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The pandemic-proof journey to sustainable eating

By Cathy Delhanty

Just before the Corona-disaster hit, Delft Mamas published our family’s plan to sustainable eating. How has our plan held up under stress? How do we deal with grocery stores selling out due to panic shopping, while at the same time we want to stay home as much as possible during the lock-down? We examined each of our key tips to determine if any changes were necessary. Can we build a pandemic-proof sustainable eating plan?

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The Journey to Sustainable Eating

Our family recycles plastic, paper, bottles, and food waste. We don’t own a car. The house electricity is on 100% wind-power and we keep the temperature low enough that everyone needs to wear a sweater and put a blanket over their laps on the couch. Every year, I tackle another aspect of our family’s environmental footprint and this year is the time for food. Let’s talk about sustainable eating.

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Swimming Lessons in Delft: A refresher post

A hot topic on any school yard. When, where, how…waiting lists…. A challenge for any parent, but for our international DelftMaMa parents it must be a nightmare I can imagine. I’m Marjolijn, voluntary swimming instructor at swimming club d’ELFT and mother of 2 boys. Because I know how challenging living abroad can be, I am a member of DelftMaMa. Since I joined DelftMaMa, questions on swimming lessons came by on a regular basis and I replied multiple times; hence time to write it down in a blog.

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Delftian Entrepreneurs: Eva Amaral of Multipaths Coaching

Uprooting your life and moving abroad is often an isolating and all-consuming experience, no matter how many times you may have done it before. The highs are high, but the lows are sometimes lower than you could have ever fathomed. 

Change is the only constant, as the trite cliche goes, but when life throws changes at you left and right, there’s little comfort to be found in dusty old cliches. That’s where I found myself before my conversation with Eva Amaral – weary and a tad emotionally disheveled after yet another move. Albeit, this time it was within the Netherlands, but far enough from Delft to register as a move away from “home.” 

Little did I know that an interview in which I was supposed to be finding out about Eva’s coaching business was just what I needed to go back to the core of what I want. Because that’s what Eva does, with warmth, honesty and a gentle nudge – she helps her clients make sense of their values in the midst of topsy-turvy lives.

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Unity in Diversity: A Fresh Voice In Refugee Work

Increasing numbers of refugees entering the EU has sparked debates about helping them to successfully resettle into their new communities. Last year, Delft Mama Julia Candy interviewed some refugee families about their integration and how other Mamas could help on a more individual basis. Join us as Delft Mama Hagar Taha provides an overview of some organizations that serve refugees. She also shares an interview with the head of one such organization, Unity in Diversity.

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Deciding to stop having more children: A parenting story

Welcome to the first blog post after the summer hiatus! Caroline Kappers brings us a thought-provoking piece about choosing to have, not have, or stop having, children. Each couple’s choice is an extremely personal one, and I thank Caroline for being open about their choice. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and happy reading. We look forward to hearing from you about this topic in the comments!

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Soft Landing in Delft (SLiDe) Programme

Agashnee Bodos stepped in as coordinator of Delft MaMa’s revamped SLiDe programme earlier this year. SLiDe, short for “Soft Landing in Delft”,  was originally designed to provide mentorship for newcomers to Delft in order to ease their transition. We’ve asked Agashnee to explain a bit about the revamped programme, what she expects to see in the future, and how you can help.

At the moment Agashnee is on maternity leave with her first child. We wish her all the best, and look forward to her return later in the year.

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How to reduce, reuse and recycle in Delft

Afval. Rubbish. Garbage. Trash. Whatever you call it, it’s a dirty business and one that everyone is confronted with on a daily basis. But when you start a family, concerns you might have had about the volume of waste you generate may as well go out with the trash.  The decision to go forth and multiply seems to correlate to a mushrooming of “stuff”–much of it necessary, some of it not. Over time, many of these new acquisitions need to be disposed of. Toys, nappies, baby clothes: out they go!

The question is: does it have to be this way? With this post, I want to get to the bottom of recycling in Delft but also gather ideas on how we might reduce the amount of waste we, as parents, generate in the first place; how we might reuse the things we have in our possession and recycle those that we really don’t need any more.  Brain dump your waste-avoidance ideas in the comments section below!

by Julia Candy

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Learning Dutch in Delft: 2019 update

In our blogiversary post last month, Tarja mentioned that Marie’s post about learning Dutch in Delft should be reposted (and updated) every once in a while. There are always new people coming in, and many struggle with the same basic questions, among which is learning the language, she wrote.

There are resources for everyone, no matter their level of Dutch. So, grab a cup of your favorite beverage and join us as we revisit how to learn Dutch in Delft. Veel leesplezier!

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Blasts from the past: revisiting the DMM blog’s gems

On April 18, 2016, Tarja van Veldhoven and Agnès Battlori Benet posted the very first post of the Delft MaMa blog. This April we’re celebrating the blog’s 3rd blogiversary!

I talked with some of our past editors about their experiences working with the blog and if they wanted to share some memorable posts for your reading pleasure. As I tried to map a timeline of people who helped run the blog, I quickly realized that while Tarja and later Marie were major coordinators of the blog, there were MANY contributors that helped keep the blog running smoothly. While I haven’t been able to track you all down, know that we appreciate you! Happy reading…

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