BELGIUM:  Interview with Tinne from Tantrums and Tomatoes

BELGIUM: Interview with Tinne from Tantrums and Tomatoes

Tinne 271 x 240Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?

My current home is in Belgium, in a rather small village near Mechelen. While I was born here my father and mother relocated to the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg shortly after my birth. From there they went on to what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo and then next Rwanda. We returned to Belgium because of the unstable political situation in Rwanda and I have lived here ever since.

What language(s) do you speak?

In addition to my native Dutch I also speak French, English and have a rudimentary knowledge of German.

When did you first become a mother?

I became a mother four years ago when my eldest daughter was born. Then a mere 17 months later I gave birth to her little sister a.k.a. Baby Napoleon. (more…)

Tinne from Tantrums and Tomatoes

Born in Belgium on the fourth of July in a time before the invention of the smart phone Tinne is a working mother of two adorably mischievous little girls, the wife of her high school sweetheart and the owner of a black cat called Atilla. Since she likes to cook her blog is mainly devoted to food and because she is Belgian she has an absurd sense of humour and is frequently snarky. When she is not devoting all her attention to the internet, she likes to read, write and eat chocolate. Her greatest nemesis is laundry.

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World Moms Blog Talks Ugandan Maternal Health at The Gates Foundation

World Moms Blog Talks Ugandan Maternal Health at The Gates Foundation

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to write on maternal health for The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s amazing blog, Impatient Optimists.  The foundation is “guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives.” I chose a story out of Uganda from when I visited there with a delegation from the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign. I described my meeting with a nurse midwife from one of UNICEF’s Family Health Days in Fort Portal, Uganda.

Jennifer Burden of World Moms Blog and Cindy Levin of RESULTS talk to a lab technician in Fort Portal, Uganda, while there with a delegation from the Shot@Life campaign.  Photo credit to Stephanie Geddes.

Jennifer Burden of World Moms Blog and Cindy Levin of RESULTS talk to a lab technician in Fort Portal, Uganda, while there with a delegation from the Shot@Life campaign. Photo credit to Stephanie Geddes.

World Moms, you must go over there and check out what I learned about prenatal care from the trip and the instruments used for pregnant mothers. And you won’t believe how many checkups the nurse midwife is hoping that her patients attend and what percentage actually do. And why babies who have an HIV positive mom and who are not HIV positive must stop breastfeeding at 1-year old.  Ok, enough here. The answers are all over at my post at The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, “What I Learned from a Midwife in Uganda“. Go there, and check out their site!

Comments here are closed. Go on over there to comment! 

Jennifer Burden

Jennifer Burden is the Founder and CEO of World Moms Network, an award winning website on global motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. World Moms Network writes from over 30 countries, has over 70 contributors and was listed by Forbes as one of the “Best 100 Websites for Women”, named a “must read” by The New York Times, and was recommended by The Times of India. She was also invited to Uganda to view UNICEF’s family health programs with Shot@Life and was previously named a “Global Influencer Fellow” and “Social Media Fellow” by the UN Foundation. Jennifer was invited to the White House twice, including as a nominated "Changemaker" for the State of the World Women Summit. She also participated in the One Campaign’s first AYA Summit on the topic of women and girl empowerment and organized and spoke on an international panel at the World Bank in Washington, DC on the importance of a universal education for all girls. Her writing has been featured by Baby Center, Huffington Post, ONE.org, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life, and The Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists.” She is currently a candidate in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in the Executive Masters of Public Affairs program, where she hopes to further her study of global policies affecting women and girls. Jennifer can be found on Twitter @JenniferBurden.

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ALBERTA, CANADA: Our Language Journey

ALBERTA, CANADA: Our Language Journey

LanguageDiversity

I am trying to teach my youngest child three languages. I am determined to make it work, even if I only speak one perfectly.  I am making a conscious decision to do something that is almost as awful as pulling teeth (in my opinion).  I am determined to force myself to come out of my comfort zone, even if it means being laughed at; yes, it happens sometimes.  My attempts to teach my young child English, Arabic and French were inevitably a disaster waiting to happen, except that it happened right away.  It is a deliberate act of madness on my part, and I hope that my son makes it out alive.

Here’s a little background on my adventures. I have always been a passive bilingual. In my case, I understand spoken French (mostly), I understand written French (greatly), and I can speak some French. The problem is, as the years go by, my linguistic ability coupled with my self-confidence dwindles. And boy is it ever complicated!  Along with my love for French, I found it necessary to study and learn Arabic – I married an Arabic speaker. Sure, he speaks English, but my mother-in-law doesn’t speak more than ten words of English.

