I AM celebrating seven amazing women from the Women Across Borders Anthologies.
When the host of Watch Radio NY requested an interview with me, I asked him if it was okay for me to invite life changers to join me. I am sharing some excerpts from their stories.
Dr. Jackie Evan Phillips — born in St Lucia, living in Connecticut

My journey towards being a Midwife of Purpose came through stages of being broken, displaced, and restored. Through this journey, I experienced a divorce, earned a doctorate and got displaced from a higher education administrator’s position. Coupled with this journey were two major eclipses or shifts in my life. An eclipse happens when you can realise that your calling becomes greater than your current circumstances. Through this process, you can transcend to a higher mode of thinking where you can connect with your spirit and align yourself as one with nature.

Christine Neblett – born in Guyana and living in NY
That day I began to have the real experience of dreaming and bringing my dream world alive. I was immediately scheduled for an interview with the agency where they tested my proficiency in using Microsoft Office and typing speed. One week later I completed my assignment with CTO and was now ready to move on to my next career move. I called Monique to let her know I was available as we agreed and she was so happy to have me start my first temporary assignment with Deutsche Bank. My first assignment lasted two weeks, covering someone’s vacation. Due to my work ethic and desire to go the extra mile, I landed another assignment in the same department for six months, then another for three months, which finally led to my permanent position, allowing me to live a dream.

Dr. Safeeya Mohamed – Trinidad
We received the updates that the accident was horrific and that the victim was stuck in the car.
The vehicle had to be cut open to get to the victim. It never occurred to me that my brother could be remotely involved. The next thing I remember, I was looking at the body of my brother
covered in blood in a hearse. The strident, agonising scream of my mother in the A&E that early morning has not escaped my mind almost 17 years later as she howled “my son died, my
son died, nobody’s helping us!” But nobody could, as his spirit departed at the point of impact. Up to this day, I ponder where the strength came from to navigate that night.

Shanon Paar – Arizona
When I was six years old I started school in Mesa, Arizona, so I began staying with my mom and her husband routinely. It was like going from heaven to hell. It was a horror story that’s yet to be written. While at grandma’s I was filled with the love of a grandma and Jesus daily. On the other hand, at my mother’s house, I was filled with Rock ‘N Roll, drugs and inappropriate, wild sex parties. Ultimately, from such an environment you can imagine the kinds of abuse that mom’s house provided. When I was 11 years old, grandma Shirley died and my stepdad left. My mom had an emotional breakdown, so I ran away! I couldn’t take any more.

Andrea Edwards – born in Guyana, living in Florida
As I sat in the back of my dad’s Nissan Bluebird, I peered through the windows at the images on the fence of the Guyana Botanical Gardens and Zoological Park. The radio blasted the popular
calypso song “1985” by a then-popular calypsonian. I would have just celebrated my sixth birthday, quite oblivious to the concept of time, but that song would not allow me to forget
that it was 1985.

I knew that I would be in big trouble if I told my dad what had happened. It was a secret: the kind that could get me into big trouble. I didn’t know how much trouble, but I wasn’t willing to
take a chance. “Shhhh… Don’t tell anyone.” Maybe it’s the trauma of my experience, but for some reason I still cannot remember how
often it happened, when it started, or even when it ended

Penny Phakahi –South Africa
I have had my share of turmoil and I strongly believe that it is these stints of turmoil that brought me this far in my life. I was and perhaps is still in my refinery process.
As a young girl, I grew up with one main ambition, wanting to get away, far away from the system of thinking or the box that we often find ourselves in. Apart from understanding myself I always dared to be different, which was a constant struggle when surrounded by my situations. I grew up under a strict Christian family with my grandfather and step granny, as my mother lost her mom when she was quite young. She had a duty to take care of her two young siblings until my step granny came into the picture.
Life was never easy, in all the challenges though, my mother had big aspirations.

Claudia Vidal – born in The Dominican Republic, living in New Jersey .
I exhaled and asked myself, “time, where you have been?” How is it possible to lose track of all the time and energy spent on fulfilling my role within this organisation? Nodding my head, for the 50th time, I searched for an answer that proved I should continue working for this organisation. That my sacrifices were not in vain; yet I could not find one valid reason to stay. I abruptly turned my body to the right, looked straight ahead, and walked north through the congestive sidewalk in Lexington Avenue.

Meanwhile, reminding myself that I’d made the right decision, as I walked towards 128th street my eyes met my husband’s in a subtle attempt to ease his worried stare. I thanked him for supporting my decision despite knowing that it would significantly affect our financial situation. I assured him that the best was yet to come

There are many more phenomenal co-authors and I encourage reading of their stories as we continue to celebrate life BEYOND THE RUNWAY.