Georgette Bisoka and Fowzia Adan

[00:04] GEORGETTE BISOKA: Hi, my name is Georgette. I'm 23 years old, and today is Saturday, June 19, 2021. I'm located in Boise, Idaho, and my partner today is Fowzia She's my friend.

[00:22] FOWZIA ADAN: Hello. My name is Fowzia I am 25 years old. Today is JN. Hello, my name is Fowzia Dunn. Can I. Do I pause and repeat? Okay. My name is Fowzia I'm 25 years old today, Saturday, June 19, 2021. I'm located in Boise, Idaho. My partner's name is Georgette, and we're friends.

[00:55] GEORGETTE BISOKA: Awesome. We can go ahead and start. Something that I'm curious about, I think, Fowzia we've known each other since high school, and I don't really know about where you were born or what it was like growing up for you. I'd like to hear about that.

[01:17] FOWZIA ADAN: Yes. I was born in Somalia, but I grew up in Nairobi, Kenya. And most of my memories growing up are from Kenya. And it was. You know, if I can paint a picture, it would be at my mom's in home restaurant, where we had our home, and my mom was cooking. And we were part of the business, you know, taking meals to different people for the purpose of selling and then going back and collecting the money and, you know, figuring out all that as a kid and just remembering, just running through the neighborhoods and not having to worry about a lot of things, because as a child, you were just like, I'm gonna leave in the moment. Although you don't tell yourself that, but it just happens.

[02:10] GEORGETTE BISOKA: Yeah, that's true. And how old were you when you moved to Kenya?

[02:15] FOWZIA ADAN: I was. I was pretty young. Like five, six.

[02:23] GEORGETTE BISOKA: Yeah, you're very young.

[02:27] FOWZIA ADAN: Wait, I might have my numbers wrong, because, let me see, I was actually nine. Yeah.

[02:39] GEORGETTE BISOKA: And you don't have any memories of Somalia?

[02:42] FOWZIA ADAN: I do, but most of it is, like, you know, in my grandpa's own balcony, just sitting there, you know, because we were kids at that time, and my mom, my dad used to work outside, and we used to just hang out with our mom and, you know, and just stay home and just stay with our neighbors. But coming to Kenya, why I remember a lot of it is because I was involved in our survival.

[03:12] SPEAKER C: Right.

[03:13] FOWZIA ADAN: I was involved in doing. When my mom was cooking, I was in the kitchen with her. When we had to go, you know, distribute meals, I was there. That's why I said most of my memory as a child is from Kenya.

[03:28] GEORGETTE BISOKA: The.

[03:29] FOWZIA ADAN: You know, the five years we were there. But it's just in Somalia, I remember just waking up, staying in that balcony, running around, and that's about it. So now that you know where I'm from and how my childhood was, I am pretty sure I know that part of you. So do you remember, like, can you. Do you remember when you first got here to America, like, how was that experience? What was the biggest change you've experienced?

[04:17] GEORGETTE BISOKA: I remember actually coming to America those first few months and even years for me was so, so lonely. When I came here, actually already knew how to speak English because before I lived in a refugee camp in Botswana and the official language is English, so I could speak English, of course, it was with a like really thick British accent. And I still have that accent now of I'm starting to lose it, but it was still kind of hard. The culture, the people, it took a while to fit in, to find my place. When I first got here, I was 15 years old, so I started ninth grade when I started ninth grade at that time, just making friends, I don't know, just. I just remember it being very, very lonely and feeling so out of place and feeling so, so lost for the longest time. I think it was maybe until sophomore year in high school or junior year. Yeah, sophomore year, junior year in high school that I met you and other friends, Halima Nashro, that I really was able to start feeling a little like I'm at home and I have people, I have a community. But I think for the longest time, one thing that I remember about coming here was it was lonely. It was really, really lonely.

[05:41] FOWZIA ADAN: Yeah, I can totally relate. One thing I always remember is when I first got here, I didn't know restrooms were bathrooms. So rest was something that you're going to go rest at right here I am a 15 year old, has been on the airplane for the longest time, and then the guy that's like taking us through the airport is like, okay, guys, we have, you know, 10 to 15 minutes. Go find a bath. He didn't say a bathroom. There's the restroom. And in my head I was like, okay, I can finally sit down and just relax, right? I rush into there and boom, it's a bathroom. And I was like, oh my God, this is, this is not what I was thinking. I was trying to just lay down for 10 minutes. But that's like my, you know, weird memory of coming here and just the cultural change and even like the words we used to use and the words that use here is so different. So. But I can also relate to the loneliness and not fitting in.

