We are in the process of remembering who we are. That’s why time has sped up and we feel like it’s all so familiar but we can’t quite put our finger on it.
I went to my grandmother’s home to reconnect with her, even though she passed on a few years ago. I had been feeling like everything was compounding until I found myself just WOOSA! And let it all flow. I allowed myself to listen with my heart because I could feel that my head is just a hive of activity. Bouncing back and forth from implementing solutions and thinking of other aspects of my life to find solutions for.
This busy-ness had split into my work life; my personal life; and even my relationship with myself. In knowing, feeling and sensing that we have less time than we used to, I filled it up with more things to do instead of listening to what I want to do – That which is in line with the wish and will of my soul.
As I have journeyed through life I have noticed that there are various turning points that I have been through, and it’s at these junctures that I have made life changing decisions. It’s also at these junctures that I realise that – inasmuch as a lot has changed – so much has stayed the same.
I had been thinking of life over the past 3 years. How it was while I was sitting in my home up on a mountain that I felt the need to do more than just focus on putting bread on the table and climbing up the corporate ladder.
The flame in me has been burning more and more and eager to just be in a state of complete beingness.
So while out in the beautiful countryside at my grandmother’s home recently, I felt this beautiful fullness envelop ALL of me. It felt like this is what is meant when we say, ” my cup over floweth”. I was filled with such love. My grandmother passed away some years ago. As I go to Gogo’s home I remember that as I went through a major turning point and she wasn’t there, it was her brothers and sisters that I connected with, before I journeyed into the new chapter of my life that awaited me.
In my culture when you are hosting a big life event, you invite your family from your maternal and paternal side. Since this particular event was being held in honour of my life choices, it is my grandmother on my paternal side whose siblings I visited to let them know what it is planned in terms of the side of the family that customarily contributes towards such traditional events. During these visits, my Gogo’s pledged what they would be contributing in the form of mielie meal to make the pap and the traditional brew, as well as who would brew and carry out cultural practices.
I was much younger then, and not so sure of myself, but I remember that as I traveled along the mountain side visiting each of them, I felt my Gogo’s presence, and I felt like it’s okay. Gogo is with me. I had a yearning in my heart for her, but because I am my mother and father’s child, and my Gogo’s granddaughter, I forged ahead.
I recall feeling love as I went from Ngwenya household to household. Meeting my Gogo’s, and hearing all of the amazing stories about my Gogo and my father. I knew that if anything, I was there because it was the beginning of my process of remembering my ancestors through my father, as well as my ancestors through my grandmother – the Khathwane’s and the Ngwenya’s.
So in recent times as I journeyed back to the countryside, I found myself taking the same steps I did when I went there to greet and ask my grandmother’s siblings for the blessings and support for my life changing event. I had taken a wheelchair to one of the only two surviving Gogo’s and as I crossed the Mbuluzi river that takes me to where my Gogo’s people are – I felt this strong sense of coming home. I felt full and this time not from an empty place as I had the previous time. But from a full place of being complete in the knowledge that I am Me, with all of my beauty and flaws.
As I journeyed on the mountains and I spent time with my Gogo’s people I remembered what an amazing herbalist my Gogo had been. I remembered how she was always using indigenous knowledge systems to get fires burning in no time; to the kind of livestock that she kept that had an interrelationship with the other life forms in the ecosystem to always ensure that the balance was kept and none suffered or was more dominant over the other. Gogo had all these systems that made life in the countryside so awesome, even during the times when there was no electricity and water flowing through taps.
We grew up swimming in the Mbuluzi river and fetching our drinking water from the same river. We learned all sorts of remedies for different things. Our Gogo had a general dealer store, so entrepreneurship runs through our blood. And because Gogo was a herbalist, she knew how to make herbal tinctures to make us feel better or to keep us healthy as a preventative measure. So as I journeyed to the hills where the Ngwenya’s come from, I was reminded of this indigenous knowledge and I see it reflected in my life choices as well as those of my sisters.
As I visited my Gogo who is a male, I called my mother so she could say hi. It was so awesome listening to my mother and the man who grew up as a brother to my father laugh and chat. Obviously the conversation turned to ailments and as they did the process of elimination of communicable diseases that are prevalent on our continent and globally, my mother said to my Gogo, if only we still had access to the Ngwenya herbal tinctures we would not be having these ailments. As my mother asked my Gogo if he still knows how to make the herbal tinctures my Gogo said that’s the way they have maintained their good health throughout life – and I must say the man looks good and strong for his age.
As I bid my Gogo farewell and he asked me if I was well and being valued, I was able to say from the core of my heart, that I am being valued in every sphere of my life. I realised that I can unequivocally say that I am being valued . I can say this because in the journey between the last time I journeyed there, I have learnt self love and that has informed the way that I relate with those around me and it has brought out a greater love in all of my relationships starting with the one that I have with myself.
