eYs Magazine Autum 2021_Edition_12

4 EDITOR’S NOTE

CONTENT

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8 World Youth Summit

eYs Youth

10 Global Reset Forum

12 Educate

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11 MENTOR

14 Health & Wellbeing

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LIFE COACH BOOKS BY THE BRIDGE

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BOOKWORM

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AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT

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LAW SOCIETY

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TOKENS OF LIFE UGANDA

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COVER STORY

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FOCUS ON BUSINESS

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NEW ZEALAND WOMEN IN FOCUS

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WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT MIREILLE TOULEKIMA TINA ALLTON

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INSIDE STORY

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OUR MISSION STATEMENT: eYs Magazine are a group of determined individuals, who are inspired and empowered to share kindness, through our positive vibes and support. We encourage, help and motivate others and support local communities and charities to prosper and grow. eYs Magazine is committed to our purpose and people-centred ethos, reinvesting back into our future generations and the opportunity of a global online platform connecting to experts from all walks of life. We support charity, community and organisations in their development as a publishing platform.

OUR COVER: Thank you to Val Zaharievska for allowing eYs Magazine feature his story and publish the professional images of her MS Fundraiser. Note: All images are copyright and credit to Val Zaharievska.

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DISCLAIMER

eYs Magazine has made constant care to make sure that the content is accurate on the date of publication.

The views expressed in the articles reflect the author(s) opinions and are not necessarily the views of the publisher and editor. The published material, advertisements, editorials and all other content is published in good faith. eYs Magazine cannot guarantee and accepts no liability for any loss or damage of any kind caused by this website, publication and errors or for the accuracy of claims made by the advertisers.

All content in eYs Magazine may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of eYs Magazine. It’s contributors cannot accept any liability for reader discontent arising from the editorial features. eYs Magazine reserves the right to accept or reject any article or material supplied for publication or to edit this material before publishing. eYs Magazine cannot be held responsible for loss or damage to provided materials. We accept no liability for misprints or mistakes and no responsibility can be taken for the contents of these pages. In this publication, you might find links to websites, third-party content and advertising. By using our website, you acknowledge that and agree that eYs Magazine cannot be held responsible and shall not be liable for the content of other websites, advertisements and other resources. By using this site, you agree to all terms and conditions listed above. If you have any questions about this policy, you may contact us.

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EDITOR’S NOTE JASMINA SIDEROVSKI How do you #ChooseToChallenge?

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t is crucial we all #ChooseToChallenge for International Women’s Day. As thriving women in our careers, at home and in social circles, women still haven’t achieved generation equality in 2021. Although we have come along way we stand for the basic human rights for our sisters in many parts of the world. COVID-19 may have changed our world forever, but one thing we know for certain at eYs Magazine is that recognising the achievement and progress of women around the world will always take a priority.

International Women’s Day #IWD is a global celebration of the economic, cultural, political, and social achievements of women and a call to action for accelerating gender parity. In honour of equality and the fight for recognising the wonderful work women as leaders do around the globe, we are honouring women from 195 Countries. Our voice is united as eYs Magazine plays a vital role in holding the governments, organisations, business, individuals, and groups accountable.

Every year since its inception in 1975, International Women’s Day rolls around on the 8th of March as a reminder for us to reflect on how far we have come in terms of women’s rights but check in with the fact that we have so far to go. Landmark events such as women’s right to vote in Australia (all states) in 1908 and watching extraordinary women such as Jacinda Ardern create lasting impact through leadership, are all hopeful reminders of the leap’s society has made towards gender equality.

However, this year’s theme, Women in Leadership, comes at an important time in global history. With COVID-19 wreaking devastating havoc on life and livelihoods, the brunt of the impact continues to still be experienced by women. During this time, gender inequality has revealed itself through a higher percentage of job losses, less financial security, and a recorded increase in domestic violence related enquiries. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. Now and forever, we collectively #ChooseToChallenge systemic inequality so that women can have a seat at whatever table they so choose. As a publication of mostly women with some fantastic males in the mix, we are taking the time to ask our interconnected community what this day means to them as well as the impact they hope to drive moving forward.

The day unites female communities all over the world and should stand to encourage and inspire women to not only feel empowered to stand up and speak up, but also to support other women around them in doing the same. The energy and activity we create is far more influential than what we can do alone, after all. Whilst we can’t all be Emmeline Pankhurst’s, we can start by doing some important work on ourselves, to find our power, uncover our truths, and harness our feminine energy this #IWD. As female rights have certainly come a long way, in modern society with so many things running on masculine energy, it can be hard for us to make ourselves heard, or even to hear ourselves, for that matter.

Take some time to nourish yourself, to pause and to prepare for the next phase of female fearlessness and fruitfulness.

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In this edition of eYs Magazine we honour some amazing women who have dedicated their lives to combat the stigma of historic struggles by women throughout the world. Our cover story focuses on an exceptional young lady who defeats the daunting challenges for fundraisers during the pandemic. We highlight and talk to women Extraordinaire’s Mireille Toulekima and Tina Allton. Our newest team members, Clare Erasmus and Christopher Mukasa introduce us to two inspiring women ambassadors. Bojana Bogojevic gets an exclusive with Dr Dragoslav Popovic and the truth about Vaccines, read the heartwarming story by Maya Apostoloska and we Focus on Business with Natalie O’Connor. A full edition and more.

“Here’s to strong women: May we know them.

May we be them.

May we raise them.”

–Unknown

Jasmina Siderovski CEO and Editor-in-Chief eYs Magazine

ADVERTISING AVAILABLE Advertising packages now available in the worlds leading humanitarian magazine, eYs Magazine.

All enquiries: Jasmina Siderovski email: info@eysmagazine.com.au

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eYs YOUTH

WHY DO WE CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY ON THE 8TH MARCH EVERY YEAR? Written by Kristina Apostoloska

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nternational Woman’s Day, IWD is celebrated on the 8th of March every year around the world. It is celebrated around the world in honor of the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, and a day of action. One thing is certain: IWD has been celebrated for more than a century and its significance is growing. A day of collective celebration and a call for gender equality. It started as a radical socialist movement for women’s rights. The day was then predominantly celebrated by the socialist movement and communist countries until it was adopted by the feminist movement.

In March 1911, one million women stood up for their rights and protested in Europe. Two years later in 1913, Russian women organised illegal meetings, and women were given the right to vote. In 1915, in Oslo, a group of women defended their rights and fought for peace, and in 1917, in Sant Peterborough, women workers went on strike in their factories.

Finally, The United Nations proclamed and recognised the movement celebrating the day in 1977.

German socialist leader Clara Zetkin played a major role in creating this proclomation day. She recommended that International Women’s Day should be celebrated in every country on the same day with the same meaning - respect for women’s rights and equality. Some of the most prominent women (advocates and activists for women’s rights) in this ‘fight’ were Clara Zetkin, Paula Thiede and Kate Dunker. Later, Zetkin formed a friendship with the younger Rosa Luxemburg. They were fighting for women rights and to raise awareness about women’s equality.

International Women’s Day is celebrated each year globally for the outstanding contribution of women to our society. This day is an opportunity to celebrate the inspiring role of women in the fight for their rights and building an equal society. Women’s day is also a reminder that the voices of many women around the world are still unheard of and that there is still a “glass” barrier to reaching their full potential.

Women have the power to create, nurture and transform. The word ‘WOMAN’ is an association of selfless love, care and tenderness, but at the same time strength, endurance and fighting spirit. For decades, women have fought and still fight to express their rights to speech, to vote, to equality, to education, to career and, most importantly, to freedom.

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“Women should be active not only in leadership positions, but in every profession. We must ensure that social professions are valued. And we must do more against domestic violence, especially against women.” - said Franciska Giffay (German Family Minister). Identifying, celebrating and increasing visibility of women’s achievements can help forge equality. This day is important because it allows us to see the differences and inequalities that women must face in politics, in companies or in everyday life. But we must also not forget the mistreatment of women in many countries, forced marriage and domestic violence.

This day allows everyone to be reminded that a WOMAN HAS RIGHTS, that we should respect her “no” and that we have no right to judge her by her appearance. Nowadays, March 8th is seen as a day that serves as an opportunity to pay tribute and attention to women who are a special part of our society. Finally, this day is important to hear every voice of women who cannot speak freely. And only equal world is an enabled world!

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WORLD YOUTH SUMMIT

AMB. HASSAN RENGOU MFOUAKIE Founder of World Youth Summit NPC and the Association of African Future Leaders Interview by Jasmina Siderovski

Doctorate Degree in Humanitarianism this year from the Global International Advocate Alliance University.

Born in Bangambi, a village in Cameroon on a beautiful windy morning of Thursday 19th August 1993 Mfouakie’s mother always said that his coming to the world was announced by birds.

From a royal family of the Bamoun Kingdom, he grew up in Cameroon till the age of 21 when his parents decided to send him abroad to continue his academic journey. Mfouakie studied electrical engineering because his father being an electrician by profession always thought he could find better opportunities in that field. After four years studying, he decided to pursue and follow what he always loved: communication, humanitarian and community services.

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he Founder of two non-profit organizations called World Youth Summit NPC and the Association of African Future Leaders, Hassan Rengou Mfouakie is an ex-Minister of youth at the State of African Diaspora where he served for a year.

He is a Goodwill Ambassador and expert on youth affairs at the Federal Association for the Advancement of Visible Minorities.

He is also an International Consultant at the International Organization of Local Governments. Recently nominated Top 50 Global Key influencer 2020 by eYs Magazine. And finally, Amb. Hassan Rengou Mfouakie will be receiving his Honorary

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Can you walk us through your journey, mainly finding the motivation to inspire others?

I started my journey by advocating for equality in rural villages in Cameroon. Before I decided to share my knowledge with children of my community by teaching the Islam religion and the Koran in religious schools. It was four years down the line that I co-founded AKAJEM (an organization based in North Cyprus with the aim of training and bringing together young African women in entrepreneurship). From there I founded the Final International Model United Nations, a diplomatic and leadership skills initiative. I then proceeded to establish the Association of African Future Leaders to support the African Union 2063

empowering others to grow and strive. I find peace and happiness in what I do and as a humanitarian I feel I am not going to be underestimated or downgraded by anyone. Neither will I be obliged to work my whole life for some people who don’t value my efforts.

Can you give us a brief overview about the upcoming Global Reset Forum in May 2021?

On 14-16 May 2021 in Ankara, the youth will be reviewing the SDG agenda 2030 of the UN. The Global Reset Forum is a three-day forum designed to be a platform for youth from across the globe to critically analyze and review the sustainable development goals of the UN agenda 2030. We intent to host travel 190 delegate, dignitaries from all spheres of government and governance, decision makers, and representatives from the UN. The event will be televised and covered by NTRTV. Who is your inspiration and why?

God is the one inspiring me. It has been him my whole life. I say that because I am a prayerful person and each time, I get closer to God, I feel like I got new instructions to follow and new ideas to explore. Nothing is planned ahead, it all come at the right time and I just execute.

What are you plans for the next three years?

Agenda. In the same year I also founded the World Youth Summit NPC which aim is to become a global champion in education and employment of youth and women. I was able to host summits and forums around the world which enhanced the skills of young people in entrepreneurship, diplomacy, leadership.

The goals of these programs are related to the SDG agenda 2030 of the United Nations.

What are valuable lessons you have learned along the way Before answering this question, I asked someone very close to me about. Since from childhood, I always felt like helping people around me as much and as long I could. I always tried to give the best of me or of my services whenever to anyone I meet. I don’t expect anything from the people I support. By doing this

I create a huge network filled with people I once helped who will never hesitate to recommend me. Just like Kateryna Kharlamova my partner said, ‘’People give opportunities to people. So, helping once you lose nothing but give everything someone needs at that moment.

Is there any advice you would like to offer anyone else who may be interested to pursue the same path?

It’s never going to be easy down the road.

However, as long as you believe in your vision, all difficulties become manageable.

What motivates you to continue being a change-maker, especially during these challenging times?

I continue being a change-maker because I found my purpose: Helping and

By 2024 I would love to have impacted the lives of millions of young people across the globe! To make this possible, my team and I at World Youth Summit NPC and the Association of African Future Leaders are appointing regional directors in all continents. These regional directors will be overseeing the implementation of our programs and will make sure our companies are legally registered and represented to avoid any issues with governments. With the quality of our projects, I believe our aim of empowering youth and the women in achieving intellectual independence and financial freedom will be fulfilled.

What is your favourite pastime when you aren’t working?

I love cooking and I am happy to have been taught by my mom. I also love writing and reading.

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GLOBAL RESET FORUM 21 - 23 May 2021 Ankara, Turkey

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MENTOR

DR JOHN HARRISON Education Influencer, Philosopher, Polymath, Writer, Humanitarian, and a Counselor

HARRISON speaks ……….

“Your Words Determine Your Destiny” Your words are the architect of your fortune or misfortune, hope you are aware of that.

The words we speak have life in them; every spoken word is a seed that brings forth a fruit and a harvest. If the seed (spoken word) is good and you are sowing in fertile soil (lives of people), the fruit or the harvest will be good. You can make or mar your life, your future. Your tongue is a pen; use it wisely to write your destiny. You cannot be talking like a slave and expect people to treat you like a king. Your future depends on what you speak today. Our tongue is the gateway to our destiny. The power of life and death is in your tongue, every word you speak proclaims what you shall have, what you are inviting in your life. What you proclaim and what you invite with every spoken word shall happen.

Of all the natural gifts given to us by God, the ability to speak or use the words is the greatest. Your words are like the rudder of a ship that controls and steers you in the direction you are going in. Be watchful what you speak and invite in your life. Good words will bring blessings and prosperity, if you curse yourself or others you are inviting trouble. Be a “Blessing” to not only yourself, but to your family, and even the world.

Are you choosing your words wisely before you speak?

What is it that you are inviting in your life?

Are you speaking prosperity, good health, and abundance upon yourself and others, OR abusing, cursing and thus inviting poverty, sickness, and death upon yourself?

Remember a wholesome tongue is a tree of life. Let us refrain our tongues from evil and let our lips speak no guile. Your words have the power to create, thus speak wholesome words upon your life, your family. It makes no difference what condition you are in at

present; you can recreate your world by your words. Speak blessings upon yourself daily and see your world, your life being transformed. If there is any area in your life, where you are struggling with darkness, start blessing that area using the right words and the light will manifest and completely obliterate the darkness.

Our mouth is like a fountain from which words flow. A fountain can give you either clean, pure water or dirty water; it cannot give you both. Those who have ears let them hear. The secret lies in speaking (asking) what you want, then expect it believing that you will receive it. Our life mirrors what we speak – producing results after its own kind – be it rotten or sweet. Positive words lead to positive manifestations and vice-versa when it comes to negative words.

Use the power of words to create or destroy.

We can use this power with the words of encouragement, or destructively with the words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, heal, hinder, hurt, harm, humble, and humiliate. When we speak truth and blessings upon people, words have the ability to change lives. We must be mindful of what we say and how we say it. Words whether written or spoken, have the power to break and destroy environments and relationships; and vice versa. Words are powerful expression tools that can inspire and bring forth a smile, and at the same time make, people shed tears.

If we are mindful with our words, we can create a more positive and altruistic world.

Words affect our lives, our relationships, our decision-making, our present, and our future. Words can encourage people to achieve greatness. Words can nurture and nourish our minds and our hearts. Words can build your self-esteem. Never speak negatively about yourself or others.

Your linguistic ability helps you in defining the scope of your potential and ability.

Do not restrict yourself by using the wrong words. The words we use in our minds very often to describe our lives, our surroundings, our relationships, and ourselves; are some of the most powerful influencing forces in our lives. Keep an eye on your internal dialogue as well and not only your spoken words. If we constantly utter self-deprecating language in our internal dialogue, we are allowing the power of words to work against us. Our whole life is controlled by our words.

BE WATCHFUL WHAT YOU SPEAK ………..

Dr. John Harrison MA in Education, Doctorate in Divinity (Education Influencer, Philosopher, Polymath, Writer, Humanitarian, and a Counselor) Feel free to write to him or connect with him on: Email: dr.johnharrison@yahoo.co.in LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjohn-harrison-8675b6120

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EDUCATE

LIMITED LEADERSHIP ACADEMY With Paula Dunn

How We Can Minimise Gender Bias by Creating a Conscious Inclusive Community!

I recently had a conversation with a close friend talking about why do we bother having “International Women’s Day” when it’s only 1 day out of 365? There’s so much hype around it on the day and then we hear nothing for the rest of the year? Nothing seems to change. Good point!

My next question is, why do we celebrate Valentine’s Day? Or Christmas Day? Or Hannukah? We celebrate those days because there is a meaning behind it. Meaning comes from our beliefs, beliefs come from our set of values, our values come from various influences such as our society, culture, religion, upbringing, and past experiences. These values set the tone for our thoughts and how we feel about a subject. All of this determines whether we recognise International Women’s Day and play our part to make the world a more gender equal place or just treat it as another day in the calendar.

Bottomline, our beliefs form part of who we are, ie. our identity.

Being a strong activist on Diversity and Inclusion myself having been born into a minority group of individuals with a facial deformity. I’ve experienced firsthand what it looks and feels like to be physically and emotionally degraded for my appearance, undervalued, underappreciated, overlooked and excluded from my peers growing up.

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What made it worse, was being born a female on top of my facial deformity added a complexity into my life. Society values and rewards “looks and beauty,” it’s all part of natural selection.

Beauty signifies health and vitality. The ability to produce viable off-spring to perpetuate the bloodline. Even though we may not today think entirely this way or even be conscious of our decisions. Our bodies know what our bodies want without us having to think too much about it.

My life’s success was pre-determined at birth by the medical profession, my teachers, and my peers. The medical profession told my parents based on research data “These kids don’t live long”, my teachers placed me into “slow learners’ classes – Maths and English” because they thought I had an intellectual impairment because I wasn’t grasping concepts as quickly as my peers, and my peers “taunted and teased me daily” because I didn’t look “normal” so they thought it would be a great game to play with me.

My parents of course, saw all this and feared for what my future might hold especially when at such a young age I was already a target in society. The feared, would I have a career, be financially successful and find love and marry. So across all levels of my life, I faced certain beliefs and biases from others around me.

I had two choices, 1. Accept what others thought about me and live the life they thought I should live or 2. Prove them wrong!

And live the life I wanted to live. I choose to challenge!

The second I made the decision, to challenge the status quo, that I too wanted to have all the same opportunities and life experiences as those that were born “normal”. That was my driving force.

Despite what others said, despite the many times I’ve failed at things. I still worked 10 times as hard, to up level my life. I didn’t take no for an answer. I had to fight for what I believed in, which was “I will find a way.” Failure was not an option.

To admit failure was to admit defeat, and that would mean that all the naysayers and bullies would have won. Bottomline: Never Give Up! Sometimes the present was too painful, so I dreamed about my future self. What my life would look like once I reached my final destination. When I started high school, I was in the bottom of my classes.

By the time I was in Year 10 I was in the top of my Maths, English, Science and Music Classes. I had a goal to get

myself into University and Study Medical Science. When I finished Year 12, I got in the Top 10% of the state for Biology and Music and got into University studying Biomedical Science. I not only got into a Bachelors but I also went on and Graduated with a Master of Science with honours. I was the first in my migrant family to go to University and gain a Tertiary Qualification.

This year’s theme is: Women in Leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world #ChooseToChallenge Working with teens and young women many of us still today face challenges of Bias, whether its conscious or unconscious. Many parents send their teenage girls to me to help them create confidence so they can have the resilience and grit to be the women they were born to be, without limits.

Life is hard, and many of the teenage girls suffer from Stress and Anxiety because of 3 common things: How I see myself.

How I want to be seen.

How others see me.

They’re torn between who they want to be vs what they’re parents, teachers or society want for them. Depending on they type of society a young girl lives in can really impact how she sees herself and her beliefs about her future aspirations and opportunities in life.

The second part of my methodology focuses on “Conscious Inclusion”.

Conscious inclusion is about creating an inclusive society where opportunities

are available to both men and women.

Conscious inclusion only works well if we recognise our own biases and beliefs, and as a result of them, how we respond to others. Let’s face it, we all have biases, even I do. It’s part of our DNA to help us short-cut the way we scan through our environment for perceived or real threats.

