This 5-Minute Personal Growth Book Review was submitted by guest reviewer, Helgaard Botha.

This wonderful book is about celebrating the extraordinary women who hold societies together across the world, billions of strong and determined women constitute the glue that holds societies in crisis together and the rock on which values are built. Often, these are ordinary women who become extraordinary simply because they persevere day after day, doing the things that they believe need doing. Mostly, what drive them are the examples of their mothers and grandmothers and their desire to do the best for their children. A new book, BURNING BRIGHT: Extraordinary women of KwaZulu-Natal, celebrates 12 such women from KwaZulu-Natal, one of South Africa’s largest and most rural provinces.

KwaZulu-Natal, on the east coast of South Africa, is a province of a thousand hills and valleys that has been ravaged for decades by apartheid’s underdevelopment, poverty and HIV/AIDS. It is also the home of the proud Zulu nation and probably best known for fearsome Zulu warriors of the past and proud men of the present. Yet BURNING BRIGHT proves that KwaZulu-Natal is also home to courageous and compassionate women whose stories must be told.

The book combines the sensitively written stories of these women with rich imagery. Dramatic, full-page portraits of the women’s faces combine with photographs of their hands to capture the essence of what each woman is. In each chapter evocative landscapes, ‘local colour’ photographs and old personal snapshots open a window onto the diverse parts of KwaZulu-Natal where the women grew up. A map shows where the childhood homes are.

BURNING BRIGHT is an affirmation of the positive way of life that manifests itself in the stories of these women. All the stories show a pervasive sense of community; a rootedness in the soil of this province, the key role played by mothers, grandmothers and schools in instilling solid values; the impact of apartheid on women’s lives and their dreams for their country’s and children’s future.

The backgrounds of the women are diverse. Among them is Anna Cele, a feisty, big-hearted domestic worker; Devi Rajab, newspaper columnist and psychologist; Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, principled politician; Ntsiki Biyela, South Africa’s first black woman wine-maker and 2009′s Winemaker of the Year; Leona Theron, the country’s first black woman judge and Peggy-Sue Khumalo, former Miss South Africa and now investment banker. They also represent the different races that make up the province’s rich cultural ‘mixed masala’. Most of the women are Zulu, but mixed race ‘coloured’, Indian and white women are included. Together, their stories paint a picture of rich, diverse childhood experiences across KwaZulu-Natal.

Virtually all of these women have overcome enormous challenges to get to where they are today. What is extraordinary, and what makes them true role models, is their ability to persevere. Winemaker Ntsiki Biyela sums it up in her story: ‘I have walked and fallen, and the important thing is to stand up and start again. I believe that that is what a role model is. There is always a chance that I’ll fall again, but if I can get up afterwards that’s okay.’

One of the most fascinating aspects of the book is the strong common threads and shared values that connect the women’s stories. Each story also has three distinct sections, written in different voices, which provide complementary perspectives on who these women are and what moulded them. The stories open with the author’s perspective on the specific woman and what makes her extraordinary. Next each woman tells her own story in her own words, sharing her dreams and reflecting on the influences that made her what she is. Finally the story takes readers into diverse corners of KwaZulu-Natal to visit the places where each woman comes from.

For Wilna Botha as the author, these visits to the childhood homes of the twelve women, scattered across the entire KwaZulu-Natal, was the most rewarding part of writing this book. She explains: ‘I came to KwaZulu-Natal having lived on the starker plains of the North-West Province, the Free State and Gauteng. Maybe that is why I was continuously overwhelmed by KwaZulu-Natal’s dramatic landscapes as we drove across countless hillsides and dropped down into many valleys while searching for the childhood homes of the women in this book. This book is also a tribute to this extraordinary province of hills, valleys and rich Zulu culture.

THE AUTHOR – Wilna Botha is a former investigative journalist, communications specialist, researcher and college lecturer. In the 1980s and 1990s she won national awards as South Africa’s medical journalist of the year, as runner-up to education writer of the year and for health reporting. Since 1993 she has contributed to rural development across KwaZulu-Natal as director of MiET Africa and now Africa!Ignite. It is this experience that put her in touch with a number of extraordinary women who were the inspiration for this book.

THE PHOTOGRAPHER – Pippa Hetherington’s ability to tell a thousand-word story through a single photograph has achieved widespread recognition. Her work has been published in Fair Lady, Marie Claire, Real Simple and leadership. She has also undertaken projects for the Global Water Partnership, WWF- The Green Trust and 25:40. Pippa’s heart is in the visual image. Her work is deeply influenced by her travels through Africa and the environment and social development of South Africa. She intimately captures the soul of her subjects with empathy and lasting integrity.

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Helgaard Botha normally concentrates on property development matters but was touched by this moving book on the life’s of ordinary people in Kwa-Zulu Natal in South Africa. He now shares his time between Mauritius and South Africa. He has lived amongst the rolling hills of Kwa-Zulu Natal for the last 25 years and calls Durban his home. After years of endeavour he still hasn’t found a consistent and reliable golf swing. He has recently acquired the license to operate the renowned Fine & Country Estate Agency in Mauritius. Helgaard can be contacted at http://www.fineandcountry.mu

BURNING BRIGHT: Extraordinary Women of KwaZulu-Natal is available from leading South African bookstores and electronically through Kalahari.net at ZAR 228 (including VAT). For more information visit http://www.africaignite.co.za/

Article Source: EzineArticles.com