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Okay. Today is March 7th, 2025. My name is Advika Rajeev, and I'm with the Houston Asian American Archive. I'm talking today with Dr. Aisha Siddiqui, the founder and executive director of the nonprofit CHAT.

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Thank you so much for this opportunity to speak with you about your journey! Thank you very much for the opportunity. I really appreciate it. Of course. Just to get started, can you please state your full name and where

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and when you were born? My name is Aisha Siddiqui. I was born in Karachi, Pakistan. Thank you. Could you describe your neighborhood in Karachi?

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My neighborhood in Karachi. So there were a few neighborhoods that we moved from one place to the other. I don't remember––exactly remember the very early on, like, very when I was––the–the house I was born in or anything,

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but my first memory of the–of the house that like my childhood memory, you can say, like–like preschool and elementary school age memory is of a house that was like a

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three bedroom, one bathroom house. And we were like three siblings and our parents, it was like a an average kind of neighborhood. Not very rich, not very poor, just average, medium kind of

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living. My mom did not work, and my dad used to work. And the three––and we were the three kids in that house. So five people lived in that house. It it's–it's actually not a three bedroom house.

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It's a three room house where one bedroom––one room is a bedroom and the other can be used as a dining room or a secondary bedroom for the children that we, in our case, it was, and a living room–living room, and we used to call it a drawing room.

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And, at that time, back home, it's called the drawing room. For some reason, I think due to the British influence, many things were different. Does that explain? And–and it was back into a park.

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So there was a park that we used to go and play, and I used to be a very athletic child or a very playful child, whatever it's called. So I used to go out, play with friends.

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There were a lot of friends in the neighborhood, so life was much, much, much simpler and very joyful. Little things were gave us big joy. When my father come home from work, he would bring a bag of fruits

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or some goodies and the kids just would run to him. And we just loved it. That's amazing. Thank you for sharing. You mentioned you have three siblings.

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What was the age gap and how would you describe your relationship with them? So at that time, we were three siblings, like me and then my brother and then my sister, and then later on much later after–after like,

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she's 17 years younger than I am. So my baby sister was born. So this is how the three sisters are. Three, sorry, three siblings are.

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Me and my brother, who is one of the twins, but one of the twins passed away when he was a baby. So my brother is one and a half years younger than I am, and then the other sister is one and a half years younger than the

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brother. So she's three years younger than I am. And then my baby sister is 17 years younger than I am. Thank you. What were some of the values your parents instilled in you while you were

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growing up? Education was a must. Honesty and being nice to others. So we have religious beliefs. We belong to a religion.

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And that's why our parents installed this religious beliefs in–in us. And then we were expected to follow them very strongly. And like all religion, the religion teaches you to be nice to others, be honest, never to cheat, never to steal,

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be polite to others. So all those were the things that our parents also gave us. But one thing that my mom was strongly advocating was education. Education for all and education for girls.

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So that's why all of us went to school and college and–and, you know, are professionals. So I think that's one thing. And our religion also tells us to be––to get education,

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no matter how far we have to go to get education. So that's also a religious value, we can say. But, that was one thing that my mom was very strong about. And then we had to. Yeah.

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And then we had to keep our home, the small home––it was not small for the average at that time. But from now that I'm explaining it, it sounds like small, but we had to keep it very clean. Ourselves very clean, rooms very clean.

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So cleanliness was also a value. And being nice to other and being polite to others. Like I said, all those the religious values that every religion promotes having, being a good citizen and a good human being.

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That's amazing. Thank you. Since you mentioned education, can you take me back to some of your early educational experiences in elementary and middle school? What schools did you attend and were there any teachers or experiences during this early

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schooling that inspired you academically or non academically? Yeah. So school was–school was good. I was always very competitive child. I had to do very well in my class.

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I had to do very well in sports. We had–we had like I said, we had a park in the back of our house, like our–our house was backing a park, and we used to have sports and athletic days there.

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I used to participate in that. And my–my effort was always to be number one. And same thing in education. My parents helped us and supported us.

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So they wanted us to do well. And like I said, I'm very competitive myself in education, so I was––I always wanted to do very well. And in our system, there were grades like first,

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second, third students. Here too, like in high school, kids are valedictorian and salutatorian. At that time, in every grade, even kindergarten, first, second, third. So I would never imagine being

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second or third, so I will––I always had to be first. So I worked hard and there was structure in the household. There was discipline in the household that the kids would do their

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work and excel in school. But among all of my siblings, I think I was the most committed student or dedicated student and did very well in school. That's what I remember.

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And I also participated in sports and debate in all my school years. Teachers knew me very well. And then they encouraged me. I was at one point in my schooling, I remember

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that I was not doing very well in math, but then my teacher would really, you know, focus on me and sometimes be hard on me and say, how could you not do very well in math? So I got so good in math that I–I can never forget

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that teacher. I can never forget her name. I can never forget how she pushed me. So I was very, very good in math. And that made my future education achievements

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possible. My mom was also a teacher later on. At that time, she was a stay at home mom when we were little. But then later on, when we got older, she became a teacher. So my mom was a teacher all her life.

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That's amazing. Thank you for sharing. It's great that you had such influential teachers in your life. [AS: Yeah.] Were your parents supportive of your interests? And did they ever push you towards specific interests or fields of study? My parents were very, very supportive, and I think that's what

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reflects in my personality, the confidence I got and the belief in myself I got from my parents. They always believed in me and they always supported me and my siblings, everyone. They––but whatever we wanted to do in

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our careers, they were supportive. My mom wanted me to be a physician, but––and at that time, I thought, yes, I wanted to be a physician. But sometimes, things do not happen the way you want it.

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And in Pakistan, sometimes things, especially in–in higher education. So–so–so there are ten grades in school, first to tenth grade. And that's the 10th grade is called metric or

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matriculation and it is a SSC certificate which is Secondary School Certificate. And then the–the next two are HSC like Higher Secondary School Certificate which is intermediate which is grade 11th and 12th. And after grade 12, you––if you score

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very well, then you go to––you can get into medical school or engineering. Otherwise, you have to pick other careers. So, during my higher secondary school certificate, like my intermediate years, those two 11th and 12th years,

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there was some–there was some, I'm not sure, some kind of natural disaster that happened like flooding or something. So anyway, the way it worked that they lost all our papers without grading

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and then it was heard that they just gave us grades randomly. So long story short, I did not score the numbers that were that I was supposed to score and therefore–therefore I did not get into medical school. But that's what my mom really wanted

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to. But they never discouraged us, or they never were disappointed, or I was never disappointed in or if we did not do because whatever, she was sure. And my parents were sure that whatever we do in life,

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we will do good. And that's how–that's how it has been. And it's still now that they are––my–my father passed away, but my mother is very supportive of what I do. And same thing with me and my kids.