[06:43] GEORGETTE BISOKA: Yeah, like I mentioned to earlier, right When I came here, I knew how to speak English. But as you said, the words that we used before and the words that they use here have been so, so different. And I remember that similar situation at the airport. I wanted to use the toilet. Actually, we even never used to say bathroom or restroom. We said toilet, and then if you want to shower, you just say, I'm going then to bathroom. It's like a place that only has a shower. So you're going there to take a bath or take a shower, but never to use the toilet. So I told somebody, I need to go to the toilet. And it took such a long time for them to get that, I'm trying to go to the bathroom. And they did help at the end, but that was one really weird situation and memory that even now, sometimes we still have some of those things, you know, like, oh, what do you mean by this? Like, okay, well, it's all a learning experience.

[07:35] FOWZIA ADAN: Yeah, it definitely is.

[07:39] GEORGETTE BISOKA: Yeah. I think that's something about coming to America, right? We're learning about so many things every time. Since we're kind of talking about that. I wanted to ask you about when you came here. What did you miss so much?

[07:58] FOWZIA ADAN: Oh, you know what? I always say this, but I miss the community, right? I feel like here it's so individualized. Everybody's in their little house or apartment. Like, you barely. Even if you see people outside, it's like, hi, hello. But over there, it was more like, oh, you see your neighbor, that's your auntie or your sister, you just go. If they have something out, we eat together. We just, you know, do whatever we need to do. And then we either go to her house or my house. And it was just that collective community sense is what I miss. I mean, I try to do it here, right? Like, especially at my mom's house, it's like, everybody's in their house. I stand outside sometimes. I'm like, no one is outside because everybody has a backyard. And everybody is just, you know, having fun back there. I'm like, no, come outside. Let's just, you know, neighbors, let's just talk. Let's, you know, everybody brings something. I know they have, like, potlucks and whatnot, but that's for the greater, you know, like, subdivisions and whatnot. But if, like, group of neighbors were together and just like, let's just have fun in front of each other's house. Let's, you know, hey, let's know each other more. It would be really. That's what I miss the most. But what else I don't know, I just living in a Muslim country too, right? Hearing that, then the call for prayer, I miss that. Now I rely on an app, right? It doesn't feel the same. You know, when I see some of my friends go back home and they record, I get goosebumps, right? I'm like, oh my God, I miss this feeling of, you know, I'm actually listening to a person who's doing the call for prayer instead of a pre recorded app that although I'm grateful for having that, at least I know what time I can pray. But that's something else I miss too.

[09:52] GEORGETTE BISOKA: Yeah, for sure. Especially on that first one, I can relate. And then even the second one, we are from different religions. I'm a Christian and you're Muslim. But something that I also miss here is church. How we do church here and how we do church back in Africa was. Is very, very different. And what I can say, we're trying to adapt. I'm sure I'm not the only African Christian who comes here and misses their church like it was back home. Because even now I attend an African church here in Boise. Some pastors who were pastors back in Africa came here and were able to make a church so that they can have that place for people like me, who really means that way of worshiping, of praying for us to gather on Sundays and still have it that way, but still it's not the same. You know, I feel like back in Africa, at least with my church, we were so involved, we met so much. But here, even though we still have that aspect, especially on Sundays, we have like, sing the way we used to sing, to dance the way we used to dance, you know, have that part of what we had before. It's still different because like, time is an issue, you know, the concept of time here in America, everybody's like in a hurry. We can hold church for as long as we want. People have to go to work and things. Like, it's just different. But I am glad that there are ways that we can still adapt and try to maybe make up for what we miss, which is also nice with technology that you have that app to kind of remind you that, yeah, it's time to pray. Even though you don't have that, you're not next to like a building where you are hearing somebody calling you to pray, which was. Yeah, I remember my neighborhood in the refugee camp. I used to live by a mosque. And like, we would hear that all the time. I think that's how you could tell time. You could tell what time it is by hearing the Adan, somebody calling the Muslims to go pray. And it was always so nice.