As I visited my second Gogo and she reminded me between fits of giggles of how she used to travel to us at our parents home when we were younger and used an indigenous health detox method on us. I laughed because the memory was fresh in my mind but I could not recall who was the person who used to “clean” our tum-tum’s. Needless to say it all came together that day. That the memory has been there so it could be triggered in that moment back to existence.
As I left having brought her some gifts from my sister and I, including the hair and body products that my Gogo inspired my sister to make, I realised that it is back upon these very mountains that my process of remembering will move onto the next phase. I am already all about herbs and nutrition. I am already all about appropriate technologies. I am all about self-awareness and the process of us knowing that we are of God and we are love and light. We are energy beings having a physical experience and in all of that we end up forgetting who we are because we go through life troubleshooting, fixing, solving, falling and we take very little time to go within and listen with our hearts.
So what is my heart telling me? My heart is telling me that I have always known who I am. That is why even the line of work I find myself doing spills over into this awesome foundation that I have had from my maternal and paternal side. When I look at the Rooted Kusasa Brand and how its 7 projects feed into each other completing a loop like an infinity sign I realise that this is just the beginning of an amazing process of unraveling.
The healing space is so broad because it’s a process of going within.
And as Sunrise Academy partners with Girlboss to bring you The Sebenza Girl – Goal-setting through Youth Unemployment Campaign, I realise it’s just the spirit of who I am manifesting in this three dimensional experience called life. Our grandmother was able to set up a living system in the land of her people when life was throwing curve balls and in doing this, she assisted all of us her grandchildren, to learn the spirit of adapting and collaboration.
So as I journeyed on the mountains recently I realised that it was the process of me reclaiming aspects of me that have been sleeping. The stories and hair care remedies that my Gogo told us inspired my sister to start an amazing hair care range called AfroBotanics. My Gogo’s spirit of Community inspires my creativity in terms of bringing our business concepts, our ambitions and our goals into collaboration with brands starting with those in our ecosystem.
Through Rooted Wellness Lighthouse I have maintained a connection to the side of me that has always wanted to learn more about herbs and their healing and wellness benefits. Through Rooted Organics we get to prioritise nutrition and wellness through the products we develop from our permaculture garden. Through Rooted Harvest we get to explore and learn together in the culinary space as part of making nutrition a lifestyle. Through the Sunrise Academy we are able to collaborate with other brands such as GirlBoss and AfroBotanics – My own Kind Of Beautiful. Through Uhuru Concepts we are able to be the wind beneath our wings to take what we produce as individuals, that are part of the collective ecosystem, that we are part of so that while we maintain brand autonomy we are able to use our resources to further all of the work that we are doing.
So as I have journeyed back to innocence. Back to my roots, I realise that information is there. Has always been there. I just got distracted going through life and now that I am able to silence the voices in my head and allow for my heart to experience. To listen. To dream. To achieve. To believe. I am finding that I am reclaiming more of myself as I become more in awe of my Own Kind Of beautiful – It is that very driving force within me that brings the energy of Rooted Kusasa in all the work that I do, because we are rooted while the Sun is Rising and our Foundation is good. It’s strong, it’s solid because it’s borne of knowing who we are.
So in everything that I do, I know who I am, because I am my own kind of beautiful.
DATE: 7 December 2020
TIME: 14h00 – 17h00
LOCATION: ZOOM
PRICE: R200.00
If there is one thing that the global pandemic has shown us is how fragile our economy is and how much we rely on inputs from outside the country, mostly China, for most consumer goods. The pandemic has also presented an opportunity to bring manufacturing back to South Africa and Africa to protect against unforeseen shocks and also to build resilient, equitable economies.
Other events in 2020 also highlighted the need for broad-based participation in the economy, especially manufacturing, which would see more black-owned businesses supplying retailers and wholesalers.
This online conference seeks to ensure that all aspiring entrepreneurs have a better understanding of how the retail landscape in South Africa works, which route to market best suits their vision for themselves and their brand and how they can build sustainable, job creating businesses. Building a healthy, growing, resilient and equitable economy is all of our business.
- The retail landscape in South Africa
- Understanding basics required to list in retail
- Understanding pricing and basic trading terms
- Funding once listed in retail chain
- Small business in retail success stories
- How to get your product flying off shelves
- Sectoral gaps and opportunities for SA manufactured goods
How to certify you agro-processing or food product for retail
AfroBotanics believes everyone should have a beautiful life and a life filled with beauty. To achieve this state requires working on ourselves from the inside out, if you don’t feel or see yourself as beautiful, you can’t see, feel or experience beauty around you.
Nurturing Children & Your Inner Child In A Time Of Crisis
Children are easily affected by changes in their environment or circumstance, especially when aged 0 – 7 years old. Often times children don’t show they have been affected, and definitely do not know, and carry trauma that only unravels in adulthood.