These short-cuts are equally elevated in those who have gone through past trauma or undesirable life experiences because our bodies remember the pain of the past and want to protect ourselves from repeating that hurt. These biases can be displayed as un-intended emotional triggers.

Think about the people you socialise with?

What similarities do they have in common with you? Are they from the same cultural background? Similar interests? Colour of their skin? Socio-economic Status?

Religious beliefs? Sexual Preference? Or even be connected through similar past experiences/trauma. You may notice a trend or preference towards others. It’s not that you’re exclusive to other groups, it’s that when we form part of a tribe/clan or inner circle this is where we feel safe and secure. By feeling safe and secure we are then able to be vulnerable with our thoughts and feelings. When you’re in the workplace it’s a little more difficult to select the types of people you prefer to safely interact with. This is where we need to be “Consciously Inclusive”.

Developing Conscious Inclusion, provides the emotional intelligence to understand another person’s perspective, understand their story, their past even if we do not agree. We are bound by a social system and we must be aware of others – what is happening for them, an awareness of their emotions, their needs and their wants. We can also appreciate their difference and potentially learn something new about ourselves at the same time. We should not simply tolerate others but embrace and welcome them as equals. Creating confidence within ourselves will enable us to be open-minded and able to embrace diversity as the new normal.

This article goes out to every girl and every woman across all generations that has and is currently going through challenges in life. Know that your struggle is real, and that you’re not alone. For every young girl or woman that rises we all rise together. International Women’s Day is to commemorate the past struggles of women that have laid the foundation before us, support and embrace the present struggles of today’s women and giving us hope that the future will be brighter for all of us.

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Health & Wellbeing

DR NASRIN (NAS) PARSIAN Holistic and Emotional Health Consultant and Educator, Academic Nurse Stress is indeed natural where your body reacts to a different situation. So, whenever you are in a different and unknown situation your body tries to maintain a balance, maintain the homeostasis, and protect itself from the attack of the unknown or emergency alarm. Stress is indeed a series of events that your body follows to adapt with those situations. This is sometimes called acute or situational stress. It’s short term, coming and going very quickly. And generally, it’s generally recognised with symptoms such as anger, anxiety and sometimes acute periods of depression.

What is Stress and Why is it so Important to Heal?

“My physical body is a temple of the living spirit, which animates it, rebuilds it after the image of its own perfection and keeps it in perfect health, harmony and wholeness.” Ernest Holmes I am going to begin a series of discussions on a topic, which is basically most of the time the main cause of both mental and physical conditions, and unfortunately it is something that has been missed out in our healthcare system. Indeed, you may talk or hear about it a lot, but practically you are not doing something about it. We desperately need to find a solution for it because eventually it can damage your whole body.

Stress is my topic today. Why is it important and what it really is?

Stress is generally a way by which the body overcomes a demanding or undesirable situation as sometimes it might not be undesirable. For example, if someone is going to experience an adventure, which is stressful, it’s something that they, they chose, it’s not, undesirable or unwanted situation, but see this is stressful and this kind of stress actually brings some thrilled and joyful excitement.

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If it occurs very often and frequently, then it is called episodic stress. Some people experience it due to a series of stressful and challenging situations they are carrying in their lives, one after the other, especially when they go through an incredibly stressful life transition or so.

When stress persists for a longer period, then it is called chronic stress. And this is something that can cause disease and illness. So, let’s just do not forget that the key is the body’s response. So, the stress is not bad by itself, the body’s response is a key, which is something important.

Your body is indeed going to save you, save itself. So, the stages of the body’s response start with an initial alarm, then adaptation and finally recovery or if the recovery doesn’t happen, exhaustion.

The alarm is the very first stage, which is involved basically with fight and flight responses.

Let’s shortly discuss the autonomic nervous system. Fight or flight is the job of the autonomic nervous system. Body is getting prepared either to face the perceived threat or to escape from it. So, this is all about fight or flight.

There are Central Nervous System (CNS) and Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) in human’s body. So the central nervous system has indeed the main responsibility to make the order. CNS is consisting of the brain and spinal cord. So, all body sensations and changes in our external environment, or received from the receptors and sense organs go to the CNS to be interpreted.

The second part is the peripheral nervous system, which is indeed carrying all the messages from periphery to the central nervous system. The Peripheral Nervous System has two subdivisions, the sensory system, including all sensory neurons that carry information from receptors in the periphery of the body, to the brain and spinal cord; and the motor system, carrying information from the brain and the spinal cord to muscles and glands motor system; which can be further subdivided into two subcategories, somatic nervous system, which conducts impulses from the brain and spinal cord to skeletal muscle and causing us to respond or react to changes in our environment. The second branch of the motor system is the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), which conducts impulses from the brain and spinal cord to smooth muscle tissue, cardiac muscle tissues, and glands.

ANS is considered to be involuntary. So, it means its function is automatic. That means, you know, we do not think about what is happening because of autonomic nervous system function. You do not think about how our heart is beating. You do not think about how the lungs are functioning and how the breathing process. You do not think, and you do not have any control on the gastrointestinal system to digest your foods. You do not think about how the food is just passing through the digestive system to, to the intestine and bowel. So, there is no thinking about any stages of body function, which are under control of your autonomic nervous system. So, the organs are affected by this system, receive a nerve from two divisions, sympathetic division and parasympathetic division sympathetic division stimulates or speed up activity and parasympathetic division speed down activities. So, one is stimulating and the other one is indeed slowing down. So, it is very much like what is happening in your driving, when you use an accelerator and brake, and you make a balance between the two to have a safe drive. So, the balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions can create the desirable health conditions in our body.

the quick fix approach that might work well in the emergency situation. But let’s just explain a little bit about medication with an example. Imagine a problem happening as a result of stress response in the body, like acid reflux. So you experience stress, and stress decreases muscle tone around the lower oesophagus, so the acid in the stomach washes back up into the oesophagus and damages the lining of the oesophagus. These cells get repeatedly damaged causing pain and eventually onset or even cancer, but they only do that because they are not in growth and healing and repair mode. So what we do usually, is like to take a tablet to stop reflux. So that works well for reducing the acid, but what’s the problem after that? Do we really need to reduce the acid? The stomach needs acid to digest food as it also functions to kill some unwanted bacteria. By giving this medication just to reduce the amount of acid, we may expose the patient to experience a couple of other problems. So, this is not a final solution, and you need to solve those other problems.

The One thing is “you need to HEAL your stress”.

Did you know that stress is sometimes not even related to the real environmental event and could be something related to your thoughts and past experiences and emotions, that is discussed under the category of imaginative stress, which is the topic of another discussion.

So, when the fire alarm gets pulled, sympathetic division causes some reactions into your body, because of stress, hormones, cortisol, and noradrenaline and adrenaline from adrenal glands; for example, increased heart rate, rise in blood sugar level, high or sometimes low blood pressure and some gastrointestinal dysfunctions. If the body can adapt to the situation, the recovery may happen in five minutes or so; however, it is said sometimes it can take maximum to 20 minutes. So, if the body’s competencies, compensation, or mechanisms do not act successfully, then the signs and symptoms can eventually affect the whole system in the body. One of the most important systems affected by the situation is, immune system. n an emergency state, a message goes out from the brain to the immune system to stop the immune system from functioning and put the immune system on hold. Why would the brain sensor send a message to the immune system? Because it wants to save your lives. your immune system is consuming a lot of energy and fight and flight function also is consuming a lot of energy.

Which one is more urgent in this situation? The body recognises the emergency attack is more serious and it is going to survive in that situation. Because if the body does not survive, the whole organs in the body can be affected by stress hormones. So, this is an urgent situation as an emergency situation, and the body needs to preserve their energy just to handle that situation. Therefore, it puts the immune system on hold and just deals with that situation until it is safe. There is no serious problem, if it takes five minutes or so. But if it takes longer or happens very frequently, then what would be the outcome?

It will certainly lead to a serious illness. On the other hand, you keep your immune system on hold. You know that a lot of problems are indirectly or directly involved with immune system functionality, like cancer. So, you actually expose the body to cancer with prolonged stress or unresolved stress and chronic stress. So, this is something serious.

What can you do?

There are some medical solutions. Basically, the conventional medical system is advising people to take the medication or use

Therefore, stress healing is certainly involved with some work with your subconscious mind, your body and your heart. It cannot be healed simply by medication, quick fix approaches or our logics and analytical thinking. While you may be able to manage it for the time using your logical thinking and some cognitive approaches, you may connect automatically to your past memories in this process that could be destructive in the long term.

Fear, shame, and guilt are coming from very past stored memories, just to save you. You cannot do anything about this when you are not aware of those things. So, in the right process, deeper layers need to come to your awareness.

We will further discuss your body hard drive and the programming, the energy, and the power of the Heart in this process.

To wrap up, stress is the one cause of dis-eases, both mentally and physically when it is not resolved, and when it occurs frequently, it does then affect the signals in the body that are carried to hypothalamus and activate ANS to fight and flight. When they continue, they can hold the immune system. They can affect the level of energy in the body, and they can come with the frequent, undesirable, and unhealthy symptoms and eventually end up to disease. This is not the only source of stress. Many times, stress is related to the cellular memories, which are indeed the most important source of stress in the body that you are not aware of.

And that is the tricky part because they are stored in your subconscious mind and in your heart. So, the solution is coming with whatever you can do to disrupt their movement to the central nervous system and autonomic nervous system.

You can contact Dr Nas Parsian at her email: info@drnasinnerwellness.com Website: www.drnasinnerwellness.com You can also find her in: Instagram: www.instagram.com/drnasinnerwellness Podcast: https://anchor.fm/nasrin-parsian LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dr-nas-parsian-87524013a Facebook: www.facebook.com/drnasinnerwellness FB group for heart-centred women http://bit.ly/IW-circle 15 | eYs Magazine, Autumn 2021

LIFE COACH

DEBBIE KEMP Coast to Cobar – The Initiative Helping Families in Australia’s Drought Stricken Farming Towns

G

eoff and Pat Dryland are a retired couple living in New South Wales’ (NSW) Illawarra region. In late 2019 they led an initiative to support families affected by drought in rural NSW. They called the initiative Coast to Cobar and it was such a success that it was run again late last year, in 2020. Here’s the story of how it all happened…

The NSW-wide drought was so severe in 2019 that the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment declared 97.2% of NSW in drought, and stated that 40 water storages across the state had less than six months’ supply in a worst-case scenario.

Geoff and Pat wanted to help families who were doing it tough, yet they held some concerns about the amount of charitable donations going to overhead and administrative costs. So they decided that they’d take a ute full of food, toiletries, and other much needed items direct to the families who needed it.

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When they told family and friends, others wanted to add to their donations too. It was important to Geoff and Pat that 100% of items donated reach those in need, and it was clear that others valued this too.

So much was donated that Geoff and Pat needed to secure a storage shed… and not only a trailer but an extra ute and trailer as well! Thankfully, local businesses Fairy Meadow Self Storage and Kennard’s Hire Corrimal supported these needs. Cash donations of over $12,000 also came in; these helped Geoff and Pat to shop locally, support local businesses, and provide even more than what had already been donated.

After some research and conversations with their connections, it was decided that Geoff and Pat would visit Cobar. Cobar Shire is situated in the centre of NSW, and the town is known for mining and farming. In May 2019 the Guardian reported that the dam

servicing Cobar was at 5.9% and headed for empty. In July the town’s biggest employer announced 130 job losses from the local mine. In September, WaterNSW projected that Cobar would be one of the first towns to lose water supply, potentially

by November.

When Geoff and Pat first visited Cobar in September 2019, they met with local farmer Sheena Geppert, who is an active member of Rotary and the Country Women’s Association, and has taken on many other responsibilities to help fellow farmers in need. Sheena and other volunteers helped to distribute all of the donations amongst 90 landowners. Additionally, Christmas gifts were distributed for around 105 children who didn’t otherwise have much to look forward to at Christmas.

Geoff and Pat received much appreciation from the people of Cobar, and they left feeling that they’d really made a difference to this community. This feeling might be just what led to them doing it all again in 2020.

By mid-2020, the world was dealing with Covid-19, and Australia had also been through severe bushfires and some flooding too. Many people were affected financially

by Covid-19 and had less money to donate to other causes, and many people had also directed their charitable interest towards bushfire relief. There wasn’t much news highlighting how rural NSW was going with the drought, and some news reported that recent rainfall had moved much of rural NSW out of ‘drought status’.

and friends. Amazingly, they were again inundated with donations, including $9,000 in cash! How wonderful that people were able to recognise that this farming community still needed support. Again, they used storage facilities provided by Fairy Meadow Self Storage and were able to arrange to travel to Cobar in a truck provided by Kennard’s Hire Corrimal.

They travelled to Cobar in December 2020, taking food, toiletries, pet food, clothing, children’s Christmas gifts, etc.

Cash donations were spent purchasing vouchers in Cobar’s small businesses, and everything was distributed throughout the community.

Whilst in Cobar Geoff and Pat met many locals who were so grateful for this help.

Post-trip they received photographs of children with their Christmas gifts, and wearing their new clothes, always with a big smile. Geoff and Pat very much enjoyed the opportunity to meet with so many wonderful locals, and they came home inspired by the stories they were told by people who love their land and community and will do what they have to,

to get through these times.

Geoff and Pat would very much like to continue offering support to these families. If you are interested in donating to their cause, please email coasttocobar@ yahoo.com As the writer of this article, I can share that Geoff and Pat are my parents. It really has been an inspiring thing to see this initiative come together. It was very much something that started as a small gesture of support, something they’d do together to help people in need. The way they attracted the support and donations of others meant that this ‘small gesture’ became a very impactful initiative. It has certainly helped many, many families. It has made Christmases easier, it has eased the burden of some shopping expenses, and it has left a small rural community feeling supported by people many miles away. We really can make quite a meaningful impact when someone champions a cause and people rally together.

But Geoff and Pat were still in touch with their new friend Sheena, and they had heard a different perspective… that it would take a very long time for drought affected families to feel any sense of relief or recovery following such an intense period of drought.

Geoff and Pat decided to do the trip again, and again they put the word out to family

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BOOKS BY THE BRIDGE

AUTHOR KAT T. MASEN Founder, Books by the Bridge Interview by Jasmina Siderovski

Can you please tell our readers about your background and life growing up?

I was born in Sydney, Australia, to a German father and Filipino mother. Growing up in the 80s’ is something I remember fondly.

I was that little girl who looked Asian but kind of didn’t at the same time, dressed head-toe-in stonewash denim and crimped hair styled in a side ponytail. At the time, I wanted to be Kylie Minogue because she was my idol. Yet that changed as I became a teenager and fell in love with American movies and sitcoms.

Like many others, even when I was young and playing with my Peaches ‘n Cream Barbie, I had this wild imagination. Of course, I had no idea what to do with it, so I followed what others around me did. I got a job in retail, then an office role, got married at nineteen to my then high school boyfriend to divorce two years later.

Not long after that, I met my now-husband. We have been married for sixteen years and have the pleasure of raising four boys. I use the word ‘pleasure’ loosely depending on what mood or tantrum we are dealing with on the day.

As I navigated through adult life and being a mother, I lost

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my identity like many women. It was all about soccer games, naptimes, school life. As the kids got older, I focused on my career and enjoyed the challenge of being a HR Manager. That was until I stumbled on a certain Vampire who was the latest trend. I’d never been into paranormal books nor movies but wanted to know what the hype was all about. I fell in love, and binge read everything I could then met some friends online who were just as obsessed. We were all reading fan fiction at the time, which then led to a friend asking, “Why don’t you write a book, Kat? I bet it would be so good.”

Then I did. Several, in fact.

It’s 2021 and I am officially on book number sixteen.

I left my corporate job in 2018 and have never looked back. I’m now a full-time romance author, founder of Books by the Bridge Author Events and Books Ever After Book Boxes.

Is there any particular moment or memory that stands out for you?

I’ve lived an interesting life. So many great memories, so many

not-so-great memories. What stands out?

All my children’s births, of course. But coming a close second is my first book signing in New York City back in 2015. I got the invitation while I was at work and couldn’t believe it. I called my husband and said, “Wow, imagine if I could go?”

His response was, “Why wouldn’t you go?”.

Leaving my kids for seven days to travel to a foreign country by myself was daunting.

Yet the moment I stepped into Times Square; I truly felt the whole ‘Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.’ This was a dream come true. I’m signing my books at Times Square. My life changed forever after that moment. I knew I found my passion, and there was no way I would ever give up now that I got a taste of what it’s like to follow your dreams.

You are a successful and renowned author, how many books have you published to date?

Published sixteen books in total, been part of several anthologies, and currently writing book number seventeen.

What are the most valuable lessons you have learned as an author?

It’s not enough to write a book; you need to master marketing. In the digital era we find ourselves in, learning about online advertising, targeting audiences, algorithms of major players like Amazon or Facebook—is crucial to your brand’s success.

Then there’s the balancing act of writing what you want versus market trends and reader’s expectations. I’ve done both separately and can tell you it was a very steep learning curve.

And quite possibly, the biggest lesson I have learned is to stay humble no matter how successful you become.

I’ve witnessed too many authors in the industry forget their roots and who helped them along the way. If you’re fortunate to be in a position to help others, why not do it? In the current state our world is in, we need to support our peers more than ever.

Is there any useful advice you would like to offer anyone else who may be interested in pursuing the same path?

I could host a whole workshop on this very question. The weekend before Australia went into lockdown in March 2020, I

hosted a day workshop in the Yarra Valley because it was a question I’d been asked often. With the help of some very talented peers of mine, it was quite a success.

But what advice would I give? Think long and hard about why you’d like to publish a book. Is it just a hobby? Are you looking to make money? These are two very different paths to take. Often, people think authors write a book and make a few bucks on the side. Let me tell you this—it can generate you an income if you treat being an author as you would of launching any business. Did I know or even want that back in 2014? Not really. I wanted to write books, sign them, and meet readers.

I never envisioned it being a business, let alone make enough money for me to quit my job.

What are three aspects that you learned about yourself along the way?

I work best under pressure. I’m deadline driven. During the pandemic, with events being cancelled and supply for merchandise low, I was forced to focus only on writing.

The other two parts of my business were paused indefinitely. I love writing, so I spent the time re-branding plus also added more books to my catalogue. But writing non-stop can lead to burn-out. I’m a multitasker, and juggling multiple businesses brings out the creative side of me. I love book signings and packing book boxes.

They all fulfill me for different reasons and challenge me to grow my business to something even more significant. No one can stop you from dreaming big, and boy do I have some plans.

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You are the Founder of the icon brand Books by the Bridge, could you guide us through your journey How did the name originate?

Multi-author book signing events were more common in the United States than they were here in Australia many years ago.

I tried my best to get an invite to a local signing but was a very small fish in a big sea of authors. So I decided to host my own event and give other small fish an opportunity. How hard could it be, right? I’m from a big extended family and planned many events. Not only that, I was still in HR at the time. Part of my role was being the social butterfly and uniting employees through BBQ’s, Christmas parties, and other celebrations.

I knew I needed a stand-out venue. Luna Park Crystal Palace was perfect and just beside the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge. With the help of a friend throwing a casual “How about Books by the Bridge?” that’s how the name and business were born.

Books by the Bridge will be hosting in many exciting cities, can you tell us where and when?

We’ve previously hosted in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Barossa Valley, Sea world Resort in Gold Coast, and Yarra Valley.

Our Barossa Valley signing is 15th May 2021. The next signing after that is Sea World Resort on 21st August 2021. The big Sydney signing, which was postponed due to lockdown, will be held in January 2022.

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How many authors will be attending BBTB Barossa Valley?

We have 21 authors signing and a special appearance by photographer Michelle Lancaster including Lochie Carey— a well-known book cover model.

Unfortunately, the world has changed drastically overnight due to the global pandemic COVID-19 and has played havoc in the world economy and mental health. What’s a goal you have for yourself that you want to accomplish in the next year or two?

Writing books will always be on my goal list. It’s a part of who I am. I can’t envision myself without a story to tell. However, I would like to host more author workshops—a combination of inperson and digital. I’ve learned a lot over the years and believe my knowledge—combined with that of my fellow successful peers—would be of value to many authors trying to grow their business.