[11:56] FOWZIA ADAN: Yeah, yeah, it definitely was. And just, you know, everybody would go here, as you said, everybody. Time is such a, you know, that everybody can't go at the same time. So everybody's, like, praying on their own time. You know, when you're at work, you have to let your employee know, like, hey, this. This time. And then in America, time changes. So prayer time changes from summer to winter. So you have to make sure they know, hey, you know, in the winter we play, we pray earlier, but in the summer, it goes 2:00. And just explaining that and just, you know, getting that time also, because as you said, you know, back home, you know, everybody is like, they know it's time for pray. You know, you don't even have to say it. You just go and do it and then come back. But now that we're talking about religion, can you tell me about your favorite religious holiday?

[12:52] GEORGETTE BISOKA: Actually, I would say Christmas. Yes. And maybe it might not even be the fact that it's about religion, but just the atmosphere. I feel like towards the end of the year, everybody is nice, everybody is happy. There's just something in the air that I love that time of the year, like December, January, so festive. And so that would have to be my favorite. What about you?

[13:17] FOWZIA ADAN: That's awesome. For me, it's Eid. I would say, although celebration looks different when it was back home, we still get to gather together, right? You get to know more of the Muslim community here. You, you know, we have the Islamic center of Boise and we have Eid picnics, right? Everybody comes, bring a meal from their home, and it's so nice. It's a chance where everybody just gets to meet each other and we play and the little kiddos get to play together and you get to know more people. And it's just. I gotta say, it's both eats. You know, we have to eat throughout the year. So those would be my favorite.

[13:57] GEORGETTE BISOKA: And which one is your favorite? I know, like the one before Ramadan or the other one, because I know when you have to take that month to fast, it must really be exciting to end it with this big celebration or the second one.

[14:11] FOWZIA ADAN: You see, it's hard to choose because both of them are just a day of celebrating everything. As you said. With Ramadan, we finished a month of fasting. Everybody is so excited, although we don't want to stop. It's just this feeling of the next day. I want to fast again, you know, but it's just celebrating with the whole community. And then again, doing it during is another one. You know, you get to see everybody. You get to talk to them. It's just. I don't know, in the morning, you just get excited about it, you know, even if you're not praying. Because women don't pray when they're on their periods.

[14:54] SPEAKER C: Right.

[14:55] FOWZIA ADAN: But during Eid prayer, you're recommended to go and enjoy, you know, the takbir, you know, which they say before praying, and then just sit there and enjoy that day with people. It's. I wish you could see me through my video right now. And I'm smiling. Is it tomorrow? You know, I can hear it in your voice.

[15:21] GEORGETTE BISOKA: Yeah, yeah. Since we're kind of on that, I'm just curious. I mean, you know, how coming to America, we've all kind of faced some type of bias and prejudice. Especially lately we've seen all the hate on Muslims and things like that. Have you faced anything like that here? Maybe discrimination because of your faith and religious beliefs? Especially since you also show it outwardly in your dressing.

[15:52] FOWZIA ADAN: Yes, Yes. I was gonna say just wearing the hijab. I've never. Well, I shouldn't say never, but I haven't had someone explicit, explicitly say it, like, you know, words. But I had incidents where, you know, I'm trying to cross the road, and there was these two elderly couples next to me, and I could literally feel the tension. They moved through, you know, the other side just to avoid me being next to them. And I'm out here like, there's nothing under my hijab. Like, hello. I'm just being friendly. I'm smiling. Hi. And then I was like, you know, it sometimes is just when you can. Sometimes you can feel that tension from the person, right? They're looking at me, they're looking around, and I'm like, you know, we're both waiting to just cross the street, right? Let's just cross it peacefully. And, you know, sometimes I get stairs, like, really dirty stairs, and I'm like, oh, it's okay. You can stare at me if you want. What can I do? It's your eyes, right? And then I move on. But it's. I don't even. I don't even know what to say. But, yeah.

[17:04] GEORGETTE BISOKA: Yeah. And sadly, it sounds like you've just found a way to move along with it and live with it, which I feel like that's what most of us coming here have had to do. You know, I think when you come here at Least for myself and a lot of. Maybe even speaking for my mom, it's like, since she's come here, she knows. She's so grateful that she was able to get in America because the life is so much better than maybe what we had in a refugee camp, that people are just willing to accept anything else. Like, even if it's kind of a violation to their peace, to their human rights, they'll just take it because, well, we made it here. So I'll just, you know, I'll just live with this. I'll find a way to be okay with it, which is kind of sad. Yeah. And. And you a mom, too. How does that make you feel about Manal, your daughter? Like, just scary.

