This feature is part of the ‘Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices’ series. A reflective and powerful poem by Lorraine Doherty a former 2022 WITH (Women in the Home, New Beginnings) course participant.
Women in the home
No time for your phone.
So much to do,
No peace to go to the loo.
Nursing, chauffeuring, cooking, cleaning
Trying to stop the kids kicking and screaming.
Always in demand
Could do with an extra hand.
When you feel like you are going to
Blow your top
Remember to breathe, and then
You will stop.
Life can be tough
But it’s okay to say no
When You’ve had enough.
It’s important to enjoy
Having the craic
And remember your friends
Will always have your back.
By Lorraine Doherty
Women’s Collective Ireland-Donegal ( formally NCCWN Donegal Women’s Network) have been offering the WITH course to women in Donegal for over 4 years through the funding support of DLDC under the SICAP programme. The aim of this 8 week course is to support women in life-long learning opportunities. Promoting personal development, well-being and positive mental health.
The course is facilitated by Personal Development Coach & Speaker Emily Whelan. The course is designed with the view “It is important for women to feel valued, to recognise the transferable skills they already possess, and to realise their potential. When we believe in ourselves anything is possible.”
This course will be running again in September in Pettigo, starting Monday 19th September, 10am-1pm in the Termon Complex. If you are interested in participating in this programme please fill in our form here and we will get in contact with you.
Women’s Collective Ireland- Donegal are always looking for women to share their stories and looking for women to write features on topics of their choice which we will profile as part of our Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices’ series.
This feature is part of the ‘Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices’ series. Written by Elena Tabandzhova, founder of Donegal Day Out website and Facebook group
My name is Elena T.
I’m originally from Bulgaria, a mother of three children, and a web designer in our family web design agency. We came to Ireland in 2017, and since then, we have been happy to live in Letterkenny.
When we arrived in Donegal, the curiosity about the county was immeasurable. We had to know where we live and what our new homeland looks like. Also, our move to Ireland was supposed to bring lifestyle changes – a more active life, more outdoor experience, nature education for my children.
The problem is that it is a bit hard to force ourselves to go out of the house. All the things that are waiting to be done – laundry, dusting, cooking are waiting for us, and I feel if I don’t do them soon, the whole household will collapse on my shoulders. Also, it is hard to go out in the rain and wind instead of enjoying the comfort of the home and your favourite show. Lastly, going out with children could be a bit of hell. So much food to prepare, so many clothes to take, and someone is always unhappy.
But in the end, I didn’t want to watch cool places on Facebook; I wanted to experience them! So we made a short trip to Woodquarter in Mulroy Bay and liked it. It was so rechargeable to our minds, and our little boy was so happy. Then we decided to do something more significant – to visit all 39 Wild Atlantic Way discovering points in Donegal. We planned it for two days in the Easter break, but it was so amazing, and there were so many things to see, so we couldn’t do even half of what we wanted.
After those two days on the road around Donegal, we started to go out every weekend to find new places to visit. Slowly being out and about becomes an essential part of our weekly routine, as important as the morning tea.
And the need for Donegal Day Out came up.
When we travelled on the Wild Atlantic way, we had a hard time finding the correct locations of some of the stops. Also, there was not much information about many of the places we visited. So I started to collect information for myself – to easily plan family trips for days out in Donegal. Then I thought I could share it with others who may find it helpful. It could help people improve their lifestyle – outside the house, the shops, the noise, and the commercial world.
So when we started our family website business, one of the first sites I created was www.donegaldayout.ie It had to be an easy-to-use, well-organised, complete informative online guide for outdoor experience planning in Donegal. And at last, it had to give the users a bit of rest from all the advertising and commerciality that surround us from everywhere.
When an idea meets creators and how “I” became “We.”
Soon after I created the first pages, a very close friend, Dalia Taftazani, hugged the idea with her heart, and we became a team. She is a great photographer and loves outdoor adventures and exploring Donegal.
When the project grew up and became more significant, the third team member came to take care of it – Sonya Pepelyashkova. She is a business consultant and our project manager who works with us to develop Donegal Day Out into the most used online guide to planning a day out in Donegal.
