On this weeks show we interview Noelah Msuya, Founder and Director of Child Support Tanzania, an not-for-profit organisation based in Mbeya which promotes educational inclusion through their early childhood development centre and a range of activities with local schools and communities. Noelah tells us why real inclusion matters and how she has coped with leading a growing change making project alongside being a Mum.
TOPICS WE DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Mary Ann talks to Aisha Hannibal about their work together establishing the Red Tent Directory and how it has organically grown and now lists almost 100 Red Tent Circles for women across Europe.
- What’s special about red tents and other women’s circles?
- They talk about what they have learnt in the process about sustainable growth and leadership,
- What is important to them about attending Red Tents and other women’s circles
- How Red Tents and circles differ from other forms of women group.
Some quotes from the show:
‘When people say how are you? we rarely answer honestly.’
‘We often don’t know how we really are until we slow down’
‘We sensed there was a need for the directory and that got validated in the process’
‘Whenever I find something that I really enjoy my next thought is, everyone should have this’
‘We started off with five listings and I remember thinking oh blimey we have only got a few and we are going to have to launch with what we have got..we just kind of went with it’
‘We didn’t have a clear plan or targets set but the whole point was I thought people will find us’
‘Actually it’s this network of women coming together all over the world’
‘We’ve tried to work as much we can in a way that reflects the concept of red tents so to not to completely wind ourselves up and exhaust ourselves with all the things we have got to do on the Red Tent Directory but to be very mindful of how much time we have got to put into this, it’s a voluntary project, and not the main thing that any of us do and do it in a way that is about staying connected to yourself, giving yourself time to rest, giving yourself time to stay connected to what your own needs are and then also to the needs of women around you, that’s been a really interesting journey for me.’
‘I think it’s looking at female leadership and saying, can we do it in a way that doesn’t lead to burnout?’
‘We are a vehicle with lots of happy people on the vehicle waving flags and and throwing flowers out’
‘I love that red tents can happen anywhere and that anyone can start one’
‘The toolkit is really about saying, yes you!’
‘We are giving voice to that way of being, that women can be a real force of support and encouragement for each other. I wanna see that voice more in the world and in the media which is where we see this cat fighting and other view of women’
‘There is something quite counter cultural about it even though red tents can be quite simple’
‘There’s is something quite counter cultural about really allowing it to be a meeting of women that’s not any of those kinds of judgemental or commitment kinds of interaction and really being clear about that and having a really clear structure that every women gets to share for a specific period of time. We are not interrupting or giving our take on it or any of the things that we might normally do that we might do in our work places and familial or in our everyday lives’
‘Just in that simple act of sharing and letting it be what it is. It’s like switching on a different way of being, it’s ok for her to be her and you to be you and to support each other in that’
‘It sounds simple and yet it’s a real call out to a different way of being I think’
‘You also realise that you’re not alone in this’
‘What would be different in the world if there was more of this kind of space?’
‘I’ve learnt how to communicate better because actually listening is a real skill that I think a lot of people could do with having an opportunity to practice a bit more’
‘When you really listen and you’re not thinking about what you have to say you can really just sit back there and I think empathy comes from a place where you have compassion for another person and whatever they’re saying you can hear it and you have a sense of what that might be like for them and for me the more empathy we have, women are 51% of the world you know the more empathy that we can share with each other about what’s happened, what people are experiencing on a day to day basis you know I think that fosters peace you know the compassion that can come from really listening is really powerful’
‘I think of this work as a critical component of how we change things in the world. There is something about women coming together in ways that we’ve not being doing because our culture has pushed us away from each other that feels like a little seed of something and it feels like the ripple effects of that can make a difference not just for the women that show up but the people around them, their families, the other women they know.’
