Alopecia – Teaching Abroad- American Teacher Overseas

Black Excellence

I have received many certificates in my life but this one was up there with my Bachelors, not because I had put in a lot of work but because it took a lot of strength for me to come this far.

A few weeks ago, there was an advertisement in the BSOQ group for the Black Excellence ball that was coming up. I considered buying a ticket to attend, but never acted upon this. A few days later I received an email stating that I was nominated for an award, from an anonymous person, and because of my nomination my attendance would be complimentary. So I purchased one ticket for my husband.

I was asked to submit a brief biography of myself to the organizer, The Brofessor. Once I submitted my bio, The Brofessor asked me to mention alopecia in my bio. That is when I realized I was being recognized for being a courageous women with Alopecia. My advocacy for women embracing their bald crown did not go un-noticed. I had ~~impressed~~ inspired someone and my heart was overflowing with humility and pride.

I went all out for my husband and myself. I purchased a dress but decided it wasn’t enough and decided to get a dress professionally made for myself and a jacket and pant suit made for Darryl. I called my girl Nazma, and she hooked me up with a beautiful henna design for my crown and glory. I have received many certificates in my life but this one was up there with my Bachelors, not because I had put in a lot of work but because it took a lot of strength for me to come this far. To be recognized as someone with courage is one of the biggest compliments I could have received.

For years, I was so ashamed and would never think of venturing outside uncovered. Like many other women who live with Alopecia, I was embarrassed more than anything. I still cover my head, mostly in Qatar- where hair is such a sense of pride and any deviation from normalcy is frowned upon-but it is not because I am embarrassed. It is because I don’t always want to be stared at like a zoo animal. I love to stand out but I prefer it be a choice. Alopecia is not a choice. But deciding when to reveal it, is MY choice. Embracing it, other than allowing it to take over my life, depress me and make me feel less than what I am, is MY choice. (There are some positives to having a bald head that I’ll keep to myself.)

But this post isn’t just about me. Many wonderful people were honored and awarded due to their work in Qatar, outside of Qatar and moves they are making. There were many professionals in attendance and not just Black. There were doctors, an Ambassador, a pastor, an opera singer (whom blessed us with a song), photographers, engineers, entrepreneurs, teachers, journalist and so much more! Even a young Achiever in the making was honored. You couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride being among such amazing people and hearing their stories. There was food, dancing, networking and an overall good time. Women shined and men were handsomely dressed in suits and ethnic attire.

The Black Excellence ball was a celebration of Greatness; a time to come together and say: WE SEE YOU! WE HONOR YOU! WE ARE HERE! And above all, WE LOVE YOU!

It is an event not to be missed. I know this event can only get bigger and better and I can’t wait to be in attendance next year!

[click here to view The honorees video]

Is it Better to be Beautiful or Confident

I’m 5’2, 40 years old, 140 lbs, brown skin, and bald.

No, I do not think I’m beautiful,

but what I lack in physical attractiveness,

I make up for in behavioral confidence.

I may not be your cup of tea,

but for some men and even women,

I have something that attracts them to me.

I keep my head high, as if I’m holding up a crown,

because there is always someone waiting for you to fall on the ground.

I walk like I’m a model,

5’9, slender and tall

but I’m really 5’2, 40 years old, 140 lbs, brown skin and bald!

–Kennesha Bell

Modeling will never be my career but I’ve always dreamed of doing it, so when a few weeks ago an associate posted in the BSOQ group that a designer was looking for some models for an upcoming fashion show, I said why not. I entered my information, sent my measurements and a full body shot. And some weeks later, I was going for my first fitting. A day later, my second fitting. And two days ago, I modeled in the the South African Freedom Day – Nelson Mandela Centenary Celebration at the Ritz Carlton Doha. The Designers were South African brand Urban Zulu and Qatar-based Nigerian Designer Romeo Ekene Paul from Romeo Paul. It was so much fun! I walked out amongst the crowd like I had been modeling all my life, like I had hair down to my ass, like I was American’s Top Model, like I was the most beautiful creature created and the crowd loved it! I received so many compliments afterwards and honestly if I never model again, it will be okay because how many people can say, they’re living out their dreams.

WELL I AM!

Check out some photos from the fashion show.

Here are some pictures of some of the other models:

I’d love to hear from you…What are your thoughts, is it better to be beautiful or confident?

