Dr. Michael Chung is an infectious disease and internal medicine physician with an MD from the University of Chicago and a Masters of Public Health from Harvard University School of Public Health where he also completed his internship and residency. He and his family have lived in Nairobi for 18 years and he is a Professor at and Chair of the Department of Medicine at Aga Kahn University in Nairobi and an Affiliate Professor at the University of Washington, Seattle. Dr. Chung joins Up/Root today...
Mar 31, 2020•47 min
It is an absolute honor to welcome Freweini Mebrahtu to Up/Root! Freweini is a global leader in menstrual health management and CNN's 2019 Hero of the Year for her work to eliminate the stigma associated with periods and her 15-year campaign to provide women and girls in Ethiopia equitable access to reusable pads. She started Mariam Seba Sanitary Products Factory in Mekelle, Ethiopia in 2005 and her factory is staffed by over 60 women who now produce over 1 million reusable sanitary pads annuall...
Mar 07, 2020•51 min
Author and professor Samual Nyanchoga joins Up/Root to talk about why Black History Month still matters, Black historical heroes and how Blackness is a universal civilization. Dr. Nyanchoga is a Dean of Faculty at the Catholic University of East Africa and Fulbright Scholar (Boston College) and is the author of seven books: Author of Aspects of African History, Contemporary Issues in Kenyan History, Citizenship, Ethnicity and Politics of Belonging in Kenya, Governance in Africa: Historical and C...
Feb 27, 2020•40 min
In part 2 of our conversation, some of the Too Early for Birds family, Ngartia, Abu, Mercy and Mugambi, talk more about the role gender, language and joy played in creating this three-hour epic story of one of Kenya's native sons and heroes, Tom Mboya. We talk Jay-Z, we cry, we laugh and by the end - they offer us hope for the future and clear direction on how to support the arts and make sure these stories keep getting told. Thank you TEFB for letting me fangirl for 2hours with you! This episod...
Feb 14, 2020•56 min
Tom Mboya is a hero of Kenyan history and in October 2019, the Too Early for Birds storytelling theatre production group told Mboya's story in the "dopest, funkiest ways you can imagine." This is the fifth show they have put on in Nairobi and their performance was so popular they had to add four more shows in November 2019. The Tom Mboya edition was transformative, electric and challenged all of us to think and act more consciously based on the lessons of history. We go deep in this conversation...
Feb 14, 2020•59 min
Olympic marathon gold-medalist and world record-holder Eliud Kipchoge is a living legend and a global inspiration for his incredible feats of athletic dominance. In October, he became the first person to run a sub-2hour marathon and captured the imagination of an international audience with his endurance, tenacity and brilliant run. Kipchoge shares with Up/Root how he trains, who his heroes are, why mental agility is as important as physical strength and why he believes that sports can be an ins...
Jan 30, 2020•22 min
Huwaida, Sam and Jason share how their identities, linked to language, religion and race, have affected their Kenyan and global lives. They answer questions about privilege, gaps that exist between generations and how they respond when someone asks, "are you really Kenyan?" Up/Root is grateful to Trademark Hotel in Village Market that sponsored this live recording on December 11, 2019. Sound recording and editing provided by Bakachi Akatsa for BSTU Nairobi (bstu.av@gmail.com). Photography courte...
Dec 16, 2019•57 min
When Dr. Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October, many Ethiopians and Eritreans marked the historic moment with pride and celebration. It was also an opportunity for me to re-visit the shared and intertwined history of the two sister countries with my friend Moges. We talk, laugh and discuss our Eritrean and Ethiopian identities and examine the important moment where our histories diverge. I learned so much and was reminded that coffee will always be ...
Dec 03, 2019•45 min
Stephen Ucembe and Ruth Wacuka grew up in "orphanages" despite having parents. Their story is true of 80-90% of children living in orphanages and children's homes: they have a living parent. Well-meaning and good-intentioned people like you and I keep children's homes and orphanages in business by volunteering there, patronizing them and contributing money and resources to their work, often rather than supporting vulnerable families. In today's show, Stephen and Ruth share what it was like to gr...
Nov 14, 2019•53 min
Monica, Aluong and Andrew are South Sudanese nationals and scholarship recipients of the Student Refugee Program from World University Service of Canada. In this episode, they share insights from their past and present lives and hopes for their future - just weeks before beginning their higher education in Canada. And Up/Root was fortunate to talk to Aloung again after she arrives in Canada! She shares her first impressions, favorite foods and what she misses most about home. This episode was pr...
Oct 24, 2019•1 hr 10 min
Sippy Chadha is the writer, producer and director of the award-winning film Subira: Kenya's entry to the 2019 Academy Awards. Subira tells the story of a young Muslim woman who is pursuing her dreams, defying tradition and embracing love. Sippy shares with us her journey of taking Subira from being the first Kenyan short film to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008 to a feature-length film in 2019. We talk the role of tradition in modern society, the multiple identities that informed ...
