but it's like that experience of like you at some point were getting removed from what was happening in your home country and coming back there was like oh shoot, like this is a new environment I have to learn. And so that's real and that's kind of an experience that I want to highlight as like, like it's it's a very interesting feeling of feeling like a double agent.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yes.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Like, like I'm now slowly becoming a part of the community that I'm kind of like eh about but also socially aware of like okay now I need to be more cognizant of like how removed I am and how do I stay connected and like how do I step back and allow other voices to be heard even though I was previously said voice that needed to be heard. It's just a whole nother, whole other thing.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Only you could have said that the way you said it.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: No, I got it from you. Okay, so.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Hi guys this is Tyra Parrish your host for this episode and we have reached the end of part one of this conversation with this amazing speaker. Don't click out yet because part two of this conversation has already been posted, so go ahead and click over to the next page and don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel and Spotify page.

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Part 2: Do the Change with Mulika Musyimi, MPH

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Hey y'all, welcome to part two of our conversation with our amazing speaker on the Do the Change podcast we're going to hop right back into the conversation. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, Spotify page, and follow us on Instagram @dothechangepodcast.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Okay, so it is time to transition into tea time with Tyra. Basically getting into the nitty-gritties. So, first question is have you encountered any moments of self-doubt or imposter syndrome throughout your academic journey and also outside of that?

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: A thousand percent yes, and I feel like examples are gonna be asked.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah, I mean, I mean if you would like to it's totally up to you what you want to share but if you want to that'd be awesome.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yeah, yeah. I want to zero in on my grad experience because I feel like to date, I have never been exposed to anything as rigorous as a grad degree. So I feel like this was one of the moments in my life that I truly felt, truly stretched, truly challenged, academically, socially, emotionally. And part of it to was maybe just expectations, maybe false expectations, maybe perceived expectations, you know on being accepted to Cal. It's not that I did not know I was capable, I knew that inherently, however when I wasn't performing let's say well in a quiz or a test-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Right.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: In biostatistics or Epi, it was really really hard not to, to feel like it was my fault you know and in as much as the institution, Berkeley School of Public Health offered the resources to tap assistance and help and coaching it's, I still felt that there were moments where I- I struggled and I, I don't know whether I'll be able to ever get an answer to that, maybe part of that is just like part of just the process of just going through hardships, you know? Part of them either outside of me, you know, things that I cannot control. But yeah grad school definitely revealed a lot of those moments and yeah let me pause there for now.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: I mean, I also want to add some context which could be part of, can be another question but our particular program was not diverse. Diverse would be a stretch if I called our program diverse, or our department diverse I'll say that. But I say that to say that I guess I want to not only of the context but also acknowledge that it's a very fair feeling to feel like we don't like something is wrong, or like that, not that we don't belong in this space but like is something wrong when we look left and right and there's not a lot of us there. Like you know what I'm saying? So-

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yes.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah, so I guess I want to add maybe a note of comfort of like I felt the same way, even though I didn't really express it, I felt the same way and part of that was like there wasn't a lot of people to turn to. Granted we did have friends that were great and definitely saved our butts a couple times in classes, but there is something to looking around and seeing people who look like you in the spaces and classes that we had that I wish we had sooner because we did have classes like leadership classes where we saw other folks of color and it was great. And not to take away from the difficulty of those classes but like I think it's a lot. I think there's a lot that that adds to imposter syndrome and one of those things is like visual, like visually I don't see us there. And there are things that could be improved upon about that and it doesn't help when you're kind of beating yourself up and then you're looking out you don't see you there, so. I hear you.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Tyra I- thank you-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: I'm with you. I'm right there.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Thank you for that note of it and also three just thank you for also just re-asking that question in a different format because also maybe something that I was also maybe scared of acknowledging and but now I'm gonna acknowledge it is-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Being the only black male in-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yes.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Our program was hard, and-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yes.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yes while our community is resilient and yes has been minoritized in other spaces as well to where we take on the role of navigating or self-navigating because we have no choice, I feel like that was hard at Berkeley-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: To know that it was hard to realize that and go to your point like when you look around and you feel like no the reality is that you're the only one-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yes, yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: It's hard it's- it's hard and yes that adds to all the other things and all the other students are going through and it's, it's something that for me never felt like something I could say up until that maybe you and I started talking about it.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: And you know, other students who felt comfortable and brave enough to talk about it because I think because we're so used to dealing with it and just putting it on the side-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: We do it and we shouldn't have to do it.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Right and I wanted, I want to add to that of like while our community is resilient, wouldn't it be nice if we can just be at peace like, because I applaud and I love how our communities have transcended and like really survived. But the fact that like, that like, it would just be nice for the things that are causing us to have to be resilient in all aspects of our life, I would love for that to disappear. So we can just exist and be people and like be ourselves and our full Blackness without the stress of like I need to be resilient in this moment because of XYZ reasons. It would, it would just be it'll be a little nice just to not be-