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Wow. Thank you for sharing. Speaking of that event, were––was there any historical event or narrative that stayed with you from the first year of, like, history classes or history textbook?

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I'm not sure about the history classes or history textbook, and to tell you honestly, I'm not a––I––when I was little, in elementary and middle school and even high school, I was not a big fan of

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history class because I felt that our history stopped at the time when Pakistan was created or formed or even before that. So it wasn't–it wasn't current history.

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And I was very much interested in the current history. Where are we now? What are we doing now and how it connects to the history, that ancient history. So the history books that we were given, or the history

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classes that we had were not to all the way to the present. So that was something that I didn't like. I wanted to see how we are connected to the past.

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But the thing that I can tell you that I still remember, and which is something that I can never forget, that I saw two wars. One war was–one war was when I was very little.

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So I do not have a very strong memory of it. But the other war between Pakistan and India in 1971, I clearly remember it. It was very, very scary.

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And then all of us would just––all the neighbors and friends, people from all these houses, and we were still living in that house that I explained. And we––I forgot to tell there was also a small backyard in the house so everyone would gather in the backyard,

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like all the women and children in our house, when the–the–when the bombing and shelling started. And then we had a trench dug outside of our backyard in the park area.

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A trench is a place, for those who do not know, it's like a–it's like a big kind of––because, I mean, I know the word trench only, like, you dig it underground and then cover it on the top with wood and–and dirt and sand and everything.

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And then there is a secret way to go inside in that trench. And so all the women and children will go in one trench, which was next to my house, attached to my house. And then men would gather in another house and they will watch the situation.

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And then we would see the bombing start or shelling starts and the then the shells start falling in the park where we play, and then our moms will quickly, secretly just, we will, you know, bend and go

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inside that trench with the pencils in our mouth and the cotton balls in our ears. So the bombing won't affect them. And we would stay there until the bombing continues. So that event I–I can never forget.

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Oh, wow. That must have been terrifying. I'm sorry you had to go through that. Yeah, yeah. It's just, I mean, the thing is that we came out alive and we were fine and we moved on is a big thing. Mhm. How old were you then?

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And how do you think you versus your parents versus your siblings, you all dealt with this differently, if you did? So my siblings were even younger. The baby sister was, of course, not born and my siblings were

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younger and my brother, you know, a playful little boy. So I'm not sure how. I mean, every––all the kids were very, very scared, though, and especially when you have to hold a pencil between your

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teeth so that the teeth don't clatter or have to put cotton in your––mom–moms put putting cotton in their kids' ear. It's kind of a scary in itself, so I think they were all very scared.

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We were all very scared. And then we would just––our moms would say, just pray, pray to God that everything is fine. And then we just come out of it fine.

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So that's––but I remember my mom is the person who gets very, very frightened and nervous. So her face changes, her face turns pale, and her eyes show the fear. And I can never–I can never forget

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her face. So she is the most frightened. And of course, you can imagine being a mom if she knows that I have my three kids with me, my husband is outside, God knows what's going to happen. So the fear is there, and that's what they felt.

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Do you recall how the war concluded or how news was shared during this time? The news was shared on the radio. People would have the transistor radio, you know, the–the wireless kind with the antenna, which catches the news.

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So everyone had their–their transistor radios. They would carry it everywhere. These are small radios, like, a little––a size of a, you can say, a size of an iPad.

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And then there is an aerial that comes out of it that you pull and it catches the sound waves. And then there are stations with the needle. You set those stations where the news is coming, and then we will get all the news through that.

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There were no phones or cell phones, we did not even have landlines. And there were, of course, there were no cell phones. And that's how we got the news. And I think the war ended because in this particular war,

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India got the territory that–that they were looking for. And Pakistan, you know, they–they said they accepted it. They accepted their defeat.

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They put their weapons down, and then the war ended. Thank you for sharing. Moving a little bit more into your immigration and moving to the US,

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what motivated your move to Saudi Arabia before the US? So my husband was working in Saudi Arabia. Pakistan economy is not the greatest, and it was not the greatest at that time to when we were there, and people used to

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move or try to find jobs in other countries, mainly Middle East, like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, and then Saudi Arabia. So my husband got a job in Saudi Arabia. He's a chemical engineer.

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So he got this job and he moved to Saudi Arabia. And then we got married and he sponsored for my visa. And later I–I joined him in Saudi Arabia. We lived there for about 11 months together, like my husband lived

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there, of course, longer before he got married, but together when I joined him, we lived there for 11 months. And then in the meantime, his green cards–his green card immigration visa was approved because his brother who–who was living in the United

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States at that time, had sponsored his visa. So it was approved and he could apply and got the visa stamp. So that's what he did. And since he got married in that time, by the time––during the time when the visa

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was applied and–and approved, so I got the visa automatically with him. So that's how we got immigration to the United States–to the United States. Awesome. You worked as a math and science teacher in Saudi Arabia.

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How would you compare the educational systems in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the US? The education system in Saudi Arabia and in Pakistan was quite similar at that time.

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But US, I haven't taught in the US schools, so I cannot really compare it to the US schools except that I see what my kids had done in the schools when they were going to schools in the US. But it was–it was called the British system.

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And like I said, the––for in the United States, the system, the grading system and the report cards, all these are different. The–the kids are given their grades differently.

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But in the––in Saudi Arabia and in Pakistan, it's the British system. And then there are grades like every class, every exam, the children are declared first, second, third and then A grade or––in the United States, for example, the A grade is 90 and above.

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And in our system, there was not an A or B grade, but over 70% points. 70 out of 100 used to be an exti––what was the word? Distinction. It was a distinction, meaning that you

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did very, very well. Anyone who scored over 70%, they got distinction in that subject. For example, if I got 70 or above, like 80 or 90, then I got a distinction in math or any subject that I

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got those–those–those grades. So, and then the medium of education was English like, people spoke like, in Pakistan, there were both English medium and Urdu medium schools, but I went to the English medium school and

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in Saudi Arabia, this particular school was English medium. The medium of, you know, education. All the books were in English and kids were––would speak English or Urdu because the principal or the

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person who had started this school was from the subcontinent. She was not Middle Eastern, she was not Saudi. And she started this school because a lot of people who migrated to Saudi Arabia from that region, from the subcontinent,

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they, their kids did not know Arabic and without knowing Arabic, they couldn't go to the schools, the local schools. So she started this school for expats and people who were in––whose kids could not speak Arabic.

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So the––so they came to this school, and the medium was English: teaching and conversation. Okay, that makes sense. How is working as a professor or teacher in all three countries influenced your

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teaching style or content? So like I said, I didn't teach in school here, like the grade school, but then I got my own education here at UT School of Public Health.

