Category: Uncategorized

  • Amna Al Qubaisi is the First Emirati Female Racing Driver
  • Amna Al Qubaisi has been setting records since she was just 17. Now 21, Amna just became the first-ever Arab woman to compete in Formula 4 — getting to this point was no easy feat, though. Amna’s passion for racing began when she was just 14 years old, and she cites her father as her inspiration. Her father, Khaled Al Qubaisi was the first Emirati driver to compete in the 24 hours of Le Mans, and her younger sister, Hamda, is also a racer at just 15. When Amna began, her family was very supportive of her racing career. “My family was very supportive they even came during my practice sessions especially my father he was giving me tips and advice,” she said. “I never went through it I’ve received a lot of support from everyone that pushed me to persist in what was perceived as a male dominated sport.” Throughout the years, Amna has fought hard to prove herself in a male-dominated sport. She has even been left out of races because of men not wanting to be beaten by a girl. However, she has always pushed to prove she deserved to be on the track. On Dec. 16, 2018, Amna became the first Middle Eastern woman to take part in a motorsport test program from Formula-E, the world’ premier electric car racing series. She drove for the Envision Racing team in Riyadh — the race was being held for the first time in Saudi Arabia. “It was an absolute honor and for sure something I was happy about after the lift of driving ban for women in Saudi Arabia. I was hugely welcomed especially the team they were extremely nice to me and gave me the huge opportunity to drive,” she said. Formula 1 is Amna’s ultimate dream, and she hopes to encourage more Arab drivers to participate in the sport. She also hopes young women will learn to not let others’ perceptions get the best of them. “You’re in it for you; just enjoy every moment of it,” said Amna. Image source: About Her
  • 107-Year-Old French Pianist Has Been Playing For 102 Years, Just Released New Album
  • Colette Maze began playing the piano at the age of five. Her grandmother also played the piano, and her mother played the violin — she recalls concerts at their large Paris apartment when she was a child.  Maze and her mother had a tough relationship, so she turned to music for the affection she was missing at home. “I always preferred composers who gave me tenderness,” Maze told NPR. “Music is an affective language, a poetic language. In music there is everything — nature, emotion, love, revolt, dreams; it's like a spiritual food." Born on June 16, 1914, Maze is now 107 years old. As a child, she knew she wanted to pursue music as a career — however, this was a challenge for girls in the early 20th century. Thanks to her special talents, she went on to take exams and became a teacher for nearly 20 years.  "I always knew the piano — from morning to night — she was always at the piano. She sort of breathed through the piano," said her 72-year-old son, Fabrice. "And for me, it was important that she could record, to leave a trace — to leave a message." Thanks to her son’s persuasion, Maze just released her sixth recorded album. She records her albums at home with the help of a sound engineer. She tends to record on Sundays, when the neighbors are out and the building is more quiet. She says that you have to look at life from all sides; there is always an angle of joy. “Youth is inside us,” said Maze. “If you appreciate what’s beautiful around you, you will find a sense of wonder in it.” Image source: The Tribune India
  • Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Honors Childbirth Center Nurses at Knoxville Hospital
  • Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails books to children free of charge from birth until they begin school at age five. If registered at birth, children will receive 60 books before graduating the program.  Nurses at the Childbirth Center at Parkwest Medical Center, located in Knoxville, Tennessee, will be honored with the Imagination Library’s Seeds of Imagination Literacy Award thanks to their dedication to getting children signed up for the program. Aside from online registrations, the nurses at Parkwest are credited with being Imagination Library’s top registration partners. "COVID-19 has made nursing jobs more demanding and dangerous, and yet these nurses continue to provide their patients with the upmost care and resources amid these uncertain times," officials said. By helping parents register their babies for the program before being discharged, these nurses are ensuring that infants born in their hospitals have access to books from the very beginning.  “Our nurses have really held on through this trial that we’ve been through, and you know, recently somebody said that this is going to be the greatest generation of health care workers to have ever been and that’s an honor,” said Holly Woodlee, the Nurse Manager at the Childbirth Center at Parkwest.  In Knoxville alone, there are 20,000 children registered for the book gifting program. “You register the children at birth which is what they’ve done such a great job doing here at Parkwest birthing center, and the goal is to receive all 60 books before they start kindergarten,” explained Bonny Naugher with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Knox County. “We really really appreciate these nurses making sure that these children are registered for the Imagination Library because there’s a million other things they have to do as well before a new baby’s discharged,” added Naughter. Image source: WATE
  • Babies Mixed Up in Hospital, Families Decide to Raise Them Together
