When Dr. Khadija Owusu speaks about leadership, she speaks from a place of deep understanding and commitment to change. Her work with Akaya Foundation in Ghana is redefining what it means to empower young girls through education and leadership development. Join us as she shares her experiences and the profound work of Melanin Medics in the UK, highlighting the importance of diversity and support from the ground up.
Navigating the nonprofit sector is no easy feat, and this episode doesn't shy away from the trials faced by those on a mission to serve. From the reliance on archaic communication methods to misconceptions about funding and professionalism, Dr. Owusu and her team's dedication shines through. We unravel the stories of resilience in the face of societal pressures, emphasizing the influential power of role models, and the role mentorship plays in inspiring and uplifting the next generation of leaders.
Wrap up your earbuds for a closing chapter that connects deeply with anyone who's ever faced obstacles or carried the weight of expectation. Dr. Owusu recounts her personal journey, drawing on experiences from her recent trip to Ghana and the preparation for her TEDx talk. We delve into the lessons learned from setbacks and the pursuit of purpose, rounding off with an invitation to continue the conversation and support the vital work of Akaya Foundation. Don't just listen; join us in this movement of empowerment and leadership.
Watch the video episode of this on YouTube - https://linktr.ee/konnectedminds
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
When we say leadership, it's not you come
and we want to make you a leaderof however many people,
leadership for yourself, and ifyou are able to lead yourself,
you will be able to lead others.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Number one business and self-development podcast,
Connected Minds podcast.
Humanity cannot forget itsleaders and dreamers, and these
are the people who dare tochange the world.
Today's conversation with drkadija it's about leadership and
how she's doing amazing work inghana through her foundation
(00:35):
akaya.
You're welcome once again thankyou for having me yes, how you
been been good, not too bad,very busy, but yeah yeah, um,
when we're speaking, you'resaying that there's a lot of
things going on right now yourtimetable?
yeah, it's full, very full andmy time here is quite short
you've got some experience umngos yeah, for profit, yeah um
(00:58):
through melanin medics.
Now what role do you play um inthat organization that allowed
you to be able to set up acareer?
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Yeah.
So Melanin Medics, I like tosay, is one of my adopted babies
, initially started by my reallygood friend, dr Alamadey Dada,
who we were all medical studentsat the time.
I think we were halfway throughour five six year program and
in the UK it's known that, Iguess there, there's a lack of
diversity amongst blackhealthcare professionals in
(01:27):
medicine.
So when we were in medicalschool you can literally count
on your hands the number ofmedical students that would be
in the lecture hall with youthat were also black.
So she, I guess, poured outthat sort of pain into a blog
called Millennium Medics andlater on, I think, there were
about five of us.
Not too long after she startedthe blog, five of us came
(01:50):
together and we thought, okay,let's make something out of this
, turn it into an organizationwhere we help support other
individuals like ourselves whoaspire to become doctors in the
UK, help them move their journeyinto medicine.
Initially it started off withoutreach.
Let's simply go into schools andshow up that, yes, we are, we
look like you and we are on ourway to becoming doctors, so
(02:12):
definitely you can do it too,targeting schools that have a
high ethnic minority population,um in lower, I guess,
socioeconomic areas withinlondon.
And fast forward.
This year, I believe we turnedseven years old and well the
amount of work we do just goesbeyond helping getting students
in it helped.
We assist medical students, weassist doctors, we advocate on
(02:33):
various issues relating to racehealth inequalities within the
UK.
We work with some of themedical giants in the UK and
serving on their advisory boards.
So yeah, it's been a journey,but my role at the moment, aside
being one of the co-founders,is director of programs, so all
our mentorship programs,outreach workshops, falls under
(02:54):
my umbrella no, that's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Um, you guys have done amazing.
Thank you, you know, in ghana,right, I've heard stories of,
you know, teachers sleeping withyoung girls for sanitary pads,
and you know this is awful.
There's a lot of things goingon in the schools.
Now, what made you focus onyoung girls, especially for your
(03:17):
foundation, akaya?
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Yeah, I think generally, you know you can
include Melanin Medics, theMelanin Medics experience.
But I think over the years,just since I guess I was young,
I've always had an affinity orbeen drawn towards helping
people, but especially youngpeople.
I think that time period isvery crucial for, I guess,
(03:41):
creating a very strong, strongfoundation, creating positive
imprints into the minds of youngpeople, because that will then
determine their trajectorymoving forwards.
I mean, we can also apply it to, I guess, how we function as
adults.
Some of our previousexperiences, especially within
childhood, have a really, Iguess, have a huge impact in the
(04:01):
way we navigate our lives asadults.
We can especially say that withsome of the traumas that some
people may experience.
But when you look at, I guess,individuals who may have
committed certain crimes or needcertain I guess therapy or help
a lot of the issues stem fromwithin childhood.
So that time period is verycrucial, which is why, at Akai,
(04:24):
we focus on young women andgirls, especially because we
know that young females hereexperience a lot of challenges
you mentioned.
You know, access to sanitarypads is still an issue here in
Ghana, unfortunately, and otherparts of the world, and that, I
guess, has a knock on effect ongirls accessing education, going
to school.
And if you don't have thateducation, how are you then able
(04:46):
to, I guess, have a fulfillingcareer in life, or even have the
education to know what's wrong,what's right aside, you know,
getting a job and having abright future ahead?
Speaker 2 (04:58):
interesting how you mentioned education because, um,
you know, traditionally right,um, especially around here,
women were, you know, made to beat home, um, helped their
husbands in most cases.
I remember my grandma, you know, farming husband, you know
there wasn't really, uh, properdevelopment in terms of
(05:18):
education for the ladies yeahnow.
My mom doesn't have very goodeducation, neither does my
grandma.
In fact, within our family, thewomen don't have very high
education.
They only started from our time.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
From the millennials.
So you know how is Akaya goingto help.
You know changing thatnarrative, because it is
changing rapidly.
Yeah Around here.
What's your foundation's role?
Speaker 1 (05:47):
I mean that as well definitely, I think, uh, things
are all times are very muchchanging where we are now sort
of starting to see women, Iguess, on the equal playing
field.
Yeah, it's not to say that, youknow, because women get an
education, some of them willneglect, I guess, the
traditional roles that they mayhave.
A woman can do it.
However, we just believe thatwomen shouldn't be shut off to
(06:10):
the opportunity of gettingaccess to an education and also
fulfilling her potential dreamsthat she may have.
So how we play a role in that,we sort of, I guess, fight for
that cause across the variousprojects that we have, um, and I
guess, to name the projectsthat we have, we have the like
her project and that's theinitial um secondary school, or
(06:33):
senior high school, as you guyssay, or junior high school,
basic school workshops that wedeliver to the young girls in
the schools and that focuses onmenstrual hygiene.
It focuses on communication, itfocuses on confidence, because,
aside, you know, in order toempower a young woman, you need
to have, or you need to meet herbasic needs, and if getting
(06:54):
access to a sanitary pad is herbasic needs and she's not being
able to have that, what'sconfidence, what's communication
?
You don't care about that.
She needs the pads for herbasic rights, you know, as a
woman.
So we make sure that we tacklethe two and through those
workshops that we do.
And today, I think you know, wewent to do about 200 girls last
week in a central region and todate we've done just over 3,000
(07:17):
girls across Ghana through that, like her projects.
Secondly, last summer welaunched an internship program.
You know, um, it's young women,especially in higher education
or tertiary education in Ghana,don't have access to certain
opportunities, um, I guess,internships and if you do,
(07:38):
you're not likely going to bepaid.
So we thought why not set up aprogram where we can actually
have a small number of ladiescome on boards to actually help
us not only run Akaya butexperience a very intense
mentorship leadership programtwo and a half months.
Aside that, you also have towork together to propose a
(07:59):
social action project that canpotentially be invested into.
So we had five young ladies, um, from various universities, uh,
join us fulfilling differentroles, working very hard.
It was very intense.
They, if you ask them, theysaid, oh my gosh, like tough
experience, but they enjoyed it.
It's that sort of push that youneed um, and following on from
(08:21):
then we have project AC Issy.
Myself, I'm a diaspora.
I wasn't born and raised inGhana, which is a very key point
in relation to the foundation,because I don't know what it's
like to be a young girl in Ghana.
I don't know and I can onlyassume how it feels to be a
young girl in Ghana.
I can only assume what you need.
So I make sure I place emphasison the team who have such lived
(08:45):
experiences to suggest okay,this is what it's like, this is
what we need.
Maybe we should implement thisin Akaya.
I see myself as, I guess, thebody that helps pull the
resources together to make surethat we actually get what needs
to be, get it done, basicallyget the work done.