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I did my master's and my doctorate in public health. So I saw how teachers teach here or how professors interact with their students and how–how the classes are structured. So that's what I modeled after when I was teaching,

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and I really enjoyed my teaching. I really enjoyed connecting with the students, and I think it was a great experience, and it helped me a lot in being a–being a teacher.

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This interacting with the students helped me to decide how I want to interact with them or how I want to teach, or how I want to engage the students. So my teaching experience was a great experience, and I wish I could have done it more.

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But because of the nonprofit that I created, I couldn't continue to teach as much as I wanted to, but it was a great experience. I can never forget it, and I will––if I have––if I had a chance,

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I would go back. Oh, that's really great to hear. Where in the US did you move to first, and were you able to find a solid Pakistani American community there?

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No, we moved to West Virginia. It was a small town in West Virginia. The name is Parkersburg, and we had to go to Parkersburg because my brother in law, who sponsored us,

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used to work and live in Parkersburg. So we took a very, very, very long flight because there were no flights from Pakistan or Saudi Arabia to Parkersburg. So we came to Europe.

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We took the flight to Europe, from Europe to New York, from New York to Pittsburgh, I believe, and then from Pittsburgh to Parkersburg, very, very small airport, like a one room, one small room and very small plane.

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And there was no Pakistani community except the brother in law whose house we were––we stayed in for about a month, and then we moved to Chicago. Chicago, in Chicago, there was a huge Pakistani community.

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There were grocery stores. There are neighborhoods where you feel like you can see people like yourself. So, Chicago was very good. I really enjoyed it. Not that I didn't like Parkersburg.

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It is a beautiful place. It's called Heaven on Earth, and it was really heaven on earth. It's just beautiful. And then Chicago was very, very nice. But then after four years in Chicago,

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we moved to Houston. And, you know, Houston's Pakistani community and the–and the Houston scene, food and groceries and places to go is just out of this world. It's just beautiful. So that was the journey.

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Awesome. Thank you for sharing. Did you experience any culture shock and was the US what you expected from the info that you had prior to coming here? Oh yeah. It was a huge cultural shock because when

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I moved to here, in Parkersburg, my brother in law and his wife and his family, we came we stayed with them for a month, like I said. So I missed my family. I missed my community.

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The culture was very, very different. Like I said in my–in my home country, we would go to the neighbors, we would just chat. We––everyone knew each other.

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But here, people are reserved and everyone just, you know, like, say hi from a distance and not really connected to the neighbors as I was used to. And then my sister in law and my brother in law told me that I cannot wear

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the–the–the clothes that I brought with me because they––I will look very different, and people are not appreciative of it, which I don't know was true or not. It's just the perception I got from my family,

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like my host family. And then you always have to dress up in Western, otherwise people will pick on you and then, you know, food choices that we had to make. There was no halal food that I––I'm used

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to eating, or I prefer eating or the actually the only meat that I eat is halal. So we had to rely on vegetables a lot unless we, my brother in law, would just go drive hundreds of miles and get some animal slaughtered and then bring them back.

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So there was not––the–the meat was not readily or easily available. So either–either do that or rely on vegetable or seafood. And then the spices were not available. There were no grocery stores where we could go and get the groceries like I'm used

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to, or I'm raised on, the South Asian food. There was no option of a restaurant. I remember I didn't even eat pizza for the longest time, even though it's vegetarian.

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I mean, it has cheese, but I did not know if the cheese was halal or not. If it comes from pork, which is not that–that is permitted to me. And then what kind of enzymes are in there?

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What dairy products are in there? So we did not eat out, period. There was McDonald's, there was French fries. I don't know what kind of oil they used to fry the potatoes in.

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So it was very limited choices. And then we were afraid of doing something, eating something wrong. So we did not eat out at all for–for many, many, many years until I started––I mean, until we

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moved to Chicago. And then I started calling the companies, for example, I called McDonald's, and I asked them what oil do they use to fry their French fries? And then I call Pizza Hut. And then I would ask them what kind of cheese they use,

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like, what are the ingredients? The biggest concern was pork or lard that we wanted to avoid. And then if it's cow's milk, it's fine, if it's, you know, the––if the fat is generated from like,

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cow or goat or sheep, it's fine, but not–not lard. So those were the challenges early on. And–and one thing that you may not even think to ask because no one can imagine right now.

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There were holidays like for right now there's Ramadan. So––and after Ramadan is Eid, which is after 30 days of fasting, and it is a big holiday. So we did not even have the opportunity to call back

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home on Eid day because there were no direct lines. So I would call the operator and I would request the operator to connect my mom's number, like I would stay online and the operator will try to connect and then since it's Eid, many people are trying, the circuits are busy.

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So the operator would call, try 2 or 3 times and then they will say, no, ma'am, I cannot try any further. The circuits are busy. Please try later. And then that was like heartbreaking that I am alone

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here with my husband. Just me and my husband and our families are not here. And then we cannot even talk to our families or our parents on Eid because the phone lines are so busy. But we relied a lot on letter writing, so my parents

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and my friends and my family would write letters. We would write letters. I remember standing outside, you know, when the mail carrier––at the time when the mail carrier arrives, I would just stand outside and wait for the mail carrier if he's bringing a letter for me

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from home. And then I hated Sundays at that time because the mail carrier didn't come on Sundays, so I knew I cannot expect a letter on a Sunday. So I hated that aspect of Sunday. That why the mail doesn't come on Sunday.

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So I could receive a letter from my mom in my home. So, those were the kind of things that we dealt with at that time. I know you asked for food, but there were other things too that we did not have.

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I'm sorry your first couple of years in the US were so difficult. I'm glad you were able to find other ways to connect with your family. Yeah, it's not that it was the first couple of years. I think it was everywhere.

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Things started changing at that time. In––so it's not that we moved to a––we moved to Houston and things were better. It's not that. It's the time that changed.

00:31:48.450 - 00:32:02.790

I'm sure that there are a ton of South Asian families that are in Parkersburg and West Virginia now. There are tons of restaurants. There is halal food everywhere. So it's not that Houston had this thing at that time and others did

00:32:02.790 - 00:32:20.830

not. It gradually came into existence or it gradually started everywhere. And of course, Houston is ahead because it is a big city and–and many people come from different parts of the world to Houston, so there are more opportunities.

00:32:23.110 - 00:32:31.690

Yes, that makes sense. Thank you for sharing. Moving a little bit on to your education, what colleges did you attend and what did you study?

00:32:33.550 - 00:32:47.260

In the United States? Anywhere in all of your college experience? Okay, so in Pakistan, like I said, I was pre-med, and then I went to Karachi University and did my degree in biochemistry.

00:32:47.260 - 00:33:03.130

And then when I moved here, I was thinking to do, like, go back and do go to pharmacy school, but the–but the issue was that the pharmacy school is not as flexible as some other programs are.