  • Caterina Alagna and Melissa Fodera, both 23 now, were raised by the wrong families for three years after a hospital mix-up in Mazara del Vallo, a fishing port in Sicily. The mothers realized the mistake when the girls were three years old, and swapped the toddlers back to the right families. Then, the biological families decided to raise the girls together. “The girls effectively grew up with four parents and eight grandparents, and the experiment worked,” said Maura Caporiccio, author of Sisters Forever, a book about the girls’ story. The two women were born 15 minutes apart on New Year's Eve in 1998. Three years later, Marinella Alagna was picking up her daughter, Melissa, from nursery school and noticed a striking resemblance between another girl, Caterina, and her other two daughters.  "I recognised Caterina’s mother, Gisella Fodera, from the maternity ward and got suspicious — 15 days later we did DNA tests and my mind went blank. It was too surreal, too impossible," she said. Initially, the situation was challenging and the families were not keen on the idea of swapping children. “I challenge anyone to raise a daughter for three years then give her up over a simple mistake,” said Fodera.  The families then made the decision to gradually swap the girls and raise them together. The families grew increasingly close and the girls were inseparable. “We are a phenomenon. We have eight grandparents, two fathers, and two mothers,” said Caterina.  Melissa said she and Caterina were told the truth when they were eight. “Today, neither of us have any memory of life before we were three,” she said. “Today they are more like twins than sisters and there is a kind of love which binds the two families,” said Caporiccio. Image source: The Times
  • Boston Marathon Bombing Survivor Gives Birth, Reunites With Nurse Who Saved Her Life
  • Boston Marathon bombing survivor Jacqui Webb was welcomed by a familiar face to the hospital to give birth to her daughter, Ella, last month. It was Nichole Casper, one of the nurses who cared for Webb after the 2013 attack. After the bombing, Webb spent three weeks at Tufts Medical Center in Boston after suffering life-threatening wounds. She has only good things to say about the hospital, and has said she would always return to Tufts if necessary. “I thank my lucky stars every day that I was brought to that hospital,” she told CNN. “And I think when I walked out of there, eight years ago, I said, if I ever had a baby, I’ll be back at that hospital.” Ella Webb Norden was born via cesarean section late on Aug. 21, weighing eight pounds and five ounces.  Casper, who has now worked in the hospital’s Mother-Infant Unit for about four years, was one of the nurses that happened to be on duty the night of the bombing. She got to know Webb and her family during Webb’s three-week stay, but had not seen her since. Casper recognized Webb’s name on the list of incoming patients, so she made sure to be in the hallway to get Webb to her room post-delivery. "I think I just looked at her and said, 'Long time no see' and she kind of looked at me and she was a little dazed," Casper said. "She was like, 'Oh hi! They told me you were up here waiting for me.' So it was cute because they were trying to keep her calm downstairs, so they had told her that I was working." The first encounter was a little blurry for Webb, but she said, “I do remember that I was just elated to see her.” Webb, her husband Paul Norden, and their new baby were in the hospital for three days, and Casper even picked up an extra night shift so she could be there for their entire stay. Webb said it was very comforting to be treated by the same nurses and doctors who helped her through a traumatic event and that already know her complex medical history.  "To be able to see her have a brand-new baby and see her with Paul, it made me extremely happy,” Casper said. “You know, it was just something that I'll probably never experience again in my career." Image source: TODAY
  • Maia Chaka Makes History as First Black Woman to Officiate an NFL Game
  • Maia Chaka made history as the first Black woman to officiate an NFL game when she took the field on Sept. 12 in the New York Jets-Carolina Panthers game. "This historic moment to me is an honor and it's a privilege that I've been chosen to represent women and women of color in the most popular sport in America, proving that I can defy the odds and overcome," Chaka said in a video released by the NFL.   Chaka hopes to inspire and empower others “to step outside the box and to do something different.” She is the second woman hired as a full-time NFL official — the first full-time hire being Sarah Thomas, who officiated the Super Bowl earlier this year. Shannon Eastin was the first woman to officiate an NFL game, however, she was not a full-time hire. The first-ever Black official was Burl Toler, who was hired in 1965. Chaka’s announcement came in March and she said she was personally honored. “But this moment is bigger than a personal accomplishment,” she said. “It is an accomplishment for all women, my community, and my culture.” Chaka entered the NFL’s Officiating Development Program in 2014, a program that is designed to offer top officiating prospects in the collegiate ranks “exposure to in-game experiences that NFL officials face, to determine if they have the ability to succeed,” according to the NFL. Image source: Sporting News
  • Rapper Gunna Opens Free Clothing and Grocery Store in His Former Atlanta Middle School
  • The city of South Fulton, Georgia officially declared Sept. 16 to be Gunna Day, and the rapper celebrated by giving back to the town. The same day, Gunna’s Drip Closet opened at his former middle school, Robert McNair Middle School in College Park, an area in the southern part of Atlanta. Everything inside is free for students and their families.