My Imperfection is my Super Power: The Crown

“Step outside of the box and others will follow” by Kennesha Bell and Amani Khlifa

I told my son I believe that it is important to give and serve but I didn’t think that I was doing enough to help other people. Yes, I am teacher and I help little people every day but that is my career. Then my partner, Nàzma (the very talented Henna Artist from Sri Lanka), called me to do an interview with her. She wants to get her free services out there and serve, so that more people are aware and can use her. For some reason, she has not gotten any call backs for women with cancer or alopecia wanting henna crowns for their bald heads here in Qatar. She has contacted the cancer society here and still no responses. I have my own opinions about that. I think people here are ashamed. I told her that if she was in America, she would have too many clients to handle.

I was first interviewed by a young Northwestern University student named Noof. I met her at a local mall, where she asked me a few questions about how Nàzma and I hooked up and my perception on the culture here and its response to hair loss. She then wrote a paper as part of her assignment for school.

You can read the feature story here:

feature story alopecia and Henna

After that initial interview we just called ourselves partners. Each time Nàzma called, I answered. She was contacted by a Qatar University college student, a journalist, Amani Ben Khlifa (famous from AJ+ as well). Amani did a documentary on us and presented it to her school. I was so bummed that I couldn’t make it to the presentation because I had prior engagements but I was honored to have been a part of it.

My featured Image above was from the front of the brochure she created and the documentary is here:

One of our proudest achievements Nàzma and I did, was the interview with Al Jazeera. Laura Burdon-Manley and her videographer came to my flat and recorded a whole news story on November 14, 2017.

This morning Nàzma sent me this Whatsapp message, “Kennesha we will be on aljazeera…I don’t know when, everyone messaging me that they saw me…” No-one told us when it would be airing and apparently it had already aired. We searched and searched through the tv channels and online. Nàzma was able to find it by scrolling back through the news on Al Jazeera English Live and youtube. And then while sitting in front of the television, there it was: My big bald, beautiful head. They aired the Headline again and I was so proud of myself and my partner. Then Laura, who was in London, sent us the clip and here it is:

So now I’m thinking, I am helping people, through my story, at least I hope that I am. I would love to be the face of alopecia and inspire other women, who like me, are bald and beautiful. It has been an internal journey to accept me, but I hope that my external journey is just beginning, the journey to help others to accept themselves.

I am using my imperfection as my Superpower! What is your SuperPower?

Special thank you to Nàzmä Màzhar- a very special and talented person, Noof Al-Ahmad, Amani Ben Khlifa, Ahmed Photography, Laura Burdon-Manley for helping to get the word out.

I value the opinion of my readers and would love to hear from you, do you have any suggestions of how I can advocate more for alopecia sufferers, inspire other women and or become the face of alopecia? Please leave a comment with your suggestions!

If you or someone you know has alopecia please join my facebook group: For Women Living with Alopecia.

Footprints in the Sand

So my head is famous and now so is my face, a little bit.

I love being in front of the camera. That sounds really arrogant, right? I know but it’s the truth. No, I don’t think I’m the most beautiful person in the world, not even close but I’ve learned to love myself and that was a journey. I also think the camera and I have a pretty good relationship. I would love to be a model, but when I google types of models, I don’t fit into any of the categories.

I am not tall; I’m actually pretty short, 5’2 to be exact. I’m not thin or plus sized; I’m somewhere in the middle with a pouch. I’m not glamorous, fit, a child or mature. But I do have pretty nice skin, a caramel complexion, a pretty smile, a nice shaped BALD head, I’m smart and I’m confident. So I’ll probably never end up in Vogue or on someone’s catwalk but for some reason I always end up in front of a camera.

It could have started with my baby pictures. I was a cute, chunky baby. Or perhaps it was nude photos I had taken years ago. Where are those anyway? Or maybe it started with this….

That was a picture taken at my graduation from Cabrini College for my Master’s degree 4 years ago. I remember a photographer coming around and snagging pictures but the real shocker came when I received a phone call from a friend saying that they just saw me on the L-train. I knew I hadn’t been on the L-train that day so I was confused. Then they told me, my picture was on a billboard advertisement for Cabrini. I contacted the school and had them send me a copy. That picture was on their billboards and on pamphlets. For months, people would call me saying that they saw my picture.