00:33:03.130 - 00:33:16.400

You cannot pick and choose courses. You have to go––like the curriculum is set, and you have to be a full time student. And at that time, by then, I had two little kids, so I–I–I was debating what to do.

00:33:16.400 - 00:33:28.610

And then one of my friend who was a physician from Pakistan, she said, I'm doing a master's in public health. And I said, what is that? She said, it's MPH and you get a degree in public health.

00:33:28.640 - 00:33:40.760

A lot of physicians who come from Pakistan or India and other parts of the world, they do that public health degree. And I said, that sounds very interesting. And since I had––I was pre-med and I'm always,

00:33:40.760 - 00:33:53.780

always interested in community health and public health and being engaged with the community, it was very interesting for me. So I explored more and I said, okay, I'll apply with you. And then I did my GRE

00:33:55.460 - 00:34:09.810

and then I applied with her. Interesting thing is that that she was not accepted into the program, and I was, and that was my first introduction to the to public health. And I really loved it.

00:34:09.810 - 00:34:25.740

And that was UT School of Public Health. And before that, I was taking some evening classes at the junior college because I was thinking to do pre-pharmacy courses for getting an admission into the pharmacy. But then when I when I applied for this MPH and I started doing it,

00:34:25.740 - 00:34:43.890

I loved it. And then I decided that this is what I want to do and this is my calling. And I did my––at that time, I was thinking to go back to Pakistan and help people after getting my education here, especially maternal and child health.

00:34:43.890 - 00:35:02.230

So I did my master's in public health in the with the focus in inter-international and family health. That was the major area of my interest, international and family health. And then after finishing that, I started working at the

00:35:02.230 - 00:35:18.550

Houston––no, actually, before I graduated, I started volunteering at the Houston Health Department, and then I started working at the Houston Health Department after graduating as an epidemiologist. I worked there for five years.

00:35:18.550 - 00:35:37.660

And then I realized that I still want to get more knowledge because that was my public health job directly related to my education. And at that time, I felt the urge to learn more and to know more if I want to connect with people and if I do good and make some impact.

00:35:37.660 - 00:35:54.460

And I applied again at UT School of Public Health for a doctorate in public health, which is DrPH. Got accepted and started my degree part time, and then later on I–I resigned from my

00:35:54.460 - 00:36:09.750

job at the Houston Health Department and became a full time student and finished my degree. When I was doing my dissertation, I sought out the South Asian community in Houston to do

00:36:10.110 - 00:36:29.160

to–to talk to them, to do interviews and key informant interviews and focus groups of the South Asian community to find their challenges. And my dissertation was just a small portion of it that what is the

00:36:29.160 - 00:36:47.820

impact of acculturation or lack of acculturation on women and their physical activity in the South Asian community. But that's when I decided that this is what I want to do. Like I want to continue to do that, work with this community.

00:36:47.820 - 00:37:05.010

They are very isolated, they are ignored, and they don't––they definitely need help. So–so then––but after––during my DrPH I––no, I think it was after––I'm sorry, I'm just mixing up the dates.

00:37:05.010 - 00:37:21.000

But after my DrPH completed, I started teaching at University of Houston downtown and Saint Thomas University. And while I was teaching, I kept thinking about

00:37:21.450 - 00:37:34.890

the community that I work with, the data I collected, and–and finalize everything. And then I didn't know how to–how to work with that community, how to help them.

00:37:35.040 - 00:37:53.790

I–I was just on my own, connected to them. I would help them with whatever they need, but there was this urge to do something more. And then it––I realized that without having a nonprofit or without having an organization at my back,

00:37:53.820 - 00:38:06.940

I cannot go very far. So I talked to many organizations about their challenges and maybe having a program for them, but it didn't work out. And then finally, I ended up making a nonprofit myself.

00:38:06.940 - 00:38:23.860

So it was not my intention out of school to just create a nonprofit. It–it is a result of all my efforts that I did to help that community and then realize that without a nonprofit, a platform, I cannot go very far.

00:38:23.860 - 00:38:41.050

And then since I did not, I was not able to collaborate with any other agency, then I ended up creating one. Yeah, it's really amazing hearing about your journey to building your nonprofit, that it's sort of built from everything that you worked with in the past.

00:38:41.350 - 00:38:56.300

Yes. Very definitely. I was curious, you said you did research that focused on the South Asian female demographic. Was there any conclusions or findings that you found that were surprising or different from what you expected coming in?

00:38:57.770 - 00:39:14.690

So when I was–when I was picking topic for my dissertation, I told my advisor, Dr. Steven Linder, that the burden of, you know, diseases, chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension and all that is

00:39:14.690 - 00:39:25.910

higher in the South Asian community and in women. So that's why I want to focus on that. And he said, you know that already, Aisha, that this the burden of the disease is higher.

00:39:25.910 - 00:39:44.390

So you need to dig deeper and see what is going on here or why is that? And then I–and then I said, okay, we will look at acculturation like what makes people happy or unhappy, what kind of lifestyle they have that is impacting their

00:39:44.390 - 00:40:02.850

health. So that's–that's how we started with that. That's how my–my dissertation topic came into being that. And then with that, we saw that when the people are living in their shells, sort of, and they are isolated,

00:40:02.850 - 00:40:16.710

they do not feel that they belong to this community. They do not feel that they belong to the culture, or they are treated like a second class citizen, or they feel that they are treated, not necessarily that they are treated.

00:40:16.740 - 00:40:31.950

If they feel that they are not equal or this is not home, they are going back to home sometime. And so–so the home that they are living in for one, two, five, ten, 20, 30 years is still not home,

00:40:31.950 - 00:40:45.630

then of course they are not happy. And that also causes mental health issues that causes, like, sadness and depression. But at the same time, those mental health stressors make it

00:40:45.630 - 00:40:57.520

physical health issues. So that's what the–that's what the result of that research and that the finding and from those the qualitative data that I collected.

00:40:59.770 - 00:41:14.350

Okay. That makes sense. Thank you. You mentioned earlier that you worked as an epidemiologist. [AS: Mhm.] Compared to present day, in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, how has your perspective, if at all, changed from working in the

00:41:14.350 - 00:41:32.320

infectious disease landscape to living through a global pandemic? So what–what do you mean by perspective change? So, since you worked as an epidemiologist, [AS: Correct.] maybe you had a perspective of how maybe the world was prepared to deal with the

00:41:32.320 - 00:41:45.280

pandemic, something like that. And then after having lived through it, how has that sort of changed? Oh, okay. Thank you for clarifying that. So, of course, as you all saw and we saw, that world

00:41:45.280 - 00:42:03.260

was not prepared. I can tell you one thing that will–that will explain it better. So when the pandemic started, I was–I was in visiting Pakistan in––it was early

00:42:03.260 - 00:42:18.800

2020. I remember I came back from Pakistan on February 7th, 2020, and then during my stay in Pakistan, I don't know if it was a week or two week stay or something, a short stay.

