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You're listening to The Nocturnous, stories from the world of medicine.

I'm Emily Silverman.

Today, we feature another story from the live show that we produced in New York City in November 2023.

The theme of the show was

taking care, and we produced it in partnership with Danielle Ophrey and Ashley McMullen of the

Bellevue Literary Review. This storyteller is a medical student. Her name is Shida Kamali,

and she came over to Oklahoma from Rwanda when she was in college to pursue her education.

While Shida was in school, she learned some tragic and unexpected news, which is that her mother had passed away.

And Shida ended up subsequently bringing over her 10-year-old brother from Rwanda and raising him in Oklahoma in the midst of pursuing her studies.

It's an incredible story about family, resilience, education, and of course one of the most important aspects of home, food.

After Shida's story, she and I sat down and talked more extensively about her journey from

Rwanda to the U.S. We talk about how she spent a bunch of time hanging out with local

moms in Oklahoma, which was awkward at first, but eventually amounted to a village of sorts who helped

her raise her brother. We talk about how Shida loves the TV show Modern Family and her work in

the clinical lab, which eventually evolved to medical school and now Shida thinks a career in geriatrics.

But most special is that Shida and I have a chance to listen to an audio clip together that Shida

references in her story.

It's a clip from when Shida's mom was still alive, where Shida's mom joyfully explains the recipe for Shida's brother's favorite food,

...