African Episodes

Overview: We sit down with Jean Jacques, physician, community organizer to explore how the long and complex history of the Democratic Republic of Congo—including colonialism, resource-driven conflict, and trauma—shapes the healthcare experience of Congolese immigrants and refugees in the U.S. We talk through the diversity of Congolese identities, languages, and traditions, and examine how food, faith, and community form the backbone of cultural resilience, even as new challenges like diabetes, h...

Summary: This episode will review the complexities of managing latent tuberculosis within the Congolese community, discussing the critical need for cultural sensitivity and community engagement when addressing latent TB. With insights from Dr. Jean Jacques and host Duncan Reid, we unpack healthcare providers' challenges, from bridging language and cultural gaps to tackling the stigma associated with treatment. Our conversation highlights the vital role of Congolese clinicians, the importance of ...

This is part II of our conversation with Ahmed Ali about Somalis in Washington. To hear the introduction to this topic and the full guest intro, please listen to the previous episode. Ahmed Ali is a pharmacist by profession and the executive director of the Somali Health Board. In Part II of this conversation, we talk about what to be aware of during a patient encounter like naming and traditional clothing counseling about nutrition in a culturally appropriate way review a common supplement used...

Ahmed Ali is a pharmacist by profession, one of the founders and the current executive director of the Somali Health Board (SHB), a nonprofit organization that works to address health disparities within the Somali/East African community. He is an active member within the Somali community, with emphasis on immigrant/refugee health issues both locally and abroad. Today, in Part 1 of this conversation, we talk about the history of Somalia including the Somali Bantu population the importance of unde...

Overview: Rahel Schwartz was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and lived in Kenya and Arkansas before making her way to Seattle in 1994. She's currently the Program Executive for Health Equity at the YMCA of Greater Seattle and helps design and implement culturally and linguistically tailored chronic disease prevention programs. In this episode, we talk about the history of Ethiopian immigration in Washington, the problem of brain waste making a traditional Ethiopian diet healthier the role of reli...