[18:00] FOWZIA ADAN: Yeah. It just scares me. I. I agree with what you said. Right. And part of it is, like, sometimes confrontation can lead to dangerous consequences.

[18:08] SPEAKER C: Right.

[18:09] FOWZIA ADAN: So I don't want to confront someone and then end up in a position that, you know, I couldn't get myself out of.

[18:16] SPEAKER C: Right.

[18:18] FOWZIA ADAN: And things happen so quick these days, so it's. I would rather just take that stair and move on and just, you know, go on with it. But if someone is willing to listen, then I talk to them and say, hey, you know, you seem uncomfortable. What's. What seems to bother you. But that's just depending on where I'm at.

[18:37] SPEAKER C: Right.

[18:37] FOWZIA ADAN: If. If it's like, in a situation where I'm like, nobody's around, you know, I'm like, we don't know how this is going to escalate, so let me leave out of it. But, yeah, it just makes me scared for Manal as well, you know, it's just. I'm like, if I lived through this, I. I really hope she doesn't, or it gets a little better, you know, Especially as you see wearing the hijab and being so, you know, people can tell your religion from your outfit or, you know, what you're wearing, it's. It can be scary.

[19:18] GEORGETTE BISOKA: Yeah, definitely.

[19:20] SPEAKER C: Yeah.

[19:20] GEORGETTE BISOKA: I. I hope we're moving towards better days, hopefully.

[19:25] FOWZIA ADAN: I hope so, too. We can be hopeful, right? That's what keeps us all going through the day. Well, you know, to segue to the other part of life. What do you do for a living? You know.

[19:41] GEORGETTE BISOKA: Actually, I never know how to answer this, just because I work many jobs. I work as a. My daytime job is a workforce development specialist, and I work for a nonprofit here in Boise. And basically, it's just helping the refugee population find jobs. When newly arrived refugees come here, you know that it's hard for them, like, and you need money, you need to be able to work, you need to be able to bring in a paycheck so that you can afford a house, get transportation, like maybe a car and buy food, clothes and things like that. And most refugees probably have people back home that they're supporting. So my job is to make sure that they get a job. They get a job where they're getting at least some money that will help them. And yeah, we'll make sure they're not relying on maybe the public health system and things like that. Just make sure that they have a job. And being self sufficient, that's one of my jobs. And then I also have a night job where I am a caregiver. I take care of some individuals who have autism in their homes. I just have to make sure that they are safe in their homes. I help with giving them medication and any other day to day activities, making sure they can be independent, make sure they're having food, things like that. That's my other job that I do. And I do that at night.

[21:15] FOWZIA ADAN: That's awesome.

[21:17] GEORGETTE BISOKA: Yeah. What about you?

[21:19] FOWZIA ADAN: A lot of great things. I always say she is making difference in varying things. You know, I'm in the similar shoes as you, Georgette. I am out here, you know, I help with my, my mom with her daycare, right. Which runs from 5am, 12am you know, it runs as long as it. I help with, you know, taking care of those kids, taking care of their meals, you know, transportation if needed, helping them with schoolwork and everything. I currently don't have another job, but I just recently finished an internship with a program called College Band that is under another organization called One Refugee. And what College Band was doing was they, you know, we're basically helping refugee high school students who are seniors go through the steps they need for college.

[22:12] SPEAKER C: Right.

[22:13] FOWZIA ADAN: And provide assistance in filling out those applications, whether it's fafsa, whether it's admissions, whether it's writing essays for scholarships.

[22:22] SPEAKER C: Right.

[22:23] FOWZIA ADAN: And from graduating that program, students are, you know, automatically enrolled into the One refugee program which provides them with scholarship. Right. Whatever. Manifafsa doesn't pay. One refugee pays. They provide them with books, they provide them funding to buy a laptop. So that's something very dear to me. When I was doing that internship, I did it for a whole academic year and I was just like, I don't want to leave yet because of what they were doing. It was so close to me because I was once a refugee student in high school and knew what it took me to finish my four Year degree.

[23:00] SPEAKER C: Right.

[23:00] FOWZIA ADAN: It took me scholarships, it took me being, you know, motivated, and it took me finding the resources I needed.

[23:07] SPEAKER C: Right.

