The More Sibyl Podcast

부르키나파소 과학자 되기| The One with Farida Yada - Being Burkinabe and an Immigrant Reproductive Health Scientist: Episode 22 (2022)

The More Sibyl Podcast Presents:

This week’s guest, Farida, is from Burkina Faso, a country with the highest population of elephants in Western Africa, also known as the “land with the honest men.” She speaks a little Korean; you already know how special Korea is to me.

She describes herself to be a daughter of God, a wisdom seeker, and a soldier of Yahweh. An international scholar with a master’s degree in public health and health services research, focusing on maternal and child health, especially in African populations. She is interested in immigrant reproductive health.

Farida spent her first seventeen years in Burkina Faso and took us through her experiences when she was there and even her perspectives after she left for the USA. Like every African country, Burkina Faso has its own distinct challenges, especially as they still have a lot of allegiance to its colonizers, France. From winning awards for being the most peaceful country in Africa, the country, painfully, has become a shadow of herself. We have similar issues between Nigeria and Burkina Faso and explored these areas. 

She shared her experience with moving to the USA at the young age of 17, the culture shocks, how she has been navigating dealing with personal issues, and her perspective of the USA since she moved here 12 years ago. 

Farida is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Maternal and Child Health, and she is an overachiever. She shares her educational journey, research, work, and motivations with us.

사명을 가진 남자| The One With Dr. Henry Olamiju - Man On A Mission: Episode 21 (2022)

The More Sibyl Podcast Presents: 

사명을 가진 남자| The One With Dr. Henry Olamiju - Man On A Mission: Episode 21 (2022)

In this episode, we have Dr. Henry Olamiju - our dear friend from Uni days! It’s also the first podcast he’s featured on, so yay!

Henry, a minister of the gospel and medic, grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, and currently lives in the UK. He’s the first child of three boys and graduated from the University of Lagos, where Ayomide and I met him independently. Over the last twelve years, he’s worked in medical missions and has held many leadership positions in the last twenty-six years. 

He shared how Lagos was when he was growing up in the 80s, giving us heartwarming stories of his experiences and the difference from what it is today. He gave a few examples of what amazed him about being in the UK, the cultural and fundamental problems and challenges his home country has, and how he thinks they can be solved. We also dwelled on the grief that comes with living abroad.

We talked about punctuality in various places in the world, contrasting how these countries have developed promptness or not and the things we have lost due to migrating to the West.  How has he been building a community and bonding in a new country? How has he been raising his family with intentionality in the UK.

미국에서 남아프리카로| The One With Essence - From New York to Johannesburg: Episode 20 (2022)

The More Sibyl Podcast Presents: The One With Essence - From New York to Johannesburg

How does one buy the house of their dreams in New York and then suddenly move to Johannesburg? That’s Essence Hayes' story. Essence is a returning guest who I met through a community of podcasters on Facebook and who has helped me with Livestream questions during the pandemic. 

Born and bred in New York, she recently moved to Johannesburg, South Africa, after first going on a yearly trip with friends and then being convinced by one of them to move. In this episode, she takes us through why she moved and her experience since, especially as a Black American in a country like South Africa, where identity politics is hugely relevant. 

We discussed the difference in cost of living between New York and Johannesburg, the challenges in both cities, and how she has been building a community for herself and her child in a new environment. 

 

Read blog here: https://mosibyl.medium.com/from-new-york-to-johannesburg-a-move-to-the-motherland-7184b6222e7e 

나이지리아에서 캐나다로| The One With Lamide - From Nigeria to Canada and Other Stories: Episode 19 (2022)

The More Sibyl Podcast Presents: 

나이지리아에서 캐나다로| The One With Lamide - From Nigeria to Canada and Other Stories: Episode 19 (2022)

Hi everyone! Welcome to this episode. Today, I have a returning guest and a special one at that - Lamide! She was on the podcast some years ago. She is someone who, despite all she has been through, still chooses to be joyful. She is a dentist, entrepreneur, event planner, and newbie tech sis whom we met in Nigeria in medical school and are currently in different countries. She lives in Canada with her family, and it’s been a good experience for her. 

How has she been settling in, making friends, building a reliable and supportive community, and her career? How was she able to move to Canada during the pandemic? How has she been dealing with loneliness, moving from a sociable environment to a more independent one? Or the type of loneliness that came from the pandemic? How did she deal with the step down moving from Nigeria to Canada? 

Lamide has been through a lot - losing her parents being the most painful of all, and she shared how she’s been able to rise above everything and what keeps her going. 

미스 마블| The One With Munjireen - On Life As A Muslim Bangladeshi-American Academic: Episode 18 (2022)

The More Sibyl Podcast Presents: 

Munjireen is a dear friend and brilliant colleague whose degrees and work experience speak for her. She is passionate about neuropsychology, mental health, and wellness.

Munjireen shared her experience as a second-generation Muslim Bangladeshi- American living in America with her parents and the culture shocks and differences she went through. We saw these similarities even as Nigerians. 

We learn why her parents migrated to the USA, her experiences as an academic and how those have been shaped by her religion and nationalities, and how and why she is in public health, mental health, and refugee care. 

Oh, and listen to how she and Ayomide gushed on and on about Ms. Marvel and all things nerdy!

Listen to the full episode here.

 

Read blog here: https://mosibyl.medium.com/life-as-a-muslim-bangladeshi-american-academic-458b4f4af7dc

 

아프리카의 아름다움과 성장| The One With Muloongo - On The Beauty and Growth of Africa: Episode 17 (2022)

The More Sibyl Podcast Presents: 

We have a returning guest on the podcast! Muloongo was last with us in 2018, and it’s great to have her back.

