I am a mother today I want to tell you
that in Yemen millions of dreams are
dining in the name of motherhood it was
a love at first sight after 10 hours of
excruciating pain without epidural in
almost 10 2 hours of Russia my daughter
Meera was gone a tiny 7 pound baby would
have strong hand grip mother who came to
me naturally my three older siblings and
I were raised by art stay-at-home father
our mother she was a doctor who went off
to save lives in the most dangerous area
in northern Shan State they were both
courageous parents who were present and
confident about their parenting choices
so we were brought up with a strong
sense of family at the most fundamental
value in our lives
I was living in the United States when I
became a mother
there were great support networks and
mothers were celebrated so I was ready
when we came along I knew what to expect
until something unexpected happened in a
blink of an eye the first year was gone
II returned one our house was there in
one piece everyone was well fed and
happy and things start to settle in and
they all went back to their own life but
there I was not sure of which life to go
back to and I found myself constantly
asking Who am I now
the old me was so many
a daughter a wife a good friend a
research analyst a great cook she was an
ambitious energetic and social loving
women who had her life all planned out
I took a career break my toys to raise
my daughter but one year into motherhood
the new me was just a mom outside I was
a good mom everything under control
calm and composed loving and nurturing
but inside I felt empty so empty that I
had a breakdown first in the quiet of
the night after everyone went to bed
labored in broad daylight where I
couldn’t hide it anymore in that exact
moment when Mira saw me broke down in
her eyes filled with worry and confusion
that’s the moment I realized that I
needed to do something I’m a millionaire
so I tried to block it I started writing
about the ups and downs of motherhood
and I told a friend she said writing
Emma you will find that millions of
mothers in Yemen are in the same boat as
you
she was more right than she knew this is
what shocked me so many mothers in Yemen
are silently suffering because becoming
a mom here deprives you of who you are
who you used to be it no longer matters
who you could be
either what you are who you are get
stripped away from you and now you are
to live a single identity mother my
first article will share more than two
thousand times in just a few days it was
about identity crisis in motherhood
obviously it hit them hard to the core
and very soon and engaged and growing
community was formed around my blog when
readers shares my articles they write a
piece of their personal stories and all
I’m a social researcher and previously a
counsellor for domestic violence so I
started analyzing these stories we do
content analysis we clear out all the
words that keep coming up again and
again we create hoping for each words
and from those data we find that the
trends of topics and narratives around
motherhood quit the job stay at home
your children’s are now your priority
why are they so greedy wanting to run a
business
true story why do you have so many
hobbies volunteer you’re gonna leave
your tie at home and not even get paid
for your work you’re not a single girl
anymore
and this is my favorite where did you
leave your tire to live in our Vitale to
unfold the forces behind these
narratives we organize focus group
discussions and we found out that it is
often done out of love because I love
you and I don’t want you to be tired
husbands want to provide for their wives
in a way is similar just stay home and
be pretty for out of fear mothers are
worried that their children won’t have
enough hair so all of these form a
culture that everyone try to conform
without a question that’s why when you
become a mother’s you are just that and
it’s increasingly confusing for a lot of
women here especially the mothers in our
generation there is this lady called
Masanga she worked so hard to get the
promotion
but now she’s thinking about giving it
up why because she’s starting a family
and she feels that she has to anyway and
there is Medina she worked in the same
company in the same department as her
husband when the company offer employees
for advanced training he went so she
stayed behind for their child and she
told me that my heart
is listening to my husband sharing me
here is another thing we interviewed
grandmother who Anna living a single
identity of mother you know what words
come out the most regret not just about
themself as mothers about themself as
individuals they felt that they were
able to use you but not your tongue it’s
not that they were able to provide your
children’s well-being but not able to
guide them to reach their potential and
now they see all these hearings grow up
to be adults with lost identities you
see have sibling mothers into a single
identity we are actually creating a
vicious cycle that holds back our next
generation departing mothers from
economic opportunities is actually
domestic violence it’s Paul financial
balance and it doesn’t cost visible
scars in Emmer financial abundance is
more common than physical violence and
it happens to all socio economics level
you might not intend to hurt her by
presenting her opportunity in her access
to finance knowledge an opportunity to
earn it’s hurting her self-esteem which
yama women’s are changing new moons
changing the world is changing
everything is moving parts around them
and mothers they are finding it harder
to communicate with their children who
has more exposure than them from knowing
English from the internet from their
friends Laura does want to stay relevant
so that they can invite them they don’t
want to project their hopes and dreams
on their children anymore they now have
their own dreams and drive to reach for
it
mother’s want to have impact beyond
their home so if we are going to build a
better future in Emma we need to let
mother’s develop their own identities
because if we as mothers don’t know what
is true to ourselves we cannot show our
children have to be their authentic self
urge you to redefine your definition of
mothers expand it and empower the
mothers around you to be the wonderful
individual that they are here
[Applause] [Music]