As a professional in media, I am more and more aware that this is the time for growth and change in the way we as individuals/organisations think, operate and face challenges in a changing era. Up-skilling is vital for survival – what are some other ways we can grow and learn to overthrow stagnation?

I think it is essential to watch and listen. As an example, during the pandemic, many readers were voicing their mental health concerns. They could not unwind and read a book like usual or gravitated towards light-hearted reads to immerse themselves in humour. That didn’t bode too well for my darker books.

How we, as authors, would market our brand—played a crucial role in many of our readers’ lives. I’m not just selling you a book.

I’m that author who shares funny memes or opens discussions on ‘adult’ topics in my readers’ groups. As the group is all ladies (over 2000 members), it is a safe place to be online and air our grievances about the husband who leaves the toilet seat up, or perhaps the one who snores like a freight train. More than ever, we needed to connect in whatever way we could just to stay sane.

If you observe, your audience or consumers are telling you something. And more than ever, compassion can mean the world to someone who is fighting a battle quietly. Human connection is being tested, so we need to get creative on how we can continue, given the state of the world during the pandemic.

Who is someone you admire, and why?

I’m always nervous when asked this question because there are so many and for very different reasons! If we are talking business and authoring, I will have to say Alessandra Torre. While I haven’t met her in person, she has gone above and beyond to help me. Not only is she a well-known author and founder of Inkers Con, but she also genuinely helps authors grow their business and provides many free (and paid) tools to do so.

She is very much about giving back to our book community.

What do you consider to be some of your greatest achievements?

My children. Each one of my books. Hosting events that allow authors and readers to connect, making lifetime memories.

Overcoming trauma and being able to share these experiences to help others.

Tell me three pet peeves.

The person who goes online and says they are going to quit but never quits. Only to say it again next week, and then so on. People

who constantly put themselves down. Women who think they are just a wife or mother. They can’t possibly be allowed to dream.

Hello! What year are we in?

Do you have any other skills or talents that most people don’t know about?

I’d love to say that I can sing, dance plus play the piano. Oh, that’s right…I’m not Taylor Swift! Sadly, no. Unless you count my potato salad which apparently—is delicious.

What are some of the things on your bucket list?

My bucket list has tripled in size since the pandemic. Visit the Norwegian Hot Springs, and have a jolly good swim, float— or whatever you’re supposed to do. New Years’ Eve in Times Square. Drive through the French countryside and visit chateaus I can’t afford but still write on my list of goals because a girl can dream, right?

What are some causes you care about, support or play a role?

I’ve always been an advocate for empowering women and promote that through my own social media platforms, raising awareness in our community of gender inequality. As someone who has been subjected to this, I feel strongly about changing the world we live in to create equal opportunities.

At our previous Books by the Bridge Sydney events, we would support the Women’s Community Shelter by raising money through raffles and donating supplies needed. The event would work closely with the shelters team to ensure we could help with donating the items needed to help women and children staying at the shelters.

Website: www.kattmasen.com www.bbtbauthorevents.com www.bookseverafterbookbox.com 21 | eYs Magazine, Autumn 2021

Alana Jade NSW

Belle Harper VIC

Beth Prentice QLD

Caz May VIC

Elle Thorpe NSW

Grace McGinty NSW

J.O Mantel VIC

JA Low QLD

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Jasmina Siderovski NSW

Jay G. Bee NSW

Jessica Gleave _ NSW

Kat T. Masen NSW

Lauren Firminger NSW

Leesa Bow QLD

Lilliana Rose QLD

Lilly Barrett

Linda Humphries SA

Montana Fyre SA

Maggie Mundy SA

Monica James VIC

Portia Stanton-Noble SA

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BOOKWORM MAGICBEANS BOOKSTORE Interview by Marsha Casper Cook

F

rom the moment I first discovered the MagicBeans online bookstore, I immediately understood the importance of what Leat Regwan is doing. Her unique approach to selling books provides families with access to diverse, inclusive children’s books while amplifying the impact of customers’ purchases to truly make a difference in the world.

MagicBeans Bookstore gives children the chance to experience books that break the mold and cover many of the important topics in today’s world. When customers choose to buy books from MagicBeans, their purchase not only gives a child the gift of literacy, but also supports independently published authors and illustrators who focus on celebrating diversity, culture and independence. In addition, for every book purchased MagicBeans donates a brand-new book to a child in need.

Leat Regwan’s model of bookselling impacts both the education of children and the world of publishing, and not surprisingly, she is an incredibly interesting and very charitable person. After just one conversation with her, I knew she was someone who would succeed in helping to make the world a better place.

1) When you were growing up, how important was reading?

My parents immigrated to the United States from Israel when I was only three years old. They barely spoke a word of English, so when I was in kindergarten, we were all learning to read at the same time, really. I loved when my parents would read bedtime stories to me in Hebrew, and as I learned to read, I would read books in English to them at bedtime. While I was in elementary school, I especially loved reading books by Judy Blume and “The Babysitters Club” series – I thought they were so cool! Reading was always something I enjoyed doing and was never something that was pushed on us by our parents.

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2) How different was your childhood from your children’s childhood?

Wow! If my kids only realized how lucky and blessed, they are. I didn’t have a quarter of the things they have now – iPads, Playstations, Nintendo Switch – all the games and toys imaginable.

We grew up in a tiny two-bedroom apartment. My sister, brother and I shared a bunk bed in one room, and we all shared one bathroom.

There was really no money for anything but necessities.

When we went to the market with my mom, we knew we were not to ask her for anything, because we could only afford what was on the list. Yet, my parents probably would have said that we didn’t realize how lucky and blessed we were, either.

I feel that every generation comes with its set of blessings and challenges. My childhood was easier, carefree, less stressful and safer, and more innocent than that of this generation.

That’s mostly due to the internet, social media and the “instant gratification” that children today are encompassed with.

My children are still young, but I am already seeing major differences. When I was growing up and wanted a certain game or toy or anything, I had to wait for a birthday or holiday or save up my own money and really learn the art of patience. My fouryear-old tells me to “order it on Amazon,” because he knows it will come the same day or next day at the latest! As much as we try as parents to not fall into those traps, more often than not, we do.

6) What advice would you offer to new and seasoned authors deciding on what topics need to be part of the education and development programs in school systems around the world and in the United States.

I would tell authors to think “outside the box” and look at the world we live in now.

It is not the same world we grew up in as kids. There are so many important topics and issues that kids are facing that must be addressed.

That being said, when it comes to children and school systems it’s a very fine line that you have to be careful about crossing, because unfortunately we are still dealing with “politics” in everything. I would just honestly say, put yourself in the shoes of the child’s age range you’re targeting and look at what’s important in their world.

Many kids today are dealing with some sort of bullying, depression, stressful environments, anxiety, different living arrangements, racism, the loss of a loved one, learning online, isolation, the effects of the pandemic and the list goes on.

Growing up we basically rode our bikes out all day with friends and when the sun started to set, we would have to hurry home for dinner. We didn’t have iPhones or iPads or so many distractions like kids today have. We actually had to talk to our friends, not text or message online, we didn’t have to worry about “likes” or “followers” or anything like that. If you liked someone in school, you would send them a note; it was that simple.

shy away from. We don’t live in a cookiecutter world. We live in a world where we have to really celebrate differences and diversity. There are children that live in homes with two dads or two moms, divorced parents or children that have disabilities or speak different languages and come from different cultures. We need more diverse books so that ALL children can see themselves in books and know that they are celebrated and validated.

3) When did you decide to start MagicBeans Bookstore?

5) How has your idea of supporting diverse, independent authors and Illustrators changed the way your readers see the world.

My husband and I decided to start it back in 2018 when he self-published his first children’s book, The Adventures of Pugley Bear. We realized that it was a whole different ball game to market the book and knew that there were many other authors that are going through the same thing. We wanted to create a home for Indie authors and also provide diverse books for children.

4) How important are independently published books in today’s marketplace?

They are very important, especially in today’s world. Indie authors are less restricted, so they can self-publish about topics that usually traditional publishers

I believe that it has opened their eyes a bit more. More and more authors are self-publishing now because they have a story they want to share and don’t want to jump through the hoops of traditional publishing. We want schools and home libraries to be able to have all kinds of books on their shelves that are ageappropriate, of course. But we really believe that a strong foundation of reading starts from home and when children can relate to a book and see their own story in a book. That’s what makes them not only want to read but love it as well.

These might seem like heavy topics, but when you are writing children’s books there is always a way to incorporate those important messages in a fun and light way and usually authors and illustrators are great at doing that! We still need those fun adventurous books, of course! But we also do need to see more diversity as well.

7) What has been the most difficult part of your journey?

The most difficult part if you can believe it is getting schools, hospitals, etc., to accept Independently published books being donated to them. Unfortunately, some institutions don’t accept books because of certain topics, or simply because the book was not published with a major publisher.

It’s really hard to believe especially when you are literally giving new books away.

However, in the last year or so we partnered with an amazing non-profit organization: RIFSoCal stands for Reading is Fundamental of Southern California and is one of the largest reading organizations in the country. They donate thousands of traditionally published books to over 800 schools in underserved communities. They LOVE the mission of MagicBeans and spreading Independent diverse books for ALL children. So now with our help, these children are also able to receive our indie books and realize that if they have a story to tell one day, they can do it too!

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8) What has been the easiest and most successful part of your decision to start MagicBeans Bookstore?

Starting something is never easy, there is always hard work involved. However, starting MagicBeans was an easy decision by far. Not only are we helping indie authors and illustrators get their books out there for more eyes to see and read but also, we are providing new books that are signed and dedicated by the author to a child that typically doesn’t have many or any books at home. Imagine being at school one day and YOU get to choose your own books to take home with you for free, you open it up and you see the actual author signed a great message to you the reader. How would you feel? Some of these kids have really hard lives and this is just our way of making it a little bit better. To me that’s a win-win.

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9) What specific causes does MagicBeans support?

We support Independence, Literacy and Giving Back. We believe in the importance of having a voice and being able to share your story, no matter where you come from. If you are a creative person and believe you have an important story to share and a dream to publish a book, then you should be able to. We value literacy and believe that the foundation of everything starts from learning how to read. The stats of illiteracy in this country are staggering and lead to drug use, homelessness, imprisonment and more. It is something that we don’t talk about enough, but one in five adults in the United States have low literacy skills or can’t read at all.

To me, that is just unacceptable and something that needs to be majorly addressed. If we can fix this, it will lead to the antidote of so many other issues.

10) Have you reached the goal you set out to achieve?

It is definitely an ongoing mission and goal. I don’t know that we will ever completely achieve it until our literacy rates begin to climb and every child will have a home library full of books to read, but we are getting there one book at a time and as long as it takes, we will continue to pursue our mission of Independence, Literacy and Giving Back.

11) How can others help your mission?

I believe that everyone can do a small part in every child’s life. For parents or teachers of young readers, they have to be more open to Independent books and read more books about diverse topics and issues to create inclusivity among all children. The authors and illustrators have already been so giving and charitable with donating copies of their books, we really could not be around today without their help and we are forever grateful to them.

The other thing we can do as parents, educators and readers ourselves is just make sure that our children have books at home that they love to read. As a mother of three kids myself, I know the struggles parents face today of getting their kids off devices and getting them to read. Even though the struggle is real, we must never forget the importance of reading and books and the whole world that it opens up for our children and their future.

Thank you for allowing me to share some of the magic in MagicBeans with your readers. It has been an honor and a privilege to be a part of your magazine.

Leat Regwan MagicBeans Bookstore Founder

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AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT MY LOCKDOWN POEMS

Amber Zaman

Meet Amber Zaman - from Huddersfield, United Kingdom who has been writing poems and illustrating in collaboration with Ursula Hurst for her first children’s poetry book during lockdown.

A

s a global pandemic, Covid-19 affected the lives of millions of people across the world. An 8-year-old decided to do something positive with her creative writing, drawings and positive words. Words to encourage positive mental health and well-being amongst us all, no matter what colour or faith.

My Lockdown Poems gives a child’s eye view from Amber Zaman of what happened in the UK, captured in eleven beautifully illustrated poems in collaboration with acclaimed Illustrator Ursula Hurst, from closed schools, to fun on Zoom, a shortage of hand sanitiser and the hope of rainbows, enjoy a unique perspective on the main event of 2020.

Amber states “I wanted to write, draw and work in collaboration with an illustrator and editor Rebecca Thomas to show how I felt being in the current pandemic and I wanted to show off south Asian characters that south Asian readers can relate and identify with, in my book. This was the reason why I drew myself on the front cover wearing a mask, I thought it was important I showed brown faces as well black and white characters in my book as this is our future and we are in this pandemic together no matter what colour, age or disability. It is very important for children to see different characters being represented in books, characters that look like you and me.”

Amber began writing her poetry book during the first lockdown and would spend many hours trying out different ways to make sense and rhyme her poetry. She was lucky enough to have her work recognised by Poems and Pictures Limited company who are now Ambers publishers. One of Amber’s poems ‘School’

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has been featured in the book my #LockdownLife which is a book where children and teachers have had their poems published, complied together by Christina Gabbitas who is a charity founder and director of Children’s Literature Festivals. All proceeds from #LockdownLife will go to the charity CLFestivals.

Ambers book has been acknowledged by royalty, the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton and the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. Both the Duchess and the Prime Minister have sent their best wishes and have congratulated Amber on her success and are pleased to receive a gifted copy of her book.

Amber’s wonderful publishers have nominated her for the Peoples Book Prize Award and she has been interviewed by both local and national radio stations reaching international audiences.

Amber has been busy signing many books for her family, friends and communities and she hopes her book will encourage other children to write and Ambers messages is simple “remember you don’t have to be an adult to write.”

My Lockdown Poems is available on Amazon and for any other enquires please email on info@salmasbollywoodacademy.com.

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LAW SOCIETY

AN INSIGHT INTO VACCINES WITH DR DRAGOSLAV POPOVIC

by Bojana Bogojevic

and post-graduate degree in Social Policy and Governance from University of Maastricht. Dragoslav’s job has taken place in Central and Eastern Europe, Central and South-East Asia and Africa. His recent collaborations include UNICEF, UNDP, WHO, WB, GAVI Alliance and IPSOS. He was a member of the working group developing Decade of Vaccines Collaboration and Global Immunization and Vaccines Action Plan.

Let’s start with vaccines. Vaccines seems more relevant today than ever before?

Vaccination, is pandemic Ower?

While race for vaccination and battle against COVID19 is ongoing, and humanity finally has a weapon of hope to fight with Sars - Cov 2 I had extraordinary opportunity to talk with Dr Dragoslav Popović, a worldwide known health expert. I am truly thankful because it isn’t easy to arrange meeting while his schedule is overbooked with invitations from tv stations, portals, newspapers and magazines.

For EYS international readers I brought our conversation in hope Dr Popović would give to us all precious answers and advice.

Dragoslav Popovic has three decades of experience in public health. His worked has focused on health systems reforms, including immunizations, private and public partnership, management and communication. Dragoslav has completed his Doctor of Medicine degree (M.D.) at University of Medicine, Sarajevo; Master of Public Health (MPH) at University in Belgrade 30 | eYs Magazine, Autumn 2021

True. Just three months back, the first global Decade of Vaccines 2010-2020 concluded, and we entered 2021 that will be global year of vaccination, and hopefully, a year of the resolution of current COVID-19 pandemic. Many people within the global public health and scientific community were skeptical that scientists will be able to develop effective and safe vaccine against SARS-Cov-2 virus, which caused this pandemic, but we are today witnessing that highly efficient and safe vaccines are in use in mass vaccination in many countries and more and more vaccines are in the research or manufacturing pipeline and it will be soon widely available. This is enormous success of global community and big hope that pandemic will be over soon.

But it is vaccines that caused what some people describe as the global vaccine wars? There is also new term – the vaccine nationalism that has been used as of recently?

I think the war is by far too strong term to use, but vaccines

The development of the vaccines against COVID-19 is a major triumph of science.

It is a historic achievement, and if we were waiting more time for vaccines, I will be very disappointed, as we need vaccines today, right now, to stop this ongoing pandemic, save lives and let people go back to normalcy. Also, in the process of development of these vaccines, we used 21st century science, technology as well as generous financial support to research community – and that was recipe for success. Such resources were never available and because of that, we should never compare covid-19 vaccine development process with development of vaccines at any time in the past. Just to reiterate – when it comes to quality testing of vaccines for efficacy and safety, not a single step in that process was skipped and no quality standard has been compromised at any moment.

But still, we have global war for vaccines?

are most valuable weapon that we have against global infection, that resulted in disease and deaths, disruption of life that we know and caused global economic downturn of the scale that was probably unprecedented in history.

Unfortunately. Since the beginning of pandemic in 2020 we were fighting virus with preventive measures such as masks, social distancing, handwashing along with few epidemiological measures such as contact tracing and isolation of potentially infected people. Those simple, nonmedical and non-pharmaceutical measures were effective, they saved many lives, but the progress was relatively slow, with first temporary decline in global trends in the number of new cases and hospitalisations seen beginning this year. Vaccines are the new, powerful weapon that is becoming available and that will help us to fight with pandemic even more efficiently than before.

So, you think that as vaccines have become available the pandemic will be stopped soon?

No. It is important to understand that it will take time until we vaccinate sufficient number of people so that we reach the level where so-called herd immunity - or collective immunity – where majority of individuals in a society will be immune

to the virus – start functioning by slowing down and stopping transmission of virus in the society. That collective immunity is important as it is protecting from virus even those few, who were not vaccinated, for one or another reason. We should not forget that pandemic is global phenomenon - there are very few places in the world that are not affected by the virus and we will stop the pandemic only when we immunize sufficient number of people in all countries – not just reached and developed, but also poor and underdeveloped. And that is major challenge, as many countries did not even start vaccinating. Another challenge is that vaccine availability is still not optimal so, we need to wait before new vaccines products and new doses becoming available in months to come.

The vaccination will not be over soon, but by the end of the Q3 of this year we will see major improvements in some parts of the world. However, there is no room for complacency, we should not relax until the vaccination is over in all countries. By that time, we will still relay on practicing protective and preventive measures.

You saying that vaccines are not available, but many people are saying that COVID-19 vaccines were produced too fast and we rushing into vaccination with products that are of questionable quality?

Yes and no. The reason for a war is that many countries launched mass vaccination programs soon as vaccine becomes licensed for use, which is December 2020, and soon they realized that vaccines are short in supply. This is because politicians overlooked the fact that throughout 2020 the vaccine development was in the hands of science – and form the hands of science it has to go to the hands of industry, so that industry can manufacture sufficient number of doses to cover majority of global population, which is enormous challenge as we are speaking of unprecedented number of doses that we need to produce, procure and distribute throughout the globe. We need to give industry more time, they are warming up, manufacturing is increasing, and availability of vaccine will improve rapidly over next few months – some real giants in pharma industry will come out with their products in months to come. I am optimist, we live through historic times and we are participating in the largest vaccination effort in history along with 5 billion of other people at all continents, over two hundred millions of health workers, governments, industry, media, civil society, religious organizations.

Sounds like a big race against the time.

Who will be winner and who will be looser in that race?

We will all be winners, there is no other choice. Certainly, there are some countries that will need support because of their public health and immunization infrastructure but those countries can

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count on support in vaccine procurement and technical support from global community through COVAX facility - that is partnership led by GAVI Alliance, WHO and UNICEF. We heard so many times over the past weeks – vaccines alone do not stop the virus, vaccination does.

Serbia was highlighted as one of the success stories in COVID-19 vaccination? What was the story?

I think its good example that a small country can make the difference if there is proper mobilization within the country. If I am not mistaken, it is still the only country in the world where 4 different vaccines are available and used in mass vaccination program. This is vaccines from Pfizer BioNTech, from Astra Zeneka, but also Chinese Sinophram and Russian Sputnik V. It is good example where government, recognizing shortages that slowed down launch of vaccination in the EU, explored all possible ways and different markets to get access to enough vaccines, and I have to say, they managed to secure contracts with enough vaccines to be very busy with vaccination over the next few months. In in the meantime, Serbia also received vaccines from COVAX facility and is already discussing with other manufacturers for vaccines that will be soon marketed.

So, mass vaccination is ongoing in Serbia as we speak? What are results?

