by Mamma Simona (South Africa) | Mar 1, 2013 | Communication, Family, Life Balance, Motherhood, Older Children, Womanhood, World Motherhood
There are a lot of misconceptions about depression, mainly because people say things like “I’m so depressed” when, in fact, they’re simply sad. It’s like saying you have a migraine when, in fact, you have a headache. There’s a vast difference between the two…they’re not even remotely the same!
The worst misconception is the one which adds to the suffering of someone who is clinically depressed – the idea that they can “will themselves” out of it. That they must just “change their attitude and be more grateful for what they have”. That is like saying to a diabetic that (if they want it badly enough) they’ll be able to control their insulin levels without medication! (more…)
Mamma Simona was born in Rome (Italy) but has lived in Cape Town (South Africa) since she was 8 years old. She studied French at school but says she’s forgotten most of it! She speaks Italian, English and Afrikaans. Even though Italian is the first language she learned, she considers English her "home" language as it's the language she's most comfortable in. She is happily married and the proud mother of 2 terrific teenagers! She also shares her home with 2 cats and 2 dogs ... all rescues.
Mamma Simona has worked in such diverse fields as Childcare, Tourism, Library Services, Optometry, Sales and Admin! (With stints of SAHM in-between). She’s really looking forward to the day she can give up her current Admin job and devote herself entirely to blogging and (eventually) being a full-time grandmother!
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by Mannahattamamma (UAE) | Jan 10, 2013 | International, Motherhood, UAE, Womanhood, World Moms Blog, World Motherhood
It’s 2013, a new year and of course the air is full of portent: new beginnings, fresh starts, gleaming resolutions to become perfect by February, March at the latest. Gyms throng with new devotees, yoga classes bulge with folks suddenly in need of a little down-dog enlightenment.
2013 marks the beginning of our second year in Abu Dhabi: we moved here in August 2011, so we are slowly becoming accustomed to the rhythms of expat life. My younger son, for example, when we returned to Abu Dhabi after spending the holidays with family in Manhattan, said “basically we just have two homes even though we only have one apartment.” That’s as good a summary as any: we no longer have an apartment in New York, so we’re always sort of perching–a rental, a hotel, someone’s house–and yet New York will always be “home.”
I’d thought that by now, sixteen months into our Abu Dhabi adventure, I’d have gotten further below the surface of this city but I still feel like I’m floating. It’s a city that allows the float: English is the common language, there are people from every country imaginable walking the streets, I don’t have to cover my hair or my skin to go outside, bacon and liquor are readily available even though they are forbidden to Muslims.
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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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by Kristyn Zalota | Jan 8, 2013 | Birthing, Clean Birth Kits, Health, Inspirational, International, Maternal Health, Social Good, Uncategorized, USA, Womanhood, Working Mother, World Events, World Interviews, World Moms Blog Writer Interview, World Voice, Writing
Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?
I live in New Haven, CT. I am originally from CT but have lived in several countries, including Russia, England and Thailand.
What language(s) do you speak?
English, Russian, enough Thai and Spanish to chat and order food
When did you first become a mother?
My son Nikolai was born in Oxford, UK in 2005.
Are you a stay-at-home mom or do you work outside the home?
I am stay-at-home mom, who runs a non-profit when the kids are at school.
Why do you blog/write?
I wrote my first blog, WanderMama.com, to share my experiences living in Thailand with my then 1-year-old and 4-year-old. I write my current blog, CleanBirth.org, to share information about my Clean Birth Kits project in Laos. (more…)
Kristyn brings her years of experience as an entrepreneur and serial volunteer to CleanBirth.org. She holds a MA, has run small businesses in Russia and the US, and has volunteered in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Uganda on projects related to women’s empowerment.
After having children, Kristyn became an advocate for mothers in the US, as a doula and Lamaze educator, and abroad, as the Founder of CleanBirth.org. She is honored to provide nurses in Laos with the supplies, funding and training they need to lower maternal and infant mortality rates in their villages.
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by Alison | Dec 12, 2012 | Body Image, Inspirational, Malaysia, Womanhood, World Motherhood
Dear Girls,
I’m writing to you as a 36-year old woman who has battled with demons of insecurity for most of my young life.
As a young girl, I have told myself, I’m not smart enough. I’m not beautiful enough. I’m not tall enough. I’m not sweet and gentle, and soft-spoken enough.
You would have told yourself some similar things too.
You would have compared yourself to the images you see on television, in magazines, on the Internet.
The images of ‘beauty’ as projected by the media.
The tall, leggy, flawless-complexioned goddesses with perfect hair, teeth, breasts and lives. (more…)
Alison is a former PR professional turned stay-at-home mother to two boys. Growing up in a small city of Ipoh, Malaysia, Alison left home at 17 to pursue her studies in the big city of Kuala Lumpur. At 19, she headed to University of Leeds in England and graduated with a degree in Communications. Returning home to Malaysia in 1999, she began a 10-year career in public relations, event planning, and marketing, working for various PR agencies and one of the world's biggest sports brands. After a decade of launch parties and product launches, concerts and award shows, international press junkets and world travel, Alison traded all that in for a life as a first time mother in 2009, and has not looked back since. Aside from writing for her blog, Writing, Wishing, Alison is the Founder and chief social media strategist for Little Love Media.