‘I feel like there is something really transformative about this simple act, that is more than it appears’
‘If you are a change maker in the world, we need to make sure that we rest and take time to do that and time to be quiet and I think that red tents really offer that’
‘For change to be sustainable and long lasting radical self care is essential’
More information about Red Tents:
TOPICS WE DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- How Ziada and Mary Ann personally pick themselves up when they fall
- Why you have to get used to not letting your critical voices ‘drive your life’
- How you motivation has to start from within and true passion if you want to stay the distance
- How setbacks and obstacles are always part of the journey to bring your ideas to life
- Why feeling your feelings can be your friend
Some quotes from the show:
‘It has to start from within because if you don’t see the end of it it becomes very difficult to be motivated’
‘At sometime you are going to think to yourself, why am I doing this, this is too difficult’
‘How you pick yourself is what determines whether you succeed’
‘There is always a part of you that internalises those negative voices and wants to keep you safe in someway’
‘You can choose to notice it and choose to say you know what, I hear you and I am going to carry on anyway’
‘whichever route you decide to take you are going to meet obstacles, there is no easy way out’
‘If you do something a bit different and a bit innovative and a bit unusual, then you will have more of these challenges’
‘You’ve got to develop your way of coping’
‘If I have a real set back I allow myself a day or two now to be really upset, rather than pretending I am not’
‘Let it be what it is, allow yourself to feel that defeat and pick yourself up from there’
‘It’s along journey from an idea to a successful business or project’.
‘You have to have quite a few setbacks to build your I’m gonna do it anyway muscle’
‘You can’t allow your internal critical voice to drive the car, you have to put them in the backseat’
TOPICS WE DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- In this episode we interview Chiedza Muguti about her experience with Fibroids. We talk about
Her symptoms and how they were finally diagnosed - The solutions she was offered to help fix them
- Common misunderstandings about what Fibroids are how they affect you
- Her advice to other women who may be suffering from Fibroids
- How you can support other women who might also be experiencing them
Some quotes from the show:
‘Something that really helped me was to have people I knew who’d been in the same situation’
‘It’s very difficult to quantify bleeding, it is something vague you have to have an instinct about’
‘If a close relative has fibroids the likelihood is that you will have them’
‘I felt a bit shy about it, I had spoiled some clothes and some sheets and I didn’t want anyone near me’
‘I knew something had changed, but I just couldn’t’ put my finger on what it was. I felt broken and so run down and defeated’
‘I lied and said it wasn’t that bad.
‘Even now I just think what were you not accurate, what was the reason for that?’
‘I didn’t want seem like a hypochondriac, I didn’t want to seem like I was complaining’
‘Sometimes you see in life that everything is ordered for your benefit’
‘Know your dates, know your cycle, know how long it lasts, know how you feels during those four fives days’
‘There is a myth that when you get fibroids you have no chance of having children. It’s not the case’
‘Sometimes you see in life that everything is ordered for your benefit’
‘Know your dates, know your cycle, know how long it lasts, know how you feels during those four fives days’
‘There is a myth that when you get fibroids you have no chance of having children. It’s not the case’
ind time to decompress. I have quite a stressful job.I had to put up a front. I had to put up an act so I had to dig really deep to get through the day. Don’t underestimate how much that takes.’
‘Occasionally my body would just grind me to a halt where I just felt I couldn’t get up, I couldn’t do anything’
‘Listen to your body & if you go anywhere for help with a problem, tell the truth.’
Get in touch with Chiedza:
Email: chiedzajm@icloud.com
Twitter: @janetistaa
More information about living with Fibroids:
Boots Guide to Heavy Periods
Boots Guide to your Risk of Fibroids
Boots Guide to Uterine Fibroids
NHS Information about Fibroids
Net Doctor about Fibroids
British Fibroid Trust
Health Channel You Tube Video about Fibroids.
TOPICS WE DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- How to get started fundraising for your Change Making project
- What you need to have in place in order to persuade someone to give you money
- How to go about proving what you have done with money you have been given
- Starting small and using your network to test and prove your idea.
- How cultures of giving vary
Some quotes from the show:
‘You need to be able to describe exactly what you want to do before you go anywhere asking for money.’
‘My biggest concern is how people are accountable, that the money is used according to the business plan’
You need to have a detailed plan – to really know what you are going to do and be able to explain it to anyone you meet’
‘Do your research about funders properly. Send them what they ask for tailored for them. Make it clear that you know who they are’
‘to stand out you need a compelling story about the difference you want to make.’
‘get your first money from people you know who have faith in you.’
‘My number one recommendation if you are starting a charitable project would be to raise the first money you need from people you know who have faith in you’
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