    “Amazing. Perfect,” said the rapper as he saw the project unveiled. “This is things I said I was gonna do when I got in a position to do it, so I just gotta follow that.” Gunna’s project is in collaboration with Atlanta-based nonprofit, Goodr, which works to combat hunger. “He’s providing a way of life for these families and this is something that is legendary,” said Goodr founder Jasmine Crowe of Gunna. “I don’t think anything like this has been done before in the city of Atlanta.” Around 900 students and their families will now have access to nutritious food, snacks, toiletries, shoes, clothing and more. Shelves will be replenished every week, and there are even options for those that are vegetarian or vegan. “Since 2018, through his Gunna Great Giveaway Foundation, Gunna has exhibited his efforts to serve the greater good, by hosting free grocery stores in the community and providing over $100,000 in gift cards to families during the pandemic and supplied thousands of families in Houston, Texas with household items after the 2021 historic winter storms,” said Mayor Bill Edwards. “It just makes me feel like a better person,” Gunna told CBS46. “It makes me feel like I’m doing what needs to be done for my community.” Crowe tweeted that families can use the app or website to request food and students can shop for their families whenever they need. “This is a dream come true,” tweeted Crowe. “I’ll never forget today and I am so excited to see the results this access will bring. I have so many people to thank and my heart is full.” Image source: Sandra Rose
  • Artist Sends Nonverbal Autistic Teenager Butterfly Machine After Video of Him Watching It Goes Viral
  • Odin Frost is a nonverbal autistic teenager that lives with his parents in Tyler, Texas. Several years ago, his parents took him to a local butterfly exhibit, where Odin was enchanted by a particular butterfly machine. “Odin was so moved by it that he said the word ‘butterfly’ for the first time and just kept laughing with joy,” said his father, Tim Frost. Tim shared the clip to Instagram and it ended up reaching the original artist and creator of the machine, J.C. Fontanive. 
     
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    A post shared by Frost Family (@quaruntim)

    "He asked for an address to send a gift to Odin to. We were assuming it would maybe be an art print as a card, but to our surprise he sent us the same exact art installation! We were shocked and moved to tears," Frost said. "J. C. Fontanive hand painted each frame and built the inner workings and motors by hand. He is one of the kindest and most talented humans we’ve met in this life and hope to get to hang with him face to face soon!" Image source: Real Fix Magazine
  • ‘We Have a Lot of Love’: Couple Adopts Two Sets of Twins to Keep Family Together
  • Karen and Tobias Thompson from Cincinnati, Ohio adopted 14-year old twins Wilnya and William and 9-year-old twins Shania and Sharleathea on the same day. The couple, both 55, had been caring for William and Wilnya, who are Karen’s twin nephew and niece, since 2015. Approximately one year later, the Thompsons started fostering William and Wilnya’s half-sisters, who are also twins. “We had an empty house, an empty nest, and then we ended up with the four,” Karen told Fox News. The Thompsons got married in 2014 and already had seven children from previous marriages, who are all adults now. The couple also has 28 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. “There’s never been a dull moment. But my grandkids, I can send them back home,” said Karen. “Now that we have our own kids again and are raising them together, it’s a good thing, but it’s a challenge, too.” The Thompsons heard about William and Wilnya having trouble at home in 2015, so they took them in. Not long after, Shania and Sharleathea were in the foster system and constantly being moved around, so the Thompsons let them come visit. “They didn’t want to go home, back to the other foster home,” said Karen. Tobias suggested they become foster parents so they could care for all four siblings. “They’re family, so we might as well keep them together,” said Karen. Over the past several years, Karen says there have been many challenges, but the children have made a lot of progress. “You can see the difference,” Karen said. “They have been through a lot… this is the light at the end of the tunnel.” Image source: Fox News
  • Breast Cancer Survivor Creates App to Help Women Self-Conduct Breast Exams
  • After surviving a battle with breast cancer, 36-year-old Jessica Baladad became passionate about educating women on how to conduct self-breast exams. In her downtime  during the pandemic, she created the app “Feel For Your Life” to help women conduct breast exams from home. “I’m not an app developer. I’m just like a passionate advocate,” Baladad told News Channel 5 in Nashville. “Women aren’t learning how to do these [breast exams].” Baladad had her first scare with breast cancer when she was in college. "I accidentally stumbled upon a lump in my breast, and it turned out to be a benign occurrence called a fibroadenoma. I had it surgically removed and it was that experience that put me in the habit of doing self breast exams," she said.  About ten years later, when Baladad was 33 years old, she had another scare. “It was March of 2018. I skipped my self-breast exam because I had an appointment with my practitioner that month,” she recalled. “I went and saw her, she examined my breasts, and didn’t say anything to me about a lump.” Two weeks later, Baladad said, “It was time it was part of my routine to check my breasts at that time and I thought, ‘should I really do an exam?’ And I thought, ‘yeah I should stay in the habit.’ And sure enough I found a lump on my left side.” After several doctors visits, her worst fear was confirmed: she had breast cancer. For the next three years, she went through 16 rounds of chemo, a double mastectomy, 24 rounds of radiation and a hysterectomy. She now has one more surgery to go to reconstruct her breasts — the original surgery was delayed due to the pandemic.  Instead of sulking while waiting for the next surgery, Baladad put her energy to good use. “One in eight women statistically are, you know, they get breast cancer… but if it’s caught early, you know, you have options,” she explained. So, she created her app Feel For Your Life.  “I just want women’s breast health to be taken a little more seriously and that some of the stigma be taken away from it. Women talk about their menstrual cycles, but we don’t really talk so much about you know our breast health so much,” she said.  “I wanted women to...be able to track and monitor their progress through their exams, and I wanted them to be able to set reminders so that they knew when to do their self breast exams.” Baladad said she hopes to continue to develop the app and add an easy in-app telehealth option in the future. For now, her focus is helping women sign up. Image source: News Channel 5 Nashville