CANADA: Interview with Alison Fraser

CANADA: Interview with Alison Fraser

Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?

I live in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada which is a city just outside of Toronto. I am originally from the little town of Long Sault, Ontario.

 What language(s) do you speak?

English is my first language.  I graduated from secondary school with an official “Certificate of Bilingualism” but have lost most of my French language skills over the years.

When did you first become a mother?

My oldest daughter, Ryleigh, was born in 2003.  My middle daughter, Camryn, arrived shortly thereafter in 2005 and baby girl number three, Quynn, rounded out the family in 2007. There is a 3 year, 8 month age gap between my oldest and youngest daughter.

Are you a stay-at-home mom or do you work outside the home?

I work as an Environmental Toxicologist for an environmental consulting company. I have been with the same company for ten years and I am now an Associate with the firm.

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Alison Fraser

Alison Fraser is the mother of three young girls ranging in age from 5 to 9 years old. She lives with her family in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. Alison works as an Environmental Toxicologist with a human environment consulting company and is an active member of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC). She is also the founder and director of the Canadian Not for Profit Organization, Mom2Mom Africa, which serves to fund the school fees of children and young women in rural Tanzania. Recently recognized and awarded a "Women of Waterloo Region" award, Alison is very involved in charitable events within her community including Christmas Toy and School Backpack Drives for the local foodbank.

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Saturday Sidebar: How much of TV time for the kids?

Saturday Sidebar: How much of TV time for the kids?

World Mom, Mom Photographer's daughter watching TV

World Mom, Mom Photographer’s daughter watching TV

This week’s Saturday Sidebar Question comes from World Moms Blog writer Alison Lee.  She asked our writers,

Do you allow your children to watch television? If yes, how much and what kind of TV programs?

Check out what some of our World Moms had to say…

Ana@StumbleAbroad of Indonesia writes:
“We are very lucky to have very limited commercials on the kids’ channels so whenever Evan (my 2.5) year old watches Disney Junior or National Geographic he’s not at all drawn to the toys. We watch TV with him and change the channel if we think it’s inappropriate for his age (violence) or too scary (creepy animals). I try to put movies for him in Spanish so he practices the language, too. El Rayo McQueen is very funny in Mexican Spanish!”

Carol @ If By Yes of British Columbia, Canada writes:
“We had a no TV before age 2 rule, in accordance with the recommended guidelines by pediatric associations, although we made exceptions occasionally for watching sports with his father. Now that he’s two we are starting to think about letting him watch children’s programs, but he saw one episode of Sesame Street and didn’t seem to learn anything from it, so we’re not in a rush.”

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World Moms Blog

World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children. World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.

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UGANDA Day 2: Family Health Day at Mubende Town Mosque

UGANDA Day 2: Family Health Day at Mubende Town Mosque

Uganda Moms & Baby on Back 225

Yesterday, I found myself donning a hijab and touring the inside of a mosque in Mubende, Uganda. It was not my ordinary Friday afternoon as a stay-at-home mom in suburban New Jersey…

By invitation of the UN Foundation, I’m on an observatory trip to Uganda with the Shot@Life campaign delegation to take a first-hand look at UNICEF‘s programs in the country.

This past July UNICEF began bringing the medicine to the people, instead of trying to get the people to the medicine.  They’ve had great progress in partnering with religious organizations to make this happen because 90% of Ugandans attend a church or mosque every week according to UNICEF.

So, our first Family and Child Health Day stop was at Mubende Town Mosque on Day Two.

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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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SATURDAY SIDEBAR: Home Alone?

This week’s Saturday Sidebar Question comes from World Moms Blog writer Maman Aya.  She asked our writers,

“At what age would you start to leave your child at home without supervision; how long would you leave them and where do you live (i.e. an apt in a busy city, a house in a busy suburb, on a farm, etc)?”

Check out what some of our World Moms had to say…

House

Picture courtesy of Alison Lee of Writing, Wishing

Hamakkomommy of Japan writes:

My only answer is not yet! My kids are seven and five. We live in an apartment in a large city. In Japan, it’s assumed that first grade is old enough to stay home alone or go about the neighborhood alone. Sometimes even younger kids are left home alone for short periods. Teachers leave the classroom during break times, etc. Even preschool teachers will leave the kids unattended for a minute or two. It’s very different from the attitude I grew up with!

Tina Santiago-Rodriguez of Philippines writes:

I would probably leave them alone without supervision if they were already in the later teen years, BUT with clear guidelines/rules set in place. However, if God wills us to continue homeschooling even during high school, there may not be long periods of time when the kids are left home alone. We currently live in a rented apartment here in Manila.

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World Moms Blog

World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children. World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.

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Saturday Sidebar: What Was Your Best Ever Family Vacation?

This week’s Saturday Sidebar Question comes from World Moms Blog writer Susie Newday.  She asked our writers,

What was your best ever family vacation and why?”

Check out what some of our World Moms had to say…

Beach

Photo of a beach in Boracay, Philippines, courtesy of Alison Lee

  • Maureen @Scoops of Joy of Indonesia writes:

    I love this question! The best would be when I won a photo contest (my first ever photo contest) held by  a pretty big hotel chain and they sent my son, and I, along with my two brothers to Bangkok for free. The picture that won second place of the contest was being displayed at their hotel and we were treated like VIPs. Our rooms got upgraded to their suite and everyone was super friendly. We had the best vacation ever.

  • Elizabeth Atalay of Rhode Island, USA writes:

    Skiing, hands down! It is something my husband and I love to do, and every mountain has a ski school where the tiny ones go. Once the kids can keep up with us they are done with ski school, Finally the kids are old enough that we can now all ski together.

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World Moms Blog

World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children. World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.

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SOCIAL GOOD: World Moms Blog to Visit Uganda with UN Foundation

SOCIAL GOOD: World Moms Blog to Visit Uganda with UN Foundation

World Moms Blog founder, Jennifer Burden, is headed to Uganda soon with the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign!

Last week I got the e-mail…”We have had a spot open up on our observation trip to Uganda (which is in two weeks), and we thought of you.” I had less than 24 hours to decide to accept the incredible invitation from the UN Foundation, and before I knew it, I was reading every travel advisory for Uganda under the sun.

The Shot@Life trip will be observing UNICEF’s bi- and tri-annual Family and Child Health Days, where children are given Vitamin A tablets to boost immunity and prevent blindness, deworming tablets to treat parasitic infections, routine polio and measles immunization, monitoring for nutritional status and insecticide treated mosquito nets to prevent malaria. There will also be visits to other routine immunization clinics, schools, places of worship and other places in rural Ugandan communities.

Could I leave my girls, 5-years old and 19-months old, for a week? They would be just fine for one week. Remember all that stuff you’ve told yourself about teaching social good to your children by setting a good example? Well, this. Yes, this.  (more…)

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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