Join us as we chat with internationally renowned ILDP and ALSTAR Master Coach, Jackie Freemantle, on everything related to reducing impact of traumas to children. Jackie will cover:
- How childhood trauma manifests in adulthood
- How to have difficult conversations with children without causing trauma
- How to identify that a child has been traumatised
- Why it is important to preserve and nurture the inner child and your inner child?
You can forward your questions for Jackie via the email address mybeautifullife@afro-botanics.com and you will be able to ask questions during the live webinar, which will also be streamed live on https://web.facebook.com/Afro-Botanics-235881973094448
To attend the webinar click on the Zoom link below
When: Jul 12, 2020 03:00 PM Johannesburg
Topic: Nurturing Children & Your Inner Child In A Time Of Crisis
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://zoom.us/j/95476169258
Africa Day – Why I Love Being African
Africa Day, which was formerly known as African Freedom Day and African Liberation Day, is the commemoration of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now known as the African Union. The OAU was founded 25 May 1963, when 30 of 32 free African States signed the OAU Founding Charter in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The aim of Africa Day is to celebrate African unity and the South African 2018 theme for Africa Month is “The Year of Nelson Mandela, Building a Better Africa and a Better World.” This is in line with the AU’s theme “African Union Agenda 2063 – an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the international arena.” Agenda 2063 is a joint African roadmap for continental development.
African unity matters because our fate is connected, no African country can prosper if the rest of Africa is not developing and prospering equally. Africa has 1,2 billion and is so diverse, with most countries having diverse languages, religions and cultures. And whilst Africa grapples with poverty, inequality and corruption, there are many reasons to be proud to be African, my top reasons are:
- Diversity. Africa has a rich representation of cultures, food, languages, histories and music, which although diverse actually unite us, an African feels at home in any African country.
- We love colour! Our fashion, our design is bold and colourful. I believe our love for loud colours is indicative of our natural soulfulness and happiness.
- Deep history, we have a beautiful history marked by amazing advancements in science, astrology and architecture and general wisdom. Think of the Mandigo Empire (Mali) year 1230; Wagadu Empire (Ghana) year 830; Mapungubwe (Zimbabwe) year 1100; pyramids and empires of Egypt and Sudan.
- Africa has the most beautiful natural wonders, the “7 Natural Wonders of Africa” are the Serengeti Migration in Tanzania and Kenya; the Ngorongoro Crater and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania; The Nile River that runs through 10 African countries; Okavango Delta in Botswana; the Sahara Desert that goes through 11 countries; and the Red Sea Reef in Egypt, Sudan and Eritrea. The Victoria Falls in Zambia and Zimbabwe is one of the “7 Natural Wonders of the World.” So get started traveling our vast continent.
- Africa has the most amazing beaches and weather for all year holidaying. From the East coast to the West coast, Africa has the most beautiful beaches and holidays for every budget.
- Our beautiful melanin skin and coily hair! I find Africans to be so beautiful.
Formulated with botanical oils, this Hair Food is natural and highly nutritious for hair and scalp. With Shea Butter, Coconut Oil, Cocoa Butter, this creamy Hair Food forms a protective layer on hair to prevent moisture loss. Hair that has moisture locked in will be soft and shiny and will be less prone to damage. It is also easy to style.- Apply Hair Juice to hair to dampen. If the hair was washed, ensure it is also conditioned. Apply Hair Juice when hair almost feels dry.
- Detangle hair in sections
- Apply Oil Blend and leave to dry, if hair type does not require C – cream.
- If the hair is high porosity or is 4c, it will most likely need C = cream. Apply Hair Food on the section after Hair Juice and Oil Blend and then braid that section. Repeat until the whole head is done.
- Sleep with the braids or sit with braids until dry. Braiding smooths and closes hair cuticle, closing in moisture. When dry, unravel and style soft, moisturised hair.
- Repeat above steps daily on high porosity hair or if hair is exposed to air conditioning or heaters.
Our hair can grow long.
African hair can grow long.
Whether it is the softest, fluffy natural hair or thin but coarse,
brittle natural hair or relaxed hair; our hair can grow long.
It just takes understanding and doing the basics to grow our hair
long.
It’s not easy though because one slip up and we easily find our
hair breaking and at worst falling off.
If hair growth seems to have reached a plateau and it won’t grow
beyond a certain length or it just keeps breaking no matter what
treatments are done, a good starting point is to have a trim. Chop
off 0.5cm to 1cm!
Split hair is compromised and if the split part isn’t cut off it causes
a split right to the bottom of the hair and the entire hair will
eventually, break off.
Our hair naturally gets split ends every 3 – 4 months from normal
daily wear and friction and lack of moisture. We therefore need
to trim our hair every 3 – 4 months if we want to see
growth. Yes, we have to cut it to maintain its length. The period is
shorter for relaxed hair, relaxed hair must be trimmed every 2 – 3
months.
