EN 
FR In this episode, Miriam speaks to Emmanuela who she met at Mastercard Foundation. Emmanuela was born in Kenya but has been living in Canada since 2013.
Emmanuela talks about her upbringing, mental health and the expectations of others so many of us carry throughout our lives.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Emmanuela grew up in northern Kenya, with a typical African upbringing including having a strong support system around her. She says she grew up socially and culturally rich but economically she was poor. So, although they didn’t have much she was happy. But, this was the driving force behind her wanting to see how big the world is and to study.
- After doing well in her studies, Emmanuela learnt about being able to apply and study abroad, so she decided to go for it and in 2013 she went to Toronto to study and is still there today.
- Emmanuela found herself suffering with imposter syndrome, which she struggled with for quite some time. It caused both overwhelm and depression and the only way she managed to get out of this was by seeking help, driven by the love for her family.
- Emmanuela went to therapy, including CBT and other talking therapies. In doing this she discovered that music was also a part of her healing and is something that still helps her now.
- In 2017, Emmanuela wrote and directed the documentary Invisible Despair, her aim was to highlight the struggles she knew other students would be going through and to find out what kind of support was needed to help them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fopk5UEo5Os
BEST MOMENTS
“I grew up socially and culturally rice, but economically I was poor”
“There is such a price to pay when we are the first, in the family to leave your country, the first to go to university”
“I needed to bring all voices together so we could really find out where the breakdown in communication was and where do we need to invest in supporting our students”
“You put up a good fight then realize it’s time to let it go”
VALUABLE RESOURCES
Invisible Despair Documentary 2017, Written and directed by Emmanuela Alimlim https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fopk5UEo5Os
ABOUT THE HOST
Miriam is a Trauma Informed Coach, an African, a mom of three daughters, a blogger and writer. After graduating from the London School of Economics, she built her international career in the fields of banking and international development, working for organisations such as the World Economic Forum, Lombard Odier Private Bank, JP Morgan, the Mastercard Foundation and the United Nations. She now uses her passion for psychology and dedicates her time to coaching others to free themselves from the burden of childhood trauma. Her wish to help other women connect to their inner wisdom, love themselves and follow their passion. In her effort to destigmatize mental health and normalize mental health conversations in black communities, she wrote her memoir about surviving childhood and finding her worth.
CONTACT METHOD
CLUBHOUSE: @miriamnjoku
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