When it comes time to name the Beaded Hope jewelry, we like to maintain the authenticity by having the artists themselves christen each piece. But the last workshop we had, in April, was so busy with instructing and creating, that the naming process was buried.

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.

It all begins here. This simple strand of beads began as a tradition in South Africa. Mothers would string these beads together and give them to their teething children to chew on to ease their discomfort. Those old necklaces were the teething rings of tribal Africa. And when the ladies of Beaded Hope told us about this tradition, the vision for a whole new line of Beaded Hope products was born.

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.

4/20/11

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.

4/19/11

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.

4/18/11

And now a minute to introduce you to the animals we’ve encountered! Some are not so local, some are just here for the breeding program at the farm inn, and some are just totally everywhere.

This is just my best friend Anthony the Cheetah

Anthony is at the Farm Inn, and here’s what else they have.

Chickens are EVERYWHERE, here. and apparently, they sleep in trees.

Blue Wildebeeast ... all over Africa.

These giraffes are the smallest kind... but they really just look like they're on stilts when they walk. So awkwardly graceful.

Yeah check out the carnage. The tigers here are part of the breeding program, but this one is unfortunately infertile

There's two of these tigers, and they're still growing. But they are completely playful.

 Tiger fact: Tigers rely on stealth so they only go after prey that has turned its back. In some places, people have started wearing masks on the backs of their heads to confuse the tigers. Tiger-deaths dropped drastically in these places!

This white lion is basically the redhead of lions. It's a recessive gene. Mothers reject white lions :/

Besides the Farm Inn, we also visited Pilanesberg, which is a huge natural setting for animals. We saw ostriches, rhinos, lions (mating!), and springbok… but my favourite is actually the impala:

You can tell the male from the female by the M on the male's butt

seriously!

And then around the township, you sometimes see this:

and then:

Yeah. My brother got me one of those hats from China. Viva la Africa!

4/17/11

We woke up at 630 today and left at 8 for church. And when we got to church around 9, everything was in full session. Worship and prayer. I even joined in on what I believe to be Zulu worship songs.. they had lines like ”Qhawe Lamaqhawe” which essentially means warrior and “Makabongwe”.. which I can’t figure out just yet. Church got out at noon. Yes.

But let me give you the sermon notes, so you can see what a church around the world studies weekly:

Five different kinds of lies:

Cruel lie–motivation: anger, revenge.

Protective lie–motivation: fear: protect yourself, avoid consequences/punishment/embarrassment.

Covering up lie–motivation: insecurity: to impress people, boost self esteem, exaggeration.

Calculated lie–motivation: selfishness: get way through lies, people who love money, flatterers (the worst kind of traitors: praise you without meaning it, to gain your affection).

Convenient lie–motivation: laziness: avoiding involvment

Three ways to tell the truth:

Tell it completely. Someone who doesn’t tell the truth causes trouble. Or you undermine your relationships. “Don’t tell me what I think, tell me what you feel and completely.” Prov 28:23 NLT –”In the end people appreciate frankness more than flattery.” “So let’s tell the truth, amen?” “Lift your hand up and say Lord, I will tell the truth!”

Tell the truth lovingly. Eph 4:29 (GN): “Speak only what is helpful for building others up, according to their needs, that it may benefit those who hear.” Truth stinks. If you don’t tell it lovingly, people will interpret it as an attack. Avoid saying” “You never do this!” “You always do that!” “Always you are like this!” “Always you useless!”

Tell the truth tactfully. Proverbs 12:18 “Sharp words cut like a sword, but words of wisdom heal.” You have an option. How to tell the truth. “I can break, I can hurt, I can heal with words.” ”Plan your presentation. Contemplate, think it over, how am I-um-going to tell it.” Think before your mouth says it. “Because sometimes our mouth goes before our thinking.” “Timing is everything in solving any problem.” “There is a right way and a right time for everything.”  “And never say behind backs, go to your brother and sister and say it.”

“Let’s be real friends. You can help make me a better person, a better pastor.”

~~Pastor Titus spoke in English and Pastor Julius translated.

Bonus pic of the day: Connor and Ameha (yeah coolest name ever) arm-wrestling after church

4/16/11

Back home in America, you say, “Can I get a ride?” or “I don’t have a way to get there.” But in South Africa it’s all about transport. “We have no transport.” And for most of today, we had no transport.

Jennifer left early in the morning to go shopping for our Sunday dinner for the ladies. It was a process for which Connor and I would have been useless. So we stayed home and, yes, slept in. Well, I slept in. Connor was up at 8. He went to breakfast and did things, and got completely fed up with my sleeping. I’m not sure how many times he tried to wake me, but I know he blew his vuvuzela at one point. And when I opened my eyes, he was just standing there, staring at me. Freaky. But he brought me breakfast and tea in bed. A+ Connor.

