Sheena Donia is an image coach, a communication consultant, mother of four and a very active blogger
Sheena Donia is related to both France and Gabon but always attach her to Gabonese roots.
As a mother of four children, she must have a busy life, still, she always creates time to write a comic book.
In her book, she said: “I wanted to write this book so that children, who are like me, an Afro-descendants, or not, also see what their daily lives are like in a comic book. The idea of representation is very important. I also wanted to honour African mothers who are often caricatured when they are shown on TV, in Boubou, Always angry…. and not necessarily in their diversity. I wanted to show that there is not only one way to be a mother, and a black mother. We don’t all live in the country, sometimes we live in separate villages, which in my case with my children, but we have this common DNA, that is to say, the mom decides, the children execute”.
In this particular comic, Sheena Donia highlights the impact of her Gabonese origin on the parenthood and education of her children which is enriching her reflection of experiences on the issue in connection with her life in France.
The book exposed that a black mother is a woman of dialogue and communication. She hoped to see her comic book to open the way to discuss issues on parenting.
“To pay tribute to the cities that have supported my comic book ‘ C’est maman qui commande’, the idea was to organize talks on parenthood, within one city exclusively dads, in another mom, and to address together, in all honesty, all those things that we should have known before becoming parents. Hopefully, these conversations will continue in our homes and on social networks” Donia Sheena said.
Sheena Donia while attending a tal show organized in Cote D’Ivoire, in Abidjan and reiterated, “it’s good to talk about these subjects that we don’t talk about very often and that remain taboo. We think that it is obvious for everyone that it is natural, but by discussing and sharing, we realize that we all have the same problems.
“I have had people write to me and say, ‘mom is in charge and who is in charge?’ these are men who ask me so I clarify to them that I did not say “it is a madam who commands” but I said” it is the mom who commands” so she commands the people who call her mom, that is to say, the children” Sheena Donia.
The adventure of “Its mom who commands” is far from completion. The book now is yet to be translated into English and it will be available in bookstores in Canada, England, and even the United States while in Africa, the translated version will be available in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.