Sisterhood. What feelings does that word evoke in you? For me, it is both a very powerful and very precious word. It evokes feelings of strength and unity, but also femininity and fragility. There is something unshakable about the bonds between sisters. That bond is something that has always intrigued me and it is something I have always desired, as someone who only has brothers. However, I certainly cannot say that desire has gone unsatisfied after this year because now I have more sisters than most. In one year, my brother Chad got engaged, making his fiancé Whitney my future sister, then I got engaged to Bradley, making it so that I have the blessing of acquiring his two sisters Staci and Kelsey, and then I got placed on an all-girl team for the World Race, not just once, but twice, giving me 9 more sisters. So like I said, for me, “sisterhood” is a very powerful and a very precious word.
Team Sound of Strength is a sisterhood like no other. Six women who are on the adventure of a lifetime together in MUCH closer quarters than just living under the same roof. We sleep within inches of each other every single night for 8 months straight (for Maggie and I it’s 11 months straight), share the same bathroom every single place we go, eat every single meal together, and experience every single memory side by side. We pray for each other, fight for each other, cry with each other, take care of each other, protect each other, encourage each other, laugh with each other, and love each other with everything that we have. The depth of these relationships runs deeper than one could ever imagine or understand, it is unique to us and us alone, it is our sisterhood.
The bonds we share will remain no matter where life takes us or how far apart we are geographically or how different our paths are. To acknowledge this, Team Sound of Strength established the Sisterhood of the Traveling Kapalana. In Mozambique, a kapalana is a piece of fabric that the African women wear as a skirt. We all adopted this part of their culture and fell in love with the beautiful fabric and have been wearing kapalanas regularly during our time in Africa. Just like the jeans in the movie The Sisterhood of the Traveling pants, the kapalana fits each member of our team despite our different sizes. Just like in the movie, we are close friends who are together now but will be apart in the future, our lives moving us in different directions. Just like the jeans in the movie, the traveling kapalana will be what binds us together for all the years to come. And just like in the movie, we created our own rules for the Sisterhood of the Traveling Kapalana, enjoy!
Rules for the Sisterhood of the Traveling Kapalana
- Each sister must possess the Kapalana on her honeymoon
- Each sister must possess the Kapalana for 2 months out of every year
- Each sister must have a pregnancy photo in the Kapalana as well as a photo with the child wrapped in the kapalana on your back
- The Traveling Kapalana must feature the bride during the team dance at her wedding
- Whenever Team Sound gets together the Kapalana must be present in a photo
- All major events, dates, and locations must be documented on the Kapalana
- Each sister is not allowed to say “I look fat” in the Kapalana
- The journal must travel with the Kapalana recording a letter intended for the next sister
- The Traveling Kapalana may only be washed in extreme circumstances
- Each sister must represent the Traveling Kapalana with the character of a Proverbs 31 woman
- The sister in need gets the Kapalana indeed
