I met Maya in a Rainbow gathering in Bulgaria.
I am Greek, she is Macedonian, our countries have developed some hostility during the last decades but we didn’t care, we liked each other a lot.
We spent some quiet days together in the forest.
We did the frogs in the river.
We did the squirrels picking up wild fruits and nuts from the trees.
She talked to be about her project of becoming a dula (birth companion and post-birth supporter) and her wanting to film stories of women giving birth naturally.
I have had enough of working only on crisis and conflict issues so I proposed to help her.
We travelled through Macedonia and made interviews of women. We edited the first video with Baba Branka, an elderly woman who had given birth to 9 children in her house in a village on the mountain.
Then Maya met Victor. Some months later she was pregnant.
During the pregnancy they travelled around in the country, in Rainbow gatherings, lived in forests and lakes.
When the birth time approached they decided to give birth naturally at home in Skopje.
The birth of her daughter Dzvesda (that means star) became a community project. Friends from all over Europe came with their children to assist and greed the newcomer.