Take one action : Reawakening Africans theme

We are in the second month of the year 2024 and still pressed to implement our reawakening Africans theme. In every journey or encounter we embark on we put Africa at the center of it all. What better way to shed a bit of perspective about a life-changing event I encountered.

Every morning after my vigorous workout sessions. I go into the garden at home just to regroup and exhale some of life’s challenges. I walk around the garden and pull out some weeds with my village mom. As we pull out the weeds she shares stories with me about how she was raised in the villages. 

Yesterday was different, I guess. We noticed some of the seeds that we had planted a while ago were blooming. She then identified the different vegetables that were coming to life in our garden. My village mom began teaching me about the different plants and vegetables in our garden.

We noticed that we have ‘’umhlonyane’’ commonly known as Artemisia afra. Artemisia afra is the third parent that raised my village mom, she exclaimed. My village mom mentioned how when she was young  ‘’umhlonyane’’ cured any illness they had. She emphasised how the elders would instruct them to get ‘’umhlonyane’’ when one one of them was ill. Umhloyane cured every illness according to the elders in the village. Umhloyane was their saving grace.

Artemisia afra saved many households from doctor and hospital visits. Yesterday, I discovered that I have this plant in my garden at home. My village mom continued to teach me about plants that are safe to eat like ‘’umfino’’. Umfino is commonly known as wild spinach and we also have it in our garden. As we continued to pull out more weeds we found tomatoes, pumpkin, a lemon tree, aloe, green pepper, onion, potatoes and mint leaves. 

It was rewarding to make such a discovery and this got me thinking about the lessons that planting teaches us.

Well, seeds are very small in size however when they germinate they produce something enormous as a tree. The difficulty lies in waiting for these seeds to germinate. I honestly took for granted that the pumpkin seeds I tossed in our garden last February would form an entire pumpkin this February. 

Secondly, we had a lemon tree before in our garden when I was young, due to the renovations it disappeared. However, the roots of the lemon tree were so strong that it reproduced itself again on the same spot. Now, it’s even stronger than before. 

Lastly,  plants that make up different medicines are plants that are on our land. Artemisia afra makes products such as loose leaf tea which has health benefits such as fighting fever and nasal congestion. 

I am not a herbalist by the way or a farmer by profession. I am just using nature to make illustrations and find life lessons. I guess what I am trying to say is that, we plant seeds in the form of opportunities or work on our passions. As small as they are, they do germinate however, the challenge lies with waiting for the harvest time. Just because we don’t see them germinating it does not mean that they aren’t. Our responsibility is to continue to water them and keep on working. Like with the lemon tree, we are broken in the spaces where we will rise to shine again. Only this time we grow to become resilient.

Lastly, like plants making up different medicines, our solutions lie with us, are in us and on our land. We just don’t want to see the value we have and what we can produce as Africans. 

Anyway, I just wanted to wish you a prosperous February family. Don’t give up on yourself because deep down your soul knows what you need to do. You just need to answer the call through following your passions and be patient. Everything is working out for your good.

Who knows in the coming years, I just may be your supplier in the local markets. 

We believe as Botlhale Hub Afrika we cannot implement this vision alone and therefore we are open for collaborations or partnerships. 

If you or your organisation align to our vision, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us via email or please DM me directly . 

We are also available for speaking engagement, write-ups and consultations.

We have a rate card with our services.

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