The vaccination with two doses reached over 20% of entire population. It is too early to expect visible impact on virus transmission, but there is very encouraging data on vaccines efficiency and safety. The makeshift vaccination posts were set up in sports halls or other public places in urban areas throughout the country to facilitate easy access and safe passage of people trough vaccination area. There is good web-based system for recording vaccination, and every vaccinated person get a vaccine certificate in paper and in form of Qr Code. This could

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be important for future travelers as borders crossing becoming increasingly complex and regulated – you never know who and when may request your vaccine certificate.

So, is COVID-19 vaccination mandatory in your country?

No, it is not. Actually, you express interest and sign in for vaccination trough e-government platform and you get invited to specific vaccination post at given time. There is a catch – we have ques of people at each post, but they are all early responders and those who are committed to vaccination. Soon the vaccination will become more challenging as we need to reach those who are harder to reach – such as people in remote rural areas, or those who are hesitant or even anti-vaccination.

Are they many people in Serbia against vaccination?

Yes, there are but not much more than in countries in the European region. We are all under pandemic conditions, but we also facing consequences of infodemia – the flood of fake news and misinformation around disease and vaccines. The same issues and conspiracy theories that you have in Australia are hot topics of public debate in Serbia too. We need to share best practices on how to counteract such misinformation and myths that cause vaccine hesitancy, delay vaccination and prolong pandemics.

That is another front we need to have global mobilization and action.

We would agree that in fight with misinformation the partnering with media will be very important. What would be your last messages to our readers?

I think while we are waiting for COVID-19 vaccines, we should not forget that childhood vaccines and other adult vaccines are available, and we should not miss any opportunity to get ourselves or our children vaccinated on time. We should not risk another outbreak of vaccine preventable disease such as Measles outbreak in parallel to pandemic. That would be too much.

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TOKENS OF LIFE UGANDA

BLIND TRUST GOT ME HIV – SARAH APORO

By Christopher Mukasa

S

arah Aporo a 26-year-old HIV Positive female with undetectable viral load, apparently working with Makerere University Business School as an Administrator and currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Arts and Counselling at Makerere University, discovered that she had contracted HIV after a tip off about the boy she was dating.

In January 2017, when university finalist Sarah Aporo discovered that she had contracted HIV after a tip off about the boy she was dating, her first reaction was; fear, confusion, blame and anger – but she managed to rise from the ashes of her seemingly crumbled world to fight for young people who are most prone to catching the disease. Today, she is championing the HIV fight in Uganda towards Zero Infections using social media to educate the masses on stigma and the importance of testing and adherence to drugs.

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Aporo was also recently presented with a Courage Award for coming out and championing the fight against new infections among the youth. She shared her story of Hope with Mukasa Christopher The Story My boyfriend and I dated for over a year. I remember on the Valentine’s Day of 2015, we agreed to wait having Sex until marriage. About five months later, we broke up and I moved on and started seeing somebody else. With my new boyfriend, we tested for HIV before getting intimate. We were both negative, but the relationship did not last long. A few months down the road, I reconciled with my previous boyfriend and we became intimate.

A mutual friend of my boyfriend and I told me she had heard that he might be HIV-positive and that I needed to have my blood tested immediately. I was shaken by this information, but I also trusted my boyfriend, since I had never seen him take any drugs.

PICTURE: Sarah (second-right sitting) at the East and Southern Africa Regional Technical Consultation on HIV and SGBV integration meet Besides, the Christmas season was upon us, so I decided to postpone the test. On January 2nd, I set off from the office, where I was working as I waited to graduate and headed to the University Clinic. I had recently had my blood checked, so I was sure the results would turn out Negative.

When the doctor handed me the results, I could not believe what I was seeing. I was HIV-Positive. My first question to him was: “Does that mean I will be on medication for the rest of my life?” He said yes. Time stood still. My mind went blank¬¬. I remember running back to the office, picking my bag and jumping on a motorcycle, headed for my boyfriend’s workplace. He was not there.

Once again, I jumped on a motorcycle and headed to a clinic where my doctor practices. He had tested me a few months earlier and I was Negative. In that moment, he was the one person I felt I needed to talk to. Once at his office, I broke the news to him and like me, he too was shocked. He refused to believe it and insisted on doing another test right away. The test confirmed the nightmare that I was now living. The doctor counselled me. He told me I could live a full, positive life as long as I stuck to taking my medication and told me to bring my boyfriend with me the next day, so he too could be tested.

The next day, I was at my boyfriend’s office. Our relationship had not been doing very well from around October and he had

PICTURE: Sarah with her mother at graduation. Here, she was yet to tell her mother about her new status. She told her after the graduation party been dodgy; not picking up my calls and claiming to be too busy to see me. I knew that he would not pick up if I called, so I went to his office and found him there.

I asked to speak with him immediately and we went to the lobby. Once there, I broke the news to him and the first thing he said was: “That means I am also HIVpositive”.

I told him I wanted him to get tested; that is the only way he would confirm it. He

mumbled something about being busy, but I got tough and told him he was going with me to the clinic of my choice to take that test. He accepted. At the doctor’s, he, too, tested HIV-positive. And for the first time, I broke down and cried hard. I asked him if he knew that he was HIV-positive all along, but he said he was not aware.

The doctor made appointments for us, so we could come in for counselling, and also advised us to go to a hospital where 35 | eYs Magazine, Autumn 2021

GRADUATION, TELLING MY FAMILY I had finished my studies in May 2016 and was set to graduate in February 2017. I knew that I had to tell my family, but I did not want to ruin the party and get everyone sad. It had been about a month since discovering my status and through counselling, I had gradually recovered psychologically. The week after my graduation party, in my mother’s bedroom, I revealed to her that I had contracted HIV. To my surprise she did not break down and cry. She was clearly shocked, but she looked me right in the eye and told me: “I never expected this to ever happen to you. But we can fight through this. Take your medication faithfully and you will live well.”

The rest of the family got to know on my sister’s graduation about a month later. We were 12 family members in the home, and I delicately broke it to them. It was a very emotional moment for all of us. They all spoke one by one, pledging their love and support. Two of my brothers are doctors, so they educated the rest of the family about the condition and assured me that I would be absolutely fine and that they would stand with me. I have never felt alone since then.

PICTURE: Sarah at her office at Makerere University Business School in Kampala

I trusted a man so easily and got betrayed, something I should never have done. I should have demanded that we both got tested before getting intimate. I would not let anyone else get infected, not on my watch.

we would have our CD4 count checked and get started on drugs. I kept the appointments, but my boyfriend was not committed. The Doctor advised me to put myself first and not let his behaviour interfere with my progress. He told me to try not to stress myself because it would lower my CD4 count and get me sick. I decided to start going to a near place near work. I have not spoken to the man I now call my ex-boyfriend since then.

-Stop Judging People Living With HIV-

BATTLE OF THE MIND

“Those who judge people with HIV are very unfair because living with the virus is a burden itself and when people also discriminate you with all sorts of judgement, it becomes worse. It is unfortunate, it is a bad thing, and I detest it.”

In the weeks that followed, I cried often. I would sit in a taxi and tell myself “Sarah, in this taxi, you are the one person with HIV. If they knew about it, how do you think they would react?”

How would my family and friends take it? I constantly worried, then went back to my place and cried. Would I ever live the life I always dreamed of? Start a family? Find a partner? It was tough.

WORK The very next day, after discovering my new HIV status, I walked straight to my boss and told him what had happened. I needed to take a few days off to get myself together and I did not want to lie about the reason. He was so supportive of me. He told me: “Sarah, your work here still stands. Do not let this demoralise you.” He told me that I could still do my Masters and PhD like he had always encouraged me to. He gave me the two days off I had asked for.

And even after my days off, his support gave me the confidence to show up to work every day and give 100%. My colleagues did not ever realise that I was going through a tough time until I was ready to tell them. And they too have been so supportive of me.

I inform them every time I am going to pick my drugs and they give me a few hours off, since sometimes the lines are long, so it takes a bit of time.

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On people who judge those living with the virus, Aporo says it is a bad practice because a huge number of HIV positive individuals acquired the virus not necessarily through having multiple sexual partners but via other ways including those born with the virus, those raped by infected individuals, partners who never disclose their status and married people who go out sleep around and bring the virus to their spouses at home.

FINDING MY WINGS AGAIN The first thing I did was let go of the anger I had towards my boyfriend. He did not ever ask for forgiveness, but I forgave him anyway - for my peace of mind. I would walk this new journey with a sound mind.

I was diagnosed with HIV in January 2017 and I can firmly say I have positively lived with HIV for Four (4) years. Discovering my positive HIV status was a redefining moment in my life because it helped me to find the need to advocate for rights of persons living with HIV and above all fight stigma against people living with HIV. It’s after I tested positive for HIV that I discovered majority of the population in Uganda lack new information regarding HIV for instance Undetectable = Untransmittable which is a great success story in HIV science. I decided to use my story to pass on information regarding HIV treatment and Prevention. Being an HIV positive person with undetectable viral load, I believe my story can help those struggling to adhere to HIV treatment because of the benefit that comes with adhering to treatment such achieving undetectable viral load and living a healthy life that helps one prevent acquiring AIDS.

PICTURE: Aporo was recently presented with a Courage Award by Haven Anti-AIDS Foundation for boldly sharing her status and for the tremendous work she is doing to prevent new infections among the youth

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COVER STORY

VAL ZAHARIEVSKI An Ode to Inspiring Women Winning the Hearts of a Community Images: Dobre Motley Media and Hari at Enfox

Written by JASMINA SIDEROVSKI

eYs

Magazine has devoted this edition celebrating and honouring women for International Women’s Day. As the Chief Editor of a noble humanitarian publication, and a women’s empowerment lobbyist I am asked all the time ‘what defines an inspiring woman?’

For me, an inspiring woman is someone with the desire or urge to do something worthwhile. A woman, who lives her life free from definitions, constraints, and attachment to generally accepted ideals and stereotypes of beauty and success. My perception of an inspiring woman is that you must make a conscious effort every day, with each interaction, to approach people, topics, and situations with altruism in your heart and handle negative situations, people, and words with grace.

Many people confuse that being an inspiring woman equates to being overly

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successful in a traditional sense. The truth of the matter is that you don’t need a highpaying job or an admirable career, be a best-selling author, or an expert and, you certainly don’t need to be perfect. In fact, the most inspiring women are completely, utterly, and beautifully imperfect.

Val Zaharievski, the Principal of VACCI Estate Agents in Sydney, Australia was our unanimous winning candidate as an inspirational woman for the front cover of this edition of eYs Magazine. Purely based on her determination, passion, and struggle to raise much needed funds for Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a cause that is very close to her heart during what is the most difficult time of philanthropy as we endure the unprecedented recent events – when the world literally STOPPED! “Multiple Sclerosis is a disease in which the immune system eats away at the protective covering of nerves. In

MS, resulting nerve damage disrupts communication between the brain and the body. Multiple sclerosis causes many different symptoms, including vision loss, pain, fatigue, and impaired coordination.

The symptoms, severity and duration can vary from person to person. Some people may be symptom free for most of their lives, while others can have severe, chronic symptoms that never go away. Physiotherapy and medication that suppress the immune system can help with symptoms, and slow disease progression.”

“Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a condition of the central nervous system, interfering with nerve impulses within the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. It is characterised by sclerosis a Greek word meaning scars. These scars occur within the central nervous system and depending on where they develop, manifest into various symptoms. MS affects over 25,600

in Australia and more than two million diagnosed worldwide.

Most people are diagnosed between the ages of 20-40, but it can affect younger and older people too. Roughly three times as many women have MS as men. There is currently no known cure for MS however there are a number of treatment options available to help manage symptoms and slow progression of the disease.”

MS Australia Zaharievski’s commitment to give back to the community by organising yearly, Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Fundraising events and awareness. Her contribution to champion this worthwhile cause began her fundraising journey when a close friend of hers was diagnosed with this debilitating disease. The suffering and pain that the MS patients go through daily are unthinkable and sadly, there seems to be a lack of awareness throughout the world what Multiple Sclerosis is. Her journey throughout a global pandemic in 2020 and to date was hindered by the ongoing COVID-19 restriction causing the anticipated fundraising event to be thrown into chaos and uncertainty as the daily changes became a nightmare and a headache for any event host. Facing these challenges, Zaharievski didn’t let these deal breakers undermine what she was passionate about, and that was to raise funds for MS. On the night Zaharievski surprised her donors as she shaved her beautiful long thick black hair. So many emotions experienced by friends and family, and the people who attended the event, watching Zaharievski shed a tear and a brave face, especially since we live in an era where women are faced with self-confidence and insecurities in a dynamic world of beauty and fashionista.

Confronting this head on cemented a daunting realisation of sacrifice and strength, her insecurities, and any questions she may have had in her heart became her purpose to do what she needed to do to stimulate donations and awareness for a cause that meant so much to her. Zaharievski raised an outstanding $115,000 AUD in 5 hours with only 300 people in attendance at the fundraiser. The proceeds to Rotary Health Australia to fund a PhD Researcher dedicated for research and a cure for Multiple Sclerosis. The enormity alone certainly deserved this ambassador and inspiring young woman, Val Zaharievski to embrace the front

cover of eYs Magazine. A dream 90% of the global population will never achieve in their lifetime.

During her involvement in fundraising, Val has discovered more about the condition through her continued interest and personal empathy to better understand the disease in more detail and raise awareness in the general community, about its symptoms, and effects it has on the person, their family, and friends. The

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symptoms are unique to each person and can affect people in different ways. Zaharievski stands by her community and stresses that it’s very important we all play a supporting role, give a helping hand, and raise funds to find a cure. Her passion is fundraising for these groups of communities to show that society does care and are willing to contribute through donations, and other to raise the necessary funds used to support and help make their daily lives a little less suffering.

Behind the scenes we have witnessed the world of philanthropy change radically in the past year. A discombobulated mess, as we found ourselves responding to the Australian bushfires, floods, and global pandemic of COVID-19. Against a troubled backdrop, philanthropy has adapted and changed dramatically. The impacts have been felt in all facets of the field, from relationships to communities and the arts through to the emergence of new best practices. Many of the shifts have been profound, with impacts that will continue to be felt as we emerge into a post-pandemic world. While billionaires were quick to respond to the pandemic globally, what was given, was a drop in the ocean compared to what some billionaires made during the pandemic. This was also reflected in Australia as established billionaires saw massive increases – in some cases, doubling – to their wealth.

It takes a single love for humanity, a passion to pay it forward and the courage to contribute in the most selfless ways that create the change our world needs from people such as Val Zaharievski to remind each of us that we can all be part of something much larger than life. It is all too easy to fear the incomprehensible without the knowledge, support, and resources available at hand.

No one said our goals would come lightly, but as Maya Angelou once said, “Whatever you want to do, if you want to be great at it, you have to love it and be able to make sacrifices for it.” Build your bridges and network with the like-minded, lead by example and fear not trying. The courage, tenacity by this exemplary and exceptional young fearless woman has won the hearts of her community and the gratitude of the victims of Multiple Sclerosis.

We commend Val Zaharievski on her generosity as a cumbersome leader striving to achieve what is in the best interest of her loved ones, her community, and her nation. You are an eYs Inspirational Woman.

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Focus on Business

FOLLOWING YOUR PASSION WITH SHARON TURTON Written By Natalie O’Connor

F

rom talking to a lot of people about what they do and why, everyone gives a differing response. Some are drawn to their vocations because of sense of purpose, lifestyle, status or they simply “fell into it”. What keeps them in this vocation is either a sense of purpose, habit or necessity.

You’ve heard it all before: ‘follow your passions’, ‘do what you love’. It’s so important to find your passion, as you go to work for eight plus hours each day, five or more days per week, you want to be doing what you love, but how do we do this? How do we make a living from doing what we love, or what we are drawn to?

Someone who exemplifies following their passions is Sharon Turton. She has built a career as a multimodality healer. She is a counsellor, naturopath, masseuse, Journey practitioner and retreat owner and operator amongst her many talents. She is someone who is following her passion for holistic healing and her love for what she does definitely shines through.

Sharon had a traumatic experience as a child and now devotes her life to healing others, especially children and parents. She has even written three books on parenting. Her passion for allowing children’s light to shine through is strong with all she does and the many testimonials show how much her work has helped many families.

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Sharon is now focusing her combined skills on offering unique healing experiences at her own retreat “Wind Spirit”, located in Mount Burrell, NSW, just south of the Queensland border. It is a beautiful eco retreat allowing individuals, families and groups both organised and private retreats.

The retreat is all inclusive, with lovely accommodation, healing sessions with Sharon, meditations, healthy and healing food and even a heated magnesium pool.

“The private retreats at Wind Spirit are profound as we do deep work over three days in this pristine land and it’s a total reset for people on all levels” Sharon explains.

Along with the retreats, Sharon is conducting her private online Journey sessions. Sharon’s passion for healing is the focus of all that she does, from children to parents, groups or private sessions. Her aim is for all to live their best and harmonious life.

Welcome Sharon and thank you for being in our eYs Magazine, and taking part in this interview. Could you describe your background and how you became a naturopath, counsellor, author and masseuse? You’re a woman of many talents.

Oh gosh, that’s a big question, I guess I got into the healing area for two reasons I think. One, because my dad was a pharmacist in a small country town, and he was kind of like the doctor, where people would call him late at night and he was on

call and I really loved him and respected him. He also talked to me a little bit about his training of herbal medicine and how wonderful that was back in the day, not that he used it then. Secondly when I was a child, I was a very sick child. When I was four and five, for many, many months, I was in Camperdown Children’s Hospital.

I got over that illness, but there was always something in me about wanting to help children, and also knowing that as a child, it’s a very scary thing to be hospitalised and away from the family for a long time.

I realised that that had such a big impact on me, so wanting to help kids, and parents as well, I guess that led me to becoming a naturopath and then a counsellor, and ultimately a Journey practitioner, which is one of the main modalities that I use.

So it’s kind of like naturopathy works on the physical, the counselling work that I do works on the psychological, and the Journey work, ties it all together, working on all levels, as well as a more spiritual level as well. So I feel it’s quite holistic.

I think most people would know what a naturopath is and a counsellor is, but could you describe what the Journey work is?

The Journey work is something that goes deeper, in my opinion. It goes to the subconscious realm, and it helps us clear out some of those deeper, unhealthy beliefs, the emotional blocks, the limiting beliefs that hold us back in life and stop us being everything that we can be. That little voice in the background that says you’re not good enough, no I can’t, I’m too scared or whatever it is. It helps bring that stuff up to the surface, the conscious surface.

So we can start to clear it out, and it doesn’t hold us back in life the way it does when it’s in that subconscious. It’s very powerful work. It’s very beautiful work.

It works so well alongside counselling, naturopathy; it holds it all together in my opinion.

Your experience as a child shaped your healing journey, was there anything that triggered it, when you were older?

Becoming a naturopath was really important for me, at the time I didn’t know anything about the mind, the subconscious.

It was just all about nutrition and herbs and exercise and health. That’s what really got me in the beginning, to try and balance all that stuff. Then after about ten or so years as a naturopath, I started to realise that with some of the clients, there was 43 | eYs Magazine, Autumn 2021

single mother. Her dad and I had split when she was two years old. So she’d had three years living with me in a big black hole of my almost depression, or whatever it was. I was not happy. I started to think what’s going on with her. Not only that, she was a very quiet, shy child. She was very held back. She was the last one in the mother’s group to walk or socialise. She was covered with red angry eczema. I started to wonder was the eczema because of my anger, which I hadn’t fully expressed. It was inside me when I was pregnant with her. Where does that energy of anger go when it’s not expressed healthily, when you’re carrying a baby inside? The science of epigenetics now tells us it gets through the placental membrane into the baby.

She was born with this terrible eczema. So after that first workshop, I started to do swaps for somebody who was doing it (she would do the process for me, and I would do it for her), as there were no practitioners in Australia at that time. We started doing very basic simple swaps, but I started also working on my little girl. I kid you not, within six weeks of doing it once a week, her eczema started softening. Within six months, it was gone.

