Today we celebrate Women’s Day! A day that honours the courage, strength, and unwavering spirit of women who have walked before us and those who walk beside us. Women who have shaped South Africa’s history and continue to weave the fabric of our future.

At Londolozi, ancient leadwood trees have stood as silent witnesses to countless generations of women, and remind us daily of the profound truth that women are the constant golden thread in the beads of life. Like the intricate patterns found in a spider’s web or the delicate connections that bind ecosystems together, women create the essential links that hold families and communities together.

The Golden Thread

This Women’s Day, we have invited our guests and staff to join us in a celebration that honours the timeless metaphor through the ancient art of beading. Just as each bead requires a thread to give it purpose and connection, every aspect of life – from the smallest seedling to the grandest migration – depends on the nurturing, connecting force that women provide.

In nature, we witness this truth everywhere we look. The matriarchal elephant herds that guide their families across vast landscapes with wisdom passed down through generations. The lionesses who seamlessly provide for the pride. The intricate pollination networks that depend on the patient, methodical work of countless female insects, ensuring the continuation of life itself.

A Gathering of Sisterhood

Today, we gather in the Londolozi village for an intimate beading circle.  Here, surrounded by the sounds of the bush and the warmth of sisterhood, we will create something beautiful together.

The act of beading is meditative, intentional, and deeply symbolic. Each bead represents a moment, a memory, a dream. The thread that binds them represents the continuity of women’s influence across time, connecting past wisdom to present strength, and present strength to future possibilities.

As we string our beads together, we will share stories, poems, and reflections on what it means to be part of this unbroken chain of feminine strength that stretches back to the very origins of humanity here in Africa.

Bronwyn Varty-Laburn and Lillian Ngwenya beading at last year’s sacred women’s day celebration

The Londolozi Sisterhood

The Art of Connection

There is something profoundly moving about watching hands work together in the ancient rhythm of creation. In our beading circles, women from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and walks of life will sit side by side, each adding their own unique contribution to the collective beauty that is being born.

This mirrors the delicate balance we observe in nature every day. The way different species depend on one another, and the way each element of the ecosystem plays its part in maintaining the whole. Women, too, are the connectors, the nurturers, the ones who see the bigger picture and work tirelessly to maintain the bonds that keep communities thriving.

Honouring Our Heritage

South Africa’s Women’s Day commemorates the brave women who marched to the Union Buildings on August 9, 1956, to protest the apartheid pass laws. These 20,000 women understood that they were not just fighting for themselves, but weaving a stronger future for generations to come. They were the thread holding together the hopes and dreams of an entire nation.

In the same spirit, our gathering is both a celebration and a commitment. We celebrate the strength, wisdom, and resilience of women while committing to continue the work of connection, nurturing, and positive change in our own corner of the world.

The Endless Thread

As we create our sisterhood bracelets, each woman taking home a tangible reminder of our shared connection, we participate in something much larger than ourselves. We become part of the endless tapestry of women who have always understood that true strength lies not in standing alone, but in the connections we create and maintain.

Like the acacia trees that dot the Londolozi landscape – their roots intertwined beneath the surface, supporting one another through drought and plenty – women form an invisible network of support, wisdom, and love that sustains all of life.

Happy Women’s Day!

Whether you are a guest sharing this special time with us at Londolozi, or a member of our extended family reading from afar, we invite you to honour the women in your life today. Recognise the threads they have woven in your own story. Celebrate the connections they have nurtured. Acknowledge the quiet strength with which they have held together the world around them.

On this Women’s Day, we gather not just to celebrate this truth, but to live it, to honour it, and to ensure that this precious thread continues to weave beauty, strength, and hope into the fabric of our shared tomorrow.