So, being a member of thediaspora, December is a very
(09:07):
popular time for us all andnotoriously party, party, party,
party.
But we want to change thatnarrative a little bit.
Yes, party, but also give back.
You probably come to Ghana,experience the glitz and glam,
but the reality of the situationof this country is actually
something that needs everybodyneeds to be aware of.
(09:29):
So we have members of thediaspora come on board with us,
volunteer um and project isi ispart, is partnered with um, an
amazing gentleman called haroldor fori and um.
What we do is we do an annualschool renovation development
project.
So last December we contributedtowards continuing to finish
(09:51):
building a school and we hadDiaspora on board, went to see
the waterfalls nearby you know abit of tourism and also come
along, you know, fix some bitsof bobs, paint the school wall,
play sports with the kids,interact, all that.
So it was an amazing day andeverybody really had good fun
and we plan to do that everyyear.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Beautiful, beautiful when you have grown up abroad.
When I moved to Ghana fiveyears ago, I'm still going
through the cultural differencesthat we have and sometimes
you're thinking to yourself willthey ever end?
Will I ever get to understandhow things work here.
After five years, I'm stillasking myself that how has it
(10:35):
been for you trying to dobusiness here?
Speaker 1 (10:40):
What a question.
You know, I used to think, ohmy gosh, maybe one day I want to
live in Ghana.
Every day, my mind is like I'mstarting to think maybe I
actually can't, maybe I thinkthe hybrid right now is working
for me because I think thechallenge is I grew to
(11:01):
understand them more through thework that we do at Akaya
Sometimes, and also when we'reused to a certain way of running
things.
Okay, like, communication isquick.
Yep, I'm sending an email.
I'm going to get a response in,you know, 24, 48 hours, maybe
within the week.
Absolutely fine, in this settingemail, you'll be lucky yeah and
(11:26):
when we work with institutionsfor example, you know the
education service because wework with schools.
So we want to formalize some ofthe work that we do, so we need
to build that partnership,especially with the conference.
I would say you know a lot ofchallenges and just why.
You just think why is it?
There's something so simple.
Where is the sense?
Oh, my gosh.
(11:46):
Um, it's working with schools.
It's you know you need to.
For example, there's no email,so hand letters, my team are
scattered across majority acrossum.
So it's like now having to takehand letters to a school when
this conversation can easily behad on email.
And then when we want to dofollow up, contact number you
(12:10):
refuse to provide.
And then when we do go back into follow up, it's oh sorry, we
lost the letter.
Really, yeah, so it's theseunnecessary hurdles that you
have to experience.
And then when you talk to orwhen you are trying to engage
with the bigger bodies, it'salways OK, well, what's in it
for us?
Why should that even be aquestion?
(12:31):
This is a charity, this is anonprofit organization.
What do you mean by what's init for us?
Already, we experiencechallenges with funding and we
are funneling all our fundingtowards the beneficiaries,
towards the people who need it.
So what does a big corporationneed?
Why do you need to thinkselfishly about some of the
things that we are trying toaccomplish here?
(12:51):
So those are a few of thechallenges you know that we've
experienced, but we are.
You know, we've tried tonavigate our way.
You know, sometimes it makes mevery frustrated, but the team
look at me like you don't knowwe are in Ghana.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
So, yeah, that's, that's how it's been you know,
this is where the opportunitiesare yeah because we see so many
problems?
Yeah, and if all the systemswere aligned like the west?
There will be lessopportunities for some of us who
come into the business.
We see these opportunities andit presents uh serious
(13:29):
challenges to us to work and fixthem.
Last year we did some work inmy my hometown.
We did a huge health screening,got people come through from
rwanda wow from the UK and justbefore the screening, in fact,
we had fixed everything for sixmonths in advance.
(13:50):
Two weeks before we had a hugechallenge from one of the chiefs
.
They wanted to sabotage it, putthat down the line.
And then we had phone callsfrom the health workers.
This that Basically look.
The whole top and bottom ofthat is that they wanted to find
out whether we've gotten somemoney from somewhere and what
(14:12):
can they get out of it.
So when you were saying it, Iwas smiling.
It is what it is.
Here you see problems, you wantto help fix it and people think
you've got millions of dollarsfrom somewhere.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Why is that?
It's honestly, I think thechallenge lies with, I guess,
maybe with the way that we tryto plan or organize things.
It comes across as okay, wow,super professional, high quality
, meaning there's a lot offunding behind this.
Um, and if, like you mentioned,you had people coming from all
(14:47):
over, okay, wow, and if they'recoming from all over, then they
have a lot of money, so whatelse can we?
get out of this meanwhile, theactual duty that you are there
to fulfill, they overlook it.
What about the health of thepeople that live within your
community?
Is that not paramount to you asopposed to the money that you
will get out of it?
And then you just think what'sgoing on in the connections in
(15:09):
the brains?
Speaker 2 (15:10):
yeah, yeah, it's true , and you know.
The other thing as well isalways the people within the
team.
You face huge challenges onthat side as well, within the
same team that you work, thatyou work with.
I'm not sure whether you'vecome across any my team.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Honestly, I would say they are godsend, wow.
Without them, nothing literally.
Um, everyone is based, no,actually, bar one and myself,
everyone is based here, um, andthey are incredibly hard working
, honestly, and just the passionthat they have, the work that
(15:53):
they put into it is amazing.
I'll be texting them anytime inthe day and I'll they'll
respond like that they'll beable to get anything done like
that, um, and it's just the bestthing ever.
That's beautiful I'm I'm happyto hear that at least on that
side you're good yeah yeah,developing leaders is at the
core of your foundation.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Um, what sort of role models did you have growing up?
Speaker 1 (16:18):
so with role models.
Personally, I think I like tocategorize internal and external
, and this is where I alsoencourage other young ladies as
well, or anyone to be honest.
Internal is somebody withinyour reach, somebody within your
circle.
You can have multiple, butgrowing up as a young girl, for
me, that was my mom, noticinghow hardworking she was whilst
(16:39):
also trying to, I guess, takecare of her three young kids she
was very, or she is, a hugerole model in that sense.
Externally, I will always sayMichelle Obama, and an external
role model is somebody you maynot necessarily meet in life.
Thankfully, I've engaged withher quite a few times.
(17:01):
However, somebody you look upto, maybe you see in the media
or you've read about and youpotentially aspire to be like,
and for me, like I said, it'sdefinitely michelle obama how
she carries herself, how she'sbeen able to accomplish, um, the
many things that she's beenable to do, and just the woman
that she embodies we have spenthours of time and resources
(17:25):
putting this content together.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Unfortunately, many of the people we get on this
channel are viewers and notsubscribers.
Please subscribe and becomepart of the family, as this will
allow us to produce even bettercontent for you.
I guess, for you right to evenget to the point where you get
to even speak to Michelle Obama.
It's been your mom, it's been,you've seen her as giving you
(17:53):
the life, giving you theupbringing.
You know the tools that youneeded to be able to come out.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
And then now shine for people to see who you are
and then identify yourselfwithin other people as well.
He's done a great job.
Yeah, done a great job.
Um, these young girls that youspeak with, you know um engage
with what are some of the thingsyou see within them that you
(18:24):
think are lacking and, for thatreason, needs development in
terms of leadership.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Yeah, this is a very, very good question, um, so when
we go on our like her projectvisits or the school workshops,
uh, I always it may be good, itmay also be bad I always tend to
draw a comparison in relationto a young girl that is probably
13 14 years old, compared to ayoung girl 13 14 years old in
(18:52):
the UK.
A huge difference is confidence, um, in the UK, I think we are
raised to be inquisitive, we areraised to ask questions, um, we
always say why, why do we haveto do this?
Or you know, we want a question, um, but in Ghana is very
(19:12):
different.
It's, you are told, xyz.
Therefore, just take it as xyz,no question, that's it, which,
yes, in some situations canapply.
However, it puts young childrenor individuals in a box where
you feel as though you can't setyourself free and maybe open
your minds to differentpossibilities out there,
(19:34):
especially for young girls,where you are then also facing
these stereotypes of you aresupposed to be at home, you're
supposed to cook, you're notsupposed to, you're supposed to
not necessarily dream.
It also dampens the confidencethat these young girls have, so
they just quiet.
When we're going to the schools,our sessions require a lot of
(19:55):
engagement and interaction.
In the beginning we notice thegirls aren't as open as they
should be, but as we progressthrough the session you can
literally see them come out.
The confidence just shinesbright.
It's like they have it withinthem, but it's about unleashing
it, giving them that room or thespace to know that, okay,
actually I'm fine, it's okay forme to speak up, um, so
(20:18):
confidence is one big thing, Ithink.
Education wise, maybe the wordis comprehension as well.
