Who is your guide to the tours ...

Until seven years ago I lived in a small house in Portland, Oregon, teaching yoga, counseling and leading workshops. My first trip to Africa in 1998 changed all that, and I now live in a small house on a farm in Nelspruit, South Africa and work with a rural women's weaving cooperative.

Africa caught my attention on a number of levels. I loved the spaciousness, the raw vitality that imbues everything from the vegetables to the rocks to the people. I was excited by the political climate of change and I was profoundly touched by the AIDS epidemic. After visiting orphanages in Johannesburg I immediately returned to the States and began raising money for HIV affected children. I joined American sponsors to 25 children who make up a wonderful family in Barbarton and helped to raise money to buy this family a farm.

When I met the women of the Mapusha Weaving Cooperative in December of 2002, I felt I had found a perfect match for my skills. Years ago I had studied textile design and operated a weaving studio in Boston. The women had a studio, looms and great skill but they were destitute. I have spent the last 4 years trying to bring my knowledge and strengths to the women of Mapusha. I have helped with marketing and design. The central effort has been to make their business sustainable so that they can support their dependents (approximately 60). I know that the economic empowerment of rural African women is the key to bringing lasting change to their world and this continent. It has been an honor to work with these women and a joy to begin to know the ways and the people of the township. These tours support my work: to empower the women of Mapusha and the people of Rooiboklaagte.

I want others to know this small corner of Africa, and come away with a far deeper understanding and appreciation than most tourists take home from their time spent in South Africa.