When Child Abuse Is Disguised As Religion

When Child Abuse Is Disguised As Religion

Child Rights

In the spring of 2005 I found myself opening the door of a police station and hesitantly making my way to the front desk. I was 22 years old, in Amish garb and I looked more than a little out of place as I glanced around the police station.

The one thing driving me to break with Amish church teachings as the police woman stared at me? The bishop’s children. If I did not come forward and try to save them, no one was going to. I had to break with everything I had been taught and report the bishop for sexual assault. It was the only way to save his seven children, who I suspected he was molesting.

For some reason I thought there would be an immediate stir within the police station, an immediate response to make sure the children were safe. Someone would question them, their father would be removed from the home. Something would be done for sure.

I could not have been more wrong.

My Story of Joining in the Amish

I was not born Amish. I was born into a home of drugs, domestic violence and incest. I was 4 years old and my sister was 2 when my mother, who was 21 at the time, met a harsh off-the-gridder in his late 40s. My sister and I were raised in isolation, on a ranch six miles out of town, where we were forced to mimic the Amish lifestyle and dress. Our days were spent as slaves on the ranch and we were subjected to severe beatings and sexual abuse on a daily basis. At the age of 18, I tried to escape and that is when my sister and I were taken to a real Amish community where we were adopted into separate families and became baptized church Members.

I thought my sister and I had reached safety but I was wrong. I immediately began to witness older children molesting younger children in plain sight of adults and the adults doing nothing to stop it. I was in shock and even more so as women began to confide their sexual abuse stories to me and tell me how they had been silenced and told to forgive by the church leaders.

For three and half years I wrestled with this knowledge and did not oppose the church. After becoming a maid for the bishop I endured six months of daily sexual assault. I did not come forward and tell anyone because I knew the victim was always blamed. It would ruin my reputation, I may never have the chance to get married if I told anyone.

Finally, one day when I caught the bishop with his 12-year-old daughter in the basement, I knew I had to go outside of the church and seek help for the sake of the children.

This one act propelled me forward on a mission I could not foresee at that time, but one that will hopefully go on and establish child safety laws in the USA and possibly abroad.

Child Abuse Hidden Under the Broad Banner of Religious Freedom

Even though I begged the police for help for the sake of the children, I could barely get them to budge. After I told the detective about being savagely assaulted by the bishop that morning and how I had found him in the basement acting inappropriately with his 12-year-old daughter, the detective literally looked at me and said that they could not arrest the bishop based on my account of being sexually assaulted alone. I would need proof. I was desperate, what proof could I give them? No one offered to look me over or take pictures of the bruises on my breasts. They did not even know about my badly bruised breasts because I did not think to tell the male detective about it.

The bishop was not arrested until 11 years later when two of his daughters reported him in an effort to save their baby sister. By that time the bishop had molested almost all of his 11 children. Some of the children who were sexually abused had not even been born at the time I had gone to the police.

The reason for this horrible failure on the part of the police? In the United States, freedom of religion is one of our most celebrated freedoms. While it is an amazing liberty to have, one that I fully support, it is applied too broadly. Freedom of religion should not outweigh basic human rights.

I left the Amish after reporting the bishop, feeling like a failure. I felt I had failed the children even though I had done everything I knew to do to help them. Seven years later I sat down and started writing my memoir, Tears of the Silenced, and began raising awareness about child abuse and child sexual assault coverups in strict religious communities. In 2019, I began
gathering together former Amish sexual assault survivors to tell their stories in a Peacock documentary called Sins of the Amish, which aired in May 2022. In addition, I recently teamed up with Emmy award winner Elizabeth Page to write a script based on my memoir.

All of these things were great for getting the message out, but I knew that by themselves, they would not change things.

Becoming a Mom

In October 2018, my husband and I were blessed with a baby we had been hoping and praying for. A few months after his birth, Peacock gave the green light to Sins of the Amish. I was overjoyed about these two new adventures in my life, but as I watched my son grow I was struck by his sweetness, his innocence, and above all his vulnerability. I knew that in some religious circles it is not uncommon for babies as young as three months to be spanked. I remembered the screams of my own baby sister as she was beaten severely for tiny mistakes.

