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Sustainable Fashion

Hi 👋🏾

What do you know about sustainable fashion? I have been clueless for a long time until 2 years ago while living in Bali I found out about it.

Basically ;Sustainable fashion is a part of the growing design philosophy and movement towards environmental and social sustainability, the goal of which is to create a system which can be supported indefinitely in terms of human impact on the environment and social responsibility.

The tag on your clothes has a label where you can look for what is best for sustainability. These are the things to look for;

• Anything Recycled or Once Loved. Recycling is one of the most sustainable ways to live, whether it's reusing bags, throwing your paper, plastic and metal into a recycling bin or wearing recycled goods. ... 
• Hemp. ... 
• Soy Silk/Cashmere. ... 
• Organic Cotton. ... 
• Linen.
• Viscose 
• Wool

There is more out there please do more research.

Polyester however is the worst:What we know now is that every wash releases plastic microfibers into waterways and these persist indefinitely, contaminating lakes and oceans and getting ingested by animals and, indirectly, by humans. NYT writes:

“Even if these microplastics are trapped at filtration plants, they can end up in sludge produced by the facilities, which is often sent to farms to be used as fertilizer. From there, the fibers can make their way into other water systems, or into the digestive tracts of animals that graze on the fertilized plants.”                                        

Verifiable and regulated terms: 

• Fair trade certified - Apparel and accessories that have the Fair Trade stamp are made without exploitation of labour and companies who seek the certification must prove that their workers are paid and treated fairly. 
• Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) - Products that are GOTS certified are made from organic fibres that have been grown without the use of GMO seeds and are also made on facilities that use water efficiently and treat waste responsibly.
• OEKO-TEX Standard 100 - This testing and certification system is similar to the GOTS and ensures that the product is made with adherence to health standards without the use of harmful substances and chemicals.
• European Eco-Label for Textile Products - This is a standard that guarantees not just that a product was made with environmentally responsible methods, it is also shrink-resistant and colour-fast.  

This picture below shows the clothes tag I mentioned above. 

Thank you for reading, l encourage you to try where you can start small but any change helps. As a mother I make sure my daughters and our clothes are eco friendly. There is more I can share on the sustainability topic but we will leave that for another blog.

Yours Immigrant Mama

European winter ❄️

Hi 👋🏾

It’s end of February, I try to make a blog at least once a month as I have been busy with a lot of changes in my life and finally have some of them sorted... as they say life happens.

Our baby girl will be 4 months soon and she has changed so much and she is more attentive now and pays attention to everything. So I try not to be on the gadgets when I am around her. She hardly sleeps during the day so we do a lot of playtime and educational stuff and at night I have been trying to catch up on my sleep that I have been deprived of for the last 3months. That is of course trying to run a business on the side too our travel agency Simon and Fanta safaris. It’s quite season for us but it’s part of the business world, it fluctuates. 

We spent two months in the southern part of Moravia region and here are some of the pictures for you to enjoy. I hope you are all doing well and have been having a good February.How has the month been treating ? I Would love to interact 💜🙏🏽 . Love, peace and happiness 💜

ps;(I used ps Express on my photos to edit)

My Pregnancy Story

Pregnancy- I was one of those women who were fine whether they have children or not. I was always focused on my career and building my legacy. After being married to my partner we both decided to try for a baby and it happened, we were grateful, happy, excited for the new chapter. I just recently moved to Czech Republic alone from Bali Indonesia and my partner was still in Asia. It was not easy to be in a country where English is not an official language, my first experience with that, now imagine being pregnant, a new chapter that I had no experience on. Luckily we lived in a city where we were fortunate to be introduced to English speaking doctors and it really helped when it came to my check ups. Thank goodness for google translation I manage to throw some terrible Czech there and there if I go to an area where no one speaks English. In the city a lot of people do speak English and it helps.

My first trimester was unbearable, the only symptom I did not have was puking, but I had all the symptoms and barely ate...it felt like the longest trimester ever.Luckly the excitement of pregnancy got me through it all. Unfortunately I did not have anyone to help with my late night cravings as my partner was away. So instead of running to go get Macdonalds I made a lot of home cooked meals😅😩. Which works better diet wise and financially.Second trimester I regained my energy and self back, I exercised and felt great.Third trimester I got heavy, swollen feet and aches and pains. It also seemed like the longest trimester ever, I was very anxious at the last days to get the baby out. I was overdue with a couple of days , even tried some natural remedies to induce myself 😩😩😩😂😂😂I know , I know I was over it. I was also pregnant during summer and it gets really hot, I remember wishing it was winter. The heat was unbearable. I really enjoyed my doctors visits especially when I had the scans and hearing her heartbeat. 

I did not enjoy my pregnancy overall though they were a lot of lows and a few highs for me. I enjoy being active and eating healthy and being productive, it was tough on days when I could not do any of those.I am however grateful for the experience and smooth pregnancy, it’s not easy being an immigrant in a foreign land pregnant but gracefully I was fortunate to have survived it all. 

Please share your pregnancy story? What was it like for you?

Greetings Mamas

Hello there, my name is Tshepo, this is a space and support group for all the mothers who are immigrants in foreign countries without the support of family and friends. It also helps to support even those without children, and living as immigrants in foreign lands.

I have been an immigrant for over 10 years and most of it I was single and a vagabond, on my path living in foreign countries I have paid attention to the need for a support group/community for foreigners/immigrants. It is not easy to move and settle in a new country. There are a lot of things that one needs assistance with and it always helps if one has people to assist to make the transition easy.

I recently became a mother and through talks with other mothers, I have found out that most of us immigrant mothers feel alone and are really dealing with a huge challenge that most of us just suck it up and deal with quietly. As most of us are from African countries where we are raised to keep quiet and not complain we tend to fight quiet battles through motherhood on our own.

This space is for all of you to know that you have someone and to feel some form of community through cyber space and hopefully turn our friendships in to reality.

Welcome!