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine passed on some information about a tv channel that was looking to interview some people of Qatar. So of course I responded and a few days later the crew was at my flat conducting the interview. The interviewer asked me questions about my life in Qatar and allowed me to speak about Alopecia and my blog. The interview went well, but I beat myself up afterwards because there was so many other things I wanted to say. Isn’t this always the case; you think of things you coulda woulda shoulda said afterwards? But it was too late and well, what’s the point of crying over spilled milk. He said he would contact me once all the editing was completed and the interview was posted.

Today on my 6th wedding anniversary I got the message. The interview is posted. Please check it out using this link. QatarnaTV

Everything that was said was my exact words, but it comes off a little different than my intentions especially at the end, when I said “I don’t plan to return to the U.S. anytime soon.” It is true that I don’t intend on moving back to live in the U.S.A any time soon, but it’s not because I plan on living in Qatar forever either. I plan on exploring other places. And when the time is right to leave here, I’ll move someplace else. I’ve learned so much from living abroad, I want more experiences like this. I will always love my home country of the U.S.A and will always visit.

My friend Nazma, the Henna artist, did an interview for Society magazine November 2017 edition (The First Family Magazine in Qatar) a few days ago and she posted a copy of the article on facebook. And who’s big head took up a whole page, MINE! Here it is in all it’s glory.

You can also read the article here. Society Magazine

So my head is famous and now so is my face, a little bit. I have another interview coming up this week with Nazma on Al Jazeera. Wish me luck!

Honestly I would love to be the first internationally recognized alopecia model and travel the world as an activist and a bold, fierce model. I would love to be the face of alopecia all over the world, to encourage other women to not let a lack of hair define them, but to recognize their natural beauty inside out.

Who knows, maybe one day, I will create a new type of model. For now, I’m leaving my footprints in the middle eastern sand.

Seeing the Beauty in my Imperfection

When I first decided to blog, I knew I did not want to focus on my disease but then something wonderful recently happened. More on that in a minute…

I have alopecia totalis, hence the bald head. Alopecia is a skin condition in which my immune system attacks my hair follicles, mistaking them for foreign. It started out as alopecia areata, hair loss in small patches, then I would get needles in my head with a cortisone to make it come back. To make a long story short, after years of getting this done I got tired of it, so one day I shaved it all off knowing that without the shots it wouldn’t grow back. It also spread to my legs (a blessing in disguise), eyebrows and eyelashes. The summer before I moved to Qatar I had microblading done for my eyebrows. They’re like tattoos. Learn more about alopecia by clicking here. There is even a national agency, National Alopecia Areata Foundation. To learn more about microblading, click here. I also have a Facebook group called ‘Women Living with Alopecia‘. It is a support group for women like me.

…on to the something wonderful that recently happened. A little over a week ago I happened upon an article on Dohanews, about a women here in Qatar who does henna on bald heads for free, for women who have suffered hair loss from cancer. You can read it by clicking here. I contacted her and asked would she do the same for a women living with alopecia. Her answer was a resounding “YES!” Then she asked me if I’d be willing to do a photoshoot. And my answer was “YES, of course.” [In my former life, when I was taller, I dreamed of being a model, so I was super excited.] It took less than a day for her to set up a Whatsapp group between me, herself, a make-up artist and the photographer and two days later they were all at my flat. For a day I felt like a runway model and didn’t I look like one.

All three of these lovely Sri Lankan women provided their services to me free of charge. They have renewed my faith in the good in people. I feel so blessed. Thank you Nazma, Lucky and Nadeesha with all my heart!

Henna by Nazma Mazhar. https://www.facebook.com/qatarihennastudio/  http://instagram.com/qatarihennastudio

Makeup by Lucky Allure https://www.facebook.com/luckyallure1/

Photography by Nadeesha Rathnayake http://www.instagram.com/nadrat_photos

Even almost a week later, my henna is still beautiful. [unedited picture below]

I have a brief interview coming up on a Qatar TV show in a week focusing on “People of Qatar”. I plan to rock my bald head with a henna crown, thanks to Nazma, and speak about my activism. And for all my fellow women living with alopecia, I leave you with this quote.

Don’t ever let your imperfections make you weak, instead use them to give you strength!˜Me

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