What are the chances of a young white girl raised on Cape Cod at the height of the civil rights movement finding her way, decades later, to rural South Africa?

And then beyond that, following a lifelong calling of practicing  traditional African spirituality and fulfilling her Zulu family’s prophecy of her coming home?

Not particularly high, of course, yet in her riveting memoir, Christa Gumede Buthelezi details that journey, bringing us along as she finds her path across the world to the stunning landscapes of KwaZulu-Natal, creating the family she’d always longed for along the way. Her descriptive language brings the wildness, beauty and challenges of South Africa to you in ways beyond the normal safari tales and she shares the rare level of acceptance into the Zulu culture she’s experienced openly and with candor. In doing this and giving up on the American dream she’s long pursued, she bravely heals her own childhood trauma and uses all she learns to invite similar healing in others and in her beloved South Africa.

UBIZO should be available through your local independent book store or follow these links:

“I don’t know traditional ceremonial ways, but feel, as I complete the last words of UBIZO, like I’ve just sat in healing ceremony. My heart feels tender and open. My body feels deep stillness of having danced and sweated and cried. My feet feel planted on the Earth - in honest acknowledgement of the rocks and thorns here. My spirit feels expansive and clean. And I know the story - for Christa and for all of us - isn’t over yet. It feels, in my heart, like the voice of ancestors whispering to each of us, Keep going, dear one. It is beautiful, it is difficult. You are loved and not alone."

— Kristin Noelle, founder of Sacred Loom

“At its core a story about the resilience and universality of the human spirit. While it is an artfully crafted memoir centering lasting effects of childhood trauma, the story is also a breathtaking tale of heartbreak, adventure, and finding peace in the unexpected ways and places.”

— Corrine Cunningham, author of Farmgirl

“A deeply personal story of one woman ‘s journey that weaves together the universal themes of healing from trauma, searching for love (of self and others), and finding home, with a dash of magic thrown in. Alternatively heartbreaking, compelling, and hopeful, I had hard time putting it down.

— Alana Sheeren, Producer/Director, Baby Ben Productions