After breakfast, he spazzed around the place while I uploaded pictures onto Facebook. It rained all day, so with no transport, there was, therefore, nothing to do. Except that Connor did go outside for a bit and get attacked by the same goose who attacked me. Yes, it was a goose. I mistook it for a duck.

At four, though, Jennifer got back and discovered some limited transport. There was a shuttle, essentially a taxi, going from the Farm Inn to Menlyn—a ginormous mall with four levels. Our driver was named Solly, for Solomon, and he opened doors for us and everything. It was a bit of a change from riding in the boot (trunk) of Mighty’s car, which is the South African way to ride apparently. But here, transport is transport.

This is how everybody rides over here

4/15/11
Seedbeads. Today was all about seedbeads. Betty, one of the Beaded Hope ladies, taught Connor how to bead a necklace. Well that necklace turned into a bracelet that he gave me for my tiny hands, but it was beautiful. And then Connor turned around and taught me! And I even picked out the color pattern for a Beaded Hope line. If you see the yellow, purple, blue set, then know that was my doing!

Mmatshabalala is another Beaded Hope lady, and she’s super talented. She speaks Zulu I believe, so we have to have a translator with us. But anyway, today’s workshop was all about karakatana beads. They are these tiny little nuts, and the word “karakatana” means something like tooth nut. Mums would put strands of these nuts around their babies’ necks while they were teething. They’re basically ancient teething rings… and they make beautiful jewelry.

After I finished my own bead work (that’s right, I got artsy), I caught up with Connor as he played football (soccer) with the kids from the orphanage on site. And I took pictures of everything. This is Lindiwe… and she’s gorgeous. (that’s also Connor’s bracelet he made me!)

she always tells me "You are beautiful" and I tell her "Nono, YOU are beautiful!"

And after being chased around for my camera by picture-loving kids, we drove back to the Farm Inn. And found this creature:

Yeah. What?

We decided that he is an Afriunicorn.

And then… we went to investigate the lions. This is the soundtrack to nights here:

Lions and tigers, oh my!

4/14/11

The lions are noisy tonight.

Well, it’s 12:22am South African time, and I’m still up. Every moment I curl up in bed and close my eyes, the world buzzes. And I don’t mean just because I can hear chickens and pigs outside of my hotel window. My eyelids flutter as my eyes jet back and forth collecting images and thoughts from the day. Information, overload.

And as happens in South Africa, plans change. I wanted to write about the orphans we visited today, and about playing soccer with them, and about how Paul wants to be a rugby player and they say “Cut my photo!” to ask for their picture. But after dinner, I’ve got some entirely other material.

Tonight, our little trio went to Karoo Cafe with two Americans: Jason and Amanda (everyone here laughs because they think now that everyone in America is named Amanda. I can’t say it’s not true, too.). Let me just tell you, this couple is awesome. Jason is 39 and had is own medical practice back in Cincinnati. But one day, he basically decided to pack up, sell it all, and move to Mamelodi with Crossroads. And during that process, he met Amanda, 36. She had also been on a trip to Mamelodi, and realized that for whatever reason, God was telling her this was the man for her. So they married, and she joined him in South Africa.

Crazy right? They’re heading back to the States soon as the Crossroads/Mamelodi relationship is changing. But they’re just waiting for the next stepping stone as Jason calls it. And when they see it, they’ll jump. Wherever that takes them.

I only say all of this, because I’m in awe the same way I’m in awe of Jennifer. These are totally normal people, who made huge jumps and life-changing investments. I know that’s not the life for some people, and that some are at-home supporters–which is beautiful. But as a nomad who feels trapped in one place, and terrified of being still–the thought that I can make crazy jumps and not be the cookie-cutter American is, well, comforting.

Basically this is what we ride in everyday

4/13/11

Today: I sang to some leopard cubs, saw white tigers and a lion, flew from a duck and found a suspicious plant. Today was, well, quirky.

After waking, Connor and I went over to the leopard cubs’ cage. We named them, fell in love with them, and they with us. And afterwards I wandered around to see if I could see some of the animals here at the Farm Inn. That’s when I found the lions and tigers and maniacal goose—oh my. He ran towards me and I thought maybe he wanted some bread. But when he started biting my feet, I realized, no, he’s crazy. I calmly thought the situation over as we danced, his wings flapping, my legs spazzing. And then I ran like mad.

Later on, we visited the orphanage. Mighty found this weird plant: “It feels like plastic,” she said. And after oohing and ahhing, we realized that yes, it actually is a plastic plant firmly planted among living ones.