Before that, being a naturopath, I had her on the best diet, no wheat, no dairy, no this, no that. Her diet was just so perfect. I was doing everything I possibly could, but it was the emotional manifestation of that anger, which was not only creating her eczema, but also her fear, her shut down response, her reticence to life.

more than just the physical issues. There was stuff going on at a deeper level, the mind, their stresses at home, their problems with their kids, and their arguments with their spouse, just stuff. Work issues, recurring problems that might be happening, patterns in their lives.

I realised that my herbs weren’t going to help that. Even though I was doing homeopathy as well and all sorts of things, I thought I need to start looking at something deeper. That’s when I bumped into Brandon Bays, who is the founder, the pioneer of Journey work in the world. She was coming to Australia for her very first Journey workshop in the year 2000. She just got off the plane, she needed a massage, and for some act of grace, she ended up on my massage table, in Manly, NSW. As I was massaging her, I felt an energy, for want of a better word, that I’d never felt before. Her energy is so amazing. She basically said, would I like to come along to her workshop? Which I did, she gave me her book ‘The Journey’, which I read, I devoured it.

I went along to this workshop, knowing that I have a few issues to work on. I was divorced at that time. I was a single mum. I had a lot of anger from my marriage, et cetera, et cetera. So I thought okay, I’ve got some issues about that. When I did my very first process (Journey work) at that weekend workshop, I was instantly transported back to a memory of 40 years before, when I was a little four year old, in a sterile clinic. Mum was being taken away. I was in there with the doctor, terrified and screaming and being tied down. It was a terrifying memory. I just shut that memory down in my subconscious. In fact, I’d shut down the whole experience of months and months and months in hospital in 1962, which is not like it is these days. I realised that wow, I’m holding this fear in my body, because after I did that process, my world looked quite different, and I felt different.

I went home and I started thinking about my little girl, who was growing up with a very angry mother, a very anxious mother, a

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As we started to take the lampshade off her light, she started to socialise more. She started to smile more. Now she’s 25, and she is the most outgoing, powerful, confident young woman that I know. I absolutely believe that it’s because of this work, and she does too, that we did when she was a kid. Without that, she would not be the girl she is now, the young beautiful woman. So, seeing those results early on, it made me think wow, this is powerful stuff. I started to incorporate it into my naturopathic practice and I started to get better results. I started to do more and more of the Journey work. Now I run workshops for Brandon Bays, and I support her with workshops in Australia. Children’s workshops as well. I’ve run those for years and years.

You don’t see too many practitioners that focus on the mind, body and spirit. A lot of practitioners focus on the mind, or just focus on the body, or just focus on the spirit. What an amazing gift that you’ve got all three to offer your clients.

It works well. And I feel it allows me to be truly holistic, in the work that I do. That’s important, because we are not just bodies.

We are not just minds. We are not just emotional beings, we’re all of it. Every bit affects every other bit. You could have a child who’s really nervous about going to school, because they’re being bullied, and they get a tummy ache. It’s not a make-believe tummy ache. It’s a real tummy ache, because all the muscles are clenched in the tummy. The emotions affect the physical, the physical affect the emotions, which affects the mind, the beliefs, everything is encompassed as this whole amazing, complicated, unique human that we are.

It’s incredible to see how much science is catching up with new age therapies, because, 10 years ago, all of this was just “woo woo”. Now with people like Dr. Bruce Lipton and a lot of others, the epigenetic field is growing, and it’s wonderful to see science starting to come around to it.

It’s fantastic. I totally believed this 20 years ago when I started doing this work, because I experienced the results myself. I had that direct experience. Now that science is showing it, it’s fantastic. It’s not the woo woo, it’s science-based, it’s going on in

our body. It can appear quite woo woo, but this particular form of new age therapy, it is science-based.

Today we have so much connectivity with social media.

Everything is at our fingertips, but yet we feel like we are losing connection to self, to nature, to spirit. You’re known for bringing people deeper connections to their self and to their loved ones, and to their kids. You have a passion for working with parents/caregivers and children, and bringing a deeper connection. If someone was reading this article and trying to understand how to bring a deeper connection to themselves or to their families, what would you suggest to them?

Yeah, it is a big question, and it’s a very simple answer, but it’s not simple to do, in this world because we’re not programmed that way. The answer basically is to stop. To slow down. To press the pause button. Pressing that pause button and stopping, just as you have right now, and I have right now. What’s here? In this moment, what’s here? It’s just you and I. Here we are. Can you feel it?

I can.

That’s kind of it. Sages and saints and gurus and whoever and whatever have been saying this forever. How do you do it? It requires the willingness to stop. The willingness to slow down, even just for a few moments a day. I don’t mean to do a visualisation and a meditation that takes you somewhere. I mean to just stop, and connect with the earth. Sit by a tree, empty your mind, look into the distance, touch the earth with your hands, your feet, anchor yourself, earth yourself. That sort of simple stuff that we just don’t do. I think with all the technology these days, and the busy-ness of life and all the information, the technology that’s constantly bombarding us, actually stopping is the hardest

thing. We get further and further away from this ability to stop.

It’s only when we can stop for a few moments, that we can possibly connect with our soul. With that deeper place inside, that is wanting us to stop. It’s wanting us to connect.

So it’s a practice.

Do you think it’s something that over generations we’re losing this connection with ourselves and to others, or how is it just being lost?

I can’t say for sure, because I didn’t live in other generations but I know that in this generation, when I was a child, I was outside a lot. I was on the earth a lot. I was running around, rolling around, getting dirty, playing with friends, rumbling, all that sort of thing.

I don’t think kids do that as much these days, especially not in the city. There’s a fear consciousness that we all live under and we can’t let our kids just go roaming, because something might happen. We’re so busy ourselves as parents, we are not connecting with our kids, with our families, with our loved ones, the way that we used to.

If we don’t take it with ourselves, we’re not present. If we’re not present in ourselves, how can we possibly be present with somebody else, with life, with our loved ones. So it all starts here, with ourselves.

I think we forget along the way, especially mums, or anyone for that matter, that we tend to put ourselves last. It’s something that is a good reminder. That love starts at home, with ourselves.

It does. That’s so true. I think it’s not a selfish thing at all. It’s actually something that is so needed.

It’s time out. It’s not necessarily going out and having a beauty treatment, even though that’s very nice, but it’s actually stopping.

Just really connecting with self, with the earth, with something greater than ourselves, so we can be present.

I think healers, be it a doctor, surgeon, nurse, naturopath, Journey practitioner, are very special people. They are devoting their lives to being of service to others. From what you’ve mentioned earlier would it be safe to say that that was your drive? Or was there something else that drove you into this field, because you’ve got such a tremendous passion for what you do.

I do have a passion, and I can’t actually answer that. I don’t know, on this level. I just knew, on a deeper level that that’s what I wanted to do. I think most of my life I’ve followed a deeper knowing. If there’s something that felt light deep down, that’s the direction I tried to go, most of my life. It’s kind of taken me on many corners and round lots of bends.

It’s funny because at the moment, it’s brought me up here to Wind Spirit, which is like a culmination of the circle. I grew up in a little country town. When I was a child, all I wanted to do was run into the bush. I spent hours and hours in the bush with my dog.

After growing up, leaving that town, I lived overseas for 10 years in Paris and Tokyo and big cities, then back to Sydney, another big city. It’s only recently that I’ve moved back to the bush, to our own beautiful retreat centre, where all of the skills that I have acquired over all these decades, we’re putting together in the embrace of this pristine land up here, which is, in my opinion part of the healing.

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What led you to move up to the beautiful northern New South Wales, and to open Wind Spirit?

This is going to sound really odd, but we were led here.

In the sense that we weren’t planning to move here. We were up here just driving around, having a little bit of a holiday, and we stayed at a place, they didn’t have phones reception.

We needed to make a phone call for work, and they said, “Just go up the mountain and there’ll be reception.” So we drove up the mountain, but we got stopped by a herd of goats on the road. We couldn’t get passed, and there was a big for sale sign, right where we got stopped. At that moment my partner’s phone went bing, it sprang into life, without thinking he dialled the number and it was the real estate agent. They said, “Do you want to see the property?” We said, “Yes. Why not?” We had a couple of days.

So we saw this property. We fell in love with it. It’s kind of beyond words and beyond logic, but we just bought it. We had no plan of moving, no plan of leaving Sydney. We didn’t look at anything else, which is ridiculous, but I mean we were led here. It’s the most crazy story, but it has been the most wonderful experience.

We didn’t realize we were going to be running retreats up here.

We just loved the land, fell in love with it, and it felt right. But as it turned out, we have a place which is big enough to have intimate retreats, to bring people up here who need several days away from the city, or who need healing, or need a reset of their life, because they’re not happy, or they’re not on the right track, or whatever it is.

Then they can come up here and we do some deep, good, powerful work. Clear out that unconscious realm of what might be blocking what they really need, what they’re really wanting, so that they can go back to their life with a different mindset and anchored in what they really want. So, it’s amazing and it’s just happening.

So we’re in the process of building a yoga studio up here, in the old shed that we lived in for three years while we were getting this place built. The land is what’s so beautiful. We’re very close to Mount Warning, we’ve got this magnificent view over Mount Warning, which is the first spot on the Australian mainland that gets the sun each morning. It’s a spiritual area.

You’re totally off the grid I understand, a real pristine ecoretreat.

It is. It’s pure solar, rainwater and we recycle everything. It’s very beautiful. It’s a huge learning for both of us. It just feels absolutely right.

In the short period of time that you’ve set up Wind Spirit and holding retreats, the reviews I’ve read, have been an overwhelming success, it seems like such a beautiful emersion into the spirit, relaxation and connection.

Yeah. That’s absolutely true. Some of the testimonials we’ve had are absolutely profound. I think what’s really important is that yes, they relax and yes, they eat well, and yes, the body gets better and heals in many ways, but something internal shifts. There’s an energy shift, after time at Wind Spirit, something shifts and they get more realigned to the soul, to what their soul truly wants.

I’m certainly finding that myself, I know that I’m on the path that my soul wants, and when I’m out there on the land weeding and I weed a lot, I feel it. It’s very interesting because weeding is something I do with clients on the emotional subconscious level anyway. My work is a lot about weeding the things don’t serve people out of their lives, so I think its part of my life path is to weed.

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As I’m out here on the land and I can almost feel it breathing, and I feel my soul singing. I know that, that’s something that this area helps people to do, helps them re-align with what is important to them. It actually opens up doors for them to start walking in the direction they want to walk.

You have got so many things under your belt. The Journey work, parent and child work, private mentoring, naturopath, mind, body, spirit cleanse and many, many others. What would people most know you for?

Probably Journey work, I would say.

As I said before, the word ‘stop’ comes to mind. I know it’s a very simple word. What happens when we say the word stop? It’s like the mind comes in, “Well, I can’t stop. I’ve got to do this. I got to do that. And how can I stop?”. It’s stopping that back voice, that critical voice, and just allowing it to fall away. It’s not an easy thing to do. Obviously, there’s a lot of powerful technique to help that voice to integrate healthfully, like Journey work is a beautiful for this. I’d recommend that you come up to Wind Spirit and do some deep work up here, of course. Just, start to slow down, press the pause button. One of my books called ‘The Art of Peaceful Parenting’ actually has seven steps how to do this. The first step is simply to pause, to breathe of course, pause and breathe.

The second step is to watch your emotions, what’s happening? To start looking at the emotional reactions that you might have. Start to be the observer of what’s going on inside of you, that’s creating the havoc or the chaos. We can all step back a little bit, and have an overview of what’s going on, but it’s so easy to get caught in the ego, in the reactivity of the moment.

So, instead of that, to step back and respond healthily, and it’s a practice and it’s a learning process as well. It’s taken me many years to start to find this place of peace, that’s here now, but it’s within us all. We all have that peace deep inside. It’s calling us all the time, waiting for us to come back.

Often our stuff gets in our way and it’s our stuff, and our fear and our old programming that live our lives. But if we can get out of our way, put that aside and just come from a deeper place. It’s only when we stop, that we can access that, that then we can start to live this passion.

That’s very sound advice. Just stop. I have to take that on board myself.

Beautiful. It’s not just stopping everything. Like right now, we are talking, there’s nothing much else happening. You’re just there. I’m just here. We are connecting.

So you can be as busy as anything, but this moment is quiet, and then you connect it. That’s the yummy bit. It’s just being present with whatever you are doing. Even if it’s the washing up. Just do it with presence. Not thinking about everything else you need to do. Simply wash up. You’re just there and then it’s not a struggle.

Such sound advice, Thank you. How can people find you?

My website... Sharonturton.com, or if people are interested in the retreats, we have lovely retreats, such as the elemental retreat, based on the earth, air, fire water, and how we do those within ourselves within our bodies. That’s probably my favourite retreat.

So, if anybody’s interested in diving in deeply and divinely, that’s there. Also for private retreats, you can just contact me at sharonturton.com.

I’ve been doing it for such a long time, and I am Brandon Bays support in Australia for the workshops that she runs. I’ve been a senior Journey practitioner for many years now. I am still loving and carrying out a lot of this work online. So that’s probably what I’m most known for.

And is there anything else you’d like to add?

Based on all your wealth of knowledge and your healing capabilities and everything that you teach, would you be able to provide some advice to our readers who might be having some issues right now, or wanting to make some changes in their life right now.

Thank you very much for your time and your generosity.

Thank you so much for holding this space that I can share this work that I am so passionate about and love so much. You’re a gift to the world.

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NEW ZEALAND WOMEN IN FOCUS

CELEBRATING AND ACKNOWLEDGING HUMBLE CHANGE MAKERS IN CHRISTCHURCH

By Clare Erasmus

“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.” - Maya Angelou

T

he month of March highlighted International Women’s Day, a dedicated moment to reflect, celebrate and acknowledge the differences remarkable women make individually and collectively between communities locally and internationally. International Women’s Day is a global day that celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political milestones of women. The theme this year was ‘Choose to Challenge’.

Our paths cross many everyday women and collectives of women who choose to make a difference. They are our unsung heroes, who humbly initiate, embrace change, choose to facilitate and enable others to lead improved lives. International Women’s Day is about being aware and alert in our world because in doing so opportunities to evoke change are not overlooked. Being aware and alert requires individuals with an empathetic lens and courageous heart.

New Zealand is blessed to have several charitable organisations that aim to pivot change. This article will highlight three local women and the organisations they believe in, are passionate about and where they can promote, facilitate and empower others.

Sarah Pilgrim was raised in the South Island and has spent the last 20 years in Canterbury. Living with her husband, Amos, and son,

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Noah, she is constantly surrounded by her close-knit family. For Sarah, her career as a registered nurse shaped her consciousness around cultures, inequalities, hardships, suffering, health and loss. Sarah described her upbringing as a ‘privilege’, with unquestionable access to basic life needs. Seeking to increase her community involvement and inspired by her husband, Amos, she registered as a volunteer in the Big Brother Big Sister organisation.

Big Brother Big Sister is the largest volunteer mentoring network in New Zealand, where matches are created between supervising adults and tamariki - children aged between 6 to 12. These meaningful and positive relationships help ignite youth potential and have lasting impacts on the lives involved. Sarah explained, “...my role is a ‘big sister’ or ‘mentor’. My role is to be consistent, to show up regularly and spend time with my ‘mentee’ or ‘little sister’, to be positive, caring and a listening ear. As we have been matched for four years, my role needs to adapt slightly to her needs. For example, my mentee was ten years old when we first met, but she has just turned 15! So new experiences will arise on our journey.”

Sarah is one of our community’s unsung heroes who understands the value of and consistency of relationships and the empowering value they have. Sharing time with her mentee is reciprocally precious.

They have built raised gardens together, attended family excursions together to the zoo and shared other family events.

Sarah recently received feedback from her mentee and her mentee’s grandmother that explained, “since hanging with me, she feels that she gets along better with her family and is happier day to day... someone she can trust.”

Sarah admits the role can sometimes be challenging, yet assures the role is one that she won’t ever regret. The role can empower the lives of young people, and in Sarah’s case, it shapes the life of a young woman. Sarah explains, “by encouraging confidence in young girls and women, we can encourage them

to be proud of who they are and in turn, I hope they choose to build a positive future for themselves.”

Jacqueline Campbell, a mentor and the philanthropy manager in Christchurch for Big Brother Big Sister, posed a sincere and powerful question: “What would your community be like if every child felt valued? Volunteer mentors are everyday people who make an extraordinary difference in the lives of young people who benefit from an extra positive role model.”

Big Brothers Big Sisters mentors have a huge long term impact on the girls they are matched with. Girls with a BBBS mentor are three times less likely to have social anxiety and four times less likely to bully, fight, lie or lose their temper. As 70% of mental health problems have their

onset during childhood or adolescence, having a trusted and safe adult to talk to is invaluable.”

Reetah Mitchell is another angel at work in Christchurch who humbly goes about transforming vulnerable women and children. Reetah is one of many other volunteers who share their time, love, commitment to building better lives.

Reetah, a local businesswoman in Christchurch, is an active Board member of The Christchurch Aunties, a charitable trust that does a remarkable job supporting women and children who have experienced vulnerability and family violence. It is an organisation with a vast network of over 4000 people who all share the aim of supporting vulnerable women and children.

Reetah’s beginnings with this organisation began with a social media post calling for some household items for a woman being moved from a safe house into her own accommodation. From there, her commitment grew from offering supplies, to a drop off point for donations, to now being a Board member for Christchurch Aunties and still being one of the main drop-off points for donations. Knowing Reetah personally, I can attest to her strong empathy and ability to take on others’ perspective, which makes her one of our unsung heroes, women on a mission to empower, uplift and engage change in some of the most vulnerable women she helps.

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Reetah shared, “The day to day work of the Aunties is constant. This is primarily done by our Manager, Heather, meeting the requests/needs of refuge staff or front line workers of other support agencies. These needs can be as simple as supplying household goods, phones, toiletries or clothing for a woman or her family in Refuge. Or, they can be complex needs such as requiring security cameras and Safelets (a personal emergency alarm) to keep a woman and her family safe from a potential abuser.”

The Christchurch Aunties engage in many diverse projects, such as the ‘Love Grace’ handbag campaign that BNZ runs. It involves distributing filled handbags to Refuges in the Canterbury area. Another initiative is the ‘Easter Campaign’ (collecting Easter eggs and gifts) and the ‘Winter Coat and Undie Run’ (collecting warm winter coats and collecting stockpiles of underwear to distribute). There are also ‘Christmas’ and ‘Back to School Campaigns’.

Reetah explained that this year they endeavour to create an in-school programme to educate teens on partner violence.

The Christchurch Aunties make a difference in the lives of others. In the first instance, they can meet the immediate and practical needs of women who have no other avenue of assistance open to them. Refuges and other agencies often seek the reliable assistance of this organisation. To this end, other organisations can concentrate on providing additional necessary services until these women and their whānau are strong enough to support themselves.

While Reetah and others at The Christchurch Aunties love volunteering, Reetah expressed, “The misnomer about volunteering is you do it to make others feel better. The truth every volunteer in every organisation will tell you is that volunteering makes THEM feel good. This is perhaps not as altruistic but is a lovely side effect of helping others! I also believe that one act of kindness creates ripples. Even if the only thing you do is set up a small room in a children’s centre, you will find out just how much your one hour of service means for multiple little kids. Similarly, if you plant one plant in a seemingly barren plot, you will notice just how quickly it grows and soon enough, it turns into a garden of its own. The farreaching implications of even the smallest act of kindness are unimaginable until you do them. As a volunteer, you can literally save someone’s life or give them hope to better their situation. To me, this is the reason why volunteering is so important.”

We, at eYs Magazine, salute these inspirational women and many others who humbly initiate and embrace challenge and change, those who choose to facilitate and enable others to lead improved lives. These women are acutely aware and alert in our world and give time, passion and love to evoke change. You are courageous and empowering. You are appreciated.

“IF YOU’RE GOING TO LIVE, LEAVE A LEGACY. MAKE A MARK ON THE WORLD THAT CAN’T BE ERASED.” Maya Angelou

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WOMEN’S EMPWERMENT

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH EXTRAORDINAIRE MIREILLE TOULEKIMA Interview by Jasmina Siderovski

G

lobal extraordinaire Mireille Toulekima is a citizen of the world having lived and visited more than 30 countries and born in the Gabon (Former French colony in West Africa). She grew up in this region before leaving at the age of 14 to board in a French family and study in France before going back to Gabon to work in the oil and gas industry after the tragic death of her beloved father.