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Just a little.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Just a little nice. Just a little bit.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: A little bit. Thank you so much for that, all right.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah and I also, yeah and I honestly want to just really just, I'm very grateful to have met you, especially with us too, ride or die. But, yeah I really appreciate the space and the insights that you shared in class a lot of times because that was the voice that needed to be heard at that moment. And yeah and I and I hope that the classes after us there's not just only one, it's like shoot, like I pray for 15. A little bit. But yeah, I'm grateful to have met you. That's all I'm gonna say before I start boohoo crying on this podcast. Gonna be like girl, what is this? I took time to acknowledge Mulika because Mulika's presence, when I mean y'all the only one that was Mulika. And he held in commanded space in a very unique and beautiful way so that's Mulika. I'll move to next question before I boohoo cry, so the next question is. I'm gonna pick a little bit of a lighter one, what does representation and diversity in EHS and Global Health mean to you and the work that you plan to continue doing and or start doing?

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Ooh, Tyra.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: That's a lot. There's no right or wrong answer.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: It's a lot, but I will also tearfully begin by saying it was such an honor being in your presence in class and outside class. So thank you, thank you. Thank you for also being just the mouthpiece that many of us relied on sometimes either by default, so thank you for doing that. Diversity for me means many things.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Because I feel like not just even the fact that I am of African roots and you know, I can use that to check a box. It's not that, it's that I have sat at the nexus of just so many meeting points where it's things that are outside of me, it's experiences that I've had that is diversity. And I feel that going back to Madhu Pai's talk which I feel like you cite in the beginning of the talk.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Is, in as much as I am being exposed to these new learnings as a result of accomplishing a public health degree, is I never want to lose sight of why it is that we do the work that we do, because public health is public for a reason. Like we are there for communities, we are there as advocates in every facet or every space we found ourselves in. Be it in a lab, be it in front of a podium, you know be it in a classroom, be it in a podcast, like we are there to hopefully capture the sentiment and the experience of so many people who have gone before us, people who are continually suffering still and their voices their experiences are not highlighted. So for me that is what diversity is and I will pause there for now.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: I mean I agree. I actually have nothing to add, I think you encompassed that perfectly about just different ways to interpret diversity and sometimes I wish other people saw it that way where like diversity isn't just visual, right? It's like it's something a lot deeper than that and it's it could be diversity of people's callings and like what they what they feel like their life purpose is or what their purpose is when you go into public health. Like you said public health is meant to serve the people, and it's like the diversity and when someone says your people, what does that mean to you? That's diverse. Also like diversity of voices and like you said experiences. Representation goes beyond like, like I know we were mentioning earlier about visually, but representation is also like representation of like folks who align on certain ways or certain ways of being, or certain like things we're advocating for. That's representation because like if it's an echo chamber where it's like a whole bunch of Yes Men everybody yeah yeah then it's just kind of like what's going on here? But well, yeah, and we definitely need that more just in general in our environmental health spaces, as we talk about like even like our different like ethnicities of like representation in that sense because environmental health looks a lot different, like you shared in Kenya versus environmental health problems in Oakland. Two different things. Or like Global Health or Global Environmental Health, also very different so I think the way you talked about diversity is perfect, what you shared, that's basically a long-winded long-winded way, long winded answer of I totally agree with what you said.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: No really, I mean I think you have this beautiful way of like you know, making things sound so much more clearer and I really appreciate it-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yours was- pause. Yours was clear. Yours was very clear.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Still-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Let's not say it wasn't clear. Yours was very clear. Pause the tape. It was very clear.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Very clear. Taking that, taking that. But also too, to just give context to environmental health is more than physical.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yes.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Like you know, like you know? Like environmental health is so much more than what we can touch and feel and smell like it's all these other all these other things that affect our senses in so many other ways that sometimes are intangible.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yep.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: And hopefully giving voice to those experiences and those feelings and those harms, you know? Or highlights, because we always we also should be cognizant of the fact that if we're always speaking from like a disparity narrative, you know?