It took time to settle up and find our place as a team, but slowly we got there, and now the project benefits a lot from our different personalities and skills.
Today Donegal Day Out has a spirit.
Today Donegal Day Out is an online guide with more than 120 places in 11 different categories. We add more every month and improve the guide by seeing the user’s needs. And it is lovely to see how it already works and has hundreds of users every month. https://www.donegaldayout.ie/
Our Facebook community has grown up, and for about a year, the group has over 3,400 members. In this group, everyone can inspire others with a great place to go or get inspired for a day out in Donegal, so don’t miss joining and inviting your friends. https://www.facebook.com/groups/487215939072024
If you feel the same about Donegal’s nature and the significance of the outdoor experience, then Donegal Day Out is an excellent place for you. And if you like the idea – please help us spread the word and get more people to have an active, mindful, and happier day out in Donegal.
Women’s Collective Ireland- Donegal are always looking for women to share their stories and looking for women to write features on topics of their choice which we will profile as part of our Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices’ series.
This feature is part of the NCCWN Donegal Women’s Network, ‘Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices’ series. Written by Sorcha Mc Elchar, a qualified Nutritionist, Healthy Lifestyle Blogger, columnist, Fitness instructor, and YouTuber from Donegal.
My nutrition story began early on and from a very young age. I had a keen interest in Nutrition and still have a project from Primary School where we had to write what we wanted to be in the future. Some of my classmates wrote they wanted to be a Hairdresser, a Guard, a Teacher etc but what did I write…. a Dietitian. Most 12-year-olds didn’t even know what a Dietitian was…but unfortunately, I did because I had met several growing up…. along with numerous Doctors, Consultants, and Nurses. Why was that? …I hear you say.
At the age of two I became very ill. It began with sore eyes so bad I couldn’t bare to go out in daylight (I also had very pale skin so you could be thinking Vampire here….) but along with chronic diarrhoea and a failure to thrive the Doctors just couldn’t figure out the cause. That was until at age four when I went into a full body cramp (very painful) and it was discovered my blood Calcium levels were extremely low and I was finally diagnosed with a rare Auto-immune Disease called APECED syndrome. Due to two faulty genes, my Immune system was attacking the hormone producing glands in my body. My failure to thrive was because my gut didn’t absorb enough nutrients from my food. The Dietitians tried everything to help me put on weight from shakes to a ‘green card’ allowing me to eat as much junk food as I could…but nothing worked. If I managed to put on a few kilos I would become ill and lose it all again. Life was running in a vicious circle. I had no quality of life. It was either school (if I was well enough) hospital or home. I had no energy for anything else. If I managed a full week of school, we celebrated.
Then at age 17 my Doctors decided I wasn’t going to live much longer if they couldn’t get enough nutrients into me so in a last ditch attempt to save me I was put on a specialised personal Intravenous Nutrition that bypassed my Gut entirely through a permanent central line in my chest at allow the nutrition to go straight into my bloodstream. Then a miracle happened…. within days we could see improvements. I had more energy, I slept better, I caught less infections, I wasn’t cold all the time. my hair, skin and nails were healthier looking. I also felt happier in myself and stronger.
This was my light bulb moment where I saw how important Nutrition was. I still had my condition…I still had loads of medication to take…. I wasn’t cured… but my quality of life improved one hundred-fold. Thankfully growing up my parents instilled in me the importance of hard work and perseverance. I also had an amazing SNA at Secondary school Trisha Redmond (Finn Valley College) who helped push me out of my comfort zone more and I realised I could do a lot more than I thought I could if I just put my mind to it and now, I had the energy to do this!
I was able to start dance classes with Aislingi Academy in Stranorlar and there I found a new ‘happy place’ where I could get stronger and foster a love for performing. In time I started college at LYIT doing an honours degree in Food Science & Nutrition where I graduated with a first-class degree thanks to the amazing support from my PA’s Therese Fitzsimmons and Bernie Alcorn and all my lecturers who realised despite my illness I was willing to give them 110%. The Disability officer Rosin Mc Cormack in LYIT and everyone at the Curve including the College Nurse Hannah Glackin saw my abilities instead of my disabilities and encouraged me all the way.
