Inspiring Women SUMMER 2020
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Inspiration From the Editor<br />
This is not exactly<br />
the issue that our<br />
t e a m h a d<br />
originally planned.<br />
But then <strong>2020</strong> is<br />
not looking like<br />
anything anyone I<br />
know planned<br />
thanks to the entry<br />
of some new<br />
words into our vocabulary: COVID-19,<br />
lockdown, social distancing, and so on!<br />
But the ‘show must go on’ so here you are, a<br />
bumper issue of profiles and features to help<br />
you while away some of the hours until life<br />
returns to (what I suspect might be our new)<br />
normal. I would really appreciate it if you<br />
could take a few minutes to complete our<br />
READER SURVEY, specifically about the<br />
balance between feature articles and<br />
member profiles.<br />
As well as the magazine having changed<br />
slightly, our team make up, has too. Marie-<br />
Bénédicte, our Cover Coordinator, decided<br />
she didn’t have enough hours in the day for<br />
everything, which is something many of us can<br />
relate to I am sure. We are very sad to lose her.<br />
I would like to take this chance to officially<br />
thank her for her help and support as we have<br />
taken <strong>Inspiring</strong> <strong>Women</strong> from the earliest days<br />
to what it is today. Her Gallic wit, good humor,<br />
sound advice and brilliance will be missed by<br />
the team.<br />
Liz x<br />
Liz MacNiven,<br />
inspiringwomen.editor@fawco.org<br />
The Cover Photo<br />
The cover photo for this issue is an image taken by Brigitte Meuwissen of Celeste Bennekers<br />
(AWC Antwerp) and her family. We asked Celeste what she was laughing about in the photo:<br />
I'm unpacking the boxes in my children's loft - we had just moved into a new house the day<br />
before the lock-down. The movers had told me that morning, they had a friend with the police<br />
and that he said it would be their last day working for a while, and boy were they right. Noon the<br />
next day, and the country of Belgium came to a halt. And here I was, locked in a strange house<br />
with three kids and boxes everywhere. My phone pings as I attempt to organize LEGOs, stuffed<br />
animals, and books.<br />
"I'm going to be in your neighborhood, taking photos behind glass for a project, are you at<br />
home?" It's my friend and fellow board member, Brigitte! A message from the outside world! I<br />
emerge from my unpacking project like gasping for air while drowning.<br />
"Yes, we are but I'm a mess. I'm unpacking and I'm in yoga pants, my hair is in a ponytail and I<br />
have barely any make-up on," I type.<br />
"That's perfect," she responds.<br />
So the doorbell rings and my children, who are already bouncing off walls, start bouncing off the<br />
ceiling, too. I raise the sheer curtain and they pile onto the couch.<br />
My world - inside and out has been turned upside down. But yet, here are my children, my rocks,<br />
climbing over each other, yelling for sunglasses, and squeezing into the frame of the window to<br />
get a better view of Brigitte. Standing outside in the sun with her mask on, she laughs at the<br />
mania before her, and directs us. And then the dog wants to join in on the fun. She's climbing on<br />
the couch and although you can't see her in this photo, she, too, is in the middle of this hurricane<br />
of mania and I just have to laugh. Yes, Brigitte and FAWCO, this is my world in the Time of<br />
Coronavirus - full of energy, laughter and a little bit crazy. Documented for all to see. Thank you<br />
for the opportunity to share!<br />
If you have a photo that you would like to see on a future cover of <strong>Inspiring</strong> <strong>Women</strong>, please send<br />
it in to us. There are full details of the photo requirements on page 84 of this magazine. Please<br />
note: we can only accept portrait orientation images.<br />
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