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Say it. Say it.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: You know? It is, it perpetuates these story lines and narratives that are completely incomplete because our communities are you know just as full of like knowledge-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Right.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Knowledge assets that also need to be highlighted, so yes in as much as we are calling out the harms that do happen please also call out like also-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Right. Right and I'm really glad you said that where it's like, where it's like yes things are happening but also like these are ways and very creative and innovative ways of which we are like adapting.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: And original. Some of these things are original.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Original. Right, no for real, yeah. And I also want to take time right now to highlight the ways in which me and Mulika are interpreting environment are very different than the way environmental health sits right now and I want to acknowledge that because me and Mulika both have talked about this and we went into EHS, we're like yeah environment is trees and soil and stuff but it's also this, and that's kind of where the divide in our field is as of right now. It's getting a little better, but there's more, I don't want to call it traditional but I'm going to have to traditional sense of environmental health which is what people think clean air, water, sanitation, hygiene, nature, soil all those good things and that's good. But there's also what Mulika was talking about which is the intangible, like yeah the intangible things like your social environment-

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yes.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Your built environment.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yes.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Like stuff like how we were talking about imposter syndrome and that environment of being in a classroom setting and how that impacts your ability to learn or your health, you know? And what does health mean, like you can really spider web it out. And so I just want to take space to talk about how me and Mulika's interpretation of environment is very wide and broad and honestly it should be. So for folks who are listening or like, well EHS sounds boring trust me, built environment, very interesting stuff, social environment, everything is an environment, you cannot get out of environment. Workplace environment.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yes.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: I can stop. I'll stop. But it's everywhere and it does impact your health and your ability to do whatever you want to do and I also want to talk about Mulika's point about not being communities in a deficit lens, because when you start viewing people through the lens of a deficit or like, like viewing them through like trying to pathologize-

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yes.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: What's happening to them. You're not seeing that community in its full self and its full identity and you're not going to be able to do very impactful work if you're viewing people as kind of like a, through that lens. So I want to add some, Mulika already said it, I just added like a sprinkle. I just added a sprinkle.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: I should enroll in your class right now. Tyra please when when when are we starting this class of yours, please.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Oh Jesus. I would not be a good teacher. They would leave my class. Okay, next question. Could you describe, actually, are there any unique challenges that you face as a student, as an international student, just in general in your journey that you would like to highlight or maybe bring light to that maybe folks are not aware of.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: I feel like when I was a much newer international-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Because I also want to plug the fact that I have transitioned from international student to permanent resident.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Gotcha.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: To naturalized citizen.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Okay. Thank you for, my bad.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: No, no. You didn't know, you were not privy to that information so I just want to acknowledge that I was in international status for a long time so that is like the experience that I will speak to to this particular question is-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Okay.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: I wish I wish more traditional students brought in international students into their fold.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: I see.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Because I think that is the way to get a perspective that is so different and so unique and yes, we may struggle with a few words when we read sentences, we may have just our own lenses that we're coming in with that don't quite mesh, you know, automatically with the US view. So give us some patience and some time but I wish more spaces or more classrooms allowed for a little bit of that. Two, the ability to be able to afford school, just we did not have as many opportunities to tap into funding opportunities without compromising the Visa status that we were on.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Right.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: So it's just one conversation that I feel that I wish could have left the international office. Like I just wish more of just traditional students just knew how much harder it was.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: To to finance our education, three-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Public Health needs to be a stem degree, because if we knew, if we knew that from the get-go and just how crucial that is sometimes to advocating for ourselves and getting visas to going to schools that give us stem degrees, because as the, as the narrative goes is that stem degrees are the future. It would be a lot more easier to just like cut through the fluff and actually just you know, know that the degrees that we're pursuing are just stem degrees from the get-go and I just wish that was communicated a little bit more better in school settings, so.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: You know what, I'm glad you said that because one of- the interesting thing is that public health is not stem but concentrations or specific programs that would fit under Public Health can and have been classified as stem in other universities like epidemiology is a stem program.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Wow.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Not as-well only one program, only one epi program- the one year epi program is stem at Berkeley. But the two-year is not as of right now, which is a whole other thing but for folks who don't know why stem is very important also for international students. It's the difference between getting a one-year work visa and a three-year work visa and the problem is that a lot of jobs or workplaces here are not, most of them are not willing to hire a one-year like, a student or a graduate who has a one-year work visa versus a three year. So it makes it incredibly hard not only for them to get jobs in school and then post school. So that's why the stem program is super important for your international students, but also if it doesn't impact you most people don't know. And I only know because another student at UC Berkeley, her name is Melie, hey Melie. Melie, you know her too, yeah. She took the time to educate me and others about why it was so important. And so shout out to her and the work that she's doing and will continue doing, but yes thank you so much for sharing that insight because it's very important. Yeah, okay.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Thanks for asking the question Tyra.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Huh?