When I graduated, we were in lockdown so even though I had ideas of where I could get a job, I had to stay isolated due to my immune deficiency. So Covid motivated me to set up sorchashealthyliving.com where I Blog scientifically sound Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyle advice. I also upload videos to my Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube channel and offer one-to-one Nutrition and Lifestyle consultations and packages which can be found on my webpage and Facebook page. My goal is to help people realise how important good Nutrition is, because healthy eating doesn’t have to be complicated. Small steps can often make the biggest change….and most importantly….enjoy food!
NCCWN Donegal are always looking for women to share their stories and looking for women to write features on topics of their choice which we will profile as part of our Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices’ series.
This feature is part of the NCCWN Donegal Women’s Network, ‘Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices’ series. Written by Angela Mc Glanaghey the store manager of Simple Simons in Donegal Town, to raise awareness to the global movement and campaign ‘Plastic Free July’.
As the manager of a local health store business ‘Plastic Free July’ is important to us because every single day we see such needless waste. As a business we try and reduce this in any way we can; providing refill solutions to cut down on plastic, offering boxes instead of plastic bags to carry shopping, reusing old packaging to send out our online orders etc. If we don’t stop what we are doing our world is going to run out of space. We must act now to make things better for further generations.
Plastic Free July begins this month, but what is it all about? We all know by now how important it is to cut down on plastic but sometimes it’s hard to know where to begin. There are so many small changes we can make which WILL add up to make a difference, so here are my top 5 tips for a plastic free July.
The main thing I recommend is first of all not to be too hard on yourself. When you first try to start it can be really daunting to try and cut all plastic out. Just realise that to make this planet a better place we don’t need 1000 people being plastic free all the time. We need as many people as possibly making small changes which are sustainable. I recommend trying two or three small swaps a week and building that over time.
Here are a few you can do
Reusable coffee cups. SO many of us are fond of our takeaway coffee. During the pandemic really it was all we had. So many nice things were taken away from us and sometimes getting out for a takeaway coffee was a lifeline. Making a swap to a reusable cup can make SUCH a difference. Remember, it’s not about ditching ALL plastic, that’s a really hard sacrifice to make. It’s more about reducing single use plastic. Even if you only get two takeaway coffees a week if you’ve got your own cup that’s over 100 cups you have saved from landfill. And many of us drink way more than that in a week!
Bring your own bag! How many of us have a drawer sitting at home full of plastic bags? By simply popping one or two into the boot of your car or into your handbag you can reduce the amount you buy from now on. Investing a few euro into a “bag for life” means you will have a strong and sturdy one you can use for years to come.
Menstrual cups. The amount of waste a single woman produces in her lifetime simply by having a menstrual cycle is shocking. Menstrual cups are a fantastic solution. Each one lasts for around 10-15 years. No need for tampons or pads then. Most menstrual cups are silicone based, and while they may take a cycle or two to get used to they are fantastic. Much more hygienic, clean and plastic free. This is probably my personal favourite of the swaps as I think they are a real game changer!
Refills. In Simple Simons we offer refills on dried foods, body care, household cleaners, natural yoghurt, milk, olive oil and apple cider vinegar. Simply bring in your own container and we will refill it for you. We aren’t the only shop doing refills so ask around. This means the plastic bottle or tub you normally use once and then throw away can be reused hundreds of times, saving so much unwanted single use packaging.
Beeswax wraps. In most Irish households clingfilm is a staple for wrapping sandwiches, leftovers etc. By swapping to a beeswax wrap you are choosing a much more sustainable option. The wraps are made with cloth and coated in beeswax. You can wrap food with them or use to cover food in a bowl. They can be wiped clean with a hot wet cloth and each wrap will work for up to a year. After that you can re-wax them and use again.
Plastic Free July is a global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution – so we can have cleaner streets, oceans, and beautiful communities. Will you be part of Plastic Free July by choosing to refuse single-use plastics? To find out more about this global movement check out the Plastic Free July the website
NCCWN Donegal are always looking for women to share their stories and looking for women to write features on topics of their choice which we will profile as part of our Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices’ series.
Women's Collective Donegal 