The 82-Year-Old Artist Who Can Only Write Her Name
from Johannesburg, South Africa. I was in high school the first time I saw the painted houses of the Ndebele people in a book….
Onward Abroad
The Complexity of Resilience in Post-Apartheid South Africa
from Johannesburg, South Africa. I’ve come to South Africa on a mission to explore resilience: What does it look like? How is it defined?…
Cultivating Community in an Urban Garden
from Johannesburg, South Africa. “Thank you for bringing this young person to visit me,” Mama Refiloe says, “he is our future.” She pulls my…
Marveling at the Magnitude of Victoria Falls
from Livingston, Zambia. Spending time in wild places is critical to filling my reserves of resilience. Redwoods, beaches and rainforests help me decompress, feel…
A Glimpse of Ceremony and Community Resilience
from Livingston, Zambia. We’re driving through Livingston, a city in Zambia with a population of 300,000. Quentino, our guide, suddenly turns down one dusty…
Why There Are No Lions in Zambia
from Livingston, Zambia. “We can’t stop poaching without addressing poverty,” says Quentino, our guide in the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, just outside of Livingston, Zambia….
When the Headman is a Woman
from Livingston, Zambia. We drive 7.5 miles up a bumpy dirt road to a village in Zambia that’s participating in a community development project….
Creating Art from the Pain of the Past
Do you have the Onward Workbook? If so, I doubt you’ve reached the chapter called, “Focus on the Bright Spots,” but there’s an activity…
When Curiosity Takes You to Theatre in the Backyard
Mhlanguli George walked the streets wondering what was happening in his neighbors’ backyards. “I would knock,” he says, “and I would hear a woman’s…
Finding Resilience in Spinach, Soil, Song and Spray Paint
Cape Town, South Africa, is a place of great natural beauty, tremendous possibility, and deep conflict. I’ve been here a few days and feel…