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But thankfully, we did ask original beading artist Betty to name one of her bracelets. She toyed with its beads for a moment, and said she’d think about it.

The next workshop, Betty held up the piece: “Izimbasa.” The word rolled off her native South African tongue like a precious-kept secret. “In Zulu, it means star.”

Back in the states, Jennifer and I sat down and realized we had a ton of jewelry, but only one name. As we tinkered with the individual pieces and shot out possibilities, pieces of nature we’d seen in South Africa kept floating to our minds: the sunset, the dirt, the colors. And then we had Izimbasa. Why not make it a theme? The external beauty of South Africa, represented by jewelry crafted out of the internal beauty of its people.

Betty didn’t mean to inspire the names of the whole line, but that’s just what she did. As Jennifer and I sat and drank our South African Five Roses tea and tossed around our mental images of Africa, we remembered Betty’s laugh and nestled in the nostalgia.

The beads are called Tandkraal, which literally means “tooth compound” in Afrikaans. When the native South Africans tried the word out, they couldn’t quite get it and opted for calling the beads Karakatana instead. The beads have been smoothed and finished to enhance their natural beauty and come in colors of grays, creams and browns.

Finding the beads, proved another challenge. We navigated our way through the local market, without running around in too many circles thanks to our guide, Mighty, and eventually found the strands in a shop selling vuvuzelas, scarves and dish towels. Those basic strands already proved to be versatile and beautiful. We had no idea what would happen when the Beaded Hope ladies got their hands and creativity on the Karakatana.

Once they started working on the Karakatana designs, individual quirks and stories spilled out and into the jewelry itself. But it all began here, with one simple strand.

Last night, feeling a little melancholy and missing South Africa, I opened the book. Words of wisdom from all over Africa poured out, bringing a smile to my face, and made me feel like I was dipping my toes back in the sea of the continent of my soul.

Periodically, I’m certain, I will pull this book out and share a new bit of wisdom with you. Some from South Africa, some from neighboring countries, all worth sharing. Today, with “home” on my mind, I share this proverb from the Zulu tribe of South Africa.

Umuzi ngumuzi ngokuphanjukelwa.

Translation: A home is a home if it is visited.

Meaning (according to the author): People will not visit a home where hospitality is not offered. This proverb encourages kindness even to strangers, so that one’s home will be visited often.

My interpretation: Open the doors of your home and welcome everyone. Offer them tea, offer them wine, offer them love.

My wish for you; may your heart and home always be welcoming to all who visit.

bless this home in Mamelodi

p.s. Have a love for African fables too? You can get your own copy of Dianne Stewart’s book on Amazon.

It started when I asked if he was mad/sad. He answered that he gets teased at school.

I asked why. Paul said “it’s because I have white parents.” (Paul’s adopted).

After that we walked in silence for about 10 minutes. Then Paul gave me a tour of all of the VCT and told me a story about wood working and welding at his high school.

He is 14 years old and smaller than me. He is also positive.

Best part of the day: listening to Paul’s story.

It was a different experience than what we would have at home, but it was a good experience. The first and most memorable house was Bongani’s house. His mom died of AIDS and he is also positive. He has been getting strokes, so the doctors put him in a wheel chair. He is 14 years old, but because of AIDS and strokes he only looks like he is 9 years old. We had a very long prayer over him. What we are hoping is that he gets back in school before May 1^st, and that he gets out of the wheel chair very soon.

Best part of the day: delivering food parcels.

I think that we are going to have a Beaded Hope release called “The Tandkraal Release.” Tandkraal means “tooth bead” because babies used to chew on them when they were teething.

Once we got back to the hotel we went on another safari, but it was only 1 hour long. We saw: giraffes, Bengal tigers, springbok, impala, white tigers, lions, spotted hyenas, and striped hyenas. It was awesome.

Fact of the day: did you know that striped hyenas have a bite force of 2.5 tons?!?

Tonight was Amanda’s turn.

A couple days ago, Jennifer went with Mama Peggy to pick up a bunch of food and supplies: mince, corn maize meal, tea, powdered milk, cooking oil, toilet paper and soap were some of the items.

Yesterday, Connor and I sorted all of that stuff into ten bags: food in one bag, supplies in another.  Each food/supply pair made one parcel. Five parcels in all.

This morning, we drove around the township to deliver those five parcels to five different homes.

It began with Bongani:

This is Bongani a couple months ago. Quite the stud. That picture dates late 2010-2011. Things change.

Bongani’s mum had HIV, and passed on, as they say in Africa. So he now lives with his grandmother–a strong-jawed, red-eyed little woman. Determined and beautiful. Bongani is the smiliest kid, sweet in every mannerism. And his favorite thing is playing football (soccer). He’s 14 now. But as an HIV-positive kid, he looks barely 8.

We only got to see Bongani because he hasn’t been able to go to school for a while. He has had strokes–the 14-year-old child has had strokes–because of the HIV. These strokes have left him in a wheelchair… for now. Patricia, who runs the hospice, was with us, daring him to be walking around next week. He just smiled and said ok. And before we left, we all circled up around the table of food and supplies. Patricia lead us in an African hymn and we began to pray. I held onto his tiny hand so tightly. and as his hand curled around mine, I just knew that I would never completely leave that grasp; that some bit of me paused, separated and wrapped itself around that moment.

It began with Bongani. But that was my Africa moment. Everything is different from here on out.

We have had an interesting contrast in cultures here. On the one hand, we’ve been staying at the Farm Inn, a pretty classy place, and eating at some of the nicer restaurants. And on the other hand we’ve been spending most of our time at the VCT in the rather impoverished township. So here’s the cultural contrast through food:

Breakfast:

First morning at the Farm Inn. There's fruit, and omelettes, and breads, and BRIE CHEESE, and the most delicious mango juice you've ever had.

And then there's the South African donut: found randomly on the side of the road. Mighty says: "They're fat cakes. We call them babies. Because they are fat like babies." Yeahh, I don't know what these dough balls are cooked in... but I don't really care after trying one.

Lunchtime!

Roman's pizza. De-lic-ious. But seriously. Connor and I had five slices each.

Do I even need to say anything?

And then there’s dinner:

I had this at the Cape Town Fish Market.. a totally classy, and here, classic, place.

Or there's THIS. These places are everywhere. Like McDonalds, but... with fresh fish. We had a place similar to this the first night, and it was a winner.

And hey, dessert! Well, I really only have shots for the nicer restaurants. Turns out dessert isn’t the most common thing otherwise.

Fried chocolate with nut ganesh. The cook gave me the recipe I was so unabashedly in love. The waiter told us each one was like a little present. Truth.

and lastly, the unifying factor: Five Roses Tea.

Everyone drinks it. With loads of sugar and cream and an out-of-this-world biscuit.