Thinking about these things made my stomach knot. In the research I had done for Sins of the Amish, some people reported to me that their first memory was of being raped at three years old and that it may have started even younger. These brave souls, many of whom did not want to come forward publicly, confided in me that they and their siblings had been beaten on a daily
basis – 20, 30 even up to 100 lashes – with a belt, wooden stick, switch or whatever the parent felt like using. Church leaders did not help them and in many cases encouraged it as discipline.

Mothers would sometimes implore church leaders for help and they were told to go home and be submissive to what the head of their household deemed fit. In some cases both the father and mother were equally abusive.

As I listened to each story I wondered who would ever step in to help these children? A documentary, no matter how shocking, would not bring real change. For years filmmakers have been making documentaries about adults coming out of cults and ultra strict religions. Survivors have stressed that children are still trapped inside and are experiencing the same child abuse they did and yet the government does not step in to help these children. With all of these thoughts swarming through my mind I finally sat down and wrote #invisible.

This is a change.org petition I started that is demanding congress take action on behalf of the children, all children, in the United States, not just the ones who attend public school. It’s unfair that religious groups can keep children isolated where they have zero access to mandated reporters, no sexual abuse prevention education and no human rights whatsoever.

In the petition #invisible I am asking that:

  • Every teacher whether licensed or unlicensed ( Amish, Mennonite and other strict religious school teachers are unlicensed) be required to take mandated reporter training and be held accountable to report suspected abuse.
  • All children receive age appropriate sexual abuse prevention education (Erin’s law).
  • President Biden ratify the United Nations rights of the Child (the USA is the only country in the UN to not have ratified the Rights of the Child).

Now I need help to get this petition in front of the American people so they can back it. I hope to get enough people together for a huge march in D.C. That is what it is going to take in order for congress and President Biden to sit up and take notice. It is going to take the American people coming out in huge numbers and demanding change for the sake of the children.

After I gain traction in the USA I hope to go global with these ideas. Every child should be entitled to basic human rights. The UN child rights is great for saying what each child deserves and is entitled to, but we need more action on how each country is taking steps to ensure these rights and we need the USA to ratify it.

If anyone reading this wants to help me get the message out about the petition I would be so grateful. Blogs, websites, sharing on social media, contacting friends in the media. Anything you can do to help will help get this issue in front of congress. You can contact me through my website.

About Misty

Misty Griffin is the author of her best selling memoir Tears of the Silenced. She wrote her memoir to raise awareness about child abuse and sexual assault coverup among the Amish and other strict religious groups.

Misty’s inspiring story takes you through her ordeal as a severely abused child and then her experiences as a young woman in an Amish community – a place where pedophilia was never reported or punished – and finally her escape and efforts to save her sister and bring the perpetrators to justice, all while adapting to a modern life she had never known.

Now a Registered Nurse, happily married and with a child of her own, Misty has dedicated her life to save children from the hell she endured. She is the Consulting Producer on the documentary series about child abuse in Amish and other cloistered communities, which premiered on Peacock in May 2022. She has also been to D.C, accompanied by her former Mennonite friend Jasper Hoffman, and spoken personally to a member of congress about sexual assault and child abuse among the Amish and Mennonites.

Misty hopes to pass legislation to mandate reporting of child abuse in cloistered communities such as the Amish and to extend Erin’s Law – which mandates age-appropriate sex abuse prevention education in public schools – to private schools and religious communities.

Misty’s change.org petition #invisible calls on Congress, the Senate and President Biden to take action.

Learn more about Misty by listening to her podcast with World Moms Network editor Tes Silverman.

