Meet Muna Muday: Our NYC Intern
We would like to introduce you to Muna Muday! Muna joined our NYC office as an intern for the Programs Team. She received her bachelors degree in health sciences with a concentration in public health from Tennessee State University, and she is now pursuing her masters degree in public health at Vanderbilt University.
Muna has already dipped her feet in the global health sphere. She previously was a graduate research assistant, where she maintained a REDCAP database for over 3,000 participants in a new vaccine preventable disease project by the CDC. Additionally, Muna serves on a board of directors for the local refugee resettlement agency in Nashville, TN. With this role, she oversees and helps develop plans to better serve the refugee populations in different areas.
Already impressed? We sure are! Read on to learn more about Muna- what inspires her and why she chose to share her time and skills with CMMB!
Where is home: Originally Somalia, but I was raised in Kenya.
Education: Bachelor of science with concentration in public health at Tennessee State University and MPH candidate with a concentration in global health at Vanderbilt University.
CMMB volunteer post: I will be interning with the Program team under Dr. Claudia Llanten.
If you were asked to sum yourself up in two words, which two would you choose? Optimistic and friendly.
Why CMMB? I choose to intern with CMMB because going back to my time as a child in a refugee camp in Kenya supported by United Nations, I saw first-hand how women and children were impacted by health issues, such as environmental health, communicable diseases like malaria, TB, and HIV/AIDS. My older brother and sister died in the civil war in Somalia.
Every day, I think about women and children who die from preventable health problems. I believe in the motto “health is wealth”, and that every human being deserves a healthy life and beautiful future. My personal experience has inspired me to take on an internship with CMMB and a career in public health so I can be a part in making this happen.
What are you most proud of? I am proud of myself for working hard every single day to be a role model for my younger siblings.
You are featured in the NY Times or your national newspaper. What’s the headline? “Muna Muday: Director, Ministry of Health.”
Imagine if you were an animal – which would you be and why? I would be a bird because when I was in elementary school I used to sing that song, “I believe I can fly” and it always used to remind me of how freely birds fly with brave spirits and confidence. Until this day, I still watch how birds land on the weakest branch of a tree and still trust the strength of their wings to lift off.
What is your hope for your experience volunteering with CMMB? My hope for interning with CMMB is that I will gain new skill sets that will assist me with my career goals by providing me with the opportunity to be exposed to how the field of global health works such as, program planning, development, and implementation. The experience will give me the knowledge to positively impact many lives. I believe that working with CMMB will be an extraordinary opportunity to learn how to become an efficient global health professional.
Favorite quote: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Nelson Mandela.
Who would you like to play you in the movie of your life? Angelina Jolie.
What is your hope for the future? After my masters, I hope to pursue a doctoral of nurse practitioner degree to gain clinical experience. Then, my dream is to start my own NGO hospital or clinic in Somalia and Kenya someday.
Favorite Tedtalk: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – We Should All be Feminists.
If you could solve one world problem, what would it be? Poverty.
What are the three things you are most grateful for? Allah, family, and education.
Who is your biggest inspiration? Why? My father. While he never went to college he always pushed my siblings and I to be successful. By him just understanding the value of education inspired me a lot and today we are the dream he always wanted.