This week's episode is the first in the series of interviews entitled 'How we mother' - they will be chats with mothers from all around the world talking about things that matter in their lives. There will always be one thing that the episode revolves around and this time it's the chronic illness of cystic fibrosis as that's the extra luggage Monika lives with.
Monika is a single Polish mum of 3 kids, an 8-year-old Bruno and 4-year-old twins -Ksawery and Sara. Both boys suffer from cystic fibrosis. When she still lived in Poland she couldn't count on much financial or institutional support for herself or her children. She admitted she felt betrayed and forgotten by her own country. And this led to a decision to leave the country in 2019. She first went to Portugal but soon moved to the UK at the beginning of 2020 (what a year for a move!) She believes she had no choice. In the UK she appreciates the care and support given to her every day. She sometimes cannot believe that she deserves all of it - a personal dedicated nurse, athe understanding and supportive school environment her kids attend and this feeling of being a bit more normal, like other people.
In this episode, we don't talk about cystic fibrosis as you can easily google this information online. We talk about Monika, her struggles, the way she wants to raise awareness about living with a disability (she's not afraid to use the word), what she wants to be to her kids and what her dreams are.
The episode is in English, which was a big challenge for Monika despite the fact that she has been learning English for a long time and is already quite fluent. Perhaps it's the subject that makes it difficult. I believe her message is too important not to share so hope the listeners will forgive us the language slips and look at the bigger picture here.

For more information on cystic fibrosis read here:
https://www.cysticfibrosis.org.uk/what-is-cystic-fibrosis
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/dec/26/new-drug-offers-hope-for-thousands-with-cystic-fibrosis