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Thank you for asking that particular question.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Oh, yeah. And thank you so much for sharing just, its, its yeah. It's just not okay. I have a lot of thoughts on how institutions can be better, but I'm gonna save that for something else. Okay last question in the tea time, could you describe a moment or experience that made you particularly aware of cultural differences in academia and outside academia.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Ooh, wow.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: I feel like that's a heavy question.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: That is huge. Question that could go many ways, but-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: This is one thing I think I will say based on my experience is the fact that I've had the privilege of having a U.S education at good schools does not qualify me as a forever expert. So I feel that my, my, the question that I ask myself, well I try to interrogate myself every single time I get into a space is am I listening? Like am I listening? Like am I listening? Because I, my biggest fear is leading with the fact that I am educated and then brandishing my accomplishments just because I have had this exposure to academia and that is my speak, I can speak that comfortably and that's my biggest concern and my biggest check. So I'm probably not even answering your question but-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: No you answered it.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: That stands out for me as far as-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Innate difference that I never want to lose sight of because I feel like there's so much learning and and wisdom that resides outside academia also.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yes.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: And I think it would, it would it is imperative on us to be cognizant of that and cultivate those knowledge basis into our experience

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yes.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Our reservoir and our pots and our wells and I am done.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: What I'm hearing in what you said which is having like always being in a space of like being humble and just having humility and I think that that is so crucial, like in our, in our earlier conversation about being a double agent where it's like am I listening? Because a lot of these folks be hearing, but not listening like the I hear you, no I want you to listen to me. Like I don't, and you know and I think what, what you're saying is that in every space, you kind of check yourself of like how can I be in a space of learning and growth even if quote unquote, I may have the degrees that might say I'm the merit-wise, I may be viewed-

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yes.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: As the most qualified, but really, always being in a space of learning, because you can always learn from somebody any age, any demographic, you can always learn and I think that that is something that a lot of high-level institutions, you kind of see that, whatever light switch flicked off. Like they think because I go to XYZ school, I worked at XYZ place for 10 plus years, I know more than you. And it's just like I, I actually don't believe that. But I do acknowledge that I definitely used to be that way and it wasn't until literally my uncle, I'll give my uncle a shout out, he one time told me he was like, oh so you think because you have this you know more than people, you know? And I was just kind of like oh. And he was like, it was a, it was a side note argument with my sister and he was like you think because you're older than her you know more and that's not always the case. And I was just like oh, and it was just like a very gentle redirect but that's translated into everything and so I really love how you were just talking about being humble in all spaces even though age is very different from this, but it's the same message of like remaining humble and you don't know who you can learn from and who it's gonna come from.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Yes.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Right.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Your uncle.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Shout out to my uncle man, he is, he's a funny guy. I think I'll share for me and I'm sharing this, because it specifically relates to you Mulika, I don't even know if you do it, but when I first met Mulika he, Mulika, any person he talks to it doesn't matter if you were talking five minutes ago, he always leads with a greeting. He always says hi insert whoever's name, and it's something very small but I think that that intention of acknowledging someone first before speaking or asking or how their day is you're always kind of like hey Tyra, duhduhduhduhduh, and it's something you do all the time never failed, and I think that for me not that that was a negative but it was just like a you know what? Like I should be greeting people I shouldn't just be walking up to them talking about hey, duhduhduhduh. That's a lot but I think that acknowledgment is something that's very small but that was the first thing I noticed about Mulika. And so that was something cultural that I realized that I don't do. But it's definitely something I incorporate now, where before I talk to anyone I'm always like hey, like hey something. Hey duhduhduh. And yeah so that's something I actually learned from you that I don't know if you knew, but I picked up on it and I've incorporated it into my life, so yeah. Thank you.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: What words. I cannot respond, but thank you.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: And yeah. It's, I yeah that's something I picked up and I will never let it go, but it's it's very subtle of acknowledging someone, hi, hi. And then you know speaking to them, so. All righty, so.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Thank you so much Tyra.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Aww. Love you Mulika. So, we are sadly coming to a close to this amazing conversation and so I want to thank Mulika for being here, for sharing his experience, just in academia and outside and the work that he's doing, and also want to thank folks for listening in. And so I want to end with some questions about self-care and any closing thoughts or advice you may have for folks who are listening. So, first question is how do you stay grounded with your community?

