Q: What did going to South Africa do for you? Did it feel like a pilgrimage?
Franklin: I looked at this as a return. From the moment I saw the continent as we were looking out the airplane, I had the window seat, and I’m looking out the window, and as soon as I see land, that was so emotional for me just to see the land from the air. It was definitely a spiritual moment, and I felt that spirituality the entire time.
Q: What surprised you most?
Franklin: I didn’t expect the extent of how much the spirituality would resonate with me and activate me. What surprised me the most is the political clarity I got.
Q: What did the first moments of connection teach you?
Franklin: We had moments of connection where we learned some traditions within our cultures. Circles have always been meaningful to me. I think this just provided more clarity on why they’re so meaningful to me.
Q: What was it like to communicate without words?
Franklin: We stared and communicated with that individual by looking in their eyes without speaking. It’s not something we do, but this is a way, this is part of that spirituality. That is that power, that healing power of human connection.
Q: What did the music and stillness offer?
Franklin: There was the soft drumming, the soft music, and it was traditional music of our ancestors. To me, returning and going through this entire journey for the entire two weeks, it was a healing. So not only was it a return, but it was a healing.
Q: How did the journey change your understanding of wellness?
Franklin: It brought me more connected to what wellness actually looks like and feels like. From day one, how healing that culture and the rhythm of the music and the language without words, how it shifted my spirit, I could literally feel my spirit shifting.
Q: What was the ocean ceremony like?
Franklin: We started off when it was dark. Then we start learning the song. So we’re singing, we’re playing music, we’re walking, we’re holding hands. And then we walk and then right in front of us is the entire ocean.
Q: What did you see around you?
Franklin: To the left of us is Table Mountain and the cloud was sitting on top of the mountain. I’m sitting here like going, oh my gosh, so I’m overcome.
Q: What happened when it was your turn to enter the ocean?
Franklin: When it was my turn to walk out into the ocean, I gotta tell you, I was no longer cold. I was warm. I was so incredibly warm. I felt so connected. It was like there was a thinning of that veil. I saw how close I felt to my ancestors.
Q: How did being welcomed home affect you?
Franklin: I felt home. Like, I truly felt home. And this is what was so crazy, how much they prayed for us to return.
Q: What did the water cleansing mean to you?
Franklin: The thoughtfulness of taking that water and washing our feet, our legs, our arms, and just cleansing us in the sacred water, it was just so, yeah, I just will never look at the ocean again the same. I’m forever changed.
Q: What did the land teach you?
Franklin: Harm to land is harm to people. And we see it over and over and over again. Healing is in the land, it’s in the water, it’s in the air.
Q: What lesson did you learn about boundaries?
Franklin: I learned boundaries. And not in the traditional sense. He gave the analogy of how the ocean meets land and doesn’t lose itself. But they connect and they’re there for each other.
Q: What did this journey teach you about healing and healthcare?
Franklin: This journey taught me how to trust myself. It taught me how to listen. It taught me how to really think about how do I move with intention. Healthcare doesn’t just come from a prescription. It really, truly comes from connection, language and belonging.
Q: What are you carrying forward?
Franklin: I was never questioned. It was just like I was understood without words.