There is a bit of a gap, um,but then again different context
, so I feel as though I can'tdraw, you know, too much of a
comparison there.
Another difference I would sayis, you know, I think it's
(20:42):
mostly the confidence, um, inorder to be able to speak up,
because I guess here the, thevoice of the woman is deemed not
necessarily significant.
But with the workshops that wedo, we incorporate communication
and public speaking skills, andthat's where the girls are
given the chance to actuallystand up, deliver a speech or a
(21:03):
talk on any random given topicin a set period of time, um, to,
I guess, share your voice,share your opinion, and that's
where we see a lot of girls, Iguess, come out, come alive and
it's very, very crucial that youknow we develop these aspects
and we do um what's necessary,and I think that's what's
missing from a lot of the workthat you know I guess ngos or
(21:26):
similar ngos do a lot of thetime.
I mean, everybody is doingmenstrual hygiene education and
donating sanitary pads, but oncewe provide the girls with that,
what else?
What's next?
They're still going to be theshy, closed off girl who we then
expect to somehow make itthrough to senior high school
university.
(21:47):
There's no way you can navigateuniversity without a sense of
self-confidence.
How can you navigaterelationships?
Because that's when youencounter boys, when you
encounter men.
Your sense of self is withinthem.
You seek approval from them.
You don't believe you'rebeautiful unless somebody else
tells you you're beautiful,which is a huge problem.
(22:08):
So I guess that's where we comein and highlight the importance
of leadership.
And when we say leadership,it's not you come and we want to
make you a leader of howevermany people, leadership for
yourself, and if you are able tolead yourself, you will be able
to lead others.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
That's true.
Yeah, that's true.
These days, we are seeing a lotmore I like to use ladies
rather than women Ladies who aretaking on leadership roles.
I'll be surprised if you knowin the next eight years, ghana
gets a president who's a lady.
(22:48):
Um, you are not only seeingthis lack of confidence in the
ladies, though, because I speakto a lot of men as well.
Like, I'll go to the pharmacyand then I'll say, hey, this is
what we're trying to do yeah andI've got a bunch of men and I'm
trying to hear someone speakout and nobody's speaking.
(23:09):
So there must be somethingcultural yes about this.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
Yeah, right, definitely.
I think when you grow up, youjust just keep quiet and listen,
do as you're told.
And, like I said, in the UK,yes, that can apply within our
households because maybe yourfirst generation, your parents,
came from that same environmentand they want to apply how they
(23:33):
grew up to the UK setting.
But that's when the UKenvironment, especially school,
will bring that whole or unleashthat, I guess, confidence or
inquisitiveness of okay, well,why or how do I do this?
Well, I don't like it like this, but can we do it this way?
Or, you know, creating spaceswhere it's okay for you to speak
(23:54):
up.
That doesn't apply here,because if you do, it's okay for
you to speak up.
That doesn't apply here,because if you do, it's seen as
you being disrespectful and weneed to change that narrative
absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
I mean, my kids are downstairs, right, and if you
spend three minutes with themafter here, they will ask you a
lot of questions.
They would want to know who youare yeah, they'll ask you so
many questions, but that'sbecause we allow them to be able
to do that.
But then they step out andsomebody says hey.
And then I told a person youdon't speak to my kids like that
(24:24):
yeah you know, it's verydifficult trying to let these
kids, um, you know, behave in away where they are curious about
life itself being in thisenvironment.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
I spoke to a mutual friend of ours and you know she
wanted to know how you appear sofearless and confident.
Now I think I guess thequestion really is what are the
cues Give us?
Speaker 1 (25:01):
I would say you know, I've not always been, I guess,
this way.
Growing up I used to be veryshy.
I got to secondary school and Ithink we can say I found my
calling, or it was an avenuewhere I thought this is where,
or this is where I realized thatI really want to help people,
(25:27):
aside the traditional medicineroute of being a doctor and
helping people that way, butalso speaking up for others who
necessarily aren't able to speakup for themselves.
So I saw myself taking upleadership positions right from,
I guess, the get go insecondary school when those
opportunities became available.
School when those opportunitiesbecame available, for example,
mentoring the younger studentssitting on various committees,
you know, for programs at thesecondary school that I went to.
So I think having that space ofbeing able to grow and do what
(25:52):
you want to do, whatever you setyour mind to, was really key to
me, building my confidence aswell.
Surrounding yourself withindividuals who I guess have a
similar mindset or thatgo-getter attitude as well,
really helped.
And I think, also knowing thecircumstances from which I came
(26:13):
from which lower socioeconomichousehold, single parent
household you are always, Iguess, told or you feel as
though.
Well, if these are mycircumstances, then I will not
amount to anything, or it'sgoing to also be my
circumstances as well, and ittakes a certain level of, I
guess, belief in yourself,determination and confidence to
(26:36):
tell yourself that, yes, thoseare my circumstances, but that
those were my circumstances inthe past that doesn't mean that
the same thing is going tohappen to me.
I need to break free of thosecircumstances that I was
experiencing in order to changemy own narrative.
That came in the form ofgetting a scholarship to a
private sixth form where I did Iwasn't even thinking of private
(26:59):
education because there's noway we could afford that.
So, getting the scholarshipbeing put in a different
environment where it's likeobviously everybody around you
has heavy pockets, but thenlooking at the education that
you receive in a private schoolcompared to a public school,
you've always been to your wholelife like wow, there's huge,
huge difference you know,government school, there's like
(27:22):
30 of you in the classroom.
Obviously, in Ghana it's adifferent story, but in the
context of the UK, 30 to likeseven of you in a classroom,
which I've never experienced.
The one-to-one time, thesupport that they give you,
knowing that that you want tobecome a doctor, so your
university applications, theexamination support, all of that
really, I guess, opened my eyesto the differences that we
(27:45):
encounter and it just taught methere are so many young, bright
people like myself who more thanqualify to receive this type of
education.
However, it's the lack offinances that stops them from
getting access to this and thenending up on a different
trajectory.
So I guess that also stemmed orI guess, brought the seed of
(28:07):
Melanin Medics into play, wherewe bridge that gap and provide
that extra support.
But yeah, the question was onconfidence.
I think it was the early stagesand then just growing up,
navigating different challengesand just telling myself well,
okay, this is another one, letme cross that bridge as well.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Um, so yeah, I would say yes so you get um invited to
do a ted talk and then youprepare the speech and then you
sit with someone and then theywanted you to do it again and
again, and again until you getit right now.
How do you feel?
How did you feel at that pointwhere you thought you did your
best to be able to go and standand then give that talk?
Speaker 1 (28:50):
oh so the TED what?
Speaker 2 (28:53):
year was it?
Oh my god my God, 2023?
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Or 2022?
I've lost.
My years are all jumbled up now, but that particular time
period was very crazy hectic.
I think I found out I was goingto be giving the talk in, let's
say, april of that year.
The June, july, was when I cameback to do the second visit
(29:18):
with um we Akai wasn't born yet,but I came back to do the
second visit of the 300 400girls that I mentioned earlier.
Right after that, right aftercoming back from Ghana I think
it was not even 48 hours later,I had to go to the US for a
speaking engagement, um, andwithin that time span, I was
supposed to obviously work on myspeech, but the time, the
(29:42):
challenges I couldn't.
And my um TEDx mentors uh, youget given mentors to help you um
, they were like are you sureyou can do this?
What's going on?
I managed to find time to do afirst draft and I read it out to
them.
They were like it's okay, butwe don't really feel anything
like.
And then they started to ask mesome deep questions, um, and it
(30:06):
was through a majorconversation where I was like
okay, I'm gonna actually go away, sit down.
Um, I think I did my seconddraft whilst I was in the US in
the hotel room and I puteverything into it.
So then we came to do a secondreading and I gave my speech and
they started crying and theywere like this is what we needed
(30:27):
.
I said, okay, fine, um, so Iguess that time period is just
memorizing the speech, um, and Iguess putting your all into it
until the big day and the TEDxis called representation will
create medicine, saves lives,which is an area that I'm very,
very passionate about,especially through melanin
medics and just growing up,where you have a lot of role
(30:50):
models who look like you.
The narrative is, of course,changing.
We're starting to see moreblack healthcare professionals
in medicine Still a bit of a wayto go, but since Melanin Medics
, we have seen huge changes and,yeah, the TEDx experience was
one of the most challenging butrewarding experiences ever, and
(31:16):
it's definitely something thathas really shaped my speaking
career as well.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Wow, great, yeah, and I watched it.
You did well.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Yeah, as a leader in your field.
How do you take failures anddisappointment?
How do you take it?
Speaker 1 (31:30):
Good question, I think for me, I've always seen
failures, disappointments,rejections.
It's cliche to say, but Ialways see it as redirection.
