THE CAST
Mohsina Honnorat
Mohsina was brought up in a conservative Indian household and grew up in Lenasia, south of Johannesburg which was created in the 60's as part of the group areas act during apartheid period. Lenz was a dustbowl when she was a child with very few trees. They were supposed to be 'closed in' and not mix with the other races. It was only when she was at Wits University in the 80's that she met with different cultures and subsequently married a 'white' Italian foreigner, hence her Italo-French surname. Mohsina had four incredible and different birth experiences in three different countries. Italy, Egypt and SA. She decided to study homeopathy fulltime at University of Johannesburg (UJ) when her 4th child was 2. It took 10 long exciting years and she completed her Master’s degree with a successful research dissertation on the effect of a homeopathic remedy on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in women and dedicated her research to 'Women' for their strength, resilience and ability to bounce back. She will graduate in October this year! Her interest in "BOLD" is that women need to be bold to challenge convention, bold to speak and stand for the truth and bold to be vulnerable and make their own choices. She loves the fact that Bold uses the Arts as a form of educating and empowering women all over the world. Knowledge is power!
moshrhon@gmail.com
0726560509
Rosalia Pihlajasaari
Rosalia is an experienced professional doula since 2003. She is a mother of 2 children, each born differently yet powerfully. Her first child, Davin was born by emergency caesarean birth at the end of a long induced labour and her daughter Skyla was a VBAC naturally in water.This led Rosalia to becoming a doula and a VBACtivist - an activist for the right to birth vaginally after caesarean births. She has supported many mothers and fathers through a multitude of different births and advocates for the right of a woman to choose her birth. She believes in empowering women to know their bodies and to be comfortable with all the stages of womanhood. Rosalia is currently also studying midwifery and continues to assist at births as a doula.
+27(82)780-8965 +27(11)646-3774
www.birthing.co.za
Doula, Midwife student,
Conscious Birth Activist,
Sacred Space Doula Trainer, VBACtivist
Birthing From Within Childbirth Educator and Mentor.
Bongeka Madiba
A passionate “Free Birthing” Mother of 3, I was attracted to the idea of edutainment as a tool to a) tell women’s’ birthing stories, and b) bring to light the fact that “Mother Knows Best” during a birth, and that medical staff are aids to her, and c) educate women about the myriad of choices they have available to them.
I’d always be heavily de-motivated when I heard women speak in fear of their bodies’ natural processes, and in ignorance of the beauty and perfection of their bodies – all because of education, or mis-education. The fear is crippling, unnecessary and disempowering, and yet birth is an empowering and divine function.
I am privileged to be part of the BOLD movement which - I have learnt - merely reminds women of this invaluable knowledge. I believe all women will benefit – and hear their own voices - from this production.
Nicole Theron
Nicole works as a communications manager for an online start up. A lover of crafts, construction, music and food, she is passionate about sharing her experiences and ideas through her blog, and her songs. She lives with her two children, husband and bull terrier in Johannesburg. She became aware of mother centred, non invasive birth through her own birth experiences, and is involved with the BOLD production of Karen Brody's play in Joburg as a means to broadcast a vital message to all mothers, soon to be mothers, and young women in the community. She wants you to know that YOUR BODY ROCKS!
http://soundcloud.com/nicole-theron
www.goddessundressed.wordpress.com
Theoni Papoutsis
Theoni has been supporting pregnant women for 17 years. She draws on a variety of modalities to support women emotional and spiritually through pre-pregnancy into motherhood. A few of the modalities are pregnancy yoga, kahuna massage, HypnoBirthing, life alignment and many more. She felt drawn to BOLD as she feels that theatre is a wonderful way to educate and entertain women and families about birth. She is all about making conscious choices and decisions about your life and that of your unborn child.
www.consciousbirth.co.za
083 229 3253.
Hilary Green
Hilary is a wife, mom, artist and doula, born and raised in Jozi. As a result of her own birth experiences, she found her calling as a doula and she loves the work she gets to do with expectant and labouring moms and their babies. She believes that women need to know that they have choices in birth and that they need to be supported in their choices. Hilary is all about defending these rights and believes that the production of “Birth” by Karen Brody is a valuable tool in creating awareness of women’s rights to choice and support.
(083)634-5766
www.mother-nurture.weebly.com
hilarygreen@connect.co.za
Elizabeth Friedman
I am a wife and mother of two awesome boys (aged 9 and 13 years) who I love dearly.
I worked in the corporate environment for 17 years before taking a leap of faith and becoming a doula. It has been a challenging journey but I have loved every moment of it. I worked at Linkwood Clinic (before it became a Netcare hospital) for four years. I worked in client liaison position and assist to the unit manager. I learnt so much from the midwives in the unit and was grateful for the “on the job” training.
I worked at Genesis Clinic for three years at the Head of Doula services. It was a wonderful opportunity to be involved in a birth unit that was being developed from the ground up. There were lots of new challenges and procedures to put in place. I was involved in training and guidance of new doula during my stay.
I recently joined the private midwifery practice of Marilyn Sher and Veronica Park. It allows me the opportunity to be more involved in the overall care of pregnant women and provides me with one on one learning experiences.
I have also run my own private doula practice for the past 8 years, to provide couples with the much needed additional support that they need. This is much passion and I never get enough of being involved with the birth of families. I was also trained as a Mama Bamba facilitator by Robyn Sheldon and hope to offer these indepth classes in the near future.
I am passionate about giving women information so that they can make the right decision for themselves and their families.
Contact number: 083 664 4113
Nina Frank
Nina once had dreams about being in the theatre, but after a couple of years as a stage manager, her life didn't work out that way. Instead she was drawn into the medical field. Her passion was midwifery and although she spent some time in different hospitals, what caller her most was home births and she devoted several years of her life to that. Later on she started investigating many different healing modalities and has a private practice working with many of these. You can visit her at www.ninafrank.co.za
Yvette Claassen
Yvette is married to Chris and a mother of 3 wonderful children, all water birthed. She is a doula in training assisting mothers to experience the magic of birth. She shares her experience as a working mother to find the balance between work and home.
When she saw the play, Birth by Karen Brody for the first time, she was captivated by the exquisite detail and the serene truth of each birth story. The magical sacred energy of birthing women is encapsulated in each sentence of this play. “I love it!”.
Yvetteclaassen@gmail.com
076 125 8934
Debbie Walton
Debbie is a copy editor in the flesh but a doula in her soul. Debbie chose to be part of “BOLD” because she is passionate about birth, babes and moms and the wellbeing of all during pregnancy and birth. She wants to raise awareness in our c-section rich society. Debbie is a young mom of two perfect girls and believes that the way she birthed these angels shaped their lives and hers.
Brenda Sephuma
Im currently working as Doula at Gensis Clinic and in Alex - Clinic,
giving and supporting the care giving system through containment,
empathy, curiosity and concern.
The indigenous practise of (post partum) where a woman support a new
mother so that she can bond and attand to her new infant.
The mother's relationship with her baby is prioritised by other women in
the family who take care of the practical concern in the new mother
and can concentrate on her child.
Shannon Roach
I am a midwifery student, studying through NARM and love everything about birth. I believe that our bodies were created by God to give birth naturally and powerfully. God gave woman this unique gift of birth to empower her physically, mentally and spiritually!
I believe that women need to be more educated about their choices in birth and I got involved in this fantastic play to try and get the word out there that we as women DO have a choice and that we need to educate ourselves and not just blindly trust that our care providers have our best interest at hearts!
