When I signed up for my first WWOOFing experience at Kingfisher farm in Botswana I had no idea that I was about to meet somebody whose life story and wisdom would restore my belief in the power of resilience and love. Although I didn’t really recognize it at the time, part of me was broken. My young naiveté; my beliefs that: if I did my best and worked hard at something it would succeed; that if I loved someone enough they would love me back; and that there was some greater plan; all seemed to have been shattered. I felt angry and unable to understand the pain and hardship of life and the struggles I watched people around me face. It just didn’t seem like there was a point to the suffering. In my Journal on January 10th 2018 I wrote “I find it hard to understand life. Why all this pain?” In my pursuit to find meaning again, Julia was the person I needed to meet. If she could come out on the other side of the unimaginable tragedy and trials of life as strong and vibrant as she is than so could all of us.
I struggled to write this interview, in part, because Julia’s life story is worthy of a book (which is in fact being written)! On one hand I felt I needed to condense the interview for people’s limited time and attention in this busy life but on the other I was compelled to leave in some of her life background because it is this puzzle of peoples' lives that I find truly intriguing - how somehow through the rear-view mirror it all goes together. I want to allow readers, through my stories, to meet the people I had the privilege of getting to know. I have done my best to find a balance but those with less patience may be compelled to skip ahead while I will recommend to anyone reading this to buy Julia’s book once it comes out because there is no way I could capture her life story and wisdom in one interview!
The tragedy and adversity Julia has faced (house burning to the ground, daughter murdered, spouse infidelity, health challenges) is hard to imagine, but what strikes more powerfully is the positivity, resilience, and love that she exudes on the other side of it. Today, Julia runs Kingfisher farm, a vibrant organic farm that supplies Farmers Markets and restaurants in the Central Business District of Botswana’s capital (Gabaroné) with fresh, nutritious lettuce and other garden produce.
Julia’s life didn’t begin out of the ordinary. Born near London, dad was a traveling salesman, selling gas for camping equipment, while mum was not formally trained but worked part time as a Secretary for the football manager of the South Hampton team. Julia’s mom loved gardening and it remained her joy until she was in a nursing home where they would take her out to enjoy the flowers. When I ask Julia what she liked doing as a child she replied, “I enjoyed being outside, playing with dollies and water and making a mess.”
Julia’s mum had a very limited cooking repertoire and used to always make the same things. “I loved eating so I wanted a more varied diet. I taught myself to cook“ Julia tells me. Julia did home economics at school and came to love it “I wanted to make things that tasted and looked good”. Julia applied to do a B.Ed. in Home Economics because she thought it was her best subject and passion. When it came to the exam where she had to show the use of different sauces in cookery Julia says she overdid it and ended up with a D. “I had all of this information and I must have written what I wanted to write instead of answering the questions.” In art however, she got an A. The exam prompt was “make something for someone who lives in high circles” and Julia designed a soft chess set made out of fabric, which was embroidered. Julia selected courses in art, needlework, textiles and pottery. “ I loved creating things for the home one way or another.“
Julia’s first job was teaching on the Isle of Wight (UK), which was known to be a holiday beach destination. “I thought I had got myself a plum job, I was so excited.” However it turned out to be a disaster because the island was struggling economically since people were vacationing in France and Spain instead of locally. Parents were on the dole, many were single parent families and many of the children picked up a negative attitude. One of the Home Economics classes that 21-year-old Julia was given was a class that was considered unable to get a certificate. “They made my life hell. There were boys trying to look down my dress, a girl on probation who threatened she would pour beer over my head and steal my boyfriend. On the Island I could never get away from them. I bought a house and they used to put stones through my letterbox. I ended up having a nervous breakdown. I walked into school and burst into tears. The children didn’t want me to teach them, they just wanted to make my life a misery.”
Julia said she didn’t realize that she was ill with severe bronchitis. Her mom came to visit and suggested Julia try craft retail when she heard that Julia didn’t want to teach anymore but Julia hadn’t given up on it altogether. Though she had concluded British children weren’t interested in learning, she was looking in the newspaper which listed overseas jobs. One day she read “Botswana needs two Home Economics teachers, children very keen to learn.” and Julia knew she wanted to go there. “Nobody knew where Botswana was. There was no information about it because nothing happened there that caught the global attention until Miss World 1991”. Julia went to Farnham Castle to be trained. “There were eight of us going to Botswana but I was the only teacher, the others were nurses, accountants, etc.“ Julia explains that they watched videos of what to expect and what to do if they accidentally ran over a goat or got bitten by snakes or spiders.