World Moms Network

World Moms Network is an award winning website whose mission statement is "Connecting mothers; empowering women around the globe." With over 70 contributors who write from over 30 countries, the site covered the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Most recently, our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan was awarded "Best Reporting on the UN" form the UNCA. The site has also been named a "Top Website for Women" by FORBES Woman and recommended by the NY Times Motherlode and the Times of India. Follow our hashtags: #worldmom and #worldmoms Formerly, our site was known as World Moms Blog.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:
TwitterFacebookPinterestGoogle Plus

ALT Summit + The Riveter in NYC

ALT Summit + The Riveter in NYC

World Moms Network Editor at Large Elizabeth Atalay attended the recent ALT Summit + The Riveter conference in New York City.

The Riveter summed up some of the memorable moments in this post.

The ALT Summit + The Riveter conference was my first in-person event since the pandemic and brought about all the feels! The very first panel of speakers hit it’s mark by capturing the mood of this time.

The Art of the Pivot and Rise of the Anti-Hustle Culture the conference

Many of us are re-emerging from the fog of the pandemic to a new normal. Work no longer means a 9-5 with a commute to an office 5 days a week. One of the positive aspects of the global shut down has been to let us all re-imagine a different lifestyle than the fast pace we’d been operating on.

Granted most of the attendees of the ALT Conference are creators and entrepreneurs to begin with. We’ve been working out of the lines for decades, but it feels like the rest of the world is just catching up. Maybe the answer to the question “How are you?” will be met with something other than the frequent response of “Busy!”. We can strike that quality of life balance we strive for without being judged as harshly.

There has definitely been a shift from the “get it girl” “hustle” attitude of the past decade toward better life balance and self-care. Often the biggest barriers we face come from within, as one of the opening panelists so succinctly pointed out:

Sometimes the enemy is the inner me.

We are often toughest on ourselves. After years of virtual meetings, attending the ALT Summit + The Riveter in person felt great. The messaging was often about supporting each other, community, and pushing through tough times to the other side

Meeting up with friends, old and new.

All the props to Gabrielle Blair!! And…today is Pub Day for her book!

One of my favorite moments was Brittany Jones-Cooper’s interview with best-selling author and Alt Summit founder, Gabrielle Blair, about her new book, Ejaculate Responsibly. Gabrielle was brilliant, funny, and backed by science in speaking about her new book. She is changing the conversation around the issue of Abortion.

The book succinctly points out that instead of controlling and legislating women’s bodies the focus should be on men’s lack of accountability in preventing unwanted pregnancies. To follow her progress towards change with this book check out @DesignMom on Instagram and this segment on @CBSMornings!

ALT Summit Founder and Author of Ejaculate Responsibly, Gabrielle Blair

Ovulation is involuntary, Ejaculation is not.

– Gabrielle Blair

I have to be honest that the conference was a bit overwhelming, but in a good way. With so many great speakers on topics of interest, and the desire to socialize, after not seeing people for such a long time, it was a lot to process. I was such the kid in a candy shop that I completely missed the morning keynote by Julia Haart — author, designer, and star of Netflix’s My Unorthodox Life.

Protecting Kids on the Internet

Dahlia Hashad on holding big tech companies responsible for internet safety

After a fabulous lunch where we soaked up the sun overlooking the Hudson River at Pier 60 I attended 7 by 7 by 7, a round of 7 speakers who each presented for 7 minutes. Dahlia Hashad’s presentation on Social Media Battlegrounds: The Fight For A Safer Internet has stuck with me ever since.

She highlighted the risks to teens on the internet, the rise in negative issues, and the algorithms that these trillion dollar (yes, not billion, but trillion) companies allow that harm their users. She and her team with the Disinformation Project are fighting to pass legislation to protect kids online. Dahlia encouraged all of us to stand up to the big tech companies to insist on better safety guidelines. If you are a mom who is concerned about online safety for your children and would like to see legislative protections put in place, you can join the Online Influencer Safety Team here or scan the QR code below.

The vibe of the day was all about a community of women supporting women in their endeavors. It was capped off with closing keynote Sallie Krawcheck-CEO and founder of Ellevest, an investment platform for women, by women. When women take control of the finances more money goes back into the community, and Ellevest is on a mission to get Moore money into the hands of women. I like that idea!

