Expat Mommy In Angola

There’s someone I want you to meet, someone within the first five minutes of our gathering their story fascinated me, their endurance for life motivated me and dedication for motherhood filled my heart. I want you to meet Carla, in my head (and on my phone) I call her Carla crossfit but she’s not defined by what she does, because she has done so much in her life , and definitely will be doing a lot more now that she’s a mother as well, so read along w on’t you? She’s a former competitive kayaker in South Africa and the Netherlands, 3 time winner of  The Lowland’s Throwdown which is   a huge Crossfit competition that takes place in The Netherlands since 2010. She won from 2010 to 2012. In 2013 she came in 3rd post injury at The CrossFit Games. It is a massive competition that has recently been recognized by Crossfit.com as an official competition. She went to regionals and won once, and twice in Europe and finished Top10 in 2012, then went on to winning the Afri...

Few days ago @dubaimother and @arabianmum sparked a conversation about honest motherhood and keeping our feelings real and there ’ s no harm is saying them out loud. So just until last night did my kids realize what is it that I did before I became a “ mommy ” and they thought me being a news anchor on tv was “ so cool ” ! And my 7 year old super impressed, asked me if I can please go back to doing what I was doing but also stay their “ mommy ” ? The 4 year old had a meltdown because she wasn ’ t with me on the tv screen. This sparked a conversation between some expat mommy friends about what each of us had to compromise , “ career wise ” by moving to Angola, or to follow the husband to where his own career takes him, choosing to leave behind what we have worked for and succeeded in for many years. The one who is a fresh expat was relieved hearing the stories of how we struggled in the beginning to adjust to a life where there ’ s no 9 to 5 or ...

For the past few months, and after around 7 years in Angola I can finally say that I am actually doing what i planned to when i first decided to move to Africa. Help the underprivileged, the children in these impoverished communities and through this I reach an inner satisfaction for being in this country. It all happened when i met a group of amazing inspiring women who are part of the Kambamba school project , a school which i look forward to visiting every week, and which we fundraise for in different ways in Luanda.  THE ACTUAL SCHOOL Four walls, a roof a teacher and students. This is what a basic school structure is composed off,  and this is what an expat lady’s new year resolution was transformed into, the Kambamba school project for 90 kids of the Kambamba community of Angola’s capital of Luanda. Marjan Looyeh, an expat in Luanda used to visit the poor community with a friend to teach the kids some basic English and to play with the...