Nazanin Afshin-Jam Shares Her Journey Into Motherhood & Post-Pregnancy Life!

Ms. Namita Nayyar:

How has your skin and hair been post pregnancy? Do you have to take some extra care of them?

Ms. Nazanin Afshin-Jam:

Pregnancy wreaks havoc on one’s hormones. I have definitely noticed a change in my skin and hair. Before, my skin and hair were on the normal to oily range. Since having children, my skin and hair have become a lot dryer. I used to search for very light moisturizers, now I enjoy thicker creams for face, hands and feet. My husband who grew up on a farm in Nova Scotia introduced me to a miracle moisturizer for the heels of my feet. It is called Bag Balm. It is intended for use of cow udders that get dry and chapped. It is kind of funny thinking of using a cream intended for bovine, but it works! I never used to use any products in my hair at all, and now I like argon oil that tames and moisturizes without weighing down hair or making it oily. I also like weekly leave in hair conditioning masks.

Ms. Namita Nayyar:

Tell us about your organization “Stop Child Executions”. What are your future plans regarding your humanitarian work?

Ms. Nazanin Afshin-Jam:

Stop Child Executions was the leading organization providing information and updates on minors on death row in Iran. It is an independent, non-political human rights group run entirely by volunteers whose aim is to put a permanent end to child executions. We reported over 160 children waiting on death row in Iran despite its commitments to ban this practice. Our day to day was to lobby governments and private citizens to pressurize offending countries in commuting juvenile executions. We also helped to act as a liaison between families seeking legal counsel and human rights lawyers, as well as channeling information from Iran to international groups including the UN. Throughout the years since its inception in 2007, we organized rallies, produced documentaries, participated in major human rights conferences with speeches in various parliaments and have been cited in major media worldwide. We also developed a comprehensive report and made a list of recommendations in a publication called “From Cradle to Coffin: A report on Child Executions in Iran”.

In 2009 during Iran’s presidential elections, millions of people came out on the streets in protest, demanding their votes be counted, demanding they have freedom, the rule of law and a real democracy. Iran called itself a democracy but in actuality it is a theocracy where candidates are pre-vetted by a council of guardians that chose a selection of right wing Islamists. There is no real choice and as a result the laws lag behind the norms including for women.

There was a lot of chaos at that time, a lot of people were imprisoned, tortured and executed. The top human rights defenders that we worked with either escaped the country or were imprisoned therefore our campaigns started to suffer and the pressure that once worked to stay executions no longer had an effect. Our website was and still is constantly hacked by Iran’s cyberpolice therefore we now use the website as an archive. My humanitarian efforts are now directed towards The Nazanin Foundation”, which I set up to aid women and children in need and the empowerment of girls worldwide. Half of the profits from my book sale of “The Tale of Two Nazanins” as well as private donations, fund the Foundation. We are at the initial stages and when my children are school age, I will concentrate more of my time and attention on the direction of programs it benefits.

Ms. Namita Nayyar:

Advice and motivational words to the inspiring and budding female human rights activists, who all are your followers and shall like to know from you for their climb to the ladder of success in this field?

Ms. Nazanin Afshin-Jam:

There is not one straight linear path in becoming a human rights defender. You simply have to have passion for a cause, great determination, and dedicated time to devout. One also has to have thick skin. If we are not successful in the first round we have to be able to pick ourselves back up and try again.

Like an ice climber when we start at the base of a mountain we may not see the summit right away, but it is only by taking one step at a time, chiseling our way to the top, some days moving forward, some days a few steps back or falling down eventually we move closer to the peak. We may one day reach the top but even if we don’t we have just paved the way or road ahead for others behind us.

Drop by drop we can create an ocean of change and put out the fires of injustice in the world.

Ms. Namita Nayyar:

What do you wish to say about the website Womenfitness.net and message for its visitors?

Ms. Nazanin Afshin-Jam:

I would like to ask your visitors: what is your dream? What are you going to do tomorrow to start making it a tangible goal?

Listen to your heart, follow your passion and live your dream.

To know more about Nazanin Afshin-Jam: Check out at: http://www.nazanin.ca/

Or follow her on:

• https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nazanin-Afshin-Jam-Official-page/
• https://twitter.com/#!/@NazaninAJ

Women Fitness Team thanks Nazanin Afshin-Jam for giving her valuable time for this interview and quenching the thirst of her fans to know more about her.