Get inspired by Mama Africa
Tribal life, rites of passage, african women, traditional crafts and much more…
Today is Indigenous Women’s day 2024. I take this opportunity to celebrate and show my gratitude to all the tribeswomen who teach me and inspire me since my first time being back with mama Africa in 1993!
What does a needle have to do with an umbrella? Well it’s the box that comes between us and the answer to this question. I mean a mental box. And the thing is, it turns out it’s a Western-kind-of-thinking box. All will make sense I promise, just click and let’s begin the needle story…
Around East Africa, I’ve met many young people who make their living by creating for the souvenir industry, out of them, I occasionally meet artists. Baraka is just that, an artist in his soul.
A new and wonderful project started when one day I walked into the kitchen just as the chef finished cracking the unique Kilimanjaro oyster nuts for his famous sauce. I looked at the empty shells with their rich texture and immediately knew what I was going to create from them…
Oyster nuts are a tasty and highly nutritious super food, and everything about them fascinates me. Kweme in Swahili, it’s definitely another one of Mother Earth’s wonders and a special gift to the mountain dwellers. The nuts, that grow inside a kind of a giant green gourd, have a unique connection to the heritage of the Chagga tribe among which I live…
The village kids on the slopes of the Kilimanjaro, as many other African kids, are very creative with their games. Without excess of store-bought toys that are imposed on Western kids, nature is their play ground. Childhood games in the safe embrace of the community are a vital and integrated way of learning and maturing into healthy adult life. Hope you’ll get inspired by this…
In this post I share my personal playlists out of Africa. Tribal dances may slowly disappear in some tribes, but Africans never stopped dancing. Popular music is heard everywhere, filling you with joy and happiness. We in the West are totally missing out on amazing African music. Well that’s why I’m here, so that you can enjoy it too! It’s (always a good) time to dance!
Paulo, who sells traditional Maasai medicine door to door, came to our neighborhood the other morning.
This is how long a girl stays home with the women of her family after her first blood appears. She is given much needed time adjusting to the changes, in the loving embrace of mothers. We can too!
A short hike along the Temi River on the slopes of Mount Meru in Tanzania, turned into a tour through the healing plants and trees of Africa. We were amazed to discover how many healing uses exist, often more than one use for the same plant! Let’s take a peek into the abundant gifts of Mama Africa!
Do you know how many ways there are to say No Problems in the Swahili language? It’s Africa’s problem-free philosophy! Get inspired on how to leave your problems behind, the African way.
Well first, the name was given to his father. And here’s the full inconceivable story of all that transpired one fateful night on the slopes of the Kilimanjaro…
Here are some traditional crafts I came across in Zanzibar and Bagamoyo in Tanzania. Mostly made of coconut trees, befitting the Swahili culture of the East African coast…
This is the story of a woman from a far away tribe and her coming of age ceremony.
A woman who’s still carrying fragrances of a heritage that has long been forgotten in many parts of Africa, just as it has been forgotten by us. Now is time for remembering …
Africa is full of shiny happy people. How do they do it? Check out what I’ve learned so far…
It’s my feeling that we all live with a deep, unconscious, and utterly unfulfilled longing to come back to a relationship of deep connection with our Mother Earth and with our nature family. And this is the real dream, underneath all other dreams, that brings us to our safari trip.
In the home of Mama Ally in Bagamoyo, a rite of passage was about to take place. Two girls will be initiated into womanhood. Join me for this inspirational story…
The Makonde women are known for their strong and free spirit – I was very excited for this coming of age celebration of girls who have just completed their initiation into the world of women.
The walk down the Kanga river and all that happened on the way. A story about people and community on the slopes of the Kilimanjaro.
For the first time in my life here I was walking alongside wild Animals. “Oops I stepped on zebra shit” close!
How did I come to have weaving lessons in a bar on the Kilimanjaro mountain?
This story is about one traditional craft coming back to life in a bar of all places.
