The Power of A Woman

Normally I would not post a picture of a woman so scantily clothed.  I believe that modesty is a sign of respect for oneself and ones beautiful body.  
The reason I post this picture on my blog  today is that it depicts a beautiful woman who belongs to an African Tribe.  She does not dress in a way of subduction but in the dress of her everyday life and customs.   With that said I wish to share with you her story, It is a beautiful story of the worth of a soul. It is the wish of my heart that each of us could understood our individual worth better, and treat each other with an understanding who we truly are.  Every human being upon this world has something of value to add to this beautiful world.  We each need to know our own song and the songs of each individual we meet.
Her Story;
Of all the African tribes still alive today, the Himba tribe is one of the few that counts the birth date of the children not from the day they are born nor conceived but the day the mother decides to have the child.
When a Himba woman decides to have a child, she goes off and sits under a tree, by herself, and she listens until she can hear the song of the child who wants to come. And after she's heard the song of this child, she comes back to the man who will be the child's father, and teaches him the song. When they make love to physically conceive the child, they sing the song of the child as a way of inviting the child.
When she becomes pregnant, the mother teaches that child's song to the midwives and the old women of the village, so that when the child is born, the old women and the people gather around him/her and sing the child's song to welcome him/her. As the child grows up, the other villagers are taught the child's song. If the child falls, or gets hurt, someone picks him/her up and sings to him/her his/her song. Or maybe when the child does something wonderful, or goes through the rites of puberty, then as a way of honoring this person, the people of the village sing his or her song.
In the Himba tribe there is one other occasion when the "child song" is sang to the Himba tribesperson. If a Himba tribesman or tribeswoman commits a crime or something that is against the Himba social norms, the villagers call him or her into the center of the village and the community forms a circle around him/her. Then they sing his/her birth song to him/her.
The Himba views correction not as a punishment, but as love and remembrance of identity. For when you recognize your own song, you have no desire or need to do anything that would hurt another. 
In marriage, the songs are sung, together. And finally, when the Himba tribesman/tribeswoman is lying in his/her bed, ready to die, all the villagers that know his or her song come and sing - for the last time that person's song.
This to me depicts the power of a woman to change generations.  When we can know of our child's great worth, and teach them of their worth , teach others of their worth, celebrate their worth, and remind them when they make mistakes of their worth.  We then truly change the world!
Begin today by understanding your own great worth.

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