I think I'm very much of aperson that believes everything
for a reason.
Maybe God says this was notyour particular destiny, maybe
(31:51):
this wasn't for you.
So I'm always like, fine, youknow, we've encountered this
rejection or this disappointment.
Use example of maybe some ofthe funding opportunities that
you know Akai wants to go for.
Maybe growing up, I would haveapplied for leadership programs
or anything like that.
Maybe I would get rejected fromthem, um, or if something
(32:12):
doesn't go right or as the way Iplanned it and it's always for
me, okay, well, this opportunityisn't.
Maybe it's my time to go back,reflect, rework it and apply
again.
Or the next opportunity willcome knocking sooner rather than
later, and another thing oranother way I like to think
(32:34):
about it is well, it'sinevitable in life.
Life is hard for everyone.
You will encounter failure, youwill encounter disappointment,
you will encounter challenges.
So I guess it's don't besurprised when it comes knocking
on your door.
Yes, it will hurt.
We are human, we have toexperience the emotion.
But once you get over thatperiod, what's next?
(32:56):
How am I going to go again, orwhat's the next opportunity that
I'm going to go for, evenbigger and better?
Speaker 2 (33:03):
wow, that's good, I'm empowered.
Um, when you were speaking, youmentioned about coming from a
single parent home.
Now, we were speaking earlierand then I was saying that I
know a few young guys who camefrom a single parent home and
(33:24):
there's usually a misconceptionthat well, I don't know if it is
In some cases.
You see that it's true,especially with the men, that
they really don't grow up tobecome very, very much like what
their society expect people tobe.
(33:45):
Um, you're very different,right?
You've come out awesome.
You're a doctor, you know, inleadership roles trying to help
other people really enlightenedin that, that level.
Now, how was life, like youknow, growing up in that
single-parent home?
Speaker 1 (34:00):
yeah, um, I would say , very early period of life it
was a full household.
Then, um, circumstances changedwhere it became a single-parent
household and, um, everybodyspeaks about the eldest daughter
syndrome, whereby you, as aneldest daughter, there is a lot
of responsibility.
(34:21):
But being an eldest daughter ina single parent household, the
responsibility next level, youbecome the second mother and,
especially when there is onlyone parent in household, it's
much more of a heavier duty thatyou have to now experience or
put yourself into or fulfillthat role as a young girl
(34:42):
whereby, if you compare it toanother household, as a young
girl full household you're, Iguess, princess of the family,
um, and not a mother in thehousehold.
So that sense of responsibilityhas been there from the get-go,
being able to look after mybrothers whilst mum is out
(35:03):
trying to make a living so thatwe can actually eat.
So the eldest daughter syndromeis very, very real and, growing
up in a single-parent household, I have that responsibility,
whilst also trying to navigatelife in relation to well, I want
to become a doctor.
I know these challenges exist,but I'm still going to try my
(35:23):
best, um, and, you know, doextremely well in my academics,
try and get into medical school,navigate medical school
whatsoever, um.
But yeah, I think that's themajor impact that being in a
single parent household had onme.
But a lot of it is alsodependent on the parents as well
and how they parent theirchildren, because, like you
(35:46):
mentioned in your experience,individuals who do come from
single parent households had adifferent pathway.
We could also, I guess, alignthat with parents and how they
parent their children and howthey empower their children, but
it's not easy, so you can'talways place the blame on the
parents, um.
But yeah, I think for me, thethe main impact was having that
(36:09):
responsibility from early, wouldI say it robbed me of actually
having time to be a child, maybea little bit, but yeah, it is
what it is.
My dad has always been in thepicture from a distance going,
especially as an adult, andsince I started coming back to
(36:31):
Ghana as an adult, I've alwaysbeen seeing him.
Unfortunately, last May hepassed, so again, yes, I come
from a single parent household,but losing a parent that you
still love and had a connectionwith um and a parent who you
know wanted to try and buildthat relationship again, is
tough.
So going through grief alsoanother what I'll on the side as
(36:56):
well yeah, sorry about yourloss.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
I've got questions from the previous guests, and
the first in fact.
Usually it's just one question,right, but my friend decided to
give you two, and he waswearing white as well.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
So maybe there's a connection there somewhere.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
So the first question is if you had to do it all over
again, what would you dodifferently?
Speaker 1 (37:22):
Nothing, nothing To be honest, like, like I said,
I'm very much everything happensfor a reason, and if this is
how things are today and thankgod everything is not perfect,
but thank god things are goingokay, um, and amazingly well
across melanin medics, acrossacai, across whatever else I'm
(37:44):
involved in, then if I'm tochange something only god knows
what it would have become um, sofor me, I don't think I will
change anything right, then hissecond question is money health
and relationships.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Which one would you prioritize?
Why?
Speaker 1 (38:07):
I'm going to say health, okay, not just doctor,
but I think without health.
How are you able to, I guess, beyourself, to make money?
How are you able to be healthyenough to have healthy
relationships?
And health doesn't necessarilymean physical health, but also
(38:33):
mental health.
If your mental health isimpacted, it will affect the
relationships you build.
If your mental health isimpacted, it will affect you,
either working whether it besetting up your business or
whatever or making money.
In whichever way you do, that'salso going to be impacted as
well.
So I would go with healthawesome um motivation or
(38:53):
discipline I'm gonna saydiscipline for me.
I ask myself why am I doing whatI'm doing, especially with
Akaya?
Because we are relatively small, although our impact is huge.
And I could say, well, I'm ayoung woman, I just, I mean,
(39:18):
I've got almost three yearsexperience working as a doctor.
Why not focus on buildingwealth?
Experience working as a doctor?
Why not focus on buildingwealth?
Why am I quote-unquote, maybewasting my time, um, trying to
help others, whatnot, but youcould say that with melanin
medics as well.
But I find myself questioninglike why?
Why do I, you know, come backfrom work, from the hospital and
(39:39):
I'm, you know, working with theteam bunch of admin that we've
got to do for Akaya?
Why am I in?
Why am I in all these meetings,having all these discussions,
building up all thesepartnerships?
Um, am I getting paid at themoment?
No, but it's fulfilling myheart's desires, it's my purpose
, it's my calling, and this iswhat, if this is what god has
called me to do, no money in theworld will, I guess, shift my
(40:02):
mindset.
And so, for me, I would sayit's the discipline that keeps
me going.
Yes, you have the motivation,but motivation will fluctuate.
Motivation will fluctuate anddiscipline will help you wake up
in the morning and actually logon to this meeting.
Send this email, ask this teammember to do something and
(40:22):
actually get the work done.
In my opinion, my opinion- Iagree it's well put.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
What's the best advice you ever received?
Speaker 1 (40:37):
Best advice, I would say keep going.
And that's the advice I alwaysgive to young people whenever I
engage with any of them, or evenin majority of my talks that I
give.
My advice is to keep goingbecause of the fact that, like I
said, life is challenging.
(40:57):
There's ups and downs.
We all go through something.
However, don't beat yourself upover the fact that you may be
encountering challenges andthink the world is ending or
life is over.
You still have to finally keepgoing I like that.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
You just, you just uh motivated me.
So what's your favoritepersonal development book?
Speaker 1 (41:24):
oh favorite hmm, I'll .
Maybe I'll name a few.
I like um, everybody mentionsrich Dad, poor Dad.
Michelle Obama's Becoming wasvery interesting for me, and
(41:59):
then also the name of the book.
It's by Stephen Bartlett.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
Dare Oversee you.
Speaker 1 (42:03):
No, the one before that happy, I forgot the title.
Speaker 2 (42:08):
Oh, I forgot the time , but it's his book prior to
diary okay, great, I like thefact that you mentioned rich.
That for that first.
That's, that's one of them.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
Yeah, that was I think it was one uncle that I
read it at a very young age.
My uncle was like, yeah, takethis, must read it yeah, that
your uncle is a clever man ohyes, very impactful in my life.
Speaker 2 (42:29):
Yeah, um, have you got a question for our next
guest?
I'm ready to write.
Speaker 1 (42:37):
Yes, my question would be how do you?
Okay?
So everybody talks aboutbalance and I feel like nowadays
we're questioning whetherbalance exists.
So I want to know from the nextspeaker do they believe balance
(42:58):
in life exists, where you canhave it all in relation family
relationships, money, business,that sort of you can construct
it nicely, but, yeah, okay well,I anyway, I'm not the one
that's supposed to answer thatquestion.
I have another one, okay how doyou stay sane and look after
(43:24):
yourself?
How do you stay sane and lookafter yourself?
Speaker 2 (43:26):
How do you stay sane?
Speaker 1 (43:28):
Okay, yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
Okay, great.
Wow Funny how the two whitepeople we're white, they both
have had two questions.