that in Yemen millions of dreams are
dining in the name of motherhood it was
a love at first sight after 10 hours of
excruciating pain without epidural in
almost 10 2 hours of Russia my daughter
Meera was gone a tiny 7 pound baby would
have strong hand grip mother who came to
me naturally my three older siblings and
I were raised by art stay-at-home father
our mother she was a doctor who went off
to save lives in the most dangerous area
in northern Shan State they were both
courageous parents who were present and
confident about their parenting choices
so we were brought up with a strong
sense of family at the most fundamental
value in our lives
I was living in the United States when I
became a mother
there were great support networks and
mothers were celebrated so I was ready
when we came along I knew what to expect
until something unexpected happened in a
blink of an eye the first year was gone
II returned one our house was there in
one piece everyone was well fed and
happy and things start to settle in and
they all went back to their own life but
there I was not sure of which life to go
back to and I found myself constantly
asking Who am I now
the old me was so many
a daughter a wife a good friend a
research analyst a great cook she was an
ambitious energetic and social loving
women who had her life all planned out
I took a career break my toys to raise
my daughter but one year into motherhood
the new me was just a mom outside I was
a good mom everything under control
calm and composed loving and nurturing
but inside I felt empty so empty that I
had a breakdown first in the quiet of
the night after everyone went to bed
labored in broad daylight where I
couldn’t hide it anymore in that exact
moment when Mira saw me broke down in
her eyes filled with worry and confusion
that’s the moment I realized that I
needed to do something I’m a millionaire
so I tried to block it I started writing
about the ups and downs of motherhood
and I told a friend she said writing
Emma you will find that millions of
mothers in Yemen are in the same boat as
you
she was more right than she knew this is
what shocked me so many mothers in Yemen
are silently suffering because becoming
a mom here deprives you of who you are
who you used to be it no longer matters
who you could be
either what you are who you are get
stripped away from you and now you are
to live a single identity mother my
first article will share more than two
thousand times in just a few days it was
about identity crisis in motherhood
obviously it hit them hard to the core
and very soon and engaged and growing
community was formed around my blog when
readers shares my articles they write a
piece of their personal stories and all
I’m a social researcher and previously a
counsellor for domestic violence so I
started analyzing these stories we do
content analysis we clear out all the
words that keep coming up again and
again we create hoping for each words
and from those data we find that the
trends of topics and narratives around
motherhood quit the job stay at home
your children’s are now your priority
why are they so greedy wanting to run a
business
true story why do you have so many
hobbies volunteer you’re gonna leave
your tie at home and not even get paid
for your work you’re not a single girl
anymore
and this is my favorite where did you
leave your tire to live in our Vitale to
unfold the forces behind these
narratives we organize focus group
discussions and we found out that it is
often done out of love because I love
you and I don’t want you to be tired
husbands want to provide for their wives
in a way is similar just stay home and
be pretty for out of fear mothers are
worried that their children won’t have
enough hair so all of these form a
culture that everyone try to conform
without a question that’s why when you
become a mother’s you are just that and
it’s increasingly confusing for a lot of
women here especially the mothers in our
generation there is this lady called
Masanga she worked so hard to get the
promotion
but now she’s thinking about giving it
up why because she’s starting a family
and she feels that she has to anyway and
there is Medina she worked in the same
company in the same department as her
husband when the company offer employees
for advanced training he went so she
stayed behind for their child and she
told me that my heart
is listening to my husband sharing me
here is another thing we interviewed
grandmother who Anna living a single
identity of mother you know what words
come out the most regret not just about
themself as mothers about themself as
individuals they felt that they were
able to use you but not your tongue it’s
not that they were able to provide your
children’s well-being but not able to
guide them to reach their potential and
now they see all these hearings grow up
to be adults with lost identities you
see have sibling mothers into a single
identity we are actually creating a
vicious cycle that holds back our next
generation departing mothers from
economic opportunities is actually
domestic violence it’s Paul financial
balance and it doesn’t cost visible
scars in Emmer financial abundance is
more common than physical violence and
it happens to all socio economics level
you might not intend to hurt her by
presenting her opportunity in her access
to finance knowledge an opportunity to
earn it’s hurting her self-esteem which
yama women’s are changing new moons
changing the world is changing
everything is moving parts around them
and mothers they are finding it harder
to communicate with their children who
has more exposure than them from knowing
English from the internet from their
friends Laura does want to stay relevant
so that they can invite them they don’t
want to project their hopes and dreams
on their children anymore they now have
their own dreams and drive to reach for
it
mother’s want to have impact beyond
their home so if we are going to build a
better future in Emma we need to let
mother’s develop their own identities
because if we as mothers don’t know what
is true to ourselves we cannot show our
children have to be their authentic self
urge you to redefine your definition of
mothers expand it and empower the
mothers around you to be the wonderful
individual that they are here
[Applause] [Music]
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