Muloongo is a fierce advocate for Africa, a pan-African thought leader who blogs about African and global issues on her platform, ONGOLO, and her mission is to change the narrative about Africa as a continent with little to offer. Her blog provides news, insights, and analysis on business, economy, lifestyle, people, politics, sports, and travel. She has a global audience of people with a passion for Africa. She also has experience across many sectors, including oil and gas and management consulting, from her 17 years in the corporate space. She shared what she’s learned about switching and growing careers. 

Muloongo also shared her experience since returning from Singapore to  London and the other seven countries she has lived in, and the inspiration behind ongolo.com.  As African arts and entertainment go ever more mainstream and global appreciation for Africa grows, there remains more work to be done, and we discussed with Muloongo about Africa’s politics and passivity, ideas and challenges, leadership, and strategies, and what each of us can to do help our continent more influential. We also hear about her books, career, and what she’s working on next. 

Read blog here: https://mosibyl.medium.com/the-beauty-and-growth-of-africa-98f3f74d171c 

 

시간에 춤을 추는 방법| The One With Jenim Dibie - On How To Dance in Time: Episode 15 (2022)

The More Sibyl Podcast Presents: 

 

Our guest on this episode is my friend Jenim, a poet and a writer who I first met in college. She has written over 500 poems, two poetry anthologies, and just released her third book, How To Dance In Time. Jenim started writing early on and has since made a name for herself. She likes to read, dance, and watch The Office in her spare time. She dreams of one day living in a house by the sea with ten dogs and having written a hundred books. 

Jenim has used her writing to process her negative experiences of verbal abuse, pain, and life pressures and found succor, strength, and expression by sharing her heart through her words.  We talked about her journey as a poet and writer, her struggles with depression, the fame that comes with the peaks and the lows that come with the valleys, and how she has been able to navigate both. She shared about writers who inspire her and those who were overwhelmed by their “demons” and how she works to avoid ending up like them. 

 

Jenim has found joy, which has positively affected her art. How did she do this? Listen to the full episode here.

 

Also, happy birthday, Jenim!!!

Read blog here:  https://mosibyl.medium.com/how-to-dance-in-time-d5ebe5706a1b

나이지리아 한국어 선생님| The One With Nneka - Korean As A Second Culture: Episode 14 (2022)

The More Sibyl Podcast Presents: 

In this episode, we are talking about a topic dear to my heart–- the Korean language and culture! Esther Nneka Nnanna describes herself as “a struggling writer, digital entrepreneur, and culture enthusiast”. She’s also a content creator, Korean speaker and teacher, artist, and self-taught multi-lingual. 

As a recent learner of Korean myself, I especially love seeing someone from my home country share this same love. I met her via her delightful Instagram handle, where she parodies Korean culture. 

Nneka explored with us similarities between Korean culture and her own native Igbo culture as well as what aspects she believes Nigerian cultures can learn from. She took us on a step-by-step process of how she learned the language. We also explored how Korean leadership was deliberate about the directives, initiatives, and laws that help not just preserve but also profitably export their culture.

 

Read blog post here: https://mosibyl.medium.com/another-korean-speaking-nigerian-606cceafa5fc 

특출난 아버지| The One With Rafiat and Her Dad - Exceptional and Exemplary Fatherhood: Episode 13 (2022)

The More Sibyl Podcast Presents: The One With Rafiat and Her Dad - Exceptional and Exemplary Fatherhood

For our annual Father’s Day giveaway, we asked our Instagram followers to share one extraordinary thing their father had done for them. The winner was Rafiat Akinwande, an ambitious Nigerian I have known from the African podcast community for a while now and looked forward to having on the show—having her dad as well was a welcome extra!

Rafiat talked about her dad, Mr. Kola Akinwande, with such love, honor, and endearment. One significant thing he did for her: because he had just lost his job when she gained admission into a good secondary school, he sold his shares to support her! In Ayomide’s words, “that is literally investing into your child!” 

He, in turn, had many positive words to say about Rafiat. He also shared the values that guide him and how he tried to instill these values in his children. He also shared how his girls are especially dear to him because traditional culture has tended to think less of the girl child. 

Rafiat also shared her favorite memories with her dad and the values and lessons she imbibed from him. We hope you will be as inspired as we were!

For women who didn’t have a good relationship with their dads, for fathers who didn’t get it right in raising their kids right from the onset, our dear Mr. Akinwande has a few words that will make all the difference for you.

 

Read blog here: https://mosibyl.medium.com/exceptional-exemplary-fatherhood-dc8948c5b6c2

 

가장 사랑하는 아빠| The One With Dad - Daddy Dearest: Episode 12 (2022)

The More Sibyl Podcast Presents: The One With Dad - Daddy Dearest

Still in honor of Father’s Day this month, I interviewed my dad (yet again). As Ayomide said, “he is the most important father on this show,’, and I couldn’t agree more. 

My dad is the most requested guest on the show. This is his third time on (the other two being in 2017 and 2018). This time, he shared his childhood experiences and how they formed his parenting style and his passion for education. Despite being born in a time when it wasn’t considered a priority, he struggled to obtain a solid academic foundation and did the same for us, and he views this as his greatest accomplishment. 

Dad went ahead to share his thoughts on how busy dads can make time with their family without their work suffering. In many ways, this episode continues our previous conversations and I hope you enjoy it as much as Ayomide and I did. 

 

• Read blog post here: https://mosibyl.medium.com/daddy-dearest-264cf3af4b57