00:42:18.860 - 00:42:33.500

I heard about this disease and everyone was talking about this disease. And then they said that it started, and it's impacting everyone. I don't remember they called it.

00:42:34.280 - 00:42:47.030

I think they called it Covid-19. That part I don't remember. They called it Covid or some other name. And–and then I heard the stories about this starting

00:42:47.030 - 00:43:01.680

from eating monkey or all those kinds of things in a third world country. And I said, what is this going on? And I have not heard about it, and I didn't take it seriously. I was laughing. I said, they're always worried about one thing or the

00:43:01.680 - 00:43:14.970

other. I don't know what's going on. And I have a cousin whose son was studying abroad, and she said the schools closed, and he is back home and they–they live in Dubai.

00:43:14.970 - 00:43:26.250

And then when I arrived at the airport, the day when I was coming back, when I arrived at the airport, I saw there were signs, check your temperature. If you have a fever, don't get in the plane.

00:43:26.250 - 00:43:37.650

And very, very––I mean––I––it felt weird. What is going on and why I don't know anything? And I was talking to my family back home all the time.

00:43:37.650 - 00:43:54.730

I was connected, and then no one told me about it. I––my––the biggest news I got from my family at that time was the–was the helicopter crash of the basketball

00:43:54.730 - 00:44:05.170

player? Do you remember? Yes. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. So that was the biggest news that I got at that time. And I was like, my son was extremely upset.

00:44:05.200 - 00:44:17.800

He called me mom. Did you hear? So there was no Covid in the United States at that time. There was no Covid news, nothing. And then I––at the airport, this is what I saw in

00:44:17.800 - 00:44:29.110

Pakistan about the temperature and all that. And the temperature was being checked when you were boarding one plane. And then I took Turkish Airline. I arrived in China––sorry, in

00:44:30.250 - 00:44:47.540

Istanbul for the connecting flight. And then he––the–the person at the–at the on the desk, he checked my passport and he said, "when did you go to China?" And I forgot that I had been to China because

00:44:47.540 - 00:45:01.550

it was like a transit for one day and I totally forgot long time ago. So he said, "when did you go to China?" And then I said, "I haven't been to China." No idea why he's asking. And then he saw the––he showed me the stamp.

00:45:01.550 - 00:45:14.540

I said, "oh, I'm so sorry. Yeah, this was a transit. We were going to Australia. And then in the way it––we––because it was Air China, then I stopped there." Anyways I came back here and then

00:45:14.570 - 00:45:26.540

even then in the US nobody was worried. I didn't see a huge issue. We were planning to go back. So my trip to Pakistan was a short trip, and then the whole family was going

00:45:26.540 - 00:45:43.640

back to for an Umrah, if you know, in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in March, and we are still planning that visit and we–we were thinking and since I was in Pakistan and I saw that and I told my family, I don't know.

00:45:43.920 - 00:45:54.330

There is something going on. And then the–the–the–the–the thing is not the same. Everything is not the same as it was before. There–there is something big going on.

00:45:54.330 - 00:46:08.760

So I don't know if we should go or not, but we still––we're buying our like plane ticket and visa and everything, and–and we got the visa for the Umrah. That's the–that's the surprising thing.

00:46:08.760 - 00:46:21.660

We got the visa, and then we are booking our flights. And all of a sudden, we heard that the that Saudi government closed the Umrah, the whole process. People cannot go to Kaaba.

00:46:21.690 - 00:46:33.150

They cannot perform the Umrah. They shut down the mosque. And that's when we seriously thought, what's going on? And at that time I'm thinking, this is Houston and I have been

00:46:33.150 - 00:46:44.500

in–in everywhere and came back and nothing happened. And the plane was fine. There were no masks, nothing. And I'm thinking, think about New York.

00:46:44.710 - 00:46:58.420

People go to, you know, New York and, like, the airports are so busy. People from all over the world come to New York every day, every hour, every minute.

00:46:58.420 - 00:47:14.860

So how much earlier people were exposed to Covid by the time they found out? So we already had that pandemic in the United States. It was already––it has already spread here, but

00:47:15.130 - 00:47:32.500

it was not noticed. And to my surprise, we still had the rodeo that year. And I was like, why are we having a rodeo? There is such a huge crisis and rodeo is like the best breeding ground. And people are so close, they are eating together,

00:47:32.530 - 00:47:42.920

they are with animals. Why are we having rodeo? And I kept thinking and I told my family, nobody is going to the rodeo this year, but we had the rodeo.

00:47:42.920 - 00:47:58.460

So we took that Covid very lightly and we did not––we were not prepared at all. From the––from that epidemiologist perspective, we were not prepared. We were not mentally ready

00:47:58.460 - 00:48:13.910

and we had no idea what is going on. I think some other countries in the world were much more prepared than the United States. As far–as far as the preparation or the mindset comes,

00:48:13.910 - 00:48:32.780

we were at the bottom at that time. So–so I think that's where–that's where it came from. The–the way it spread in New York and other big cities. And of course, people come to Houston and people come

00:48:32.780 - 00:48:49.740

to LA and other big cities too. But New York is, you know, the–the main area. Everyone goes to New York first, you know? So. And day in, day out, thousands of people are coming in

00:48:49.740 - 00:49:06.240

and out of New York's airports and going to different parts of the world and–and thinking back, at the same time, my daughter was very, very worried. She said, one of my friends was perfectly fine.

00:49:06.720 - 00:49:21.240

She's a physician. She all of a sudden she got sick, and then now she's on ventilator. No idea what had happened to her. And then, of course, it could very well

00:49:21.270 - 00:49:36.180

be Covid, but it was not diagnosed. So that was the epidemiologist perspective. Does does it make sense? Yes, absolutely. It definitely seemed like we had––we took a really long time before we got

00:49:36.180 - 00:50:16.090

started on preventative measures. Yeah. And we had no idea what was going on. Okay. What makes you most passionate about your work at CHAT?

00:50:18.850 - 00:50:36.740

The community. The community is the thing. My heart was always in the community. I am a big advocate of equity and equality in health and with through my dissertation and through my experiences

00:50:37.550 - 00:50:54.650

in–in the United States, and I saw that it's not–it's not equal. I remember this one lady. She called me once and she said, can you help me find a job? No, sorry. Can you help my son find a job?

00:50:54.650 - 00:51:08.150

He lost his job. I said, okay, what does your son do? She said he had his––he had worked at a cell phone store, and that's what he's looking for. And I said, okay, I know someone at Fry's, the big electronics store.

00:51:08.180 - 00:51:20.720

I can talk to them if they're hiring. And she said, yeah, that would be good. But he really wants to work on Harvin, like in a private cell phone store. I said, Fry's is better.