[23:08] FOWZIA ADAN: So we're helping these students find those resources and not feel lost, because it's easy to feel lost the first year of school, that first semester is always like, why am I here? This is too much. This is, you know, intimidating. So we were giving these students the resources and the people that they can connect with to help them with those steps. You know, can I find someone who I can relate to at college? Right. Can I find a mentor?

[23:37] SPEAKER C: Right.

[23:38] FOWZIA ADAN: I'm sure I can relate. It's more like, you know, you're in a class, you're the only black student, which is a reality, and you're like, okay, this is so nerve wracking. Am I supposed to ask someone what's going on in class or do I feel comfortable? But if. If I'm in that class with Georgette, I'm like, hey, you know, did you understand the lecture today? Can we meet up and talk? And I don't have to feel like, should I be asking, should I not be? Right? Because automatically I can feel like I can relate to her. But, yeah, that was what I was doing. And as of now, I'm. I'm doing the child care and.

[24:20] GEORGETTE BISOKA: Yeah, and I can definitely feel like your passion, just hear the passion in your voice when you talk about that topic. And I know we are both recent college graduates, and it took a lot actually to graduate college, but I'm also kind of grateful because we had support from high school Tina, and we also had each other. And I think that's also something that we share in common. Just our passion to want to help the refugee population, especially young people, to make sure they're getting the resources they need for education and things and things like that. So I'm just wondering, with the work you were doing as an intern, how do you see yourself continuing to support and help the community?

[25:10] FOWZIA ADAN: You know, I definitely volunteer every moment I see. I'm currently doing volunteer work with reach, which is a summer program they're doing for refugee youth. And they're doing different things, you know, storytelling, they're reading books for them. They're on all the different things. And I'm also volunteering with another organization which Georgette is a part of, called the Rise and Shine. Right. And, you know, part of it there is me getting excited, as Georgette knows about all the different things we can do as a community to help better our community.

[25:49] SPEAKER C: Right.

[25:50] FOWZIA ADAN: Whether that is, you know, helping the youth with Their schooling or helping the elderly who came here certified from back home, but they cannot continue the education here or get the job that they had back home. So how can we find resources for them to connect them to those resources to help them achieve, you know, or continue their dreams? You know, some people I know came here with a teacher degree. They were teachers back home. But when you come here, it's not the same qualifications.

[26:22] SPEAKER C: Right.

[26:23] FOWZIA ADAN: So there's different organizations here in Idaho, and I'm sure in different parts of other states, you know, like Global Talent Idaho, they help elderly, refugee or immigrants. Connect them with. Whether that's schooling or getting credits to level up to that certification criteria of America, or connect you with. Most of them do it with doctors. And I always love, love hearing their stories about coming here and not knowing what they were supposed to do when they were doctors back home. And I'm like, you can still be a doctor. And they tell us about all the things and the hospital they work in now. And I'm just like. It just gives me this inner happiness. I don't know how to explain it, but it's so good just knowing. Yeah, it's great, right?

[27:25] GEORGETTE BISOKA: And like, I think that's also something that excites me, just working for the IRC right now and working with refugees, helping them kind of find that place in the community. Right. And with that program, though, for like the adults who get to work those professional jobs that they worked before is that they have to know English. And it's really nice for those who are able to get back into that. But what also is kind of painful to see is for those who are not able to. I don't know. This one man who taught me, I think he went to college for like maybe six or seven years back in Congo, and he got his degree in electrical engineering. But here, there's no way he can do that. I mean, there's help, I know, to kind of level up and get back to that position, but he's like a French speaker. There's no way he can start, like English 101. And he's already in his, like, 50s, late 50s, almost 60s, you know, to start over and then try to get back into that job. It's just not a possibility that he has to just work like the minimum wage, entry level jobs, which is so, so sad. But I'm just glad that. Yeah, I'm just glad that we're out here helping and doing the best that we can.

[28:43] FOWZIA ADAN: Yeah, it definitely is. I know it might sound a little cliche, me saying this, but although he's in his 50s, I mean, starting with English classes and, you know, finishing those and seeing maybe some of those, you know, classes he took back home can replicate to what is here. And I know they do, like, what is it called, placement tests, or once he gets up to his English level, that he can do something like that and not have to work jobs that he never thought he would. Right. With his qualification. But I remember with College Bound, I think it's just amazing. I always get excited seeing the students when one of the major thing we do is self advocacy.