These are just a couple of moments that stood out for me in a packed with information and inspiration day. Don’t worry, if you missed the ALT Summit + The Riveter in NYC, you can now get tickets to go to The ALT Summit in Palm Springs in March!

This is an original post written by Elizabeth Atalay for World Moms Network.

Elizabeth Atalay

Elizabeth Atalay is a Digital Media Producer, Managing Editor at World Moms Network, and a Social Media Manager. She was a 2015 United Nations Foundation Social Good Fellow, and traveled to Ethiopia as an International Reporting Project New Media Fellow to report on newborn health in 2014. On her personal blog, Documama.org, she uses digital media as a new medium for her background as a documentarian. After having worked on Feature Films and Television series for FOX, NBC, MGM, Columbia Pictures, Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, and Castle Rock Pictures, she studied documentary filmmaking and anthropology earning a Masters degree in Media Studies from The New School in New York. Since becoming a Digital Media Producer she has worked on social media campaigns for non-profits such as Save The Children, WaterAid, ONE.org, UNICEF, United Nations Foundation, Edesia, World Pulse, American Heart Association, and The Gates Foundation. Her writing has also been featured on ONE.org, Johnson & Johnson’s BabyCenter.com, EnoughProject.org, GaviAlliance.org, and Worldmomsnetwork.com. Elizabeth has traveled to 70 countries around the world, most recently to Haiti with Artisan Business Network to visit artisans in partnership with Macy’s Heart of Haiti line, which provides sustainable income to Haitian artisans. Elizabeth lives in New England with her husband and four children.

More Posts

My Roe v Wade Story

My Roe v Wade Story

Here we are again, still fighting for abortion rights.

Roe v Wade

I wasn’t sure I wanted to write about this but I can’t keep silent. Women have been fighting for rights of every kind for as long as we’ve been alive. I, personally, have attended the Women’s March and protests against separating children from their families while Trump was in office. 

Currently, the protests are about the possibility of overturning Roe v Wade. This is the landmark case in which the US Supreme Court ruled, in January 1973, that a state law banning abortion was unconstitutional. And people are protesting about what it will mean for women everywhere if it is overturned.

What prompts me to write about this issue?

I went through an abortion that changed my life.

My Abortion Story

I was in my mid-twenties and I had been dating someone for a few months. It was during that relationship that I became pregnant and felt my world turn upside down. I was devastated because I knew I wasn’t ready emotionally or financially to take care of a child. When I told my boyfriend that I was pregnant, I didn’t know what he would say or do. I just knew that I couldn’t have this baby.

An acquaintance helped me find a doctor to perform the abortion but I had no idea how to pay for it. I was only working a part-time job at that time and didn’t make enough to afford the procedure. Thankfully, someone close to me lent me the money so I could have the abortion.

After I scheduled the procedure and told my boyfriend when it would be, I wasn’t sure how he would react. What I didn’t expect was that he would take himself out of the situation entirely and let me deal with it on my own. I had never felt so alone and abandoned.

Feeling Abandoned

I remember that morning of the procedure like a nightmare that I couldn’t shake off. Luckily, I had a friend from college come with me and be there for moral support. I also have to thank another friend, who worked as a taxi dispatcher. He made sure that we had a ride to and from the clinic. There were only three people who knew what I was going through that day and they were my rocks.

I don’t remember the procedure, but I remember the pain after it. With the help my friends gave me through their connection with a cab company and by staying with me until the procedure was done, I got back safely to my apartment to recover. I was physically, mentally and emotionally drained after that experience;  but I was so grateful I had the choice and access to have an abortion.

Grateful for Choices

As someone who went through an abortion, I believe that women should be the ones to choose. The right to determine whether a woman should or shouldn’t terminate a pregnancy should not be at the hands of a system that continues to devalue women and their rights. I would not have the family I have now if I didn’t have the right to choose what was best for me at that time.

My daughter is now the age I was when I had my abortion. I fear for her and for millions of women that will suffer if this law is overturned. The thought of returning to an era of to back-alley-abortions is abhorrent and senseless. As a Mom, I will continue to speak out against this injustice, because not doing so would undermine women’s freedom to decide what’s right for them and their bodies.