00:51:20.720 - 00:51:35.070

They offer health insurance and other benefits. She said, yeah, but I don't need it. Health insurance is not permissible in my religion. And ironically, both her and I have the same religion.

00:51:35.100 - 00:51:47.580

I said, why would you say so? She said, yeah, insurance is not––is insurance is not good. So I would not––my son would not accept it. That's amazing because if you don't have health insurance,

00:51:47.580 - 00:51:58.170

how would you go see a doctor? If you get sick, how do you get treatment? She said, oh, we go to Benton. So people did not even know how to take care of themselves.

00:51:58.200 - 00:52:16.980

People did not know or do not know how to manage their health insurance or their health, like during Covid, I know many, many––like thousands and thousands of people––did not get a Covid vaccine because they did not want to go to the doctor.

00:52:16.980 - 00:52:27.330

They didn't want to pay for that vaccine. They didn't want to even go to get free vaccines or leave their homes for that. And they said that they can treat themselves.

00:52:27.360 - 00:52:43.540

The other thing, one time I got a call from a school, HISD school and they said, we have these little kids who come to school and they are––they come in their pajamas and sometimes they smell, which is very difficult for teachers and other students.

00:52:43.570 - 00:52:55.630

Can you talk to the family and explain it to them because they don't speak English? The grandparents are taking care of the babies. And I said, okay. And then I started to, you know, find out what's going on.

00:52:55.630 - 00:53:09.790

So the grandparents are were taking care of the babies because the mother, a single mother, was in prison. And I said, why is she in prison? I say, because one of the babies, the

00:53:09.790 - 00:53:28.270

youngest baby got burned. The mom was taking a shower, and there was a candle in the house. And somehow the older baby, which was like one and a half year old or so, or a year old, the older baby pushed the candle

00:53:28.270 - 00:53:44.690

and then the–the–the youngest baby, the infant got burned. And people told the mother in that community of immigrants not to call police because they will arrest her for negligence and not to take the baby to the doctor.

00:53:44.690 - 00:53:59.420

Just put Vaseline. The mom put Vaseline on the burned baby, and a day or two, day or three day later, the baby died. And then the mom was in prison. Anyway. So it's just that lack of knowledge.

00:53:59.420 - 00:54:13.190

Not knowing what to do, not knowing where to get help, how to get help. They get deeper and deeper into their problems rather than coming out of those. And that really breaks my heart, like more than anything.

00:54:13.610 - 00:54:27.830

And I just want to help those people. It's just to tell them there is––I mean, if you cannot get help in these United States, if you cannot get education, if you cannot get medical help, then you––there is a serious problem in your

00:54:27.860 - 00:54:46.740

knowledge because there is everything for everyone here. Yeah. Thank you for sharing. How do you measure the impact that CHAT has on its clients? Measure the impact is we see that the community is thriving.

00:54:46.740 - 00:54:57.960

We see the students are happy. We have our social emotional learning programs in schools. And a lot of times students say, can we only come to CHAT program and not go to this school because we love it here?

00:54:57.960 - 00:55:10.350

We see that the kids who are coming to our after school program, not knowing any English, to singing songs in English and–and speaking English, we saw women happy. So it's just all that.

00:55:10.350 - 00:55:26.010

And during Covid, we–we went door to door for vaccination. People were not coming out, and they were not getting vaccines. So our community health workers who are trained, community health workers who come from the same community that we serve,

00:55:26.670 - 00:55:46.900

they went door to door with the nurse and vaccinated people. And so all these things are, you know, give–give us the–give us the belief that not–not just the numbers from the survey,

00:55:46.930 - 00:56:03.070

not just that, but people's trust and that–that happiness gives us the contentment or belief that we are doing a good job for this community. That's amazing. Thank you.

00:56:03.100 - 00:56:16.330

Yeah, sometimes I don't have the words. You can understand that English is not my first language. No, not at all. With the recent public policy changes, such as removing DEI programs and limiting, like,

00:56:16.540 - 00:56:30.210

funding for other social services, how do you see that affecting CHAT and its goals for its future? So CHAT is not an independent organization anymore. We have merged with Mid-America Arts Alliance.

00:56:30.210 - 00:56:46.980

We merged in 2023. So I'm not the CEO of CHAT anymore. I'm not the found––like I'm not the decision maker––the–the top decision maker of CHAT anymore. I'm the director of CHAT, which is a program of Mid-America Arts

00:56:46.980 - 00:57:03.150

Alliance. And I tell jokingly, I tell everyone that I think I'm the only person who is very happy at her demotion, because now I have someone to go to when there is a problem. We have a director, and we have a senior vice president over me.

00:57:03.150 - 00:57:18.990

So CHAT is not the decision maker, and CHAT is not a free standing non-profit anymore. We are a program of Mid-America Arts Alliance, and obviously Mid-America Arts Alliance has policies that we are all are following.

00:57:22.530 - 00:57:40.470

Okay. Makes sense. With your involvement in the immigrant community, how concerned are members whose status may be in limbo in response to the administration's immigration policies? So, apart from, like, vaccination, like, when we have a nurse with

00:57:40.470 - 00:57:57.990

us and we are giving Covid vaccines or early childhood vaccines or, you know, all those things, we mainly work with refugees. So we do not work––a big portion of the community that we serve is not immigrants, it's refugees.

00:57:57.990 - 00:58:11.760

And most of the refugees come from the countries where there is war, and there was, like, where United States was involved. And these people are brought in legally, and they have legal work status or green cards or things like that.

00:58:11.760 - 00:58:28.690

So I haven't heard a big, you know, I haven't felt a big unrest or something in that refugee community. Currently we are working with mostly Afghan refugees and Burmese refugees. Burmese are not new. They came a long time ago,

00:58:28.690 - 00:58:44.260

but one of our community health workers is Burmese. And she can communicate with them, and we are working on a reproductive health project with the Harris County Health Department. So she's very vital in that to

00:58:44.290 - 00:58:55.270

connect with the Burmese community. And then we have two community health workers who are from the Afghan community. So we connect with them. So, to answer your question, most of the people that we are

00:58:55.270 - 00:59:16.750

working with right now are not the ones who are undocumented. I see. Do you think there is a short term or long term impact, even on those who are documented in coming and moving to the United States? I have heard, but I–I don't know, even when yesterday

00:59:16.750 - 00:59:32.260

I was somewhere and I did not see the person, but I was hearing someone introducing someone to other people and they said, this lady came from Afghanistan two days ago or something.

00:59:32.260 - 00:59:47.500

So people are still coming. And right now, the policy change is not final–final. So things are things are in a moving stage. So, no one knows exactly what's going on,

00:59:47.500 - 01:00:02.650

including myself. I see, makes sense. Moving on in 2019, CHAT partnered with multiple local Houston muralists to create the Gulfton Story Trail.

