Theme: Reset. Reconnect & Thrive.
Kate B Nene (Bangiswani K. Sithole) will be presenting:
Rooted in Wellness: Plant Medicine for Restorative Living
Saturday, 18 July 2026 | 09:30
This interactive session explores the connection between nature, traditional plant knowledge, and modern wellness. Participants will discover how aromatic plants and herbal products can support physical, emotional, and mental well-being through practical demonstrations of hydrosols, herbal teas, and other plant-based products.
Good morning, everyone.
When we hear the word wellness, many of us immediately think about treating illness.
But I have come to believe that wellness is something much deeper.
Wellness is creating the conditions for our bodies, our minds and our spirits to do what they were created to do.
To heal.
To rest.
To restore themselves.
Today, I want to invite you to go back.
Not simply to a place.
But to your roots.
To yourself.
To the places that made you who you are.
In isiZulu we say,
Asibuyele emasisweni.
Let us return to our origins.
Sometimes, when we return home, we walk through long grass.
We find old homesteads.
Collapsed walls.
Empty shops.
And then, hidden beneath the grass, we discover something that stops us in our tracks.
Piles of stones.
Only to realise...
They are not stones.
They are the graves of our family.
For a moment, everything becomes quiet.
Then I ask you a question.
What do you see?
Do you see ruins?
Or do you see opportunity?
I choose to see opportunity.
I choose to see restoration.
Because where others see an abandoned peach tree...
I see fresh peaches.
I see dried peaches.
I see jam.
I see chutney.
I see juice.
I see an enterprise that can feed a family and create work for a community.
That is why I wrote Beyond the Oil.
Not because oil is unimportant.
But because our future is greater than one product.
Our future lies in seeing possibilities where others only see limitations.
But before we speak about enterprises...
Before we speak about restoring communities...
We must first speak about ourselves.
Because we cannot restore the land if we have not allowed ourselves to be restored.
We cannot give what we do not have.
We cannot lead from wounds we refuse to acknowledge.
Healing is not weakness.
Rest is not laziness.
Winter is not failure.
Winter is where life quietly begins again.
The trees know this.
The soil knows this.
Nature knows this.
Perhaps we have forgotten it.
It's winter now.
This is the season to rest.
To heal.
To learn.
To plan.
To forgive.
To restore ourselves.
Soon spring will come.
Then we will plant.
Summer will help us grow.
Autumn will bring the harvest.
Every season has its work.
And every season deserves our respect.
People often ask me why I encourage people to return home.
It is not because the past was perfect.
Many people left because of pain.
Because of politics.
Because of poverty.
Because life gave them no choice.
Some return years later carrying grief, regret and unanswered questions.
So when I say,
Go back to restore,
I am not asking you to go back carrying your pain.
I am asking you to allow yourself to heal first.
Because restored people become good stewards.
And good stewards prepare the land for generations they may never meet.
There is another saying that has stayed with me.
La amanzi ake ema khona, ayobuye ame futhi.
Where water once stood...
Water can stand there again.
Life can return.
Communities can live again.
Families can rebuild.
Hope can grow again.
And so can we.
As I close today, I want to leave you with one thought.
Perhaps life does not begin in spring.
Perhaps it begins in winter.
In the quiet season.
The season when we stop running.
The season when we heal.
The season when we remember who we are.
Because before the steward restores the land...
The steward must first be restored.
Thank you.