What can YOU do to make sure that every woman is able to “choose” what is right for her health and well-being? I hope that sharing my story will propel you to fight for what you believe in and give voice to the countless women and young girls who aren’t able to fight for their rights.

This is an original post to WorldMoms Network by our Senior Editor, Tes Silverman. The image used in this post is take from Creative Commons and has no attribution requirements.

Tes Silverman

Tes Silverman was born in Manila, Philippines and has been a New Yorker for over 30 years. Moving from the Philippines to New York opened the doors to the possibility of a life of writing and travel. Before starting a family, she traveled to Iceland, Portugal, Belgium, and France, all the while writing about the people she met through her adventures. After starting a family, she became a freelance writer for publications such as Newsday’s Parents & Children and various local newspapers. Fifteen years ago, she created her blog, The Pinay Perspective. PinayPerspective.com is designed to provide women of all ages and nationalities the space to discuss the similarities and differences on how we view life and the world around us. As a result of her blog, she has written for BlogHer.com and has been invited to attend and blog about the Social Good Summit and Mom+Social Good. In addition, she is a World Voice Editor for World Moms Network and was Managing Editor for a local grass roots activism group, ATLI(Action Together Long Island). Currently residing in Virginia Beach, VA with her husband, fourteen year-old Morkie and a three year old Lab Mix, she continues to write stories of women and children who make an impact in their communities and provide them a place to vocalize their passions.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:
TwitterFacebookLinkedInPinterest

Chatting With World Moms Network Founder

Chatting With World Moms Network Founder

This Sunday, May 8th, is Mother’s Day in the United States and I wanted to feature Jennifer Burden – CEO & Founder of World Moms Network.

I had no clue what World Moms Network was about until I met Elizabeth Atalay, then Managing Editor of World Moms Network, at the Moms+Social Good Summit in NYC.

I had been a blogger for three years and wanted to expand my connections, so when the opportunity arose to meet other bloggers, I decided to jump at the chance. Meeting Elizabeth and finding out about World Moms Network at that summit was life-changing, but it would still take me a few months and a few submissions before I was accepted to write for World Moms Network.

Over the years, I have been privileged to get to know World Moms from different parts of the world from reading their posts, and seeing how at the end of the day, we all want the same things for our families, regardless of where we live.

In addition to writing posts, I looked forward to our weekly editorial calls, especially during the pandemic. Yes, we would talk about post submissions and ways to attract more writers and readers, but not before we checked in on each other and talked about what was happening in our world.

It was during one of these calls about a year and a half ago that I spoke about my idea of creating a podcast to highlight women and the work they do for their community. Back then, I only had a handful of guests that were lined up, but it didn’t lessen the excitement that Jen and the other Editors expressed to me regarding my new endeavor. In fact, when I asked a few World Moms, including Jen, if they would be interested in being guests on my podcast, they were more than happy to be a part of it.

Since that day, I have been grateful to have so many incredible women be guests on my show and I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the World Moms, especially Jen, for their constant support. It has been quite a journey from when I began as a blogger eight years ago and attended the Moms+Social Summit where I would learn about World Moms Network.

So for this upcoming Mother’s Day, I wanted to share with you my conversation with Jen because she continues to inspire me and other World Moms to be creative, fearless, innovative and connected to the people in our lives and the world around us.

To hear Jennifer’s episode, click on the link below:

Tes Silverman

Tes Silverman was born in Manila, Philippines and has been a New Yorker for over 30 years. Moving from the Philippines to New York opened the doors to the possibility of a life of writing and travel. Before starting a family, she traveled to Iceland, Portugal, Belgium, and France, all the while writing about the people she met through her adventures. After starting a family, she became a freelance writer for publications such as Newsday’s Parents & Children and various local newspapers. Fifteen years ago, she created her blog, The Pinay Perspective. PinayPerspective.com is designed to provide women of all ages and nationalities the space to discuss the similarities and differences on how we view life and the world around us. As a result of her blog, she has written for BlogHer.com and has been invited to attend and blog about the Social Good Summit and Mom+Social Good. In addition, she is a World Voice Editor for World Moms Network and was Managing Editor for a local grass roots activism group, ATLI(Action Together Long Island). Currently residing in Virginia Beach, VA with her husband, fourteen year-old Morkie and a three year old Lab Mix, she continues to write stories of women and children who make an impact in their communities and provide them a place to vocalize their passions.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:
TwitterFacebookLinkedInPinterest

