Passing the torch

It's Baba-and-Bella Day, and today Bella is modeling two gifts from my treasured friend, Lisa Butler. Lisa was a student at Smith when I taught there, and though she never took one of my classes, we met and liked each other so much that some years later, when she was working on advanced degrees in community health, she came to South Africa and stayed with me and my family as she deepened her knowledge of Zulu, Sesotho, and Xhosa cultures coping with HIV/AIDS. At that time I was running a theatre department, specializing in theatre for community problem solving.

In 2001 I officiated at Lisa's unforgettable wedding to Jim Slotta in the mountains of Colorado, complete with giant puppets and a bagpiper, and I have been cheering for her important work and her loving family ever since I met her. If you have fifteen minutes to spend learning about the importance of HIV disclosure for young people in Africa, watch the video with the link above. There is much to celebrate coming out of the health crises in Africa, and the good news never gets enough press.

The wire basket Bella has on her head, and the hand-made doll she's clutching were both made by African craftswomen and purchased for me in Pietermaritzburg on one of Lisa's trips there. At the present moment Bella seems to be coming down with a cold or flu--she's a little pale and tired; and she has no idea what Lisa's work is, or how important it is; but when Bella is old enough, I would be proud to see her take the torch and carry it on in her own way.