Oct 10, 2019•42 min
Four out of 5 women and girls in Kenya lack access to sanitary pads and health education. In the US, 35 states tax tampons as a luxury item while Viagra is tax-free. Project Imagine is a group of high school students in Nairobi, Kenya, led by Selah Piper and Isabella Bunkers, who are working to eliminate the shame and stigma attached to menstruation by distributing sanitary pads to poor girls who would otherwise have limited access. In addition, for the last four years, they have been visiting t...
Sep 22, 2019•47 min
Wanjira Mathai is an environmental activist and Chair of the Wangari Maathai Foundation. As the daughter of Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai and Board member of the Green Belt Movement, she is carrying forward her mother's work and is striving to preserve and honor her legacy. Wanjira shares with us what she learned from her mother, how she "keeps at" the work of enviornmental justice and her vision for the Wangari Maathai Foundation (http://www.wangarimaathai.org/). This episode was recored...
Jul 31, 2019•50 min
Get rid of your assumptions, ideas and what you think you know about refugee communities. Instead, listen with an open heart and mind to student refugees as they share about their lives, experiences and hopes for the future in this special live episode of Up/Root. In this honest and complex conversation, they offer us joy, courage, a few dope bars and the inspiring plans they have to change the world. This live episode is a collaboration between Up/Root and UNICEF Kenya in honor of World Refugee...
Jun 20, 2019•1 hr 11 min
Latanya Mapp Frett is the incoming President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women and a lifelong human rights activist who has worked in over ten countries. She is the past-President of Planned Parenthood International and in her storied and dynamic career has worked tirelessly to access power and justice for women and vulnerable communities across the globe and at critical moments in history. She is also a daughter, mother, partner and passionate feminist who believes the future is bright and t...
Jun 13, 2019•1 hr 7 min
Living mobile and global lives as members of military, diplomatic, private sector or humanitarian service families comes with many wonderful benefits. But often – it does not come with professional opportunities for one partner in the relationship due to work permits, language barriers or visa restrictions. Join Hanne, Donovan and Susanne, all members of Here We Are Kenya (a chapter of Here We Are Global) as we discuss the term no one likes and how they have navigated identity in their years as ...
May 29, 2019•1 hr
Transformational storytellers and artists Usifu Jalloh, Khanyisa Sigwanda and Alim Kamara share with Lilly how ancient, culturally-relevant and modern stories connect us to our roots and why they are essential to the future of the continent. Listen in to our conversation about about the power of stories and hear the tales of Truth, Mr. Cat and an impromptu story at the end that will "inspire greatness and preserve tradition." You can find more of our guests' work below: Usifu Jalloh at: www.usif...
May 03, 2019•50 min
Ruth E. Van Reken, one of the leading experts on Cross-Cultural (CCKs) and Third Culture kids (TCKs) sits down with Lilly and discusses how parents, teachers and adults can best support students who are living "among worlds." How do we help students who are the "stayers" in a transient community? What are we learning about the brain science regarding mobliity? Are we all just CCKs? This episode is edited by Dan Adachi. Up/Root jingle is composed and performed by Selah Piper. Resources referenced...
Apr 20, 2019•1 hr 3 min
"Third culture kids" (or TCKs) are defined as children who are not growing up in either of their parent's home country or culture; they may be the children of diplomats, business people or development professionals and as such, find themselves moving often and living between cultures. Today's episode features the voices of six students: Adrian, Isaiah, Juliane, Lauren, Roman and Sahara and two adult TCKs, Alicia and Kieke, who share wise and witty insights into the lives they've lived across ove...
Apr 05, 2019•1 hr 16 min
In many African countries, 2019 has been declared the Year of Return to honor our ancestors who were stolen from the continent 400 years ago. In Kenya, a panel of African-Americans - Rebecca, Robyn, Curtis and Ben - share their experiences of coming "home" to Africa. Their stories capture the tension, the joy, the responsibility and often the duplicity that still remains for Black people worldwide. This episode was recorded at Pawa254 (pawa254.org)and is edited by Kate Stephens. Music by Selah P...
Mar 09, 2019•1 hr 19 min
Do we need heroes? Is curiosity underrated? How do we hold space for those we disagree with? How are colorism and racism intertwined? How do we resist the myth of entitlement and privilege? What does the commodification of black feminism look like? What is our plan for justice? So many questions - and many complex, nuanced answers with the South African author and voice for justice, Sisonke Msimang whose writing focuses on race, gender and democracy. Her book - Always Another Country - can be fo...
Jan 27, 2019•55 min
Where is home? If you have never lived where you were born, or your kids were born in a different country, or if you are a refugee or immigrant: where do you call home? A once simple question is tackled by four dynamic women who offer their own wisdom, humor and insights into this important question. And at the end offer a good piece of advice for all of us to consider.
Jan 06, 2019•42 min
Maimouna, Johnson, Ruth and Troy all live in Nairobi, Kenya but have identities rooted in multiple countries and cultures. Circumstances and choices have caused them to make decisions to leave home, opportunities or countries - often at significant cost to themselves and their families. In this episode, each of them answer the question: why did you leave? (This episode is dedicated to my friend, George Wolf. We miss you already.)
Dec 15, 2018•47 min