Screen Time And Pandemics: We Need Flexibility

Screen Time And Pandemics: We Need Flexibility

Today is the last day of “ski break” on my side of the world. Our school has an annual week-long recess on Washington’s Birthday, and the students like to call it “ski break”. This ski break was especially long for us: due to a COVID-19 outbreak at my 4-year-old’s day care center, we had to start ski break a few days earlier. But we couldn’t go ski, because my little one had “close contacts” with a child who tested positive for COVID-19, and we were told to quarantine at home.

On the first day of this long ski break, I found myself facing a dilemma. It was the beginning of the lunar new year, the busiest time of the year for those who work for a Chinese or Taiwanese company. I work for a Taiwanese magazine as its U.S. correspondent. Facing the extra long ski break with absolutely no activities, I was overwhelmed. The kids had nowhere to go; I had to “go” to work. What should I do?

My little ones didn’t have a ski break camp to go to like they did in previous years. I told them we’d have a “Mama Ski Camp” at home. Since I actually had to work everyday, the Mama Ski Camp turned into a Mickey Mouse Ski Camp, and my two kids watched Mickey Mouse Club House on Disney Channel every day throughout the ski break. I became anxious about screen time: I didn’t want my children to watch too much TV or play too many video games, but what could I do?

Towards the end of the ski break, I made an announcement that the rule of no TV on weekdays would be restored once school resumed. On the last two days of the ski break, we’d be playing a game called “weekend without screen time.” My third grader quickly adjusted, but my preschooler seemed to have a hard time. He kept shouting: “I want Mickey Mouse! Mickey Mouse!”

I worried that I’d ruined my youngest son. But when I consulted my pediatrician, he said we need a more flexible screen-time guideline during these extraordinary times. The American Academy of Pediatrics website has an online tool that provides customized family media plans based on the age(s) of the child(ren). I checked it out, and found we were still doing a good job in some aspects: phones and tablets were never brought into the bedroom or onto the dining table. My 4-year-old doesn’t use apps without permission, and my 8-year-old doesn’t communicate with strangers online.

The American Academy of Pediatrics says that the focus should not be on the length of time children use devices, but on whether parents can choose media that is appropriate, and co-view or co-play with the children. In our house, my husband and I always carefully choose programs for children to watch, but it’s hard for us to accompany them when watching (guilty!).

I have to confess that it’s been almost two years since the outbreak of the pandemic, and my sense of guilt has gradually turned into a numbness. When I review the current official screen time guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics, I feel that they are based on the “normal times”, and that we need to rethink screen time in the time of a pandemic.

I thought I was an expert on screen time. I write an education column that focuses on screen time. I’ve authored a book on digital citizenship which is scheduled to be published this June. Then the pandemic happened and everything I believed was out of the window.

A little more flexibility in screen time guidelines does not mean giving up parenting. I think that during this extraordinary period, we should be more concerned about our children’s emotions and less obsessed with how much TV they watch each day. When implementing screen time rules, we should focus on balancing online and offline life, rather than counting how many video games they play each day.

With a little more flexibility, this long ski break became a lot easier.

Do you have screen time rules in your family? Have those rules changed during the pandemic?

This is an original post for World Moms Network by To-Wen Tseng. Photo credit to the author.

To-Wen Tseng

Former TV reporter turned freelance journalist, children's book writer in wee hours, nursing mom by passion. To-wen blogs at I'd rather be breastfeeding. She can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:
TwitterFacebookLinkedInGoogle PlusYouTube

Meet A World Mom: Sophia Neghesti-Johnson

Meet A World Mom: Sophia Neghesti-Johnson

Continuing our trip around the world chatting with World Moms, today we are proud to profile Sophia Neghesti-Johnson, who was born in Tanzania. She spent her youth between Italy and Tanzania, finally settling in the United States of America. Like many of our World Moms, Sophia is multilingual, she speaks English, Kiswahili and Italian.