01:00:02.680 - 01:00:19.510

[AS: Mhm.] Can you talk about the inspiration behind this project and some of the logistics of bringing together such a comprehensive endeavor? So in 2019, then Mayor Turner announces––I think it was before 2019 that he announced 2017

01:00:19.510 - 01:00:37.370

or '18 the Complete Communities Initiative, and CHAT was engulfed in. We were a nonprofit, one of the nonprofits in the Gulfton area, and Gulfton is one of the complete communities, one of the communities in that initiative, which Mayor Turner decided that we would

01:00:37.370 - 01:00:56.330

improve. So, this funding came from––the–the–the mural funding came from that Complete Communities initiative. And the name was Visit My Neighborhood. And the idea was to use this funding.

01:00:56.750 - 01:01:12.890

It was, I think, $85,000 funding––to use this funding to make something in the neighborhood to make, to beautify. And one of the agencies would get it. So all the agencies will, like, write a proposal and submit it and see

01:01:12.890 - 01:01:29.670

who gets that funding to–to make visit like some beautification of the neighborhood of the Gulfton area under the Visit My Neighborhood grant. So all different agencies propose different projects

01:01:29.670 - 01:01:42.090

and CHAT proposed the murals. And then it was––the fund came from the hotel occupancy tax, from the mayor's office–from the mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs and Houston Arts Alliance.

01:01:42.090 - 01:01:57.450

So Houston got––oh, sorry, CHAT got this funding. And we had proposed that we will make a series of 12 murals. It's called the Gulfton Story Trail. We will engage the students who attend CHAT program in the community–in the

01:01:57.450 - 01:02:16.990

community, whoever wants to participate, the kids will write poetry. And then the mural artists will take that poetry and paint a mural based on that. So that was the idea. And we had workshops with children and they wrote

01:02:16.990 - 01:02:32.470

poetry. And then we had a call for artists. The artists came and–and the proposal was––our proposal that I wrote was that we will collaborate with other agencies. So then one agency was involved with the poetry workshops,

01:02:32.470 - 01:02:49.420

one agency was involved with the call for artists. So we were working in collaboration and then artists came. We had a meeting, and then I explained the project to them and then told them to pick the poetry and all the mural artists who came for this project

01:02:49.450 - 01:03:07.660

were very, very engaged with the community and wanted to give back. So, their compensation was very little as compared to what they charge for the murals. And then they painted those murals. So this is–this is how the Gulfton story trail came into being.

01:03:09.280 - 01:03:27.950

That's amazing. How did you come up with the idea for murals specifically, and how do they help advance the message of healing for the underserved community? So, if you see the mission of CHAT is to improve the health and well-being of immigrants and refugees through education,

01:03:27.980 - 01:03:45.020

arts, advocacy, and access to care. So obviously, the arts is a big part of it. We have always believed in art and the power of art for healing and therapy. So the–the kids will learn to speak English when they speak,

01:03:45.020 - 01:03:58.760

or the women will learn and the language access and being able to, you know, like, the whole acculturation process, everything comes with time. But art is like instant healing and art can tell the stories which are

01:03:58.760 - 01:04:08.390

otherwise not possible. It's–it's on the wall. So that's how we thought of these murals. And people see themselves in those murals.

01:04:08.390 - 01:04:23.550

And, you know, a lot of people have not been to museums or art galleries who live in the Gulfton area, and that is their–their chance of seeing the art there. You cannot even imagine.

01:04:23.550 - 01:04:42.630

One time we had our CHAT Academy kids––the after school homework program––CHAT academy kids participate in the Houston Marathon in 5K, so that day we took about 40-45 kids in the morning to downtown to run 5K.

01:04:42.750 - 01:04:57.720

And they were looking at the buildings as something just completely out of this world. They had no idea of those tall buildings, they had never seen downtown, they have never been outside of their neighborhood. And some of those kids were born and raised here.

01:04:57.750 - 01:05:15.100

Not just came from somewhere, but they did not have those opportunities. So–so then these––this art is coming to their community. They are seeing themselves on a––on in––on the wall, like, through that art, images that look like them,

01:05:15.100 - 01:05:26.560

images that represent them. And then it speaks to them and about them, you know. So that's what the Gulfton story trail is.

01:05:28.450 - 01:05:44.830

That sounds incredible. I saw that Representative Gene Wu was one of the speakers at the Gulfton Trail celebration. [AS: Mhm.] What would you say the relationship between, like, public service organizations like yours has with legislation in Houston?

01:05:44.980 - 01:06:05.650

Amazing, amazing. Both Gene Wu and Council member Edward Pollard are very, very supportive of our work. They are––they've always been there. It is really remarkable how Gene Wu finds time

01:06:05.680 - 01:06:20.450

out of his busy schedule to attend our events or to meet with us if we ask, and to support us whatever way he can. And same thing with Edward Pollard. He's very, very supportive of our work, and whenever we needed something,

01:06:20.450 - 01:06:37.820

he would just go out of his way to help us, or his office will go out of their way to help us. For example, we lost the apartment lease for CHAT office and the programming space, and we were not able to find an office space, especially in the apartments.

01:06:37.820 - 01:06:52.880

So, Council member Edward Pollard helped us to find this new office where we are in. So, and they make connections for us, they make introductions for us, and sometimes even funding when it's like the city initiatives or

01:06:52.880 - 01:07:07.490

grants, the fundings that we can apply for, they––we get them. Yeah. Well, it's so nice to hear that the whole community is sort of coming together to build this up. Yeah. Yeah, definitely.

01:07:08.440 - 01:07:24.430

Moving a little bit away from, I guess, career, community. Did you ever face any discrimination as an Asian American in your field? You know, I wouldn't say that that I faced discrimination

01:07:24.430 - 01:07:42.220

because sometimes things are subtle, and I'm a very positive person, very optimistic person. So even if things are not the best, I don't feel that this is,

01:07:42.580 - 01:08:00.130

you know, this is something that I would want to pay attention to because we have so much support in the community that I––even personal level, I know I have dealt with it, especially after 9/11 and even before 9/11 too,

01:08:00.160 - 01:08:17.650

I have dealt with it, but it's just that I think if we–if we just keep focusing on that, then I will miss the bigger picture. Yes, there are instances. Yes, there are instances when I was asked to go back home or my kids were asked to go

01:08:17.650 - 01:08:33.250

back home, and they look at me and they say, "but this is my home, mom, where do I go?" So it's just these things happen. But I think my mission is much bigger than that, and those who are doing it do not know better.

01:08:33.310 - 01:08:49.900

And I'm very, very thankful for the opportunities that I got in life. Very thankful for the education that I got, the support I got from the faculty in UT School of Public Health, and then all the support that I got for CHAT.

