In time for Mother's day 💞🤩 Scroll down for mother to mother magic!

this is saying that the seeds were sown for Bushra's art in Syria when she was 17yrs .. Now in Oostende she has been able to expand on her artwork & studies at the KunstAcademie ann Zee.  The energy of the sea inspires her. Her work carries a theme of women's rights.. She recognises that women's rights are a global theme that connects all countries despite varying levels. 

Her work with strong colours to represent expression of feelings in many ways.  She plays with the boundaries of beauty & joy, sadness & oppression, equality & inequality. 

In her artwork she uses different tecniques with acrylic paint, glue, watercolour paints. 

Newsflash added just now 20.25hrs .. this is so so amazing in these days of pain & fleeing war ..This photo was taken by a Ukrainian refugee not long arrived in Oostende. Her name is Evgenia Sedneva, a professional wedding photographer. Such is the community of Oostende that she has been immediately absorbed into all the locals hearts and meeting all the volunteers and programme of events.  But it is so beautiful that this refugee mother as taken a photo of my Syrian refugee mother's artwork.. wow united in pain but united in amazing skills of expression of art.. one by brush the other by photography.  Truly Expressive Encounters...I feel honoured to be part of the link up of these talented mothers..and on Mother's day too 🌻💙💛🌸🙏🤲

 

FMDO

Love wins! 

Bushra's Art Exhibition Preparation

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So exciting that Bushra's artwork is being recognised in Oostende with her joining an exhibition to celebrate migrants and refugees art talents.. Love the way the community absorbs newcomers, helps to integrate with language, in that integration indentifies talents to promote.  Bushra will be interviewed in Nederlandse on her work too! So So proud of her ... 👏👏👏👏 Bushra's Art Gallery Page

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💖 Love Bushra's Art

Bushra's Art Gallery

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Local papers 💖😊

Local papers cover the brilliant day of sharing 

ABC ann Zee 

and Lovely for Family Link Up to be part of the day.

See Girls in their Frozen fancy dress with me!

Good memories! 

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Love wins linking up hearts

 

 

My knitting needles hot on the go..with love ..so many families in need here UK & across Europe..some of my baby cardigans given to ABC ann Zee & my Family Link Up always had my knitting.  My daughters are telling me to knit some to sell on etsy to bring in funds for more wool ..which is a good idea too ..  Tip: you can also buy prem & newborn knits and clothes from WVS shops in maternity units ..this helps raise funds for unit and you can send to refugee families and other families in need. Age UK charity shops have Gran knits and wool. We can all work together link up hearts and know Love Wins 💞

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Language learning fun

 

This was useful for helping spelling Nederlandse words. Leen initiated writing the words down once she had completed. The other box of cards is Woorden & Vormen was brilliant too.. 30 cards with a middle detachable image of object and the name of the object on the lower edge. That I was able to involve Celine too. We learnt 3 of us playing so 30 divided into 10 cards each.. we shuffled the images and distributed them randomly between us. Then took turns to put the word card down say the name and see who had the image to fit. Completed cards kept as winning counts... 💗Celine won hhhhh (sorry no pics to show you we got absorbed in the fun of game) 

I also need to be sure Leen can read and write Arabic so I had fun getting her to spell 🦋 butterfly..Farasha in Arabic ..showed how I could type the Fa- ra -Alif - sheen - ha ...we had a laugh as at first I missed out the Alif and it translated as brush hhhhh  then I wrote the word with the Arabic joined letters and Leen wrote it too. It helps me build on my Arabic learning too. I like this how we learn share together. Later in the day Grandma videocalled from Turkey so I was able to show that her granddaughter had been practising Arabic writing...she was so pleased. 

So important to keep multi language skills alive in young minds to help for the future.

Belgium locals are brilliant at using Nederlandse French English 

But Arabic can feel a mystery with script and right to left writing. Also letters change whether beginning middle and end of word.

In our time together Leen was also  showing me some Maths Magic learnt at school. 

The schools are good .. I enjoy seeing classroom resources.  So impressed with way children from around the world are brought together through the city main language Nederlandse. 

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🎂Birthday Party or🦄 Unicorn Convention hhhhh

 🎂🦄 it was Princess Celine's birthday 5 yrs old ... it was so sweet the theme of unicorns was totally embraced..hhhh We had a combined get together for Princess Leen 7th birthday that was in January and mine this month magically 68 yrs Fairy Godmother.. lol ..The evening was good with other mothers and children ..more dancing the dabke by us mums & grans ...and the girls playing with balloons and birthday gifts. 😊 the cake was beautifully made by the local Turkish baker with an edible photo of the girls from favourite photo collection... clever loved it..💖

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A celebration day with ABC ann Zee

 

Girls with Frè one of the caring volunteers 

A day of celebration of the volunteers and young new settlers to Oostende.  Friday was the end of a week of activities with a party and visit from the Mayor Bart Tommelein The day organised by Lili 

In Safe Hands 

🎶🎤 Celine singing into the mike bless her 🎤🎶

They are singing the days of the week in Nederlandse 

💞So so sweet the children hugging the mascot💞 

💞Kinderen knuffle💞

Speaking with the Mayor in English (i read Nederlandse better than talk)

Telling him about my project Family Link Up, my journey to Eleonas Camp and into Parliament to be a voice in APPG groups and learn. 

Plus made him aware of the Anglo/Belgian society 

Meeting the vrijwilligers volunteers who can stand proud with all they do.

Thank you Bedankt Dank u wel to Lili Samenleven

 for organising the day and inviting me 

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Time together

 Was lovely to read books I have sent together in person instead of over messenger videocall..this is the dance school book story by Oti ... Leen and Celine loved their new pink dresses thanks to Gill sending some funds to spend on gifts for the girls. We also got some Dutch kinderen boeken and word games to help reading. So special to tucked them up to sleep with the blankets I knit.. 

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Yea! Finally managed to travel to Belgium

So amazing to be able to travel again to Belgium after Coronavirus lockdown...but the day I was booked to travel on Eurostar was Thursday 3rd March the day of a London Underground strike. I needed to be able to use the underground with lifts up & down to platforms with my luggage. Luggage as always filled more with gifts for my Princesses than for me.  I spent days worrying how to get there in view of strike and wishing had booked a flight from Heathrow near me. But 2019 my 4 visits with Eurostar had been good with connecting train to Oostende from Brussels Midi.  So what to do ..if you remember from March 2020 I had been booked but both UK & Belgium like many had gone in lockdown so could not travel the day booked then. 

I had an idea to go to Eurostar on Wednesday 2nd with my vaccination papers passport and luggage on the off chance I could travel that day. Prayers answered and whosh was helped by an Earth Angel Sharon at the Eurostar... once she knew of my Family Link Up project was treated like diplomat, helped with ticket change, online locator form escorted through passport control and helped on a train getting ready to go to Brussels.. It gives me goosebumps writing this and moved to tears that my love and care for my Syrian refugees had been seen and respected. It was important to go as I also had an invitation to meet with volunteers in Oostende and the Mayor to see the care they give to help settlement & integration to the community. In this I needed to know what was being planned for the new refugees from Ukraine. I put some of my knitted baby cardigans in my bag for mums in need of help with newborns to keep them warm .

I messaged Bushra and she met me at Oostende in the evening arrival and took me to a Syrian family where a little boy was having a birthday party ... ( its been a time of birthdays including mine in this month of March.) So from worrying to magical time with Syrian mothers. Was like a dream and so so grateful of Eurostar help. 

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