Julia was ready for a new adventure. “I got on a plane. I had never really been a traveler but I wanted to teach children who wanted to learn.” Julia was put in the only hotel in Gaboroné - The Holiday Inn. “I was really enjoying myself, having hotel food and going to the casino in the evenings. I had only once stayed in a hotel before and I’d never been to a casino. It was exciting!” After 3 days she was shipped off to Moshupa. In one month the children had to write their examinations for the first time in the school. They hadn’t done any of the coursework for the three-year course due to issues with the previous Home Economics teachers. Julia explains that the amazing thing was that for the entire month leading up to exams the children went home at 4pm and returned from 6pm - 8pm to learn more. The Senior Education Officer (top in the country) came to administer the examination. “That was really scary and she found a few things wrong but at the end of the day every single child passed and we were highly commended.”
Julia had fallen in love with the village. She had found what she was looking for “I was happy there. I love teaching in Africa because the kids have always been keen to learn.” Julia also enjoyed being with the people who she says were very warm and supportive. “I was the only white person in the village in Moshupa but I was always treated very well and I had fun! I used to go dancing.“
At the beginning of the next year Julia was transferred on promotion to Molefi Secondary School where she met her future husband Peter who was an agriculture teacher there. She was then promoted to be a Home Economics lecturer at Molepolole college. “With no training myself I was now training teachers.” In this position she had to travel a lot to visit wherever teachers were posted so she got to know Botswana better. Julia gave birth to her first daughter Fifi and a year later she married Peter. “We had a child together and his family loved me and convinced me to marry him.”
Julia was pursuing a master’s at the university in Gaborone. “I wanted to get into a leadership position in educational administration.” During this time the government decided to move the Home Economics department to a new college, which was being built far north. “A day before schools open I got the letter to say I was transferred. I didn’t go. I needed to stay in Gaborone to finish my Master's and I had a newborn baby (Zinzile my second child). I wasn’t going to move my whole life. I contacted the principal and explained why I didn’t turn up to duty and he was empathetic but the head of Teaching Service Management didn’t understand the importance of a Master’s.” Julia was dissatisfied with working for the government so when there was an opening at Legae Academy private school she went for an interview. “They liked me however they had no Home Economics so they asked: “what else can you do?” I said: “I got an A in Art?” and the interviewer said: “okay.”
Julia designed and started the Art department at Legae, teaching a subject which she wasn’t trained in. She was given “a mixed bag of students most not interested in Art.” At the end of the year however they all passed and even received good grades. The school recognized Julia’s skills and gave her more Art classes up to O level. “I ran the department but luckily they also brought in a qualified art teacher. He taught fine art papers I did crafts.” Julia continued to move up in the education field. “I kept getting promoted. My hard work and skills were recognized and supported and opportunities kept coming. If I was in England I wouldn’t have been able to move up. I was hooked on the place.”
Julia’s first marriage did not last though her in-laws tried to convince her not to divorce. Despite their separation Julia says they have always remained friends. Her ex husband’s older sister was murdered in SA, a grief the families would both become familiar with.
Julia was doing her master's, teaching and bringing up two daughters by herself when she met her second husband Stuart. “Stuart was so good with my girls and together we brought up our 3 children.” They married after 5 years. Julia had become a Head teacher and was ready for her own home. “I’d always lived in school houses and always had to move. I had saved up money and had a good salary so I said to Stuart: When I move from Legae I am not moving again.” They decided to build their own house so they could design it, as they liked.
They hired “Creative House” company, which had been doing small structures but wanted to move into bigger constructions. They were going to be the prototype for the company’s next stage of building houses. Julia remembers her excitement at the prospect of her own place “I wanted to have a beautiful rose garden, and an orchard.” Though Julia had started growing a few vegetables at Legae for their family she says she had no thoughts of farming at the time. Her husband Stuart was a hairdresser but was also involved in farming using major chemicals and producing mass scale cabbages, onions, and asparagus to export to the UK. “Wherever he had been he’d worked very hard but he has never been paid his worth. He didn’t pay himself. He was a very good person”, Julia tells me.
Julia says she put all her money into building that house. She says she is business minded and as a natural organizer she had been involved with fundraising committees and accountability.
