The first stop on my parents’ visit to Southern Africa was to visit a village I had been dreaming about since eighth grade.

I made a beautiful piece of abstract art that year with inspiration from a National Geographic article that featured the artwork of an Ndebele community in South Africa. I won two different prizes for it!

Only after arriving in Swaziland did I learn that the community that was featured was Ndebele and South African and that I was only a few hours away.

This journey truly started on a Girl Scout trip to New York City a few years before my art project. We visited the UN, where I purchased a doll with beadwork and many rings around her neck. This doll also happens to be Ndebele.

The village we visited deserves a full post, but for now, let me leave you with a photo.

Traditional decorations and a modern traditional dress.