01:08:49.900 - 01:09:06.800

So I would not focus on anything that is just little or distraction because the mission is big. And like I said, from Gene Wu to Councilmember Edward Pollard to [unintelligible] local non-profit organizations

01:09:06.800 - 01:09:21.770

and all the other places that supported us. I would think that the support is much bigger. And then Mid-America Arts Alliance now. They–they are––I mean, they just saw the

01:09:21.770 - 01:09:35.300

value of the work that we were doing and the organization that I had created. And then they decided to just support us. It's huge. Now CHAT is doing the same work. The work has not changed.

01:09:35.300 - 01:09:50.090

The focus, the mission, the vision has not changed. But we got more resources through Mid-America Arts Alliance. So that is big. Yeah. That's amazing. I really appreciate that insight. It's really good advice for

01:09:50.090 - 01:10:02.480

anyone put in that position. Moving on a little bit to family and personal life, can you tell us a little bit about your family and your children? Do they follow in your footsteps?

01:10:02.510 - 01:10:16.770

Like, what are they doing now? My husband, like I, you know, I have a degree, like, a doctorate in public health, so I'm a public health professional. My husband is a chemical engineer.

01:10:16.770 - 01:10:30.720

He works for the city of Houston, and he's working there I guess since 1989. Long, long time. And ever since we moved to Houston. Actually, we moved to Houston because he got this job.

01:10:30.720 - 01:10:47.400

So ever since we moved here, he's working for the city of Houston in public works and in engineering. My––we have two kids, a daughter and a son. They both went to University of Houston in Campus Honors College.

01:10:47.430 - 01:11:04.630

They went to UT McGovern for their medical school. And then my daughter did her residency at UTMB and then her fellowship at Harvard. And my son did his residency at

01:11:04.870 - 01:11:21.970

Columbia University Medical Center in New York, and he did his fellowship at Texas Children's. And he's currently working at MD Anderson Cancer Center, and my daughter moved to Dallas, and she is in

01:11:22.000 - 01:11:38.620

an ophthalmology practice in Dallas. Okay. That's amazing. To you how important is it to educate your children on your own ethnic heritage when raising them? Oh, yeah. It is very, very, very important never to–never to

01:11:39.640 - 01:11:54.820

lose your roots because that's–that's where your the tree is built, like, is formed on. So they speak Urdu fluently. They follow the religious footsteps that the teachings of the religion.

01:11:54.820 - 01:12:10.220

So, we have not lost anything, and that's also very good here in the United States that you can practice your culture, you can practice your religion, but at the same time you can get the best education if you want to.

01:12:10.250 - 01:12:27.470

And that's the best of both worlds that they got. And me and my husband were very, very supportive of them. We tried to do our best in raising them, and we feel that–we feel that we were successful in that.

01:12:31.340 - 01:12:47.870

That's awesome. How do you stay connected with your extended family and siblings? So my family, my parents moved to the United States in 1995, I believe. So–so

01:12:47.870 - 01:13:01.680

my–my parents moved here, my two siblings moved here with just one sister is in Pakistan. We talk to each other, you know, now the phones are not that kind of commodity that you don't have access to.

01:13:01.710 - 01:13:15.450

So there is WhatsApp free calls. I remember when I used to call Pakistan in early on when the operator said that the circuits were busy. The call one minute–one minute call was $5.

01:13:15.480 - 01:13:29.280

Like the phone call to Pakistan was $5 a minute. Now it's free calls. There is Facetime, then letter writing does not exist anymore for that reason.

01:13:29.280 - 01:13:44.160

And then we visit each other. So yes, my–my extended family, some of my extended family is in Pakistan. A lot of my relatives and my immediate family is in Houston or in the United States, mostly in Texas.

01:13:44.190 - 01:13:58.330

My husband's family is mostly in Texas and United States. So, we don't have––we are not in the same situation. The family is here, too. Some–some siblings are back in Pakistan.

01:13:58.330 - 01:14:15.880

They decided not to move, but the nieces and nephews and all those. So–so we have a huge family in the United States. Okay, that's really nice to hear. What are some of your hobbies and interests outside of your career?

01:14:17.290 - 01:14:32.800

Spending time with family, that's the number one. Spending time with my immediate family. And then, I used to like cooking, but I don't cook anymore as that much.

01:14:32.830 - 01:14:44.470

I mean, I cook, of course, but not as much as I used to, because the kids have moved on. It's just me and my husband. So, if we––if I–if I cook a lot, then we will have to eat a lot,

01:14:44.500 - 01:14:53.860

which we don't want to do. But travel is a big hobby. We like to travel and we travel a lot, so that's another thing.

01:14:55.850 - 01:15:08.720

Thank you for sharing. Yeah. And I'm also focused on fitness. I'm sorry. So–so exercising is also something that––I have a treadmill sitting in my family room in front of TV.

01:15:08.720 - 01:15:23.750

So I just hop on it as much as I can whenever I want to. Just hop on it or go to the gym or swimming pool. But fitness is also something that I like activity, physical fitness, activities that I enjoy.

01:15:26.600 - 01:15:42.440

Perfect. Thank you. [AS: Thank you.] Onto some final questions about your identity, how do you identify yourself ethnically? South Asian. I'm a Pakistani Muslim. Okay. And what do you feel most proud of?

01:15:44.450 - 01:16:05.340

Most proud of? That I am a good human being who cares about others and my religion–religion gave me the values that I could follow and be where I am. Thank you. When and where do you feel most at home?

01:16:08.970 - 01:16:22.590

I feel at home in my home here in Houston. In, yeah. At home, whenever I'm at home, I feel happy. And this is home.

01:16:23.430 - 01:16:39.690

Ok, thank you. If your children watch this interview in the future, what's a message you want to give them? I would tell them that I would not change anything.

01:16:39.690 - 01:16:58.210

I would still do everything the same that I did for their upbringing. And I'm really proud of them, the way they turned out. It seems like my efforts did not only pay off, but I got bonus and I just would want them to know

01:16:58.210 - 01:17:10.690

that. And they know it very well, because my kids are adults now, that we–we care for the community and they do the same. So just keep doing it. Keep up the good work.

01:17:12.520 - 01:17:23.800

That's beautiful. Thank you for sharing. Is there anything else you would like to add that we have not covered yet in this interview? No. I think you did a great job.

01:17:23.800 - 01:17:34.240

Thank you very much. And thanks for the opportunity. Of course. Thank you so much. With that, I'd like to conclude our interview today. Thank you again so much Dr.

01:17:34.240 - 01:17:42.790

Siddiqui for talking with me. I really enjoyed hearing your story, and I appreciate you taking the time to share with us. Thank you! Thank you very much. You have been very nice.

01:17:43.660 - 01:17:50.680

Nice talking to you. Okay. I am going to stop the recording.