In the mean-time Julia was still teaching, “I wasn’t very happy at Legae. The Manager and I didn’t see eye to eye. It was always a battle getting her to understand the children’s needs educationally and the teacher’s importance. I knew how hard they were working. I loved my teachers and remain close to them to this day”. Someone said they would build Julia her own school at Molepolole and she could run it how she liked. “Our house was being built, the school was being built and I was on our property living in a tent.” The lappa (a tree house like room) was already built and Julia would sit up there writing books. “I was writing home economics textbooks for Botswana, Malawi, and Zambia.” Unfortunately the school in Molepolole turned out a flop. “We wanted to be able to provide a higher level of education but the parents weren’t able to pay.” Luckily the private school next door bought it out and at the same time Julia was offered a job at a new school in Gaborone called Letlhabile as their Head Teacher. Julia stayed there 5 years but eventually ended up in a disagreement with management and resigned.
Julia got a new job in administration at Legae Academy where she was also teaching Art, Computers, and English. By then the house had been completed. Her eldest daughter Fifi had gone off to university, and had a boyfriend so she didn’t necessarily come home to visit over the holidays. Julia’s younger daughter Zinzi was going back and forth with South African schooling.
When I asked Julia how she found her way to farming she explained to me that sometimes life has to show you your destiny and when you don’t take notice it might have to show you again and again. To start with her last name is “Farmer”. However it was the following events, which turned Julia’s life upside down, that also made her make some drastic life changes.
On March 6th 2010 Julia was at a Farmer’s Market (another sign). She had been growing vegetables and had more than their family could use so she was selling the excess. Julia says she didn’t have much so she was sharing a table with Guy, a family friend. Guy got the call. He said, “Julia I’ve just heard that your house is on fire and it’s serious. I’m not joking and you need to go now.” He told Julia he’d pack up her stuff and Julia says that what she had with her at that market is all she ended up having left.
“ It was a dramatic drive home. We could see the smoke. More and more. We knew we were going to see something terrible and we did.”
The house was completely made of wood, they had pine paneling and all the furniture was wood. The roof had gone down and the whole house had collapsed. Even the slate flooring had cracked. There was no water because the electricity was out and they couldn’t get anything from the borehole.
All that remained was the brick wall of the shower and some of Julia’s homemade pottery, which survived because it had been fired at an even higher temperature!
Although Julia had only been working at Legae (which means home) for 3 months when the fire destroyed everything, she knew most of the teachers and they came together to raise money. Management of the school matched the teacher’s efforts and all together they raised P10,000. Additional fundraising from friends and some individual donations of large sums brought the total to around P40,000 (Approximately $3625 USD). One of Julia’s friend’s bought Julia a gift bag with 20 packets of vegetable seeds on the day her house burned down. “I planted the whole packet of lettuce seeds in one bed” says Julia. The money, which had been raised, was not enough for a house but it was enough for a shade tunnel.
“I had been working on myself trying to make sense out of this. Though we had lost all of our possessions we still had the land. It was like starting over but the land could provide.”
It wasn’t easy though “when you lose everything, you have to buy everything new and I still had university fees and life to provide for.”
Julia says her vegetable gardening was partly for financial reasons but that she also enjoyed planting. “It was therapy and I wanted to do more.” Julia was still teaching but she needed to supplement her salary so she started selling produce to Bull & Bush restaurant. Julia says the school was very accommodating and allowed her to sell vegetables during the break. Bull & Bush would come and collect spinach. “It’s hard to grow here but in a tunnel it is protected and watered so it does well”, Julia explains.
As time went on, Julia found that she was enjoying farming and not enjoying marking (grading). She was teaching art but then they gave her the English class because they were short in that department. “I like creativity and they gave me a language”. Julia was supposed to teach English literature and says she is not interested in Shakespeare, etc. “Being made to teach a subject I was not interested in and didn’t have knowledge in was not satisfying and it was a lot of work marking all of the essays”. Julia says she is very thorough and could never do things half way so when it came to consultation evenings with parents she was always the last one to leave.
“It was tiring. I was working very hard and wanting to do my passion instead and then I lost my daughter Fifi (only 2 years after the house burned)."
Fifi was killed on September 20th yet her body wasn’t found until the 22nd. Julia was obviously heartbroken.
It was a “passion killing” which Julia says is very common in Africa. “Guys can not take it when a woman leaves them or has an affair. They often kill the girl and then hang themselves.” Julia believes a lot of it is rooted in inequality, which is being addressed. “Men think they own the woman so a woman doesn’t have the right to leave them.” Julia also thinks it is necessary to deal with the spiritual side. “The men have not thought that they need to work on themselves. It’s a lack of value of life.” Julia says her daughter’s ex was angry because she had left him but that he had already been abusing her. The trial period was long and exhausting. Julia says her younger daughter Zinzi was very good during this time and went for the trials when Julia couldn’t. It was cancelled many times. “When things happened, when the lawyer did turn up, I was there” says Julia.