“I always tell people that my relationship with the oil and gas industry was love at second sight. I got into that industry because I needed the money and needed a job after my dad who was the main bread winner died. I’ve been working in the oil, gas and energy sector for the past 25 years in a range of technical and leadership roles while carrying out empowerment work with particular focus on the resources sector, STEM, women empowerment and global leadership for the last 10 years. I am

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on a mission to help individuals to become the best that they can be in order to come out of the mass and stand in their own shining light. I want them to understand that they are unlimited, and they are only limited by the limits they put on themselves.”

When and why did you decide to advocate for women in engineering and STEM? When I started working in the oil and gas industry back 25 years ago, the industry was very white Caucasian male dominated. I was the only black Petroleum Engineer woman of the company I was working for. I had zero support and had to figure out things by myself for several years before getting the confidence to ask my male colleagues to sponsor, coach and/or mentor me. Going through this challenging experience led me to not only position

we have an opportunity to expand, grow and go to the next level of our greatness.

The Greatness Engineering Hour Show is a classroom of inspiration. For me when you can see it, you can be it hence my drive and commitment to share my story and get people to share theirs through the different platforms I created.

What are valuable lessons you have learned along the way in the industry as a woman?

My journey working in a male dominated industry has taught me several lessons: 1- Work hard and always be prepared!

When you are a woman in a male dominated environment, a majority of People expect you to fail, it is up to you to prove them wrong 2- Be proactive and verbalise what you want. If you want something or more responsibility, you need to go after it. No one is just going to hand it to you on a silver platter. I’ve seen so many talented and smart women in the industry make the mistake to wait to be noticed or to be 100% sure before asking for a promotion or to work on a big project that could have been the catalyst to propel them up the leadership ladder.

3- Show off your ability to bring results to the table and Play to your strengths and authenticity

myself as the role model I was looking for early in my career but most importantly led 10 years ago to start my advocacy for women in engineering and STEM with the objective to grow the number of women in those very male dominated industries. The advocacy is not just about growing numbers, it is more about bringing more diversity in the leadership and create substantial added value for those industries as proven by statistics and numerous global studies.

Can you walk us through your journey, mainly finding the motivation to inspire others through your live shows?

My journey is one I think is inspiring people around the world. I come from a very humble beginning. Education (Formal and unformal), my extended family strong support and my determination to become the best version on myself have helped me get the confidence and courage to step into my power and unleash the greatness I knew

I had inside of me. I am guided by the fact that challenging times are part of journey to greatness. My motivation to inspire others is routed in the mission I have to help individuals become the best version of themselves and understand that they are unlimited. I have myself been inspired by hidden heroes like my mum and my dad who put all their energy and have sacrificed almost everything they had to make sure my siblings and I get the best education.

I still hear my dad’s voice saying: “I will not leave you any inheritance, the only thing I will make sure I leave you is a great education because education is the real wealth!!”. As I echo my dad’s words, education is central to what I do! Through the Greatness Engineering Hour Show I bring to light hidden figures, champions, people with stories of triumph, inspiring people who come on my show to share their stories, knowledge, tool and success strategies. My guests are living proof that challenging times are part of the journey of success and that through challenges

4- Leave nothing on the table irrespective of the challenges and obstacles you face.

Always look for the opportunity in the challenge. Challenges are plenty for women 5- Focus on what you can control and not what you have no control on 6- Don’t disqualify yourself because of temporary failure or challenges from men 7- Understand that men whatever their attitude or reaction toward you always teach you something consciously or unconsciously from which you can create an opportunity 8- Forgive your male counterparts for the assumptions they make about you.

Don’t take things personally. Cultivate confidence. Be assertive 9- Transform what people see as limitations of being a woman into opportunities 10- Know that everything happens for a reason. Adopt the mindset of thinking that everything is happening for you not to you

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Is there any advice you would like to offer anyone else who may be interested to pursue the same path?

The advices I have are: • Be intentional and strategic from day one. Take the lead. Have a professional development and strategic plan, be abreast of what’s happening in your industry. Continue to educate yourself, to grow your skills, network and influence. At a higher level it becomes more about who know not solely about your skills and expertise anymore • Get a sponsor who will promote you. It can be very difficult to advance as a woman in a male-dominated workplace without a sponsor.

• Have many mentors. Create your personal advisory board with each adviser with their own distinct skills and areas of expertise. It’s about building a support network you can turn to and lean on.

• Work hard, be confident and don’t try to be someone you’re not.

Capitalize on your feminine leadership and your authenticity.

Play to your strength • Don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone, seek the support you need, and, most of all, rise to the challenge to be the best you can be. Show people your talent.

What motivates you to continue being a change-maker, especially during these challenging times?

For me change and challenges are constant. Whatever the challenge, I always try to see the bright side of things and I help people who are connected or interacting with me do the same. I have experienced greater hardship than this before and it taught me to not let challenges become the main focus of my thoughts and purposely focus on what’s positive in these challenging times.

I personally think Covid happened for me not to me. It pushes me to challenge the status quo and really play on my strengths. I see numerous opportunities for women like me to take on leadership roles during this period of crisis because I know that men tend to take the back seat in such time when the risk of failure is high.

It is the right time for woman leaders to be or continue to be the change-makers and position themselves as the leaders they have been waiting for years! I am actually more motivated than ever because I see a great opportunity for me to use my authentic leadership to help bring solutions to the major problems various communities around the world are facing right now.

Who is your inspi. 60ration and why?

I’ve been inspired a lot by my dad. My grandparents were very poor, and my dad did not get the chance to go to school before I was 12 years old. He got financial support from the catholic church which was generous enough to pay for his education. This generosity gave my dad the chance at age 19 to go to France to study (all fully supported by the church). Because he started school late, dad was always by far the eldest student in his class.

His colleagues in France were always making fun of him even nicknamed him “grandpa”. Despite all the name calling, my dad finished his engineering degree and become the 1st Engineer in his family. Hence his words: “education is the real wealth.

Is there a challenge, story or event in your journey that stands out that may inspire others?

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When I started as a graduate in the oil and gas industry, I could barely speak English. I knew few words here and there. This led the majority my then team mate and my supervisor in particular to think that I did not have the skills to be in the team and work on high profile technical projects like the ones we were working on in the team.

The supervisor in question even suggested that because I was a pretty girl (in his terms) I should thing about a different career, forget about engineering and maybe shift to a career that is more conventional for women somewhere in the HR department. My first reaction was to take his feedback personally and start to believe him. But then after thinking deep about it, I realised that his opinion did not have to be my reality. I shifted my thinking and decided to use this experience as a catalyst for me to excel in the energy sector and prove him wrong. Today I am proud to say that I have proven him wrong.

What are you plans for the next three years?

It is very difficult to make long term plans these days because of the constant disruption! In the next three years I want to continue to empower people and roll out the greatness engineering philosophy and the D.A.R.E leadership method internationally.

My dream is to have them integrated in mainstream education around the world. In parallel, I want to expand our STEM QUEENS program in Africa and internationally. STEM QUEENS has for objective to empower at least one million women and girls in STEM by 2025. I believe STEM can be a key enabler for women economic empowerment in developing countries.

What is your favourite pastime when you aren’t working?

My favourite pastime when I am not working are running and reading. I’ve been a long-distance runner for more than 15 years.

I also like spending time on my own in a remote place just by myself!

If you want to know more about what I do, check the following platforms LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mireille-toulekima Twitter: https://twitter.com/MToulekima Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mireillemt Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mireilletoulekimaglobal YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MireilleToulekima Websites: http://mtenergyresources.com http://stemqueensug.com https://thegreatnessengineer.com https://mireilletoulekima.com Email: mireille.toulekima@toulekimaglobal.org

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WOMEN’S EMPWERMENT

TINA ALLTON

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INSIDE STORY

“Charity Begins at Home” THE LIFE OF AN EDITOR JASMINA SIDEROVSKI Chief Editor eYs Magazine Humanitarian and Philanthropist

eYs

magazine is the heartbeat of Global Awareness, the clarity in communications is vital for humanity to understand the importance for providing a platform to support gender equality, homelessness and poverty, and partnership to help our vulnerable population get back on their feet. The Unsung heroes are the pillars of our world. It is them who are the real leaders to conceptualise and navigate the rise of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals. As a UN Action Campaign Partner #Act4SDGs eYs plays a key role educating the global community and the importance for expediting aide and crucial support.

As the Founder and Editor of eYs Magazine Intl. Jasmina Siderovski’s legacy is revered Globally, and its office based in Sydney, Australia, in the iconic location of Barangaroo International Towers. Her tenacity, attributes and hard-earned success stem from the passion that fuelled her to celebrate the Unsung Heroes along with her professional team of Journalists. It is logical to deduce that under the leadership of Jasmina Siderovski - eYs Magazine Intl. presents itself as a medium of consistent communication and a catalyst for the humanitarians, and the game-changers of today. All who have validated eYs Magazine Intl. as their ambassador for communications, strengthened by stable governance and visionary leadership.

Reflecting on her career and mission, Jasmina Siderovski expresses: ” I spent most of my time finding the real heroes who are immune in helping shape our world and supporting the communities in need, alleviate poverty, combat violence and political upheaval, and caring about the general wellbeing of our world. It is these individuals, groups and organisations who inspire me to invest in the eYs brand and create a community filled with love and honour.

They give me the drive to wake up every morning and chase the stories that inspire a light for all the sadness in our world.

Political corruption is alive and current. It destroys lives and families. It creates a downward spiral, and our global population loses hope for life and a fair go. We all deserve to shine, and we should all be accountable for creating a fair playing field to help others be a part of the winning team.

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It is these groups who have given me an insight into how to implement successful policies, generate conflict resolution, and ease the constant challenges for the media. A diversity of opinion produces fair competition and an educational platform that enhances the world for opportunity and knowledge.”

Jasmina Siderovski acknowledges her success and perseverance in eYs Magazine is made possible by her partner-in-life and soulmate, John. John and Jasmina have been married for 21 years and are celebrating their 30th Anniversary since they first became lifelong partners in 2021 - an admirable achievement to reach this significant milestone in life.

In her personal life, Jasmina Siderovski is blessed with a beautiful family: “My three gentlemen; my husband and two sons, are my world and my pride. They are the reason I glow and pay it forward. My love for my family is my legacy that we can all love and unite as one big global family.”

In her spiritual awakening, Jasmina Siderovski explains: “Life is the virtue we all seek, and the validation to be part of something much larger than materialism and success. We have built our foundations on trust and hope to leave a legacy for our upcoming generations and their wellbeing through our proven methods only failure and success teach us. Trial and error shape humanity and promote peace.

Without these, we are a lost generation.”

John and Jasmina have been an accomplished couple to their friends and an exemplar in parenthood for their offspring, in balancing their family and professional work life. In reality, it has been not been an easy path to maintain equilibrium in their hectic daily lives and the source of their strength is secured on their spiritual journey.

Their faith binds their souls and connects life’s perspectives to a different paradigm.

Both individuals have lived life to the fullest, at home and at work, their union grounded on values of loyalty, respect, commitment and love for each other.

Their concept of love is in the essence of two minds and souls entwined, having

the same vision and working in a similar direction in life, leaning and learning from each other.

No doubt every partnership has its vicissitudes in life, which both have managed to overcome by establishing a routine, trust and a firm foundation at home. With their sanctuary settled, Jasmina focuses on the success and way forward for eYs Magazine Intl, is equipped and prepared for the intensity of the newsroom, and extra hours worked at her desk. She recognises the blessing of having a partner and confidant that she can fully rely on. ” My husband is an excellent father and a great mentor. He has dedicated his life to our boys and ensured our love is built on understanding, trust and patience. We hope our children realise the partnership and sacrifices that we have made in giving them a loving home and the opportunity to grow and shine into amazing individuals.”

Who are eYs Magazine Intl.?

As the world’s leading humanitarian magazine, eYs Magazine Intl. believes the media has a crucial role in informing the public about issues of interest through universal access to information and the right to freedom of the press. Universal access to information means that everyone has the human right to seek, receive, and impart information. This right is an integral part of the right to freedom of

expression. eYs Magazine highlights crucial development and progress and always bring stories you will never hear about. eYs Magazine Intl. proudly support their community of diverse and hardworking creators and change makers. And are part of a community where the role of being a humanitarian is simplified by the generosity and kindness empowering others to shine is seen as essential in shaping society and achieving the global vision and mission for a sustainable future and the 17 SDGs “We are the voice for a sustainable world and highlight the importance of global awareness for peace and growth. eYs celebrate and empower individuals, groups and organisations to prosper and grow while committed to their purpose and people-centred ethos, reinvesting back into the community and the opportunity for a global online platform connecting to experts from all walks of life. Our primary purpose is to inspire, motivate, and connect people around the world that empower them to do meaningful work and to create more opportunities in any field they choose to succeed.”

The publishing firm is well on its way to expanding its offices internationally in New York, Rome and London and is launching eYs Foundation as the helm for humanitarians, philanthropists, writers and change-makers globally.

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THE ARTS

HOW ESSENTIAL IS PHOTOGRAPHY IN YOUR BUSINESS

By CLAUDINE BURGESS How essential is photography in your business?

In our rapidly growing digital age, it’s becoming more frequent that we encounter people debating whether they should hire a professional photographer to showcase their business.

Why not produce the photos yourself? With iPhones in our hands, iPhone photos are good enough, aren’t they? Or better, I can get onto an I-stock platform and get photos – only to be seen and used by other businesses or used in business blogs.

In an instant, we are seen as not real - it creates an instantaneous trust loss from the consumer’s perspective.

“It’s tempting as a business owner to take your photos yourself or find a lower-cost alternative to hiring a professional photographer, know your photos represent your brand.”

Don’t get me wrong. Having access to such fantastic technology is vital. An iPhone helps capture day-today life events, but you should consider hiring a professional when it comes to your own business.

We truly understand having a business comes with a list of costings and often the thought of having professional photos done. Whether you’re a new business building your website for the first time or a well-established business rebranding, revamping your online presence, the cost of professional photography might be immediate; you wonder if you might be able to get by without it. Thinking there are more important things you could spend your business funds on; after all, you could just take some pictures yourself - or the quick fix use stock photos.

People are bombarded with Stock photos every day on all social media platforms and so easy to spot. It creates a non-emotional connection now; people the consumer wants these days the real thing, they want to know all about you, what you do, your business, what you are so proud of.

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Customers seeing real photos, sceneries, buildings in the background, details of your product, action photos of your staff, your projects will trigger straight away a connection and trust in your business.

These days, most customers like to see things for themselves before deciding to buy and are great researchers on the internet, which means photos and videos of your products and offerings are more valuable than ever before.

“Using strong imagery that will make you Shine and Define your business, attracting the right people, building trust with your customers, and improving your brand. Without images, you’re practically invisible.”

How to find the right photographer for your Business, and in your budget, you may ask? Because we always think the most expensive ones are the best for your business. That isn’t always true; there are photographers out there that are absolutely amazing and willing to work within your budget.

Why hiring a professional photographer?

Here are a few questions to ask yourself; Think of your business. What images do you see or come to your mind?

A building Your office A website Social Media Perhaps the feelings you have about your business, your product you created, the project you started and want to record to the final process, or showcasing your amazing customer service you offer, craftsmanship expertise, the staff that you employ.

• Maybe the faces of your customers or other things you do daily?

• Ask the question, how do your customers find you, and what do they see?

What they see is very simple, it’s your business, the building; your website, your social media profiles, and you’re advertising.

A great question is; does a new client, customer, potential consumer see match how you want them to feel about your business? If you don’t have any good photos or images of your business, chances are, the answer is no.

The biggest reason for hiring a professional photographer is to IMPROVE your customer perception. Photography can help you stand out from your competitors in a positive way, being genuine and

Outstandingly UNIQUE! What many don’t realize is that photos are content, and they can be compelling! It’s definitely true! When it comes to online marketing, Content is King, but adding a professional photo will increase the chance for your client to stay longer, being curious about what you do, who you are online.

The wonderful thing about having great images is that they will make your website infinitely more engaging and used on all other social media platforms, print; the possibilities are endless. Spreading your images all on different online presence, marketing material, having real photos you will be surprised, how fast people will recognize your business unconsciously. It is all about branding and being consistent and builds trust with your clients.

One of my clients gave me this feedback, and it’s great to hear that. I meanly in my business of Photography offer clients a monthly, quarterly, 6 monthly packages.

I help them build up a library of images they can use to update their website, social media, and profile constantly.

“Know photographers come with different tools, different skill sets, and very different, essential knowledge.”

It’s important to know when looking for a photographer is to find someone with expertise within your type of business; for example, I am not a food photographer; my expertise is in Automotive, interior design, building - renovation, product, and project photography. It’s a bonus for my clients coming from Marketing - Promotions - sponsorship working in the world of motorsport for Honda

International with this kind of background knowledge.

One valuable tip is my own values are reflecting in the client I work for - and reverse my client choose me for that. What I mean is what you value you will find in the right photographer you are looking for - who has an extremely creative and imaginational mindset, an eye for detail and can look at something ordinary, or even extraordinary, and find a million different ways to interpret what he/she seeing and convey those interpretations in beautiful and meaningful photos.

I am very privileged to have wonderful, loyal clients. Because of the type of concept of my business, and essential it is to me, building strong relationships with them and providing them with imagery to engage and build their business’s trust towards their clients.

I hope this will help you look into “ Hiring a photographer for your business and set out a year Photography budget within your marketing, and it will save you as well time and make room to focus on what you do best in your business.

Claudine, Collage example photos - Automotive - Finch Restorations www.finchrestorations.com.au Interior / Renovation Design - Plush Design Interiors www.Plusdesigninteriors.com.au Facebook - Claudineburgessphotography Instagram claudineburgess www.defineandshine.com.au

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THE ARTS

THE BRAVE WOMAN ANDRIJANA MACIEV!

By MAYA APOSTOLOSKA

I

grow old like wine. This morning I saw my wrinkles and I almost panicked. I should forget the wine after the holidays but now I am grateful that I learned how to take care not of wrinkles only. This life is too short, and we should be grateful we are healthy, that we are not tied to the bed and that we find a way to fill the day with joy and pleasure instead of feeling the wrinkles with filters and silicone only.

There are no beautiful or ugly women. Beauty is subjective, individual, and often selfish. Accessories do not make a woman beautiful, but her environment, partner and family are the ones who define how a woman shines! The process of beautifying with makeup, hairstyle, jewellery, following the latest trend or original personal style of clothes makes every woman being dazzling and beautiful. But women’s smile is all that is enough for beauty. ´Every line is the perfect length if you do not measure it. ´ said Marty Rubin. Every woman is a perfect and unique endless line of love. And every silhouette is perfect as long as it is measured in units of respect. The goal for each of us should be health, not someone else’s approval and denial. The only person to whom you are responsible for your own measures is you. Change what you do not like about yourself, but from the inside, not only aesthetically. We often forget that as we measure our body, we take it away from our soul. Your value is in measures that are not visible to the naked eye, and you are exactly what you want and dream to be.

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No means no. Yes, means yes. Anytime, for any topic and any situation. For women, for men, for everyone. We seek peace with weapons in hand. Alan Watts says that the loudest advocates for peace are those who wage the greatest wars. There is a lack of elementary culture, primary education with one and only goal raising the awareness of the majority. It is difficult to flourish in a rotten society, but even the strongest rot will not overshadow the magic of beauty that is born! With uniqueness, ideology and quality goal, fight for your own rights, no matter where you are, how you look, how you are dressed! That’s why all you women who do not give up no matter how difficult the conditions around you are-give yourself time, understanding and care of the soul, from the inside out, there is no other way. Every woman is a Wonder Woman, and every woman deserves love. Every person should find a unique way to get motivated to get up and continue the war every morning instead of succumbing to anxiety and pain; with the one and only enemy of each of us - our own I …

Therefore, whenever you get stuck with yourself and this period does not take you all, remember what it is that you want for yourself and what is the price you are willing to pay to get it. If you follow the middle line of lower resistance, you will live an average life. If you are ready to cross the safe border, even with just one single step, prepare to be shaken by this life, prepare for beauties followed by tears, difficulties accompanied by love and a life worth two. Promise yourself positive changes and you will find what makes you happy, turning that into a career. Find what

motivates you to be better and turn it into a hobby. You are the centre of your life.