Learning a new language in your late 20’s is something different. I have always respected immigrants who move to new countries and learn the language (through no choice of their own of course), but now I respect them ten-fold. (more…)

Salma (Canada)

An Imperfect Stepford Wife is what Salma describes herself as because she simply cannot get it right. She loves decorating, travelling, parenting,learning, writing, reading and cooking, She also delights in all things mischievous, simply because it drives her hubby crazy. Salma has 2 daughters and a baby boy. The death of her first son in 2009 was very difficult, however, after the birth of her Rainbow baby in 2010 (one day after her birthday) she has made a commitment to laugh more and channel the innocence of youth through her children. She has blogged about her loss, her pregnancy with Rainbow, and Islamic life. After relocating to Alberta with her husband in 2011 she has found new challenges and rewards- like buying their first house, and finding a rewarding career. Her roots are tied to Jamaica, while her hubby is from Yemen. Their routes, however, have led them to Egypt and Canada, which is most interesting because their lives are filled with cultural and language barriers. Even though she earned a degree in Criminology, Salma's true passion is Social Work. She truly appreciates the beauty of the human race. She writes critical essays on topics such as feminism and the law, cultural relativity and the role of women in Islam and "the veil". Salma works full-time, however, she believes that unless the imagination of a child is nourished, it will go to waste. She follows the philosophy of un-schooling and always finds time to teach and explore with her children. From this stance, she pushes her children to be passionate about every aspect of life, and to strive to be life-long learners and teachers. You can read about her at Chasing Rainbow.

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INDONESIA: 5 Healthy Living Tips for Moms

INDONESIA: 5 Healthy Living Tips for Moms

for-MAUREEN-May-30We are all busy moms. Some of us work full time, some of us stay at home, and some of us work from home. Bottom line, we are all busy busy busy.

Sometimes we wish we have more than 24 hours in a day to get things done, right?

But you know what, if we do have let’s say 28 hours a day, chances are we’ll be working even longer, be even busier.

Since I’m taking healthy living more seriously and now that it has become my lifestyle of choice, I’d like to share with you these tips:

  • Ditch the guilt! Why are we as moms are so hardwired to feel guilty when we do take some times alone for ourselves? We need to STOP this. Nothing is wrong about taking an hour out of your hectic schedule to workout, make it your ME time. When Mom is happy, everyone is happy right? Exercise produces endorphins, and endorphins equals happy Moms. (more…)

Maureen

Founder of Single Moms Indonesia, community leader and builder. Deeply passionate about women empowerment.

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UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: BOOBS! And now that I have your attention…let’s change the world

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: BOOBS! And now that I have your attention…let’s change the world

femen postI used to have a college professor—of women’s studies, of course—who would occasionally start class when we were particularly chatty and inattentive by saying, loudly, “SEX!”   Our heads would whip around to stare at her and the room would be silent.

The professor would chuckle and then start the lesson, which almost never had anything to do with sex—or at least not sex in an interesting way.  Her way of talking about sex was dry and academic, having to do with words like “hegemony” or “heteronormative.”

I thought about that professor a few weeks ago when I read about “International Topless Jihad Day,” sponsored by FEMEN in support of Amina Tyler, who had sparked a global controversy by posting a topless pictures of herself on Facebook with “my body belongs to me and is not the source of anyone’s honor,” scrawled on her naked chest in Arabic.  Tyler’s life—and the lives of her family—were threatened after the pictures were posted; she has since left Tunisia, where she lived.

The topless jihadists claimed that their actions showed solidarity with Amina and sent a message to the world that women’s bodies belong to no one but themselves. And yet it seems a bit like my professor yelling SEX! FEMEN is yelling BOOBS–and the topless jihad did, it’s true, get a lot of press coverage.  The coverage drew attention to Amina’s plight but also gave respected media outlets a chance to run pictures of boobs and more boobs: Huffington Post ran a whole slideshow of revolutionary boobs. (more…)

Mannahattamamma (UAE)

After twenty-plus years in Manhattan, Deborah Quinn and her family moved to Abu Dhabi (in the United Arab Emirates), where she spends a great deal of time driving her sons back and forth to soccer practice. She writes about travel, politics, feminism, education, and the absurdities of living in a place where temperatures regularly go above 110F.
Deborah can also be found on her blog, Mannahattamamma.

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