“Initially, I didn’t think I would survive Fifi’s death but I did because her spirit came to me.”
Julia recalls the morning when she woke up thinking: ”There is no point in getting out of this bed, I don’t want to live without my Fifi!” Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she felt ready to give up because life no longer felt like it had any meaning. That’s when it happened… Through her tears Julia suddenly saw a heart shaped light that appeared to pulsate on the wall. It seemed to have entered through a gap in the curtains.
“I felt Fifi’s presence and she said, “Mummy you have to forgive him, I have forgiven him, I want you to live, you have to live – I love you!”
Julia says that in that moment she knew her daughter was right. “I felt myself fly up out of that black, bottomless pit like superman on a mission and as I arrived at the top the heart-light pulsated one final time and disappeared.” Julia got out of her bed and pulled back the curtains from which the light had entered. To her surprise behind them was a solid brick wall! “The angelic light could not have possibly come from outside. There was no doubt in my mind - it was Fifi’s spirit speaking to me. My inner strength was instantly renewed”, Julia remembers.
Julia says one must be open and perceptive to understand the spiritual world. “Two days ago I went to put my slippers on and there was a feather inside. Fifi has shown me that she is here.” Julia says that feathers are a spiritual sign and that she has had feathers show up so many times. “When I first lost Fifi there were lots of signs but now I don’t get as many because she doesn’t have to remind me. “
Julia says it helped her healing to have the farm and the first “Christmas Fair” where she had to work with people. Julia had already planned to start the fair with Bull & Bush but she says she forgot all about it until she got a call from someone else wanting to have an event the same day. “I had to wake up!” By that time, Julia’s second tunnel had gone up so Julia had lots of stuff growing and she spent a lot of time in the gardens. “I used to cry out there, I had time on my own. You need time on your own, you need to cry.”
The farm continued to become an even bigger and bigger part of Julia’s life. She was still teaching art, and doing the marking and administration that teachers need to do but she was also doing produce deliveries. “By the end of the year I knew this was not what I wanted to do. I wanted to be at the farm full time even though I wouldn’t have much money. By that time I had gotten used to not having much money.“ And thus Julia’s life as a full-time farmer and businesswoman began.
Much like how Julia found her way to becoming a farmer, the fact that she became an organic farmer seems somewhat by chance. Julia says that with her little vegetable garden she had needed to put up netting but she had never thought of using chemicals.
“My love of animals had always been there. I loved gardening, I loved flowers, I loved growing vegetables. If you love those things you can’t use chemicals. It was just logical. It wasn’t that I was anti chemicals but I didn’t want the consequences of using them.”
Julia says she just worked with nature. “You don’t really worry if you lose a few. It’s in large-scale that chemicals become seen as a need.”
Julia says that when she first started she couldn’t even find organic products in Botswana and had to get them from South Africa. She explains that farming in general has not been dominant in Botswana. Instead it has been all about mining, and diamonds. The farming that does exist is centered on cattle, cereal crops, maize, millet, and sorghum. Apparently the government had started pushing for diversity and backyard farming. “They give people seeds and stuff but people don’t know what to do with them.” Julia says her farm was already doing well and someone said “can’t you teach my farmer to grow vegetables? he ends up killing everything”. Then someone else said “can I bring my gardener and can I come also?” Julia started with a small group but felt she was teaching something she wasn’t trained in so she found a horticultural correspondence course from London. It contained 10 modules over 18 months and she loved it. Julia says a lot of her learning has been trial and error. “I tried growing cabbages, which was a complete disaster.” As time went on she learned about all of the things she could add to help create good soil. Apparently you need a license to import organic products such as fertilizers but not chemical ones!
Through the horticultural course Julia says she started learning how bad the chemicals really are. “I did the course and did research and I became anti- chemicals and anti-GMO’s because they did the opposite to what I wanted to do.”
In Julia’s opinion the organic movement is growing in Botswana. “Now with cancer and ill health people have seen research showing that chemicals from the environment could well have a part to play in people getting sick. It’s expensive to go to a private doctor.” Julia herself battled cancer years back but she didn’t consider the possible link to chemicals until later. Despite the popularity and awareness around organic farming the price of organic products is still a limiting factor. Julia says that the “precise packaging” of organic products at Woolworths adds to the cost and is compounded by the scarcity of organic farms compared to a growing demand that drives prices even higher.