Your opinion of me does not define me as a person. Your reaction to my life is just your problem. My life, my happiness and my visual display is only my responsibility. I make my own decisions, I fall, and I get up again, I am happy or sad alone, and my invisible crown is only mine to correct, take out or tilt to the left. I am here to create with you, not to destroy.

Every woman is a queen, every woman has the power to change the whole damn world - if she wants to. And I mean to all women who are not afraid to live. Such a brave and loving woman is Andrijana Maciev. She is a true hero, passioned artist and amazing mother of Stefanija.

Decorative walls in various colours and themes cross all those who enter the Oncology Clinic in Skopje, Macedonia.

Two years ago, Andrijana and couple young artists humanitarians made the murals to encourage the ones who were diagnosed with cancer. Andrijana included the quote of Louise Hay: “I love and approve of myself” without knowing that two years later she herself would enter the Clinic and read these words as a patient.

Andrijana Maciev was born in 1980 in Skopje, Macedonia. She is beautiful young lady, mother and successful artist.

Andrijana graduated from the High School of Arts and the Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Graphics with Graphic Design. Andrijana is a member of DLUM and Wide path from Zemun. Exhibits actively for more than 10 years. She exposed more than 30 solo exhibitions, and many group exhibitions in Macedonia and abroad. Participant is in art colonies and art happenings. She has won many prestige Awards: Dragutin Avramovski

Gute for graphics, Chameleon France for young artist, Award of the University Library St. Kliment Ohridski from Skopje etc.

1. What is sufficient for your art?

In the art scene I have been active for over 10 years. I have realized about 30 independent exhibitions in Macedonia, America, Serbia, Bulgaria, as well as many group exhibitions around the world. I am taking part in many art colonies and art happening ‘s. I am a winner for some of the most important prizes for me, as from the foundation Dragutin Avramovski Gute for graphics, For a young author in Shamelier, France, prize from the university library Sv Kliment Ohridski from Skopje. And many other acknowledgments have been made with their share.

My art is characterized by the hard expressionist expressions, colorations of the colours, the energy of the brush movement, extremely sensibility. Abstract forms that associate life, joy, excitement.

Art is a great privilege that only certain licenses possess, and I am lucky that I am one of them, defend.

was really lucky!

In order to be happy and joyful, you don’t need much, you need to not feel sorry for yourself, to respect yourself and to look for love in yourself, not in the outside world! To accept yourself as God created you and to thank him for every new day, for every challenge, for every temptation.

3. What makes you brave?

I honestly did not realize how brave I was, until I found out my diagnosis, which was announced to me 6 months ago. I think that in life there is courage through all the previous challenges that I have gone through, but this was a specific moment when you really need to feel the courage from the bottom of your soul, to face it and to continue on. I have been brave in many cases, but when you are personally affected, it is something else, and on the

2. What gives you the most joy in life?

I am a person who constantly brings with me the joy of life. And I look forward to the small and big gifts that life gives us.

I can say for myself that I am a realized woman who has a lot of experience for her age. 21-year-old daughter, painting career, many friends and colleagues. Travel and socialize with different cultures. A lover and supporter of animal rights. I want nature, I want sports, I want to upgrade myself, so I invest so much in training for licensed growth and development. When I would make a retrospective for my life, I

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other hand you are not alone, and you have someone to live for. I draw courage from my family, my mother and daughter, I realize how brave a man must be to endure the challenge. My mother had the biggest burden, I knew she had to be brave and strong, I knew it was very difficult for her to look at me in that condition, on the days when I couldn’t move from bed. On the other hand, my daughter, a young girl with her visions and goals, tries not to show weakness in front of me, and I know that there are days when you cry and pray for my health. Imagine how brave they needed to be, to stay sober, to smile, to take on all the responsibilities, and on the other hand to watch me deal with pain, pain, even when I had days when I collapsed. They were my brave women who constantly encouraged me, gave me strength and hope to stay on my feet.

4. You are saying: “I don’t think of cancer as a disease but as a state of the mind, the spirit and the body”. Would you like please explain this to us?

Whoever hears the word cancer, always thinks of death. The fear of ruling with us is beginning. This happens because I think cancer is not talked about openly, it is still a taboo. People who are directly affected sometimes face great challenges, such as being sick, and even friends, relatives, employers reject them. People are afraid to think about it, because they are thinking that with it, they will escape from that “disease”! When we hear that someone has cancer, we think that it is far from us! And I was one of those who were afraid, and I was not aware, with

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the mere communication of the diagnosis I thought it was over! It was so scary, breast cancer with bone metastases, black drop, pain you can’t breathe, numbness, exhaustion, and to get to the hospital you’re in a wheelchair! Nights without sleep, tears, no going out ... After a few days, I looked at myself and faced myself, I accepted the situation and said to myself, I’m going back! Nothing is stronger than me, than my mind! The cancer does not come to consciousness, does not return to our being, let us turn completely towards ourselves. To be born again this time with all our strength to live the life that is not a gift from God! The power is in each of us, for every day, for every moment to thank God, to rejoice in the smallest things and to appreciate our own life. When a man is healthy, happy, fulfilled, there is no place in his life for unimportant things, for sadness, for pain, for any things that do not serve him.

5. What have you learned after you were diagnosed with cancer?

I am happy and grateful that my mind remained healthy in this state as well! I learned what my priority is, ME! Learning to want exactly what I am now, created

by God, I accepted the condition of cancer, I faced fear! For the choice we personally choose, health, happiness, love, relationships, career, etc. In order to be healthy and whole, we need to know how to set healthy boundaries when, where and how. To work on our mental mind to be healthy and whole, to upgrade it with life energy. Having learned that when you smile at his life and he will smile at you

with a wide smile, he will open the gates for you more and more and will rush to you in abundance. Life is a struggle or God gives them the greatest battles of the brave, but I still do not “fight” with life, I live with open cities, and one day I will tell in detail my story about the society with cancer.

6. Does the cancer affected you in creating art?

I am basically a dynamic person. I make my works with action, I want to move around them, to be able to manoeuvre with the canvas, sometimes I work and more canvases at once. It is as if this action plan of mine was blocked due to the pain, the numbness of the body, I was literally unable to sit or stand. As the time passed after each therapy, I felt better, the pain stopped, I set myself the task of painting every moment when I can, as much as I have the opportunity. I am slowly preparing my new exhibition, which this year should be a triumph of my new life and my small jubilee of 10 years, which was supposed to happen last year, but due to the pandemic and my health condition was postponed.

7. How do you connect the family and the colours in your drawings?

The family and the environment are very important in the process of exclusion, exclusion. I and my mother, who is the trainer for the license case, develop long years, every day we spend time talking about new acquaintances, working on methods for healing, posting quotes and

being upgraded in that area. My mother and my daughter are my biggest supporters! They were constantly with me during this period. As I did not have the opportunity to complete my obligations, my mother posted me with materials for work, canvas, colours. They are also my biggest critics. I don’t have a complex of whether someone likes my work or not. I always accept criticism, and in public I choose to choose what suits my heart. Being we are not a small artistic family, each in its own way contributes to the creativity of life. Together we paint the plates of life with the sweetest colours, so that we can say bravely, boldly, with understanding, love, faith, to create in the present to live for the future!

8. Where can the human people buy your art and help you in the further healing process?

I really want to thank my colleagues, artists, they organized and formed a group on Facebook Artists for Andrijana Maciev (https://m.facebook.com/Umetnicite-za-AndrijanaMaciev-555871665333908/), here are many works by all famous authors in Macedonia, each purchased work is a donation for me, as this is a long process of strengthening the body, strengthening the immune system and contributing to better health. My works can be seen on social networks such as Fb, Instagram, and the development of a website.

My galleries in which stores the works are exhibited, as well as on their official pages on FB and Instagram. Anyone who wants to buy my work can contact me, contact my e-mail macievandrijana@gmail.com Instagram @macievandrijana www.instagram.com/macievandrijana Facebook https://www.facebook.com/andrijana.maciev.1 https://m.facebook.com/Umetnicite-za-AndrijanaMaciev-555871665333908 Arte gallerija https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009265252925 www.facebook.com/ARTEgalerija.mk At the end, dear readers, Warhol was right, in the future everyone will be famous in 15 minutes. I’m very sorry that the mass values have shifted and the currency for success is measured in like, follow or comment. None of us have extra time. None of us has a second life. And none of us will remember the like, follow, comment. We remember the parties, the shared moments together, making love, traveling, new cultures, new religions, new food. The measure of success is personal experience, not internet voyeurism and fleeting finances. I know for myself that if I do not wake up tomorrow, I will not be sorry. And you?

From a woman to women with love, Maya

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CREATE JEWELLERY DESIGNED WITH YOU IN MIND Rachelle Roe

W

elcome to our loyal and new supporters of eYs Magazine.

It is always a pleasure to share my journey and latest news with you all and I sincerely thank you for your continued support of this incredible magazine. The lives and stories of the EYS contributors never ceases to inspire and amaze me and it is exciting to see the team growing along the way.

Since the last edition, I have been busy creating my new season jewellery collection for Autumn. The theme for my next release is “Things of Stone and Wood” and I am in the midst of organizing another collaborative project with some wonderful local businesses and artisans. I look forward to sharing the results in the next edition of eYs Magazine.

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Last month I had the pleasure of working with a local model who is starting out her career and wanting to build her modelling portfolio. My resident make-up artist, Rachel’s Beauty, went above and beyond with her artistry and the results were picture perfect.

This collaborative event included beautiful clothing from local business A’lia Collective. When you enter Aaliyah’s boutique, you step into another world. The store is brimming in colour and texture and there is an immediate feeling of a welcoming aura. The colours and styles are like no other boutique in Toowoomba and Aaliyah treats all her clients like family.

I chose a palette of white and aqua, coupled with a vibrant kimono to compliment the clothing and my jewellery designs. The

addition of a beautiful flowing silk dress was the highlight and Rachel’s make-up could not have been more on point to suit the ensemble.

Model Emily Forden settled and relaxed quickly into the photography session and the end results were spectacular. It is wonderful to watch this young lady grow within the local modelling community and it is a pleasure to be a part of her journey from humble beginnings.

My jewellery designs have changed over the years, however I am always drawn back to creating bohemian styled pieces. Having a local supplier that has an abundance of incredible mixed media is such a blessing and shopping in-store is much more rewarding than online. I love meeting with business owners and discussing my craft.

Toowoomba has a very strong community spirit and local business support is very highly regarded, especially since the Covid pandemic began.

I have also decided to shift my website provider to within Australia and by the publication date of this edition of eYs Magazine I will be well and truly up and running with my new website. My domain change is simply the addition of “au”. Proudly Australian!

The jewellery featured in this production will also be uploaded to my new website. I was very excited to share the glass necklace in particular, which worked perfectly with the A’lia silk dress and the turquoise magnesite necklace is popping with the solid pieces. It was wonderful to end Summer with some bright and beautiful colour.

Local business Westridge Florist designed a fresh Farmgate posie of flowers which are featured with Emily wearing A’lia Collectives white dress. Farmgate flowers are local to Toowoomba and supplied by small flower farms in the district. The colours were perfect for the day and I am currently attempting to revert it to a dry bouquet for future use.

I am very much looking forward to sharing more of my photography with you in the upcoming editions. Since returning to a previous employer, I now have the perfect work/life balance and am no longer too exhausted to contribute time towards my passion and creativity.

As they say, don’t forget to stop and smell the roses. Life really is precious and sometimes we get too caught up in the hustle and bustle and forget to revisit our personal needs and wellbeing.

I knew 2021 would be a year of endless possibility after starting off on a very positive note. I am continuing to explore opportunities and taking a chance on my instincts and so far, I haven’t looked back.

I am sincere when I thank you for supporting eYs and my creative passion and I am already looking forward to participating in the next publication.

From my home to yours, may you and your loved ones remain safe and healthy.

Blessings, Anita Roe Rachelle Roe Studio Special thanks to the following creatives: Fashion: A’lia Collective Make-up: Rachel’s Beauty Model: Emily Forden Bouquet: Westridge Florist Photography and Jewellery by me: Rachelle Roe Studio www.rachelleroe.com.au

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DECORATE

MOVING FORWARD INTO 2021 I Will Make It Sparkle LOU LOU LIVING Written by Pamela Dalseno

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s 2021 has unfolded into the New Year It is perhaps ahead that our focus is a little hazy if truth be known and admitted.

My year 2020 saw me spend a great deal of time in isolation and not because of Covid-19 but due to my own personal struggle with health which does need me to be wary because of my low immunity having an auto immune disease which can be such a balance of struggling between the ups of good healthy feeling days and the down of low unwell days. I wonder how you have begun this challenging New Year 2021.

Life has been uncertain with Covid-19 amongst all of us and how it has changed our lives is surely for us to realise how special and loved we really are each and every day. We need to LOVE each other so we are able to keep stepping to find our way through this new way of life with the pandemic.

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During the latter quarter of 2020 my own health declined and saw me undergoing a second knee replacement which is major surgery and recovery. The grinding of bone on bone pain and the difficulty of mobility could no longer be tolerated and although I knew of the added complications of a debilitating immune disease it was a choice I knew I needed to brave up to endure and take the chance for a better improved future. Let me assure you reading this it is no easy feat and an extremely emotional painful recovery of personal endurance. I do know you experience much thinking time and whilst exercising, resting and recovering I viewed what was happening around our world. Sadly I watched the world around me struggling with the growing concern and escalating with the Virus Covid-19 across our globe. I felt so grateful that I lived in North Queensland, Australia where we have been barely touched by the harshness that our southern states had to conform to with restrictions implemented to cope with the spread to find manageable recovery. Meanwhile I was looking on how the world was suffering and it was difficult to believe of such tragedy. Just the same I was cautious with hygiene and social distancing as required and I did feel the isolation because of my own difficulties and my only outings were to medical assessments with GP’s, Surgeon, Pathology, X Rays and the wonderful Team of Physio Therapists at the Private Hospital Rehabilitation where of course all was strict with the protocol required. I’ve moved forward to private physio therapy and grateful that I can do these visits

without problem. These people became my world outside of my isolation as it was important to not contract infection. My husband during this time of my recovering still helps to care for me. I make sure I keep promise that ahead I’ll be doing as what is written on the sign in my kitchen -This Kitchen is made for Dancing.

Some days I couldn’t cope to look at News Reports and see and feel the fear that was present with our fellow Australians that they were living with and of course the rest of the World and how they were coping or rather not coping. Lives had changed around the Globe. I just didn’t wish to think about the pain and losses of human life and how that was spiralling. It just was unbelievable. I held my own hope that the brave medical professionals and families of loved ones lost would adapt and cope with their new life forward. I know this was and still is felt by all of us.

Here I was now celebrating my 70th year of life when the world around me was reducing in huge numbers every day. To say I felt blessed is an understatement as I have now had opportunity of two artificial knees and whilst I am still struggling with healing I still consider myself very fortunate and know with time and my own effort of rehabilitation I will eventually be able to function quite well.

Love is so very special and I’ve been shown an amazing path in love, support in the family team of eYs magazine.

Previous to being on team eYs my heart had been broken in the double tragic accidental loss of my son Anthony and my grandson Ethan and life has never been the same from that sudden moment and yet life still keeps ticking away. I’ve felt and seen others so frivolous with life. I do know that the greatest gift we are all

given is Love but strangely all do not wish to receive it. Whilst I still have breath in this lifetime it will be my gift to others to have care and be kind and for wishes to be received.

I’ve listened and watched in the last quarter of 2020 of my eYs team members witnessing them reach out in their own special way through the magazine from their own avenues of life. Last edition was the first edition since launch that I didn’t participate in as I was emotionally enduring physical pain and felt unable.

It was a difficult decision to choose and one that made me realise that I am human and not a machine that I had been pushing through to cope. If you ever have such a time in the future then you will know what I mean by that exact feeling. Above all we must SELF LOVE. So how did I cope and get my way back to travelling a road forward. It was SELF LOVE; it was time I did choose for myself to step forward. Let me assure you it is not to be selfish as I don’t or won’t ever tolerate such. It was all about being SELF to recognize truly the feeling of being grateful for each day and to propel myself forward. Not one day did I ever give up and kept pressing forward.

Actually I started noticing the beauty of my surrounds like never before. I’d gaze out of the windows at the tropical growth of our home surrounds and seep it all in.

There is such beauty in wet weather with the rain soaked surrounds. We in North Queensland, Australia on some days were experiencing our wet season so I walked the covered verandas with my walking aid and found pleasure in the new growth of nature and the rewards were that I was viewing through renewal of vision. I’ve put 2020 way behind and handling each

new day now of 2021 as it arrives. I try and skip through my days of ill health and focus on any small improvement.

Each day ahead I am learning to cope with my two new amazing titanium knees.

There still are days of stiffness, pain and awkward moments but modern medicine, procedures and technology has given me much to be grateful and I know to get results I must work to achieve. I have no idea what lies ahead for this year however I am calling it the sparkly year and to make it such. I WILL MAKE IT SPARKLE. My soul mate and husband Richard has kept the sweet hobby business of upcycling furniture for Lou Lou Living alive and now after having a needed break to re energise it’s time to bring more smiles to others by saving furniture pieces from landfill and making it all beautiful and sparkly and ready for a new journey.

It is like giving it all a second chance. I enjoy the hunt to find just the right pieces to upcycle. When pieces are completed with all the attention and love, it is so special to find new owners and give out those smiles and let others find the love painted into those items. Ahead this year will be much to be renewed and be given a brand new appearance. We need to be mindful as ultimately the way we treat others tells all about integrity and that it is everything. Sending my smile to each one of you and reminding a smile can be what another person really needs so giving smiles becomes a grateful gift. I leave you with this thought that whatever you do today please do it with kindness in your heart. What will you be grateful for today?

Till next time, remember to never lose your sparkle and smile. Pam.

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INSPIRE

A COSY CORNER

By Cosette Awad Letters to the Universe

T

here are so many things that change your life and make you aware that you are made of beautiful stardust in an immense world. So many turning points in your life that make you understand that some prayers and wishes are answered, you can call them higher powers, call them Gods, prophets, and saints, call them the universe, but whatever they are, they listen to you, and they make you realize that you are not alone in this world.

It all started when I wrote my first note to the universe and kept it under my pillow. I’ve never talked about my experience with the universe; I never actually talked about my life, to begin with. And because all I have is my words and the love this universe gave me to overcome every obstacle I faced, I can’t be but grateful and talk about what happened to me and how my life has changed. To expose myself like this took a lot of courage from me, and I owe it to my beloved editor Jasmina, who encouraged me to talk about myself instead of others this time. And I’m so glad that I’m doing this because there is nothing greater and purer than being true to myself and others.

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I’ve been living in a cocoon for so long, a bubble I call my own; I was too afraid to open up to people, to love, and to share my sorrows, happiness, failures, and success with anyone. Being scared of loving again because I don’t want to lose anyone anymore. I experienced loss more than other people did; to lose a cousin, a best friend, and my mother was more than what I can endure. I have suffered alone for so long that I didn’t even know that it would’ve been much easier if someone took my hand, held me, or told me that everything will be okay, if not today, one day.

The last three years have been the most difficult ones; I lost my mother on the 14th of February, day that is supposed to be the day of LOVE. While people celebrate love, I grieve my mother’s loss.

It wasn’t just an ordinary death; she was killed due to a horrible accident that put her in a coma for 3 months, where she fought to stay alive, but in the end, death won.

Last year, while people were fighting the pandemic, which to this day, is still the worst nightmare of the entire world population, the person I love the most in this world was battling cancer -that he finally beat- and my best friend, the only constant person in my life, was injured in the Beirut blast. And I too was suffering from an illness. Imagine, on top of what everyone is going through, due to our situation in Lebanon, I had to deal with all of that as well. I bottled up all my pain, sadness, and fears of losing the people I love the most, as I always thought the ones, I love leave.

Because that is what happened all my life, they always leave...