Anything you want to tell ouraudience on Connected Minds?
Speaker 1 (43:47):
I would like to say thank you for having me first of
all, and also thank you to thelisteners who tune in to
Connected Minds If they want tofind out any more information
about myself.
It is Dr Khadija Owusu onLinkedIn at Khadija Owusu.
On instagram and twitter, slashx.
(44:08):
If you're interested in findingmore about akaya, it's akaya on
linkedin at akaya foundation.
On instagram and twitter, slashx as well.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
We would love to appreciate all the support we
can get we've been speaking todr kadija and if you haven't
subscribed, please do share thisand become part of the family.
Hey, stay connected.
When we say leadership, it's not you come
and we want to make you a leaderof however many people,
leadership for yourself, and ifyou are able to lead yourself,
you will be able to lead others.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Number one business and self-development podcast,
Connected Minds podcast.
Humanity cannot forget itsleaders and dreamers, and these
are the people who dare tochange the world.
Today's conversation with drkadija it's about leadership and
how she's doing amazing work inghana through her foundation
(00:35):
akaya.
You're welcome once again thankyou for having me yes, how you
been been good, not too bad,very busy, but yeah yeah, um,
when we're speaking, you'resaying that there's a lot of
things going on right now yourtimetable?
yeah, it's full, very full andmy time here is quite short
you've got some experience umngos yeah, for profit, yeah um
(00:58):
through melanin medics.
Now what role do you play um inthat organization that allowed
you to be able to set up acareer?
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Yeah.
So Melanin Medics, I like tosay, is one of my adopted babies
, initially started by my reallygood friend, dr Alamadey Dada,
who we were all medical studentsat the time.
I think we were halfway throughour five six year program and
in the UK it's known that, Iguess there, there's a lack of
diversity amongst blackhealthcare professionals in
(01:27):
medicine.
So when we were in medicalschool you can literally count
on your hands the number ofmedical students that would be
in the lecture hall with youthat were also black.
So she, I guess, poured outthat sort of pain into a blog
called Millennium Medics andlater on, I think, there were
about five of us.
Not too long after she startedthe blog, five of us came
(01:50):
together and we thought, okay,let's make something out of this
, turn it into an organizationwhere we help support other
individuals like ourselves whoaspire to become doctors in the
UK, help them move their journeyinto medicine.
Initially it started off withoutreach.
Let's simply go into schools andshow up that, yes, we are, we
look like you and we are on ourway to becoming doctors, so
(02:12):
definitely you can do it too,targeting schools that have a
high ethnic minority population,um in lower, I guess,
socioeconomic areas withinlondon.
And fast forward.
This year, I believe we turnedseven years old and well the
amount of work we do just goesbeyond helping getting students
in it helped.
We assist medical students, weassist doctors, we advocate on
(02:33):
various issues relating to racehealth inequalities within the
UK.
We work with some of themedical giants in the UK and
serving on their advisory boards.
So yeah, it's been a journey,but my role at the moment, aside
being one of the co-founders,is director of programs, so all
our mentorship programs,outreach workshops, falls under
(02:54):
my umbrella no, that's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Um, you guys have done amazing.
Thank you, you know, in ghana,right, I've heard stories of,
you know, teachers sleeping withyoung girls for sanitary pads,
and you know this is awful.
There's a lot of things goingon in the schools.
Now, what made you focus onyoung girls, especially for your
(03:17):
foundation, akaya?
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Yeah, I think generally, you know you can
include Melanin Medics, theMelanin Medics experience.
But I think over the years,just since I guess I was young,
I've always had an affinity orbeen drawn towards helping
people, but especially youngpeople.
I think that time period isvery crucial for, I guess,
(03:41):
creating a very strong, strongfoundation, creating positive
imprints into the minds of youngpeople, because that will then
determine their trajectorymoving forwards.
I mean, we can also apply it to, I guess, how we function as
adults.
Some of our previousexperiences, especially within
childhood, have a really, Iguess, have a huge impact in the
(04:01):
way we navigate our lives asadults.
We can especially say that withsome of the traumas that some
people may experience.
But when you look at, I guess,individuals who may have
committed certain crimes or needcertain I guess therapy or help
a lot of the issues stem fromwithin childhood.
So that time period is verycrucial, which is why, at Akai,
(04:24):
we focus on young women andgirls, especially because we
know that young females hereexperience a lot of challenges
you mentioned.
You know, access to sanitarypads is still an issue here in
Ghana, unfortunately, and otherparts of the world, and that, I
guess, has a knock on effect ongirls accessing education, going
to school.
And if you don't have thateducation, how are you then able
(04:46):
to, I guess, have a fulfillingcareer in life, or even have the
education to know what's wrong,what's right aside, you know,
getting a job and having abright future ahead?
Speaker 2 (04:58):
interesting how you mentioned education because, um,
you know, traditionally right,um, especially around here,
women were, you know, made to beat home, um, helped their
husbands in most cases.
I remember my grandma, you know, farming husband, you know
there wasn't really, uh, properdevelopment in terms of
(05:18):
education for the ladies yeahnow.
My mom doesn't have very goodeducation, neither does my
grandma.
In fact, within our family, thewomen don't have very high
education.
They only started from our time.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
From the millennials.
So you know how is Akaya goingto help.
You know changing thatnarrative, because it is
changing rapidly.
Yeah Around here.
What's your foundation's role?
Speaker 1 (05:47):
I mean that as well definitely, I think, uh, things
are all times are very muchchanging where we are now sort
of starting to see women, Iguess, on the equal playing
field.
Yeah, it's not to say that, youknow, because women get an
education, some of them willneglect, I guess, the
traditional roles that they mayhave.
A woman can do it.
However, we just believe thatwomen shouldn't be shut off to
(06:10):
the opportunity of gettingaccess to an education and also
fulfilling her potential dreamsthat she may have.
So how we play a role in that,we sort of, I guess, fight for
that cause across the variousprojects that we have, um, and I
guess, to name the projectsthat we have, we have the like
her project and that's theinitial um secondary school, or
(06:33):
senior high school, as you guyssay, or junior high school,
basic school workshops that wedeliver to the young girls in
the schools and that focuses onmenstrual hygiene.
It focuses on communication, itfocuses on confidence, because,
aside, you know, in order toempower a young woman, you need
to have, or you need to meet herbasic needs, and if getting
(06:54):
access to a sanitary pad is herbasic needs and she's not being
able to have that, what'sconfidence, what's communication
?
You don't care about that.
She needs the pads for herbasic rights, you know, as a
woman.
So we make sure that we tacklethe two and through those
workshops that we do.
And today, I think you know, wewent to do about 200 girls last
week in a central region and todate we've done just over 3,000
(07:17):
girls across Ghana through that, like her projects.
Secondly, last summer welaunched an internship program.
You know, um, it's young women,especially in higher education
or tertiary education in Ghana,don't have access to certain
opportunities, um, I guess,internships and if you do,
(07:38):
you're not likely going to bepaid.
So we thought why not set up aprogram where we can actually
have a small number of ladiescome on boards to actually help
us not only run Akaya butexperience a very intense
mentorship leadership programtwo and a half months.
Aside that, you also have towork together to propose a
(07:59):
social action project that canpotentially be invested into.
So we had five young ladies, um, from various universities, uh,
join us fulfilling differentroles, working very hard.
It was very intense.
They, if you ask them, theysaid, oh my gosh, like tough
experience, but they enjoyed it.
It's that sort of push that youneed um, and following on from
(08:21):
then we have project AC Issy.
Myself, I'm a diaspora.
I wasn't born and raised inGhana, which is a very key point
in relation to the foundation,because I don't know what it's
like to be a young girl in Ghana.
I don't know and I can onlyassume how it feels to be a
young girl in Ghana.
I can only assume what you need.
So I make sure I place emphasison the team who have such lived
(08:45):
experiences to suggest okay,this is what it's like, this is
what we need.
Maybe we should implement thisin Akaya.
I see myself as, I guess, thebody that helps pull the
resources together to make surethat we actually get what needs
to be, get it done, basicallyget the work done.
So, being a member of thediaspora, December is a very
(09:07):
popular time for us all andnotoriously party, party, party,
party.
But we want to change thatnarrative a little bit.
Yes, party, but also give back.
You probably come to Ghana,experience the glitz and glam,
but the reality of the situationof this country is actually
something that needs everybodyneeds to be aware of.
(09:29):
So we have members of thediaspora come on board with us,
volunteer um and project isi ispart, is partnered with um, an
amazing gentleman called haroldor fori and um.
What we do is we do an annualschool renovation development
project.
So last December we contributedtowards continuing to finish
(09:51):
building a school and we hadDiaspora on board, went to see
the waterfalls nearby you know abit of tourism and also come
along, you know, fix some bitsof bobs, paint the school wall,
play sports with the kids,interact, all that.
