Sunday, November 15, 2020
By: Russ SavageD.C. Rotary Club member Mimi Kanda shares information about her background.
I consider life as a great adventure with twists and turns, and I am glad to share some points of my history with you.
I was born in Haiti, the third child of an economist and a French teacher. I arrived in Washington, D.C., as an adolescent when my father became the Ambassador from Haiti to the U.S. I went to college at American University where I got a B.S. in Biology followed by an M.D. at George Washington University School of Medicine. I trained in Pediatrics at Children’s National Hospital and received a Master’s of Public Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
I met my husband, Louis, who was a GW medical student from the Democratic Republic of Congo. After we finished his training in general surgery at Washington Hospital Center and mine in pediatrics at Children’s, we moved to the DRC for two years following which we returned to the U.S. where Louis specialized in cardiac surgery at the Cleveland Clinic.
After living in a tropical country, the first Ohio winters were quite challenging, including driving in the snow. We came back to Washington where we settled back, Louis in the practice of cardiac surgery and myself at Children’s Hospital in the newly developed field of child protection (child abuse and neglect.) After 12 years, I joined the federal government where I worked in the Department of Health and Human Services in the areas of women’s health, Head Start and finally at NIH as Deputy Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. A final professional turn took me to the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation where I still serve as senior medical advisor for the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital in Kinshasa, DRC. Louis and I are very interested in global health and have traveled to many countries to learn and assist in health care delivery.
My life adventure with Rotary started nine years ago when I was invited to join by Violet Habwe, a physician friend and member of our club, with whom I had gone on several medical missions in Africa, including the DRC and Ghana. I have enjoyed the friendships in our club, our district, other national and international clubs and the various exciting opportunities for service. I am delighted to see the expansion of our club with many talented younger members who bring such great resources for growth to us.Read More