Julia’s favorite thing about her job is that she can be creative! She also enjoys the practical aspect of farming. “In teaching you are helping others but I missed doing the stuff myself. Once you have a farm you can do preserves, cooking, and you can still teach.” Julia says the worst thing in life would be to be bored and it doesn’t look like there’s a risk of that happening to her anytime soon. When I visited in April 2018 she was supplying one hotel and seven restaurants with produce. She was doing an annual market, running one monthly market and attending another one. On top of that she runs workshops on organic farming, holds open days and hosts school classes.
Julia’s reputation precedes her. She received an award for Social Entrepreneur of the Year in 2015. from WIBA (Women In Business Association). This was unusual as Julia is neither a member of the organization nor is she Motswana. Julia tells me that more and more women are coming into agriculture. “It’s somewhere that women can actually be their own boss. “
When I ask Julia about the future, she says it is her hope for the farm to be fully effective. “I’ve got clients waiting for when I can supply them.” At the time of my visit Julia had recently added two new tunnels and a new irrigation system, which would help the farm have a higher output and be more profitable. Julia hopes to keep up all of her current activities like making preserves and eventually have two delivery vans and a driver! One day Julia wishes to get aquaponics going and maybe go solar.
Meanwhile on a personal level Julia wants to finish her book and get it published. She also plans to start an organic association in Botswana. “I’m convinced it’s the way to go. I would like to help get the association started and be a resource person.” Julia also says she wants to open up teaching to pre-schools. She says Joseph (one of her best staff members) can run the farm and she can do more on the teaching side. One day she plans to have an education center offering teaching on different aspects of growing organic!
Julia’s second marriage came to an end when she made the devastating discovery that her husband had been cheating on her. “Stuart didn’t think I would be faithful to him when we were dating and he was a hypocrite”, she tells me. Unfortunately in this interview I didn’t get time to focus on this chapter of Julia’s past but I do know that her negative experiences haven’t stopped Julia from believing in love. When I met her she had started dating a new man named “Blessing”. Two years later they are still together and happier than ever!
After listening to all of this I wanted to know: What advice does Julia have for people struggling to overcome adversity?
Julia says that when adversity comes you have to go through it. “You have to go through all those emotions because otherwise all of them will be there in you. You have to accept the pain, accept the loss and then you can go through it.”
She tells me that the biggest thing is to have gratitude for what you do have, and that you have another day to start over because other people don’t get that chance.
“Where there’s life there is hope. Adversity can be your biggest teacher if you use it to teach you, allow it to teach you.” Julia explains that people that always have it easy don’t grow. “They probably have a nice life but they don’t get the rewards of having a passion and helping others.”
Julia has certainly come out of the other side of adversity with having found her passion and helping others but she has put in the work. Julia is a believer in self-work. “It’s for your own good because if you’re strong you can help others be a hero or a victim”.
Julia thinks everyone should work on themselves regardless of if something comes up or not. She explains that if you are driven and you want to improve yourself, the quality of your life and relationships you must start by looking inward.
“You can change the world one person at a time, starting with yourself. It’s not a selfish thing to do. It’s actually the most selfless thing you can do. If you don’t work on yourself you become everyone else’s problem.”
There really are no excuses because as Julia points out there are many options today when it comes to developing oneself “It’s free and it’s out there.” Every day during my stay at Kingfisher farm I would see Julia reading or watching inspirational videos online. She says she reduced her anti-anxiety medication through self-work from 32 mg to 0.5mg which her doctor thinks is probably only psychological at that level. “I started a year ago because of my heart problem, anxiety was going to kill me.”
Another key lesson to learn from Julia is: “Find your passion then you will never be bored. If you find your passion you have your purpose because you have something that drives you. You wake up in the morning and you can’t wait to do things.” Though the self-work is key, Julia’s passion that reached beyond herself is also what helped her through the difficulties she has overcome. In her words:
“Passion will get you through adversity. It reaches out. You are doing something that’s not just about you. It’s involving so many others and not only people. I don’t think you can be truly happy if you only look after number one. If you do things for others you will automatically feel better about yourself. We are one.“
Through the weeks that I spent in the gardens of Kingfisher farm I was able to experience the healing nature of Julia’s passion. The more I talked to her and heard her wisdom the more I was in awe of her strength and resilience. Though it didn’t change my mind that life can be painful and hard to understand, it did show me that the power of resilience and love is stronger than I had ever imagined and that no matter what life brings as Julia often said “it is possible to not only survive but to thrive.”
A huge thank you to Julia for hosting me and sharing her life story and wisdom!
