Hello New Jersey!
It’s official - I’ve relocated to Lawrenceville, NJ, with my family, and couldn’t be happier. As much as I loved being in New England, and as much as I’m bummed to miss out on the fall, I have to say that I feel so very much at home here. I was born in New York and spent most of my childhood about three hours to the south, in Maryland, and there’s something that feels so familiar about this bioregion.
What I’m up to…
In my midwifery work, I’m excited to be offering volunteer midwifery services through the Muslim Center of Greater Princeton (MCGP), a free clinic open to all. This will include labwork, proof of pregnancy letters, prenatal appointments, requesting folks’ medical records on their behalfs, birth consultations, and provider referrals, following the model established by Jennie Joseph, an incredible midwife in Florida and a champion of equity in midwifery care. I am also taking on my own birthing clients seeking midwifery or doula care.
Another topic I’ve been interested in over the past year has been disaster preparation and climate change. Over the coming months I’ll be in a series of trainings to become a Disaster Response Crisis Counselor, a program offered to healthcare providers by the state of New Jersey. I want to really familiarize myself with the state and local response in disaster response, and then learn more about what individuals and communities can do to become as self-reliant as possible in these situations (and for some powerful inspiration check out this interview with the Reverand M. Kalani Souza about personal preparedness). At some point in the coming year or two I’ll be taking a training on midwifery in post-disaster situations as well, and all of this feels very important.
I have a lovely backyard where I’m plotting out my herb and vegetable gardens for the spring using permaculture techniques, and my compost bin is already filling up with scraps. If I knew that we’d be in this house for a while, I’d set up a chicken coop. I’ll be getting involved with some other local backyard permaculture projects, and now that my daughter is in kindergarten I want to put more of my energy into community resiliency. On the homefront, this means growing and preserving more of my own food, and in my community, it looks like sharing information and encouraging others to start taking first steps.
In short, everything I do, everything I cultivate about myself and in my community, is about being of service, and becoming more resilient, more flexible and adaptable, in a world that is changing as a result of our warming climate.
Oh, and knitting, I’m also knitting…