Sophia currently has a hand in two distinct phases of parenting: her first child, aged 19, is embarking on adulthood. Her other two children, aged 7 and 8, are at that wonderfully explorative stage of childhood. In 2013, fellow Tanzanian World Mom, Nancy Sumari, introduced Sophia to World Moms Network. Since joining us, she has written many insightful, thoughtful posts about her identity and her life as a parent.

We caught up with Sophia to find out what she’s up to now. Read on to get to know her better:

How has your life changed since you joined World Moms Network?

Well, I feel that I am a part of a sisterhood in which, even if we don’t all talk all the time, and even if some of us haven’t really talked much, we know what we are about at our core. To know that there are other mothers out there who believe in something that I also believe in, is very reassuring to me. Especially in a time when there are so many unsettling things happening. Through World Moms Network also introduced me to Heartfulness Meditation, which has proven life-altering (for me) in the most positive way. 

How do you spend your days?

I homeschool our two younger children, so I spend the majority of my time with them. Otherwise, I work from home as a virtual assistant of sorts. Also, I write, sometimes with the intention of publishing my stories. Recently, I started writing songs and joined an artistic group with whom I create some fun and funky things that we then perform in-front of live audiences. Sometimes, I try to work on my photography and painting skills. When I get on social media to check what’s going on, I try to stay away from falling down the rabbit hole.

What are the top 5 places on your travel wish list?

Eritrea, Ireland for sure. The other three I am not sure of yet; it depends how things are going in the world.

Is there a book, movie or show you recommend?

Great read: The Courage to Be Disliked. Great movie: The Never-Ending Story.

What is your favorite memory with your children?

I remember when they were small enough to hold and keep safe on my chest; bundled up and smelling like what I imagine is heavenly. Now there are too many memories to pick one. I enjoy laughs the most, or their excitement in the small things. 

What is your best motherhood advice?

To enjoy the children’s age at whatever age they are. Be careful with making jokes of, “I wish you were older” and, “I can’t wait until you can do this and that”, because that time comes faster than you know, and each moment is truly special and unique. Also, it’s essential you find a way to express your emotions as a parent and a mother. Do not feel guilty for taking time for yourself; it’s essential for your well-being and that of your family. 

What is your favorite place you have traveled to?

This is a tough one, as every place I have visited offers something different. Also, I know I’m biased, but I love living in Tanzania. The Netherlands was beautiful too. 

What is one random thing that most people would be surprised to know about you?

I’ve heard that the fact I have recorded and released a couple of songs surprised some people.

What places are listed on your weather app?

Dar es Salaam, Chennai, Hyderabad, Columbia, Amsterdam. Whatever City I am In.

How did you get through COVID-19 quarantine/lockdown?

I walked a 1000 miles, I experimented with a lot of foods, I prayed and hoped for the best.

What brings you joy?

Simple things. You know that moment when something touches your heart and it brings you tears of joy? Or that inexplicable feeling that you can only assign to joy? I love those moments and they can come from anywhere. 

What UN Sustainable Development Goal are you most passionate about? 

Sustainable cities & communities.

To learn more about Sophia and her thoughts about her identity—bridging Tanzania with Italy and now the USA—check out these two amazing posts that she wrote, here and here.

World Moms Network

World Moms Network is an award winning website whose mission statement is "Connecting mothers; empowering women around the globe." With over 70 contributors who write from over 30 countries, the site covered the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Most recently, our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan was awarded "Best Reporting on the UN" form the UNCA. The site has also been named a "Top Website for Women" by FORBES Woman and recommended by the NY Times Motherlode and the Times of India. Follow our hashtags: #worldmom and #worldmoms Formerly, our site was known as World Moms Blog.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:
TwitterFacebookPinterestGoogle Plus