So it was an amazing day andeverybody really had good fun
and we plan to do that everyyear.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Beautiful, beautiful when you have grown up abroad.
When I moved to Ghana fiveyears ago, I'm still going
through the cultural differencesthat we have and sometimes
you're thinking to yourself willthey ever end?
Will I ever get to understandhow things work here.
After five years, I'm stillasking myself that how has it
(10:35):
been for you trying to dobusiness here?
Speaker 1 (10:40):
What a question.
You know, I used to think, ohmy gosh, maybe one day I want to
live in Ghana.
Every day, my mind is like I'mstarting to think maybe I
actually can't, maybe I thinkthe hybrid right now is working
for me because I think thechallenge is I grew to
(11:01):
understand them more through thework that we do at Akaya
Sometimes, and also when we'reused to a certain way of running
things.
Okay, like, communication isquick.
Yep, I'm sending an email.
I'm going to get a response in,you know, 24, 48 hours, maybe
within the week.
Absolutely fine, in this settingemail, you'll be lucky yeah and
(11:26):
when we work with institutionsfor example, you know the
education service because wework with schools.
So we want to formalize some ofthe work that we do, so we need
to build that partnership,especially with the conference.
I would say you know a lot ofchallenges and just why.
You just think why is it?
There's something so simple.
Where is the sense?
Oh, my gosh.
(11:46):
Um, it's working with schools.
It's you know you need to.
For example, there's no email,so hand letters, my team are
scattered across majority acrossum.
So it's like now having to takehand letters to a school when
this conversation can easily behad on email.
And then when we want to dofollow up, contact number you
(12:10):
refuse to provide.
And then when we do go back into follow up, it's oh sorry, we
lost the letter.
Really, yeah, so it's theseunnecessary hurdles that you
have to experience.
And then when you talk to orwhen you are trying to engage
with the bigger bodies, it'salways OK, well, what's in it
for us?
Why should that even be aquestion?
(12:31):
This is a charity, this is anonprofit organization.
What do you mean by what's init for us?
Already, we experiencechallenges with funding and we
are funneling all our fundingtowards the beneficiaries,
towards the people who need it.
So what does a big corporationneed?
Why do you need to thinkselfishly about some of the
things that we are trying toaccomplish here?
(12:51):
So those are a few of thechallenges you know that we've
experienced, but we are.
You know, we've tried tonavigate our way.
You know, sometimes it makes mevery frustrated, but the team
look at me like you don't knowwe are in Ghana.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
So, yeah, that's, that's how it's been you know,
this is where the opportunitiesare yeah because we see so many
problems?
Yeah, and if all the systemswere aligned like the west?
There will be lessopportunities for some of us who
come into the business.
We see these opportunities andit presents uh serious
(13:29):
challenges to us to work and fixthem.
Last year we did some work inmy my hometown.
We did a huge health screening,got people come through from
rwanda wow from the UK and justbefore the screening, in fact,
we had fixed everything for sixmonths in advance.
(13:50):
Two weeks before we had a hugechallenge from one of the chiefs
.
They wanted to sabotage it, putthat down the line.
And then we had phone callsfrom the health workers.
This that Basically look.
The whole top and bottom ofthat is that they wanted to find
out whether we've gotten somemoney from somewhere and what
(14:12):
can they get out of it.
So when you were saying it, Iwas smiling.
It is what it is.
Here you see problems, you wantto help fix it and people think
you've got millions of dollarsfrom somewhere.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Why is that?
It's honestly, I think thechallenge lies with, I guess,
maybe with the way that we tryto plan or organize things.
It comes across as okay, wow,super professional, high quality
, meaning there's a lot offunding behind this.
Um, and if, like you mentioned,you had people coming from all
(14:47):
over, okay, wow, and if they'recoming from all over, then they
have a lot of money, so whatelse can we?
get out of this meanwhile, theactual duty that you are there
to fulfill, they overlook it.
What about the health of thepeople that live within your
community?
Is that not paramount to you asopposed to the money that you
will get out of it?
And then you just think what'sgoing on in the connections in
(15:09):
the brains?
Speaker 2 (15:10):
yeah, yeah, it's true , and you know.
The other thing as well isalways the people within the
team.
You face huge challenges onthat side as well, within the
same team that you work, thatyou work with.
I'm not sure whether you'vecome across any my team.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Honestly, I would say they are godsend, wow.
Without them, nothing literally.
Um, everyone is based, no,actually, bar one and myself,
everyone is based here, um, andthey are incredibly hard working
, honestly, and just the passionthat they have, the work that
(15:53):
they put into it is amazing.
I'll be texting them anytime inthe day and I'll they'll
respond like that they'll beable to get anything done like
that, um, and it's just the bestthing ever.
That's beautiful I'm I'm happyto hear that at least on that
side you're good yeah yeah,developing leaders is at the
core of your foundation.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Um, what sort of role models did you have growing up?
Speaker 1 (16:18):
so with role models.
Personally, I think I like tocategorize internal and external
, and this is where I alsoencourage other young ladies as
well, or anyone to be honest.
Internal is somebody withinyour reach, somebody within your
circle.
You can have multiple, butgrowing up as a young girl, for
me, that was my mom, noticinghow hardworking she was whilst
(16:39):
also trying to, I guess, takecare of her three young kids she
was very, or she is, a hugerole model in that sense.
Externally, I will always sayMichelle Obama, and an external
role model is somebody you maynot necessarily meet in life.
Thankfully, I've engaged withher quite a few times.
(17:01):
However, somebody you look upto, maybe you see in the media
or you've read about and youpotentially aspire to be like,
and for me, like I said, it'sdefinitely michelle obama how
she carries herself, how she'sbeen able to accomplish, um, the
many things that she's beenable to do, and just the woman
that she embodies we have spenthours of time and resources
(17:25):
putting this content together.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Unfortunately, many of the people we get on this
channel are viewers and notsubscribers.
Please subscribe and becomepart of the family, as this will
allow us to produce even bettercontent for you.
I guess, for you right to evenget to the point where you get
to even speak to Michelle Obama.
It's been your mom, it's been,you've seen her as giving you
(17:53):
the life, giving you theupbringing.
You know the tools that youneeded to be able to come out.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
And then now shine for people to see who you are
and then identify yourselfwithin other people as well.
He's done a great job.
Yeah, done a great job.
Um, these young girls that youspeak with, you know um engage
with what are some of the thingsyou see within them that you
(18:24):
think are lacking and, for thatreason, needs development in
terms of leadership.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Yeah, this is a very, very good question, um, so when
we go on our like her projectvisits or the school workshops,
uh, I always it may be good, itmay also be bad I always tend to
draw a comparison in relationto a young girl that is probably
13 14 years old, compared to ayoung girl 13 14 years old in
(18:52):
the UK.
A huge difference is confidence, um, in the UK, I think we are
raised to be inquisitive, we areraised to ask questions, um, we
always say why, why do we haveto do this?
Or you know, we want a question, um, but in Ghana is very
(19:12):
different.
It's, you are told, xyz.
Therefore, just take it as xyz,no question, that's it, which,
yes, in some situations canapply.
However, it puts young childrenor individuals in a box where
you feel as though you can't setyourself free and maybe open
your minds to differentpossibilities out there,
(19:34):
especially for young girls,where you are then also facing
these stereotypes of you aresupposed to be at home, you're
supposed to cook, you're notsupposed to, you're supposed to
not necessarily dream.
It also dampens the confidencethat these young girls have, so
they just quiet.
When we're going to the schools,our sessions require a lot of
(19:55):
engagement and interaction.
In the beginning we notice thegirls aren't as open as they
should be, but as we progressthrough the session you can
literally see them come out.
The confidence just shinesbright.
It's like they have it withinthem, but it's about unleashing
it, giving them that room or thespace to know that, okay,
actually I'm fine, it's okay forme to speak up, um, so
(20:18):
confidence is one big thing, Ithink.
Education wise, maybe the wordis comprehension as well.
There is a bit of a gap, um,but then again different context
, so I feel as though I can'tdraw, you know, too much of a
comparison there.
Another difference I would sayis, you know, I think it's
(20:42):
mostly the confidence, um, inorder to be able to speak up,
because I guess here the, thevoice of the woman is deemed not
necessarily significant.
But with the workshops that wedo, we incorporate communication
and public speaking skills, andthat's where the girls are
given the chance to actuallystand up, deliver a speech or a
(21:03):
talk on any random given topicin a set period of time, um, to,
I guess, share your voice,share your opinion, and that's
where we see a lot of girls, Iguess, come out, come alive and
it's very, very crucial that youknow we develop these aspects
and we do um what's necessary,and I think that's what's
missing from a lot of the workthat you know I guess ngos or
(21:26):
similar ngos do a lot of thetime.
