Julija Lugbane: Fashion Illustrator and Graphic Designer

If you are an art lover, you will fall in love with Julija Lubgane at first sight! She is a phe-no-me-nal illustrator, talent and woman!

And yes, She is a friend of the house. Having the bragging right of saying we know such a talented artist is beyond beliefs!

Julija is a fashion illustrator whose expertise in all medium supercede all expectations. “My creative journey started back in Latvia (North eastern Europe) when I was about seven years old” she writes on her website. “I always saw my dad creating, whether it was drawing, sculpting or wood crafting.

He was the one who is responsible for embedding the craft of art in me. […]It was not until I found my mom’s sewing fashion magazine that my interest to become a fashion illustrator increased. All the designs in those magazines were illustrated by hand, and I was absolutely mesmerised by the beauty and accuracy of drawing skills” she continued. “That was the pivot point when I realised that this is what I want to do, this is who I want to be.”

If you wish to see all the wonders this young woman create, do yourself a favor and do visit her website JulijaLugbane.com. You won’t regret it and yes, You are welcome!

Viannye Menard: Miss International Haiti (2015)

Marie Viannye Ménard
Age : 28
Date of birth : june 20, 1991
Level of Studies : University — Law
Student
Height : 168 cm
Winner of National Title :
Miss International Haiti (2015)
International Pageant :
Miss International — Japan in 2015
World Miss University — China in 2016
Marie Viannye Menard is a cultural
journalist, radio and television host,
actress, model, teacher, author, an active
and passionate young woman.
She is a philanthropist, very involved in
socials activities in the haitian comminuty.
She also campaigns for sex education
and respect for the environment in her
country.

Sex as a subject has always intrigued me and then discovering what it was that always interested me, I always wanted to know more. And unfortunately, growing up I noticed that this is not a subject that I could discuss with everyone. Many were uncomfortable and others were not well informed. Even as an adult, sex remains and remains a taboo subject. So, I found it absurd that we wanted to prevent problems like early pregnancy among young girls, juvenile delinquency, the transmission of HIV and STIs and that we refused to talk about sexuality.

From all the knowledge I have acquired on the subject and from the few conversations I have had with adolescents, young people, and adults, and even the older folks, I noticed that there was a great gap in terms of sex education with us in Haiti. That’s why I’m doing this sex education campaign in Haiti, I want to talk about it, learn about it, understand it and educate adolescents as well. I would like sex education to be implemented in schools.

For my part, already with my first published book, I seek to demystify the way we look at sex “the taboo side” with adults, I want to do activities where people are free to express themselves about this and can also learn more about their bodies, their partners and their sexuality. Later I hope to reach as many people as possible to help me in the fight to bring sex education to schools.

Viannye Menard

Gone too Soon: Mama Cax (Cascmy Brutus)

Mama Cax, born Cacsmy Brutus is a Haitian-American Blogger, Advocate, Motivational Speaker and Model represented by JAG Models. She has studied in NY, France, Tunis & Rome and holds a B.A & M.A in International Studies.
Mama Cax, uses social media as a platform to talk about body positivity, but most importantly, dismantle the image of what people with disabilities should be or look like. On September 15th, 2016 (Under the Obama Administration), she was invited to the White House to walk in the first ever White house Fashion show. The event was a celebration of inclusive design, assistive technology, and prosthetics.

Her innovative prosthetic leg and message of self-love has landed her features in magazine like: TeenVogue, Cosmopolitan, Essence Magazine, Glamour, Refinery29, ASOS Magazine, StyleLikeU and i-D.

On December 16th 2019, sadly, the cancer survivor passed away from complicated health problems which initially flared up while she was in London a week prior.

“While in London I started experiencing severe abdominal pain and was rushed to the emergency room; they dismissed it as an inflammation and sent me back to my hotel with some pain meds” she wrote on her instagram 6 weeks ago.

“The next morning it got worse, while barely conscious, I asked the hotel to call me an ambulance. They discovered that I had several blood clots in my leg, thigh, abdomen and near an IVC filter near my Lungs (which is a medical device that prevents clots from entering the lungs.) up until this emergency visit I had no idea I had such filter (which I assumed was placed there during my chemo days 14yrs ago) – nonetheless this filter saved my life” she continued.

Little did we know, she would be parting ways with us from this physical world a week later after this post! If any of her family is reading these pages, we wish you nothing but best wishes. May her legacy live on through you.