[29:31] SPEAKER C: Right.

[29:31] FOWZIA ADAN: And I always get excited when we assign an assignment to go talk to a teacher or someone to self advocate. And the students comes back with feedback that just, oh, my God. The feeling, the happiness is just when they talk about it is just amazingly. Oh, my God. I'm just like using my hands on my face right now. Georgette, you already know me. I'm one of those people who, you know, express with my hands, whatnot. But yeah, I. Whenever I see that, I feel like, oh, my God, we just made an impact in that student's life. You know, if he's not going to use it for college, he's going to use it with his employer.

[30:11] SPEAKER C: Right.

[30:11] GEORGETTE BISOKA: And in life, really.

[30:13] FOWZIA ADAN: In life, yeah.

[30:15] GEORGETTE BISOKA: With anything else. Right. And that's also, I think, with like, refugee populations here, that's something that we could even use on a broader scale. And I think just having that, like, skill of self advocacy, it's like, it's. It's like a skill, honestly, because I've spoken to people I. I spoke to as, you know, like, I am planning on going to law school. And this is one reason for that. Just being an advocate, I have always felt like, pulled and called towards that, which is actually why I like working for the IRC and working with refugee populations, because it gives me chances to advocate for my clients, whether is it with employers or anything else. And then also I was talking to a guy who, who called me asking for help in paying for a ticket. I'm like, what was the ticket for? He said, I don't know, but I just sent you a picture so you can look at it. I'm like, how do you know? How did you get a ticket and not know what it's for? He tells me, oh, well, you know, the cop pulled me over and started talking. As you know, I don't really speak English, so I didn't even know. I just took the ticket and I didn't want, like, the whole situation to escalate so we had to leave. And then I'm like, you know, you can call an interpreter, you can say something like, no English, let me. And then they have like, the cops, they should have kind of a line that they can call, right. To be connected to an interpreter so that you know why you're getting this. They should not just be giving you tickets when you have no idea what it's for. It's like, oh, no, I'm just, I just don't want drama. You know, I was from work. Like, I'm okay with just getting the ticket and moving on with my life. And like, you know, that's something I think a lot, a lot of refugees, immigrants, just are scared of that. Like, they don't want the situation to escalate. They're afraid of maybe getting deported and so many things that, that whole idea of advocacy is not, is not a term that they even are comfortable with or something that they really have and want to learn, which is so, so sad. Like, somehow that also really motivates me. I'm like, I want to be advocating for these people because nobody should have to like, live through life like that. So hearing you say about how in the college bound students, you. You taught them to advocate for those themselves and you'd be so happy when they come back with results. That's amazing because that's so, so needed. Yeah.

[32:37] FOWZIA ADAN: Yeah, definitely. Well, especially what we call positive no, right? In our dictionary, there's no no. Georgia. You know, like, if someone asks something, you feel like you're obligated to say yes, right? And it's like, no. You can say no in a way that doesn't make the person feel like, oh, totally, no, but say it in a way that, hey, I want you. I know that you work hard as my employer getting everybody their schedule, but Saturdays don't work for me because I don't have a babysitter, for example.

[33:14] SPEAKER C: Right.

[33:15] FOWZIA ADAN: You'll be able to, you know, change my schedule and make sure I don't have an work on Saturdays. And I'm looking forward to working in the company and, you know, making the changes. There's ways of saying it, right?

[33:28] GEORGETTE BISOKA: Yeah.

[33:30] FOWZIA ADAN: And as you mentioned, the fear.

[33:32] SPEAKER C: Right.

[33:32] FOWZIA ADAN: Some of them feel like they cannot ask their employees whether that's time off or even changing schedules because they feel like they're gonna get fired. I'm like, no, that's your right. If you cannot say, you have the right to say, hey, I cannot work this day. This is not right, what's happening to me, for sure.