I mean, everybody is doingmenstrual hygiene education and
donating sanitary pads, but oncewe provide the girls with that,
what else?
What's next?
They're still going to be theshy, closed off girl who we then
expect to somehow make itthrough to senior high school
university.
(21:47):
There's no way you can navigateuniversity without a sense of
self-confidence.
How can you navigaterelationships?
Because that's when youencounter boys, when you
encounter men.
Your sense of self is withinthem.
You seek approval from them.
You don't believe you'rebeautiful unless somebody else
tells you you're beautiful,which is a huge problem.
(22:08):
So I guess that's where we comein and highlight the importance
of leadership.
And when we say leadership,it's not you come and we want to
make you a leader of howevermany people, leadership for
yourself, and if you are able tolead yourself, you will be able
to lead others.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
That's true.
Yeah, that's true.
These days, we are seeing a lotmore I like to use ladies
rather than women Ladies who aretaking on leadership roles.
I'll be surprised if you knowin the next eight years, ghana
gets a president who's a lady.
(22:48):
Um, you are not only seeingthis lack of confidence in the
ladies, though, because I speakto a lot of men as well.
Like, I'll go to the pharmacyand then I'll say, hey, this is
what we're trying to do yeah andI've got a bunch of men and I'm
trying to hear someone speakout and nobody's speaking.
(23:09):
So there must be somethingcultural yes about this.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
Yeah, right, definitely.
I think when you grow up, youjust just keep quiet and listen,
do as you're told.
And, like I said, in the UK,yes, that can apply within our
households because maybe yourfirst generation, your parents,
came from that same environmentand they want to apply how they
(23:33):
grew up to the UK setting.
But that's when the UKenvironment, especially school,
will bring that whole or unleashthat, I guess, confidence or
inquisitiveness of okay, well,why or how do I do this?
Well, I don't like it like this, but can we do it this way?
Or, you know, creating spaceswhere it's okay for you to speak
(23:54):
up.
That doesn't apply here,because if you do, it's okay for
you to speak up.
That doesn't apply here,because if you do, it's seen as
you being disrespectful and weneed to change that narrative
absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
I mean, my kids are downstairs, right, and if you
spend three minutes with themafter here, they will ask you a
lot of questions.
They would want to know who youare yeah, they'll ask you so
many questions, but that'sbecause we allow them to be able
to do that.
But then they step out andsomebody says hey.
And then I told a person youdon't speak to my kids like that
(24:24):
yeah you know, it's verydifficult trying to let these
kids, um, you know, behave in away where they are curious about
life itself being in thisenvironment.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
I spoke to a mutual friend of ours and you know she
wanted to know how you appear sofearless and confident.
Now I think I guess thequestion really is what are the
cues Give us?
Speaker 1 (25:01):
I would say you know, I've not always been, I guess,
this way.
Growing up I used to be veryshy.
I got to secondary school and Ithink we can say I found my
calling, or it was an avenuewhere I thought this is where,
or this is where I realized thatI really want to help people,
(25:27):
aside the traditional medicineroute of being a doctor and
helping people that way, butalso speaking up for others who
necessarily aren't able to speakup for themselves.
So I saw myself taking upleadership positions right from,
I guess, the get go insecondary school when those
opportunities became available.
School when those opportunitiesbecame available, for example,
mentoring the younger studentssitting on various committees,
you know, for programs at thesecondary school that I went to.
So I think having that space ofbeing able to grow and do what
(25:52):
you want to do, whatever you setyour mind to, was really key to
me, building my confidence aswell.
Surrounding yourself withindividuals who I guess have a
similar mindset or thatgo-getter attitude as well,
really helped.
And I think, also knowing thecircumstances from which I came
(26:13):
from which lower socioeconomichousehold, single parent
household you are always, Iguess, told or you feel as
though.
Well, if these are mycircumstances, then I will not
amount to anything, or it'sgoing to also be my
circumstances as well, and ittakes a certain level of, I
guess, belief in yourself,determination and confidence to
(26:36):
tell yourself that, yes, thoseare my circumstances, but that
those were my circumstances inthe past that doesn't mean that
the same thing is going tohappen to me.
I need to break free of thosecircumstances that I was
experiencing in order to changemy own narrative.
That came in the form ofgetting a scholarship to a
private sixth form where I did Iwasn't even thinking of private
(26:59):
education because there's noway we could afford that.
So, getting the scholarshipbeing put in a different
environment where it's likeobviously everybody around you
has heavy pockets, but thenlooking at the education that
you receive in a private schoolcompared to a public school,
you've always been to your wholelife like wow, there's huge,
huge difference you know,government school, there's like
(27:22):
30 of you in the classroom.
Obviously, in Ghana it's adifferent story, but in the
context of the UK, 30 to likeseven of you in a classroom,
which I've never experienced.
The one-to-one time, thesupport that they give you,
knowing that that you want tobecome a doctor, so your
university applications, theexamination support, all of that
really, I guess, opened my eyesto the differences that we
(27:45):
encounter and it just taught methere are so many young, bright
people like myself who more thanqualify to receive this type of
education.
However, it's the lack offinances that stops them from
getting access to this and thenending up on a different
trajectory.
So I guess that also stemmed orI guess, brought the seed of
(28:07):
Melanin Medics into play, wherewe bridge that gap and provide
that extra support.
But yeah, the question was onconfidence.
I think it was the early stagesand then just growing up,
navigating different challengesand just telling myself well,
okay, this is another one, letme cross that bridge as well.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Um, so yeah, I would say yes so you get um invited to
do a ted talk and then youprepare the speech and then you
sit with someone and then theywanted you to do it again and
again, and again until you getit right now.
How do you feel?
How did you feel at that pointwhere you thought you did your
best to be able to go and standand then give that talk?
Speaker 1 (28:50):
oh so the TED what?
Speaker 2 (28:53):
year was it?
Oh my god my God, 2023?
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Or 2022?
I've lost.
My years are all jumbled up now, but that particular time
period was very crazy hectic.
I think I found out I was goingto be giving the talk in, let's
say, april of that year.
The June, july, was when I cameback to do the second visit
(29:18):
with um we Akai wasn't born yet,but I came back to do the
second visit of the 300 400girls that I mentioned earlier.
Right after that, right aftercoming back from Ghana I think
it was not even 48 hours later,I had to go to the US for a
speaking engagement, um, andwithin that time span, I was
supposed to obviously work on myspeech, but the time, the
(29:42):
challenges I couldn't.
And my um TEDx mentors uh, youget given mentors to help you um
, they were like are you sureyou can do this?
What's going on?
I managed to find time to do afirst draft and I read it out to
them.
They were like it's okay, butwe don't really feel anything
like.
And then they started to ask mesome deep questions, um, and it
(30:06):
was through a majorconversation where I was like
okay, I'm gonna actually go away, sit down.
Um, I think I did my seconddraft whilst I was in the US in
the hotel room and I puteverything into it.
So then we came to do a secondreading and I gave my speech and
they started crying and theywere like this is what we needed
(30:27):
.
I said, okay, fine, um, so Iguess that time period is just
memorizing the speech, um, and Iguess putting your all into it
until the big day and the TEDxis called representation will
create medicine, saves lives,which is an area that I'm very,
very passionate about,especially through melanin
medics and just growing up,where you have a lot of role
(30:50):
models who look like you.
The narrative is, of course,changing.
We're starting to see moreblack healthcare professionals
in medicine Still a bit of a wayto go, but since Melanin Medics
, we have seen huge changes and,yeah, the TEDx experience was
one of the most challenging butrewarding experiences ever, and
(31:16):
it's definitely something thathas really shaped my speaking
career as well.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Wow, great, yeah, and I watched it.
You did well.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Yeah, as a leader in your field.
How do you take failures anddisappointment?
How do you take it?
Speaker 1 (31:30):
Good question, I think for me, I've always seen
failures, disappointments,rejections.
It's cliche to say, but Ialways see it as redirection.
I think I'm very much of aperson that believes everything
for a reason.
Maybe God says this was notyour particular destiny, maybe
(31:51):
this wasn't for you.
So I'm always like, fine, youknow, we've encountered this
rejection or this disappointment.
Use example of maybe some ofthe funding opportunities that
you know Akai wants to go for.
Maybe growing up, I would haveapplied for leadership programs
or anything like that.
Maybe I would get rejected fromthem, um, or if something
(32:12):
doesn't go right or as the way Iplanned it and it's always for
me, okay, well, this opportunityisn't.
Maybe it's my time to go back,reflect, rework it and apply
again.