For a long time, I thought that I am unloved and incapable of loving. I came from a broken home, a damaged childhood, a horrible teenage life, and in order to survive, I needed to do things on my own. I had my mother, but she, too, had been dealing with a lot in life. So, I had to be tough on my own. It took me years

and years of anger to just deal with what I’ve been through. I’ve always been mad at my parents, at the world, and it was just me against the whole world. I questioned my existence many times, why I am still alive, my purpose, and why everyone I love always leaves.

My life was a roller coaster, and I have spent so many years alone trying to find what makes me happy, makes me feel safe, and makes me feel loved; it was always at the wrong places, wrong times, and with the wrong people. They were never the right ones for me. Life has been unfair to me, like to so many people, if not everyone actually, it makes us fight battles we didn’t even want to fight. But somehow, at the end of the day, we find our purpose, we meet the people we want to fight for, and those we are willing to give everything up for so they can be happy. They teach

us, without even being aware of it, how to be selfless, because that’s what they are, made of love.

The last three years have been a hell of a ride and the greatest blessing. I never thought that after all that I’ve been through, life would be this fair to me, and it all started with that first note ever that I wrote to the universe. I can’t say that I’m not going through a lot right now, just like all of you because we’re still fighting a horrible pandemic that we don’t know when it will end. But like everything else in life, this too shall pass. I’m trying to say that life has put me through a lot and will give me more brutal battles to fight probably, but I refuse to lose hope because the day I started hoping is the day the universe began responding to my notes.

Now I don’t just exist, I live. I’m not

alone. Life taught me that we can survive everything when we believe that we have a hand to pick us up whenever we fall, when we hope, we will have great power, and when we know that there is a higher power guiding us if we just allow it to.

I will never give up on life, even though I almost did so many times.

Giving up ended the day someone I love the most told me, “I need you; we need you.” We can’t give up when we have people around us who love us and need us to be alive. We can’t give up when we have so much to offer to the world. We can never give up when we know that life will one day repay us for all the suffering.

We just need to believe; all we need is to believe that this is not it... That tomorrow is going to be better; we’re going to be okay, we will.`

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ENVIRONMENT

THE ESSENCE OF MISMATCHED SOCKS

by Marco Piemonte CEO at Greenden and Green Hearts Dignity

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elcome back dear friends, I would like to start this article by sharing a little secret. You may be aware by now that since I am part of the Global Goodwill Ambassador Foundation, gradually, I have seen myself grow on a personal level and I have discovered parts of myself that I did not see or did not want to see. Today, two years after my appointment, I feel like a completely restructured, changed person. I have replaced my modalities, my approach towards life and towards myself, in short, I feel free but at the same time very responsible for what is around me. I am grateful to this Foundation because it enriched me and my acquired sensitivity lead me to intercept people like in this case the Master Sabrina and her friends Giulia, Silvia, Clara and Edy. How come this nice little group caught my attention? Well, prick up your ears, because these wonderful people have given birth to a “social event” that takes the name of “The day of mismatched socks”. Think of the event as a metaphor for diversity and the fact that color, length, shape and size do not change the nature of things or person: they are always and in any case socks metaphorically speaking!

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So, one day, Sabrina, Giulia, Silvia, Clara and Edy decide to create a post and publish it each on their profile, the post stated; Attention if you too want to join the day of mismatched socks it is very simple “you need to wear unmatched, imaginative and playful socks, take a picture and post it on your Facebook or Instagram profile tagging @autismoParoleperdirlo”.

The invitation to participate addressed to everyone: adults and children, teachers and parents, kindergartens and schools, as if by magic, had a huge success in Italy and from that day on, every 5th February, the Social is colored with mismatched socks, in honor of an important theme like autism.

As a Global Goodwill Ambassador, I felt it was important to disseminate this initiative in taking a different look at diversity and so I created a dedicated post for this article, amazing, how many photos have arrived, some of these photos are visible here in this article. Anyone who knows me knows for sure that my curiosity has no limits, but above all in the various projects that I am carrying out, in future a closer involvement is planned with the Sustainable Companies that are part of my Team, and so I wrote directly to Sabrina my complimenting her on the initiative and she replied very kindly;

“Good evening Marco ... thanks, but I did nothing but start with an idea ... it is thanks to my four friends Claun who decided eight years ago to create a Facebook page dedicated to what was born three years earlier in the school (they follow all photos arrive and respond to messages, I follow the school aspect more) .... to the tam tam of many people and above all to the teachers of all kindergartens and primary schools that in these years and more and more numerous have joined with splendid works with and for children .... that this idea continues to please and is kept alive.

The reality is that with children you can create .... a thousand special things ...

I don’t know how in some articles the initiative aimed at autism came out .... maybe because some associations / projects concerning autism are connected to our day .....

We start from a voluntary activity and practice clown therapy as a social mission in hospitals and other structures such as retirement homes and cottolengo, actually support the idea that we are all different

and therefore special ... we are friends of associations for trisomy 21 and also, we are friends of the associations for autism, we are friends of the admo and the cro of Aviano youth area .... so not only autism.

PS: You see these thoughts on diversity made with the children of the kindergarten in Prata di Pordenone (Friuli Venezia Giulia-Italy) have made me so sympathetic, for example .... that of glasses.

It is people who are special, each of us, when they give something to others ... even just a smile, closeness, the little everyday things.

Following are the photos of the people who joined the initiative of my Facebook post wearing their mismatched socks ....

I thank my colleagues from Terzo di Aquileia (Udine-Friuli Venezia GiuliaItaly) who have always accompanied me in the crazy ideas in recent years and my friends Claun Giulia, Silvia, Clara and Edy because they wanted to bring the message into one wider space that has reached teams, schools, people of all ages. (and today “PS: I insert this “United States and Australia”), and if even just one person has somehow changed the day .... well, for us it’s like a smile received !!!

You can follow Sabrina by visiting www.friulclaun.it www.facebook.com/sabrina.flapp

In conclusion, you know what I tell you “People see madness in your colorful liveliness and can’t see madness in their boring normality!” Be madly in love with life and all lives.

Marco Piemonte; CEO and Founder Greenden Founder and President of the World Green Hearts Dignity Organization Director of the GGA Foundation in Italy Writer “Sustainability in the world” eYs Magazine Account Manager Cieffe System renewable energy sector

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ENVIRONMENT

GREEN HEARTS DIGNITY

by Marco Piemonte CEO at Greenden and Green Hearts Dignity

Development is “a complex concept, often exploited”, indeed, for too long the conventional idea of development has been almost entirely limited to economic growth. We value progress only in terms of material growth, for which we are almost obliged to irrationally exploit both nature and human beings. Our planet is facing unprecedented challenges in terms of climate and environment which, taken together, pose a threat to our wellbeing.

However, we still have time to take decisive measures. The task may seem daunting, but we can still reverse some negative trends, adapt to minimize damage, restore crucial ecosystems, and better protect what we have. To achieve long-term sustainability we must consider the environment, climate, economy and society as inseparable parts of the same entity, there are those who are doing it silently, the task of Green Hearts Dignity is to intercept small entrepreneurs that with their own forces are creating the conditions to be able to activate a transformation path towards a sustainable development model.

But who are Green Hearts Dignity really?

The Green Hearts Dignity are citizens and entrepreneurs located all over the world who marry a “Gentile Revolution” and it is thanks to the huge contacts book on an international scale that 76 | eYs Magazine, Autumn 2021

the Founder Marco Piemonte, after years of publishing on social media, manages to create a circuit of confidence to take an international leading role in social, environmental and governance issues through targeted actions giving way to a so-called Shock economy. From now on, our appointment on eYs Magazine will be centered on the three pillars of Green Hearts Dignity or better, “Intellectual Poverty, Food Poverty and Energy Poverty”.

Why Poverty as a prefix?

Millions of people are interested in the future of our planet and prolong its longevity, people willing to change their attitudes by taking measures to be more sustainable, a constantly growing audience willing to make small sacrifices to have a sustainable return in the future. People who approach Green Hearts Dignity are looking for Entrepreneurs who create real “Eco Actions”, to use and work with, buy, spend money intelligently, even for the mere fact of rewarding and supporting them in their investments for a zero impact. Not being sustainable, for a company today is an element of guilt that sooner or later will fall on the turnover, but we are here, to indicate a way, a social driving force for credible and expendable company projects, therefore commensurate with the real impact that they produce, or that people will perceive through activities.

In this Edition Green Hearts Dignity they have chosen to interview a fourth generation family of Italian farmers, committed daily to maintaining agri-food biodiversity, from field to table and with a well-defined mission to safeguard their territory, traditions included, agricolture with strong organoleptic and nutritional characteristics, well the time has come to present the owner Andrea Libero Gherpelli, actor by vocation and farmer from the cradle, two sides of the same coin, a big man with a sensitivity out of the common and talented, who in this short article will tell us how company identifies sustainable itself through the three pillars of Green Hearts Dignity.

Our Approach to Intellectual Poverty: In the history of the world, the relationship between farmer, seed and land is a very close relationship that has led to the evolution and improvement of conditions for all three. These elements therefore have been in a relationship for millennia that must necessarily have been winwinwin. The farmer knew he needed a healthy soil, to the fullest of his potential and a seed that could increase his yield.

This yield could be monitored through 3 main empirical parameters born from careful observation and which I also find in my approach to work:first the agronomic characteristics then the ability

of the plant to be healthy and autonomous in the field, according to the flavor that was obviously tasty and good, third that the organism was easy to assimilate and with a strong nutritional content. These are three parameters with which a farmer guided the relationship between seed land and man and today are important for a theme such as Intellectual Poverty in the primary sector. 12,000 years ago, einkorn spelled, the progenitor of all existing cereals, began to be cultivated and until the early 1900s it was done with a set of information that has been greatly enhanced over the millennia, from the early 1900s to today farmers have slowly stopped, started delegating companies to deal with it, from that moment they have decreed the beginning of the impoverishment of information and therefore of the intellectual impoverishment of farmers to no longer have control on the seed.

Today the farmers in most cases through specialized cooperatives buy and give all the harvest so they never have their seed in hand. What I tried to do was instead a work against the trend, or better to bring the work of my farm back to its origins, so I fought to try to keep the seed from the last harvest on the farm for the new sowing.

This allows the seed to collect information on the land of my farm and on climate change, information that then allows it to continue its evolution and allow me as a farmer to keep an increasingly healthy seed with vigorous, very tasty and easy to digestion since I specialized in ancient seeds, therefore varieties that are not on the market and kept inside germplasm banks or associations of “Guardian Farmers”. My activity as a custodian 77 | eYs Magazine, Autumn 2021

farmer is aimed precisely at trying to bring back to the company those fundamental information that establish solidity and total awareness of what are the characteristics of the seed that will then be sown and ground to produce the flours that are the basis of the products to be sweet, savory oven and the pasta I produce, thus managing to give sustainability to the company, tightening the supply chain a lot and having direct contact with the final consumer. So a rich food.. I fight intellectual poverty in these terms.

Our approach to food poverty: The selection of modern wheat seeds still follows parameters that are convenient for the industry rather than for the farmer or the final consumer who will have to feed on that product. In fact, a very elastic gluten mesh is a very useful feature for the industrial processing of doughs and is notoriously harmful to the human body, nevertheless the socalled “strong flours” are flours that have monopolized the market without speaking of the increase the productivity of wheat, which impoverishes the nutritional capacity of the products obtained.

It is easy to understand that if 100 plants are born in a square meter of land rather than 20, all the nutrients contained in that square meter must be divided between 100 in the first case and between 20 in the second case, therefore a massive increase in productivity in quantity leads to lowering of nutritional capacity.

If we choose to produce less quantity, we raise the quality, the approach I have in my fields “Zero chemistry” allows me to be able to grind the whole grain of its own germ, so the flours I use are flours that contain 100% germ of wheat which is known to be a very powerful dietary supplement. In this way the flours that I can produce are flours that as I use to say contain the natural food supplement, and here I have brought my contribution to the tables of consumers, effectively reducing Food Poverty.

Our approach to Energy Poverty: By being able to reproduce the seed on the farm, I am also able to minimize energy costs because, being the plant very robust and capable of evolving together with climate change, it is a plant that absolutely does not need any intervention during the vegetative cycle, this means that the my company have Zero energy costs during plant development. So my interventions in the countryside are reduced to sowing, threshing, earth moving

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and sowing again, in order to further minimize the environmental impact we cultivate Hemp which is then ground together with the annual pruning of the trees the final product we use to produce the pellets with which we heat the domestic environments, so we use all the scraps of annual pruning. Even through some photovoltaic panels mounted for more than 10 years we are able to produce useful electrical power in the company, this is my contribution to stem Energy Poverty and set a good example for consumers to approach the Energy Transition.

We conclude the interview by asking Andrea; why did you approach Green Hearts Dignity? and why do you see Greenden as a high profile brand?

Connecting, overcoming barriers and distances is precious, especially in the age we are living in, where the term distancing has come into common use. Thanks to the intense and visionary work of Marco Piemonte, we will come into direct contact without distancing with physically distant worlds that need to be tightened to bring concepts such as green, dignity and hearts to materialize in our everyday life. Greenden is a brand that immediately committed itself to the environment and also took a clear position in unsuspecting times on important social, cultural and political issues. Furthermore, Greenden has innovative projects to make multinationals hair stand on end, projects that will be dedicated to small companies as soon as the dedicated commercial activity is launched and part of the proceeds will be dedicated to these highly technological projects. I am there and I will be there.

If you are interested in this company, write an email to this address staff@greenden.it or info@greenden.it you can get detailed information on the companies that collaborate with Greenden in Italy and/or abroad.

By writing to us you can also learn about business opportunities and information on ongoing Partnerships towards a low environmental impact economy; moreover through the Green Hearts Dignity you can contact the territories such as ItalySlovakia-India-Australia-United States to decide on investments but also to become an activist of the Green Hearts Dignity, writing and leaving a trace of your Linkedin profile, Facebook, Instagram, or source contact of your local economy.

Marco Piemonte; Ceo e Fondatore Greenden Fondatore Organizzazione Mondiale Green Hearts Dignity Direttore Fondazione GGA Italia Scrittore “Rubrica Sostenibilità nel mondo” eYs Magazine Account Manager Cieffe System settore energie rinnovabili email: marco@greenden.it www.greenden.it

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SPIRITUAL

BIG LOVE AND MAGIC

By Julie Michels

Connecting with the magic and mystery within - Feeling is my Superpower!

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s the world around me seems to be speeding up I have an urge to stop and be in the stillness within.

So much has been happening in the external world that I have been more and more drawn to go within. To find more stillness, to access the love inside me and to then use this love as a lens to view the external world.

Going within is a common theme for me. I tend to feel a lot and when the feeling becomes too much it can trigger anxious feelings in me. A sensory overload of emotion. I tend to feel others happiness, joy, pain, judgement, elation, and the many emotions in between. Like when an ambulance drives past me with the sirens going, I automatically have a feeling that sweeps over me and sometimes it can bring on an instant flood of tears that I need to hold back. In those moments I remind myself to breathe and then I say a little prayer for those in need and the paramedics and then continue as I am.

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Feelings of anxiousness can trigger when there is too much that I am sensing, and it can feel like a never-ending looping of conversations, ideas, and images in my mind. The classic monkey mind. For a very long time I thought it was all mine however the further I travel the spiritual spiral back to myself I am awakening to the realisation that it is not all mine and that what I feel is often the feelings of others. An empath at heart.

In gaining a better understanding of myself I am learning that I am not required to carry the weight of others on my shoulders.

And I am becoming acutely aware of my space and my energy.

Another lesson in boundaries, space, and the honouring of that. A knowing that I am not responsible for the energy of others.

A lot of my musings come to me as I walk in Nature. Often, I receive downloads as I walk, having to stop and write notes in my phone to later reflect upon. It is like I tap into the ease and grace of Mother Nature and the web of life. So many intricate threads

that connect us all. I am compelled to drop my internal stories that I so often tell myself, shed the layers of aspects of self that are no longer for my highest good and connect to her magnificence which helps me tap into my Soul’s voice.

I breathe in the sweet essence of her love and allow it to fill my lungs, dance on my skin and settle into my heart like a warm embrace. As I deeply connect with the Mother energy, I feel her support and it holds me as I co-create with her.

In this space, I am open, vulnerable, protected, and safe. In this space I can trust that everything is as it is meant to be in this moment. In this space I can birth my ideas and nurture them with faith and belief. It is from this space of nothingness

that I hear the inner voice of my Soul and see ideas and concepts float in.

My inner world is vast, just like the night sky. The dark of the night holds and highlights the stars, and all the stars feel like ideas just waiting to find a home in my heart, waiting for me to become the rainbow bridge that connects the Heavens to Earth. The feeling is expansive and yet grounding. In these moments I clear out the chaos in my mind. I am still, I am calm, and I am centred. I am focussed only on the present and captivated by the beauty that surrounds me. I am connected.

This is when I have a lightbulb moment that my feelings are my Superpower!

How extraordinary is it that I can feel, sense, and have empathy on a deep level?

For so long I felt like there was something somehow wrong with me. Like I was too sensitive, that I cared too much what others thought and that I should just ignore the confusion and get on with life.

By changing my perspective and owning this as my superpower it has made me accept myself as I am and come alive with curiosity to explore how I can be of service to others as I journey through life. I understand and accept that I will still be triggered at times and I when I do, I see it as an opportunity to create understanding and to learn and grow.

So, for now I do the only thing I know and that is to drop deep within to my safe place.

I tend to this place daily as a meditation.

It changes, grows, or simplifies depending on what I need, and I remind myself that in any given moment this too shall pass.

What complex, beautiful, and mystical beings we are. Love all of you just as you are, because life is precious, and you are uniquely you.

Big love and magic. x Julie

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eYs Team

MINHAZUL ABEDIN

KRISTINA APOSTOLOSKA

BANGLADESH

BANGLADESH

THE NETHERLANDS

CREATIVE – eYs Magazine UI/UX Designer, Amar iSchool

R. MACEDONIA eYs Youth Ambassador

Graphic Artist - Conservation and Restoration, and Business Owner

MAYA APOSTOLOSKA

CLAUDINE BURGESS

MARSHA CASPER COOK

PAMELA DALSENO

AUSTRALIA

USA

AUSTRALIA

Define and Shine Life Coach and Photographer

CEO Michigan Avenue Media, Author, Screenwriter & Entrepreneur

Lou Lou Living Founder and Creator

DR JOHN HARRISON

DEBBIE KEMP

INDIA

AUSTRALIA

Educational Influencer & Philosopher

Intuitive Life Coach, Speaker and Businesswoman

DR NASRIN PARSIAN

MARCO PIEMONTE

DEME McDONALD AUSTRALIA MaxAus Beauty Scientist, Businesswoman and Motivational Speaker

ANITA RACHELLE ROE

AUSTRALIA

ITALY

AUSTRALIA

Emotional Health Consultant and Educator Senior Lecturer/ Course Convenor, Holistic health Professional/Researcher

CEO at Greenden

RACHELLE ROE STUDIO Jewellery Designer, Businesswoman, and Photographer

82 | eYs Magazine, Autumn 2021

eYs Team

COSETTE AWAD

BOJANA BOGOJEVIC

BELLA BOURGEOIS

SERBIA

USA

Law and Corporate Governance Lawyer, Post-Grad Specialist for Corporate Governance, UN Climate Teacher, and Author

Photographer and Global Artist for Planetary Peace

PROF. JUDE EDIAE

CLARE ERASMUS

AUSTRALIA

NEW ZEALAND

No Limits Consulting Pty Ltd Cognitive Scientist & Resilience Expert

Founder and CEO Global Youth Mental Health Awareness GYMHA

Author, Educator and Researcher

Christopher MUKASA

JULIE MICHELS

UGANDA

AUSTRALIA

Founding Director at Tokens of Life Uganda

Solution Hub Bookkeeper, Reiki Practitioner, and Business Owner

LEBANON Author

PAULA DUNN AUSTRALIA

NATALIE O’CONNOR AUSTRALIA Photographer, Businesswoman, Author and Traveller

JASMINA SIDEROVSKI AUSTRALIA CEO & Editor-in-Chief at eYs Magazine Publisher, Award-Winning Author, UNAA, UN Women and UN Volunteer, Honouree World Greatness Award– Civility Humanitarian, and Philanthropist

83 | eYs Magazine, Autumn 2021