[33:52] GEORGETTE BISOKA: And I feel like that all stems kind of maybe our cultures that we're from. You know, I think we're all maybe from kind of oppressive governments that they don't like, a lot of corruption, maybe dictatorships, that the whole concept of having freedom of speech or having a choice in really anything that you're a part of is so foreign that even here, it's just. It. I think it will take a lot to learn and let go of maybe those, like, predetermined, like, mindsets that we already had from back home and to change, really, and be like, oh, my gosh, like, I have a choice in. I can say no if something doesn't feel right, and, like, it will be fine. So I really hope that people will. Well, I don't know. I just. I know that we're there and we want to make a change. So I hope we will help some people understand that. And it's amazing, because lately, though, I feel like I've seen some people. Like, I was helping a woman find a job, and she was like, I'm not open at all to working on Sundays. Like, she really has stood her ground, even though the employer was like, this is a requirement. Like, you need to work during the week. And she was like, no, I'm not. And, like, those people were desperate for jobs, too, so they let her work even. And, like, I agreed that she could take that day off. So I was like, yes, that's. That's what we need. You know, like, stand your ground. And, like, if they don't want you, then move on and find it another place. That always also really makes me so happy.

[35:22] FOWZIA ADAN: It does. Although it's. It's, like, sad seeing the other side of it, you know, when you see one person staying their ground, you know there's change gonna happen. Right? Because it starts from that 1% and then the next person and then the next person, and then a whole mindset change in the whole community. So it's. It's. It's really amazing to see it, especially with employer stuff. I always get really saddened because of the way they feel, like, okay, I'll get fired if I don't do this. Like, you know, sick days. Like, I had one person who had a daughter who was sick, and they told her, nope, you have to show up. And I told her, nope, you don't have to go to the emergency. Take your daughter. If the next day you go in and you already called in and it was an emergency, they said, no. Our company policy says no sick days. What company is That I was like, just tell me, because if I get mad, I'm just gonna create a whole ruckus. But I was like, no, go take care of your daughter. That comes first, job comes next. You can find it.

[36:25] GEORGETTE BISOKA: I feel like we're talking about others, but what about ourselves? I think this also just takes me maybe to kind of like self care on our own. Like, how do you self care? Because for myself, I feel like. I think last week I was like, coughing. I don't know why. It was definitely not covered, just for the record, but I had like this really strong cough. Ronnie knows that I was like, I should take some time off. But just because of, like, our background, our culture, how we were raised, we're like, what is time off? Like, I can work while I'm sick. Like, you know, things like that. We do that to ourselves all the time. And it's. It's kind of. I have to learn to be like, oh, I need time off. Like, I should just stay home or today I don't want to. Like, I don't have to, like, work the whole time. I can sleep if I need to. I can maybe read a book. I can watch a movie. I can do something else that's not just working and working and working. So how do you do your self care?

[37:21] FOWZIA ADAN: I totally agree. And the other part, you know, the cultural and then the passion. When you're so passionate about the work you do, you feel guilty not helping the people that you're. You're trying to self advocate for or help, right? So for me, it's, you know, and this is something I've learned gradually. And my supervisor, Kayla, college bound, you know, always told me, hey, you cannot be working on your days off. I know you're passionate about this. You cannot be, you know, receiving calls from students or receiving this from. You cannot do that. You know, she had to put me on my grounds and say, you cannot. That's your day off. Take care of yourself. So I learned, as you said, you know, I'm either going to sit down and just watch something or just sleep for two hours. Like, I try to do something. But before that, I usually journal. I say, okay, today I'm feeling this, right? So I listened to a podcast called Mindful Muslimah, which is very powerful and I love, love her. So she always goes through everything. So she did a little podcast on how to journal your feeling. You know, sometimes even if you're feeling guilty, I feel guilty. But guess what? I'm doing all these things for these people, and I deserve this, right? I deserve this 10 minutes so that I can come back and do the best for them.

[38:40] GEORGETTE BISOKA: Well, I'm glad you're taking that time for Fowzia because I know how you're such a busy person and do so much. To hear that you actually take time for yourself makes me so, so happy.

[38:51] FOWZIA ADAN: Yes. Same. Georgette, I know that you got too many things going on, a lot of amazing things that you're doing, so I'm glad you're doing some self care time. And thank you so much for bringing me up today. And this was such a fun conversation to have with you, and it has been great knowing some things that I haven't known about you and just, you know, talking about some of my experiences.

[39:19] GEORGETTE BISOKA: Yeah. And thank you too, for making the time. I know I just kind of pulled you into this last minute like I always do, so I know that I can always count on you like that. And it was also great learning some stuff on you that I just didn't know, especially about your childhood. So I really appreciate it, and hopefully we can connect soon again. Thank you, Fowzia

[39:40] FOWZIA ADAN: Thank you, Kevin, for staying up with us.