Or the next opportunity willcome knocking sooner rather than
later, and another thing oranother way I like to think
(32:34):
about it is well, it'sinevitable in life.
Life is hard for everyone.
You will encounter failure, youwill encounter disappointment,
you will encounter challenges.
So I guess it's don't besurprised when it comes knocking
on your door.
Yes, it will hurt.
We are human, we have toexperience the emotion.
But once you get over thatperiod, what's next?
(32:56):
How am I going to go again, orwhat's the next opportunity that
I'm going to go for, evenbigger and better?
Speaker 2 (33:03):
wow, that's good, I'm empowered.
Um, when you were speaking, youmentioned about coming from a
single parent home.
Now, we were speaking earlierand then I was saying that I
know a few young guys who camefrom a single parent home and
(33:24):
there's usually a misconceptionthat well, I don't know if it is
In some cases.
You see that it's true,especially with the men, that
they really don't grow up tobecome very, very much like what
their society expect people tobe.
(33:45):
Um, you're very different,right?
You've come out awesome.
You're a doctor, you know, inleadership roles trying to help
other people really enlightenedin that, that level.
Now, how was life, like youknow, growing up in that
single-parent home?
Speaker 1 (34:00):
yeah, um, I would say , very early period of life it
was a full household.
Then, um, circumstances changedwhere it became a single-parent
household and, um, everybodyspeaks about the eldest daughter
syndrome, whereby you, as aneldest daughter, there is a lot
of responsibility.
(34:21):
But being an eldest daughter ina single parent household, the
responsibility next level, youbecome the second mother and,
especially when there is onlyone parent in household, it's
much more of a heavier duty thatyou have to now experience or
put yourself into or fulfillthat role as a young girl
(34:42):
whereby, if you compare it toanother household, as a young
girl full household you're, Iguess, princess of the family,
um, and not a mother in thehousehold.
So that sense of responsibilityhas been there from the get-go,
being able to look after mybrothers whilst mum is out
(35:03):
trying to make a living so thatwe can actually eat.
So the eldest daughter syndromeis very, very real and, growing
up in a single-parent household, I have that responsibility,
whilst also trying to navigatelife in relation to well, I want
to become a doctor.
I know these challenges exist,but I'm still going to try my
(35:23):
best, um, and, you know, doextremely well in my academics,
try and get into medical school,navigate medical school
whatsoever, um.
But yeah, I think that's themajor impact that being in a
single parent household had onme.
But a lot of it is alsodependent on the parents as well
and how they parent theirchildren, because, like you
(35:46):
mentioned in your experience,individuals who do come from
single parent households had adifferent pathway.
We could also, I guess, alignthat with parents and how they
parent their children and howthey empower their children, but
it's not easy, so you can'talways place the blame on the
parents, um.
But yeah, I think for me, thethe main impact was having that
(36:09):
responsibility from early, wouldI say it robbed me of actually
having time to be a child, maybea little bit, but yeah, it is
what it is.
My dad has always been in thepicture from a distance going,
especially as an adult, andsince I started coming back to
(36:31):
Ghana as an adult, I've alwaysbeen seeing him.
Unfortunately, last May hepassed, so again, yes, I come
from a single parent household,but losing a parent that you
still love and had a connectionwith um and a parent who you
know wanted to try and buildthat relationship again, is
tough.
So going through grief alsoanother what I'll on the side as
(36:56):
well yeah, sorry about yourloss.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
I've got questions from the previous guests, and
the first in fact.
Usually it's just one question,right, but my friend decided to
give you two, and he waswearing white as well.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
So maybe there's a connection there somewhere.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
So the first question is if you had to do it all over
again, what would you dodifferently?
Speaker 1 (37:22):
Nothing, nothing To be honest, like, like I said,
I'm very much everything happensfor a reason, and if this is
how things are today and thankgod everything is not perfect,
but thank god things are goingokay, um, and amazingly well
across melanin medics, acrossacai, across whatever else I'm
(37:44):
involved in, then if I'm tochange something only god knows
what it would have become um, sofor me, I don't think I will
change anything right, then hissecond question is money health
and relationships.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Which one would you prioritize?
Why?
Speaker 1 (38:07):
I'm going to say health, okay, not just doctor,
but I think without health.
How are you able to, I guess, beyourself, to make money?
How are you able to be healthyenough to have healthy
relationships?
And health doesn't necessarilymean physical health, but also
(38:33):
mental health.
If your mental health isimpacted, it will affect the
relationships you build.
If your mental health isimpacted, it will affect you,
either working whether it besetting up your business or
whatever or making money.
In whichever way you do, that'salso going to be impacted as
well.
So I would go with healthawesome um motivation or
(38:53):
discipline I'm gonna saydiscipline for me.
I ask myself why am I doing whatI'm doing, especially with
Akaya?
Because we are relatively small, although our impact is huge.
And I could say, well, I'm ayoung woman, I just, I mean,
(39:18):
I've got almost three yearsexperience working as a doctor.
Why not focus on buildingwealth?
Experience working as a doctor?
Why not focus on buildingwealth?
Why am I quote-unquote, maybewasting my time, um, trying to
help others, whatnot, but youcould say that with melanin
medics as well.
But I find myself questioninglike why?
Why do I, you know, come backfrom work, from the hospital and
(39:39):
I'm, you know, working with theteam bunch of admin that we've
got to do for Akaya?
Why am I in?
Why am I in all these meetings,having all these discussions,
building up all thesepartnerships?
Um, am I getting paid at themoment?
No, but it's fulfilling myheart's desires, it's my purpose
, it's my calling, and this iswhat, if this is what god has
called me to do, no money in theworld will, I guess, shift my
(40:02):
mindset.
And so, for me, I would sayit's the discipline that keeps
me going.
Yes, you have the motivation,but motivation will fluctuate.
Motivation will fluctuate anddiscipline will help you wake up
in the morning and actually logon to this meeting.
Send this email, ask this teammember to do something and
(40:22):
actually get the work done.
In my opinion, my opinion- Iagree it's well put.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
What's the best advice you ever received?
Speaker 1 (40:37):
Best advice, I would say keep going.
And that's the advice I alwaysgive to young people whenever I
engage with any of them, or evenin majority of my talks that I
give.
My advice is to keep goingbecause of the fact that, like I
said, life is challenging.
(40:57):
There's ups and downs.
We all go through something.
However, don't beat yourself upover the fact that you may be
encountering challenges andthink the world is ending or
life is over.
You still have to finally keepgoing I like that.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
You just, you just uh motivated me.
So what's your favoritepersonal development book?
Speaker 1 (41:24):
oh favorite hmm, I'll .
Maybe I'll name a few.
I like um, everybody mentionsrich Dad, poor Dad.
Michelle Obama's Becoming wasvery interesting for me, and
(41:59):
then also the name of the book.
It's by Stephen Bartlett.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
Dare Oversee you.
Speaker 1 (42:03):
No, the one before that happy, I forgot the title.
Speaker 2 (42:08):
Oh, I forgot the time , but it's his book prior to
diary okay, great, I like thefact that you mentioned rich.
That for that first.
That's, that's one of them.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
Yeah, that was I think it was one uncle that I
read it at a very young age.
My uncle was like, yeah, takethis, must read it yeah, that
your uncle is a clever man ohyes, very impactful in my life.
Speaker 2 (42:29):
Yeah, um, have you got a question for our next
guest?
I'm ready to write.
Speaker 1 (42:37):
Yes, my question would be how do you?
Okay?
So everybody talks aboutbalance and I feel like nowadays
we're questioning whetherbalance exists.
So I want to know from the nextspeaker do they believe balance
(42:58):
in life exists, where you canhave it all in relation family
relationships, money, business,that sort of you can construct
it nicely, but, yeah, okay well,I anyway, I'm not the one
that's supposed to answer thatquestion.
I have another one, okay how doyou stay sane and look after
(43:24):
yourself?
How do you stay sane and lookafter yourself?
Speaker 2 (43:26):
How do you stay sane?
Speaker 1 (43:28):
Okay, yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
Okay, great.
Wow Funny how the two whitepeople we're white, they both
have had two questions.
Anything you want to tell ouraudience on Connected Minds?
Speaker 1 (43:47):
I would like to say thank you for having me first of
all, and also thank you to thelisteners who tune in to
Connected Minds If they want tofind out any more information
about myself.
It is Dr Khadija Owusu onLinkedIn at Khadija Owusu.
On instagram and twitter, slashx.
(44:08):
If you're interested in findingmore about akaya, it's akaya on
linkedin at akaya foundation.
On instagram and twitter, slashx as well.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
We would love to appreciate all the support we
can get we've been speaking todr kadija and if you haven't
subscribed, please do share thisand become part of the family.
Hey, stay connected.
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