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by Kyla P'an (Portugal) | Nov 13, 2012 | Ethiopia, Eye on Culture, Girls, Health, Human Rights, Inspirational, International, Maternal Health, Media, Multicultural, Social Good, Tragedy, Travel, Uncategorized, United Nations, USA, Womanhood, World Events, World Interviews, World Moms Blog Writer Interview, World Voice
As we continue to explore the world of women and moms across the globe, occasionally World Moms Blog will bring you exclusive interviews with people outside of our contributor base. These interviews will focus on people and organizations that are moving and shaking the world and in the process, are bringing greater awareness to women everywhere.
World Moms Blog Founder and Editor, Jennifer Burden, met Andi Gitow at the September Social Good Summit in New York City. Jen could tell Andi was someone that had a role worth sharing with World Moms. Below is a recap of a recent phone interview WMB Senior Editor, Kyla P’an, conducted with Andi :
WMB: World Moms Blog is a blog that focuses on motherhood around the globe, on social good, and on human rights. Can you tell us about an aspect of your work at the UN that overlaps one or any of these topics?
Andi Gitow: My work and films largely focus on human rights and the causes and long lasting legacy of violence. This includes the use of rape and sexual crimes as a weapon of war. I have covered stories on human rights violations and conflict and healing in Bosnia, Liberia, and Darfur. Other issues we have covered include maternal health and the risks mothers face in the developing world. I have found in my coverage that human rights and women’s’ rights regularly overlap.
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Kyla was born in suburban Philadelphia but spent most of her time growing up in New England. She took her first big, solo-trip at age 14, when she traveled to visit a friend on a small Greek island. Since then, travels have included: three months on the European rails, three years studying and working in Japan, and nine months taking the slow route back from Japan to the US when she was done. In addition to her work as Managing Editor of World Moms Network, Kyla is a freelance writer, copy editor, recovering triathlete and occasional blogger. Until recently, she and her husband resided outside of Boston, Massachusetts, where they were raising two spunky kids, two frisky cats, a snail, a fish and a snake. They now live outside of Lisbon, Portugal with two spunky teens and three frisky cats. You can read more about Kyla’s outlook on the world and parenting on her personal blogs, Growing Muses And Muses Where We Go
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by Elizabeth Atalay | Oct 2, 2012 | 2012, Birthing, Health, Humanity, Maternal Health, Media, Social Good, Womanhood, Women's Rights, World Events, World Moms Blog, World Voice
Photo Credit: The Fistula foundation
“One Woman at a time. That is how we fight fistula. By restoring health and dignity to one. One woman with the will to survive. She is still waiting.” -The Fistula Foundation
Take time to learn one woman’s story
Once we have given birth to our first child we join a sisterhood of mothers. We can relate to each other in a way that only someone who has experienced the bodily changes of pregnancy and birth can. As beautiful and miraculous of a process pregnancy can be, our bodies have transformed in ways that introduce humility as only gestation can.
As mothers we seem to be able to speak about personal things we would never speak of to anyone else. Breastfeeding, leaking milk, hernias, incontinence, episiotomy, my fellow mothers, we have all been there in some way. We understand. Personally, I shared my experiences with other mothers along the way through my four pregnancies and births, and one miscarriage in between.
Obstetric Fistula is not a pleasant topic, and not one that we as mothers talk to each other about, but it is a mother’s topic, and because as mothers we are sisters, we need to talk about it. (more…)
Elizabeth Atalay is a Digital Media Producer, Managing Editor at World Moms Network, and a Social Media Manager. She was a 2015 United Nations Foundation Social Good Fellow, and traveled to Ethiopia as an International Reporting Project New Media Fellow to report on newborn health in 2014. On her personal blog, Documama.org, she uses digital media as a new medium for her background as a documentarian. After having worked on Feature Films and Television series for FOX, NBC, MGM, Columbia Pictures, Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, and Castle Rock Pictures, she studied documentary filmmaking and anthropology earning a Masters degree in Media Studies from The New School in New York. Since becoming a Digital Media Producer she has worked on social media campaigns for non-profits such as Save The Children, WaterAid, ONE.org, UNICEF, United Nations Foundation, Edesia, World Pulse, American Heart Association, and The Gates Foundation. Her writing has also been featured on ONE.org, Johnson & Johnson’s BabyCenter.com, EnoughProject.org, GaviAlliance.org, and Worldmomsnetwork.com. Elizabeth has traveled to 70 countries around the world, most recently to Haiti with Artisan Business Network to visit artisans in partnership with Macy’s Heart of Haiti line, which provides sustainable income to Haitian artisans. Elizabeth lives in New England with her husband and four children.
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