Our hair grows between 0.5cm – 1.2cm a month. But most of us
don’t see this growth because our hair ends break off faster than it
grows. It breaks off because of split ends.
Split ends are not easy to identify, we all get them. The curlier, the
more coily, kinky the hair, the easier it develops split ends.
If we make it a habit to cut 0.5cm – 1cm every 3 – 4 months, we
have a better chance of experiencing about 2cm growth every 3
months, that means we could have upto 8cm of healthy growth a
year!
Here is our recommended basic hair regimen for hair growth:
1. Start with a trim. Trim 0.5cm – 1cm of hair
2. Deep condition hair weekly, interchanging between a
moisturising deep conditioning treatment and a protein deep
conditioning treatment.
3.Moisturise and seal hair daily or every second day, according to
your hair’s needs, if you have your hair out.
4. Put your hair in a protective style every two weeks, or else
touching and styling it every day causes wear and tear that causes
split ends. When hair is in a protective style like cornrows, try not
to keep them longer than 4 weeks, 6 weeks max. Ideally 2 weeks
5. Avoid using heat for styling such as hand-held blow dryers or
straightening irons. Heat can cause hair to burn at worst or at the
very least it dries out hair, dry hair will develop split ends
6. Trim hair every 3 – 4 months, you can push it to 6 months if you
have been diligent about moisturising and sealing.
Hot oil treatments are an amazing, amazing deep conditioning treatment that leaves hair feeling good inside and out. It is a deeply nourishing treatment that resolves many hair problems. It leaves hair moisturized, shiny and soft.
People with all types of hair can do hot oil treatments, whether you consider your hair naturally oily or naturally dry, relaxed hair, natural hair, all hair types benefit immensely from this kind of treatment. Whether your hair problem is dry hair, thinning hair, breaking hair, frizzy hair, scaly or dandruff prone scalp; your hair will benefit from a hot oil treatment.
Do not be concerned that doing a hot oil treatment will leave your hair oily and weighed down because natural oils wash off easily with warm water after you are done with the treatment. You do not have to wash your hair before applying the oil, you will wash hair after treatment.
Here are a few ways in which you can incorporate an oil treatment into your hair regimen:
1. If you have low porosity hair, which is hair that has difficulty absorbing moisture because its cuticle is not penetrated easily, it is important to include a heating element during your oil treatment process.
- You can do that by bringing water to boil in a pot
- Place your bottle of oil in the hot water so it is warmed up to skin temperature
- Test oil is not too hot by applying on your wrist
- Section your hair in four parts and apply oil evenly throughout hair, focus on hair tips. Hair can be dry or damp
- Massage the oil into your scalp as well
- Cover with plastic cap and leave covered for 30 minutes
- Wash off the oil with water, shampoo and then apply conditioner to your hair
DO NOT HEAT OIL IN MICROWAVE BECAUSE THAT WILL BREAK DOWN NUTRIENTS IN THE OIL AND LEAVE OIL UNABLE TO BENEFIT YOUR HAIR
2. If you do not fancy applying a hot liquid on your sensitive scalp you may consider warming the oil with a hot towel
- Apply oil onto your damp or dry hair, if you have low porosity hair, go for damp hair
- Cover head with plastic cap
- Warm a damp towel in the microwave and wrap around your head
- When the towel cools, reheat in microwave and wrap around head again
- Do this for no less than 30mins
- Rinse off oil, and then shampoo and condition as usual
3. If you are not up to doing the treatment by heating the oil, you can choose to “hot” oil treat using the greenhouse method:
- Apply oil to dry hair, your does not have to be drenched in oil. Remember to cover the tips
- Cover your hair with a plastic
- Then cover with your usual bedtime head wrap
- Keep oil covered on your hair overnight. Your natural body heat will be released and captured by the plastic cap and that heat will facilitate the penetration of oil into your hair
- In the morning rinse off oil and proceed to wash and condition
- You can also do this by leaving the oil in your and cover in a plastic and leave it all day whilst you work indoors, the point is to keep it for a few hours.
- Then rinse off the oil, shampoo and condition
4. If you have a hooded dryer or deep conditioning heat cap:
- Apply your oil to your dry or damp hair
- Cover head in plastic cap and the go under hooded dryer or put on heated deep conditioning cap
- Stay in the heated environment for 30mins
- Rinse off with warm water, shampoo and condition
5. If you have a steamer or are going to a steam room at the gym:
- Apply oil to dry or damp hair
- Do not cover with plastic cap, place a towel or cotton wool strap around edges of hair to absorb dripping water or oil
- Stay under steamer for 30 mins
- Let hair cool down
- Rinse off oil with warm water, shampoo and condition hair