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Tyra you ask some big questions.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: I know. Need to lowball, like what's your favorite color?

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: I will try to do it honor, so I belong to various communities.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yes.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: So obviously, how I deal with them is a bit different, but some of the things that I do that stand out for me are I love voice notes, and voice memos.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yes.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: More like obsessed, so.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: And I feel, no, most of the time when people text me I respond with a voice note because there's something so personal and it's like a voicemail but not, and sometimes you can ad-lib, not correct a mistake, and just kind of roll into it and you the beauty of it, you actually get to save it, and keep it, and listen to it again. So I I feel like it's a habit that I that I picked up through covid, two I enjoy I enjoy like getting on like we used to have, again these are all covid habits because let's the world changed. So just having scheduled talks with just like certain people in my life and those moments for me have been enriching particularly like if they, if they're not just like moments of just like good things that are happening, just getting to know like how your people are doing at whatever stage they are in life and yes, some of those moments are not regular. I'm not saying that I do this regularly, no, but when those moments do happen I cherish them and they help catapult me to the next moment. Yeah, recently I heard someone like say they write letters every weekend, like actual physical letters. I'm not there yet.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Oh, okay.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: It is a goal, maybe one person a weekend, it is a goal. I'm not.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Oh cool, okay.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Okay?

Tyra Parrish, MPH: No like the letter thing threw me, like oh that's really cool.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: I know. And this is like tech.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Oh I know that person when they received that letter feel really special because that's amazing.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Not there yet though.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah not there yet.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Our audiences, I am crawling.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Okay, Im gonna a- actually I'm gonna ask the next, so, can you share a personal story or experience where self-care played a pivotal role in a major life decision or a transition?

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Ooh, where self care-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: If not, I do have a backup that's a lot easier that-

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: What's the back up? I'm curious.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: The backup one is, what are some daily or weekly self-care routines? We can do that one.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Let's do that one.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Let's do that one. Let's do that one.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Let's do that one.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Let's do that one.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: I picked this actually from Trevor-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Oh cool.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: My mentor from UCSB. So he says that where he sits, like his work station, he has letters and essays for the things that he got admitted to. So like let's say like his statement of purpose, you know ,when he got admitted to his PhD program or like a certain fellowship, and also just things that he didn't succeed in, like things he failed in so he has this like wall of like just pieces that you know people have either recognized him for, like little notes. And I've actually replicated that for myself at home.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Oh.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: And I look at it, and I this is where I do my work this is where like I, I like to sit underneath all these clippings, partly just to remind me of just the journey. And one of them is like my admission to Berkeley Public Health, like I have that letter just, I just like to look at like the statement of purpose like what did I actually say for them to actually admit me.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: And sometimes I read parts of it, sometimes I read the whole of it.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: It before I have to go speak, you know? And I also read things that I accepted to just because these things fuel my drive, my ambition, and my fire.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Because we're all the sum of like all the good things and the bad things that happened to us and I try, I try to be as authentic as possible like in my storytelling, so I bring these things with me so that's one thing I do. Two, I enjoy being fit, so just like having that spare hour-

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Yeah.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Every day just to like run, walk, lift, something, helps me.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Right.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: So and I eat at home. So like I think the benefit of growing up in a single parent home was learning how to cook early and my cooking obviously does not compare to my mom and my aunties, but I cook and I eat and I enjoy it and I self-care and self-love that way, so.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Ooh, well thank you Mulika, for just sharing a part of you and your journey, yeah and I want to thank, I want to thank folks for listening and hopefully you got picked up one of Mulika's many gems. And yeah, thank you so much Mulika. Stay tuned for our next episode.

Mulika Musyimi, MPH: Thank you so much Tyra for being so kind and gracious and for holding space for me and so many other people that came before me. You are the best.

Tyra Parrish, MPH: Thank you. All right, see y'all soon, bye.