Bonn

 

 

Agii Gosse: Since becoming a mother my life completely changed! Since the birth of my daughter I am responsible for two. Giving birth was an extraordinary experience - wonderful and painful. To me motherhood means: love!
Anjou Malik:
Anna P: Becoming a mother changed my life in a very deep and touching way – I learned to take care for myself, to be present and not to lose faith. I became a mum under very difficult circumstances, and my life has ever since been pretty tough, but I know how far this took me and I don´t want to miss it. I learned to trust my intuition and be responsible for my actions.I have deep trust that my son will be able to live a happy life, and to stay “feet on the ground”. Sure, a digital and globalized world has a lot of dark sides, but I think teaching a young person its own worthiness is a good way to give him the abilities to find its own way therein. I try to show him that there´s always a way, that life is full of (unexpected) gifts – so I don´t have any serious concerns concerning my child.
Azarakhsh Chamanzar:
Beate Ochs:
Bettina Ballendat:Becoming a mother has changed my life completley. I wish my sons to be happy and healthy, live in freedom and peace. My wish for all mothers is that they can live with their children in health and peace.
Carolin Sch:
Christiane v. Stockum:
Christina N:
Claudia Preis:
Erika Vonder Heide:
Gabriele Landfried:
Ganesha:
Janin Peter: Since having children I have much more responsibility and need to plan everything. My life became more intensive and my children make my life rich. To me motherhood means the whole world. I wish that all children have a home, enough to eat, and education.
Jessika A:
Kathrin Kaiser: As a mother I would like to be seen as superwoman! With a big heart full of love. As a mother you have to fight against the bureaucracy of life. It is not easy to afford a child. My wish for all mothers is to make sure you are happy and then show your children how it works.
Laura O:
Lene Pampohla: In one word, to me, motherhood means respsonsibility. My one wish for all mothers is holidays without the child. A distance from the child is important to find a way to ourselves and to generate power. Afterwards it is easier to continue living alone with the child. In 18 years I have had four holidays alone, and I remember it was so good for my nerves, my heart, and for my child, too.
Lorena:
Lydia Schwonke: Somce I became a mother everything changed; nothing is the way it used to be. First of all, I lost my personal freedom. Things that used to be normal, like going out spontaneously or planning my career – all of this wasn’t possible anymore. For everything I planned, I had to start organizing and paying for care for my child and even so some things just weren’t possible anymore. On top of that, I have to live with the bad conscience, the feeling of being a bad mother that is often placed on me by society. My daily routine is dictated by what the baby needs, it’s screaming, my days are usually chaotic and much less structured than they used to be. Sleeping without interruption became rare. I was completely exhausted. There are no free days or holidays from the job you’re performing, you’re on duty 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You start to long for having your body to yourself – without a baby or child sticking to it.
Maggie Thomas: As my daughter was born when I was 21, everything changed when I became a mother. My birth experience was painful and exhausting but also amazing. My wish for all mothers is recognition: because being a mom is a hard job!
Manar Aid:
Manuela Blumenau: As a mother, I want to be seen as one of the most important, or even the most important attachment figure for my children. I think it is important to keep this in mind from the beginning on, because the mistakes you make with your children when they are young and the things you neglect to do are very hard to make up for in later years. As a mother, I hope for a world and a society in which children have a prospect of a good, secure, anxiety-free and healthy future that is not governed by money, power, egoism, envy and resentment. I wish for a society in which people remember the things that are really important, values that are not material but in us humans and the way we treat each other. Even in our individuality we should remember that we are basically all the same, that we are all in the same boat and that we share one world in which we should live together in peace and solidarity. My wish for all mothers is loads of love, strength, patience and a relatively secure and worriless future.
Maria Joäo-Neno:
Martina:
Rosa B:
Sharon:
Tirza Schaefer: My concerns as a mother are my children’s safety, education and development. Not only mine, but all children. The community and the country as a whole, our entire Western civilization should lay a lot more emphasis on providing good education and offers for hobbies to all children, regardless of their social and financial background. Children of low income families don’t get this, unless they have a private sponsor in the family or circle of friends. We are so lucky. Most others are not. This creates a downwards spiral. The gap between rich and poor, financially affluent and struggling gets ever wider, not only in purse, but in mental and emotional development. Social justice is a great concern of mine and I also head the local primary school’s fundraising committee precisely for this reason. I want to create the best chances for children in life, no matter who their families are. I am also torn between my duties as a parent, a single parent at that who does not have a father to help out.
Ursula Hoffstadt:
Ute Schön: I would like motherhood to be seen and validates more positively in politics and public opinion. Parenting time should be paid or taken into account stronger in annuity computation than it is now, because children are the future of every country/state. In my opinion the support of children’s education by the government needs to be more extensive (especially for children that are raised by single parents). If I had one with for all mothers it would be that the work that mothers perform (physical as well as psychological) to be appreciated and paid for more by politics and public. For example, the time until the child is 18 years old should be completely counted as working time in the pension system, instead of just the times of legal protection of expectant mothers. Furthermore it would be desirable that children appreciated mother’s commitment more. To me motherhood means respsonsibility of love.
Verena: I had to learn to have more responsibility after becoming a mother, not only for me but also for my son. There are restrictions in the job and in my private life. But I would never change my life.To me motherhood means affectionate responsability.
Veronika Poser: Since becoming a mother I have more responsibility, more joy, and more fun. I wish that my children will reach their aims and that they will be healthy. To me motherhood means joy.
Bianka K: In one word, motherhood means love. I hope that I always have enough time for my kid. My life has changed in a positive way since becoming a mother, my life feels more filled out.
Anna S: I wish all mothers a safe future for their children and time for themselves.I want to be present for my child without neglecting my work that is important for me. I want to be seen with respect just as other women without children.
Blume: My life has changed a lot since becoming a mother: Suddenly, there were two more lives (I had twins) to take care of, and totally dependent. It feels natural and makes me happy and complete despite the 24/7 job. In practical terms, as a single mom I could not go back to work as yet. My wish for all mother is to make children an integral part of all aspects of life, and mainstream work places i.e. work conditions fit for mothers and especially single mothers.
Monika Arent: Being a mother has made me very aware of myself: Where am I? Where do I want to go? I know now, what I want my future to look like. I am more aware of other people’s feelings. My life has a better structure now. As a mother, I want to be seen like every other woman who goes through life safely. As a mother, I want to make my child’s future easier. I want to make sure my son follows down a good path and I want to give him a feeling of security. Birth was a special experience with a lot of pain and an indescribable feeling of love afterwards. Shortly after I gave birth I knew that I would want to have more children. My wish for all mothers is that their children remain healthy. I hope for all mothers that they won’t have too many obstacles in their way in life.
Patricia Zündorf:Having a child at 20 changed my life and all my plans completely. My life is totally different now. I want to be seen as a strong personality. Raising a child on your own isn’t easy and it takes a lot of energy and stamina.
Anja
Erika Beyhle: Mothers are real VIPs becuase they are making future life. Since becoming a mother my life has changed: double joy, double energy, double work, little art practice. My wish for all mothers: Let the children go! Trust them - throw your fears away!
The single mothers of Bonn at the Women's Museum Bonn November 2nd 2012
Jessica - a single mother from Bonn singing at the MMV event
The Bonn Mothers portraits on event day
The Bonn Mothers portraits on event day
The Bonn Mothers portraits on event day
The Bonn Mothers portraits on event day
The Bonn Mothers portraits on event day
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Making Mothers Visible Bonn was held on November 2nd 2012 outside of the Bonn Women's Museum with the mothers who participated as well as their children.

In addition on November 4th 2012 there was a discussion held at the Women's Museum Bonn with some experts on the subject of the legal and financial situation of single mothers.

All were welcome to attend! For more information please contact Bettina Bab at Bettina.bab@frauenmuseum.de

Credits for Bonn >>