The Tribune

By FELICITY DARVILLE

RHONDA Wright has been one of the major advocates for healthy lifestyles in The Bahamas for many years. She has pushed for her fellow countrymen to see the value in a vegan lifestyle long before it became the cool trend it is now. She has been in the trenches - an unsung heroine in health and wellness - committed to reversing the staggering statistics for non communicable diseases in The Bahamas.

This month, Rhonda celebrated a milestone in her life that has proven the merit of the lifestyle she has lived for the past 22 years. She turned 50 years old; but as many of her friends, family and observers point out, she looks very young, healthy and vibrant. This is because Rhonda has always chosen to make her food her medicine.

“In 2000, sparked by a new community of friends who were all vegan, including my now husband Koji, I began a journey of intense research about the food I was eating,” Rhonda explained.

“I read articles and watched videos voraciously. I was mortified by how much I didn’t know and flabbergasted by the extent to which my food lifestyle at the time could have detrimental effects on my health in the long run. I couldn’t ignore or deny what I was learning. The research was very clear and consistent. So in 2001, I made the decision to change my food lifestyle to avoid the possible pitfalls that were almost inevitable if I didn’t.

“The change didn’t happen overnight; it was definitely a transition. By late 2001, almost 2 years before I had my first child, Ptah, I had transitioned to a vegan lifestyle, which means that I ate only plant-based foods.”

Once Ptah was born, Rhonda made the choice that she would raise her children as vegan. In The Bahamas, with limited availability of vegan raw goods, limited availability of quality fruits and vegetables, and almost nothing to appeal to the young palettes of children, Rhonda was giving herself the ultimate challenge. She would have to make all their meals and snacks, from scratch. She would have to keep them excited about raw and vegan foods, and she would have to instill a sense of pride in them about it, in order to face the natural peer pressure that schoolmates apply to any kids who go against the grain.

Twenty-two years since she made that choice, Rhonda has no regrets. She and Koji (a plant based eater of 27 years) not only nurtured their children in a vegan lifestyle, they did it with the kind of finesse that results in champions. That’s right, their second child, Sia, is a vegan food champion.

Sia’s well planned and executed vegan dishes earned her the top prize in the 2021 New Providence district round of the Bahamas Young Chef Culinary Senior Competition. Sia came back in 2022 and solidified her position as a Young Chef and champion when she won the judges over with her vegan “Coconut Tart” and vegan “Stuffed Okra Rice Ball.”

Rhonda is mother to Ptah (19) and Sia (15), as well as two younger children, Nefer (13) and Ma’at (8), and she has a bonus son, Kamul. Together, these children are representing the new face of the vegan community in The Bahamas - those who were nurtured in this lifestyle from the womb.

Now, at age 50, Rhonda can reflect on a way of life that has given her tangible benefits.

“On December 31st, I reached a mega milestone,” she shared.

“Many older women have said that when a woman turns 50, the best of her life is yet to come. I feel like I have embodied all of that. I feel like I have a new lease on life. Every mindful moment, decisive decision, nutritious and delicious plate, and slow and steady step in my health and wellness journey, is paying off. It by no means has been an easy journey, and there have been many missteps, lessons, challenges and changes. But every single lesson has been a blessing, and every decision has brought me to this beautiful period of my life.”

“I celebrate that my intentionally chosen lifestyle has paved the way to allow me to have minimal sickness, and absolutely no chronic diseases. I look much younger than I am, and will continue to do my part, to ensure I continue to age gracefully, with full mobility, motility, cognition, vitality and joy!”

Throughout her journey, Rhonda has always been focused on sharing with others as much as she learns herself. She founded the popular Green Earth Festival, which has been responsible for the conversion of many to a healthier lifestyle. Some became vegan, some pescetarian or vegetarian. Others chose to eat meat but replace their starches with more vegetables. For many years, the Green Earth Festival brought together businesses throughout the country that provided healthy food items, green energy solutions, organic home and body care items, recycling services, and more. The Green Earth Festival was born out of Rhonda’s business, SEEDling’s Place, which was launched in 2007 and is still going strong.

A few months after Sia’s birth, Rhonda’s passion for her lifestyle grew: “I continued my quest to research and expand my knowledge base and learn all I could about living a healthy lifestyle. I wanted to establish the same for my growing family. I began reading another book (I had read many by that time) called Heal Thyself for Health & Longevity by Queen Afua, who has now been guiding women for over 50 years and has become known as the Mother of Womb Wellness and is a Master Healer. It was in these pages where she talked about what she did to support her children in their journey, who she was also raising as vegan – she created a vegan playgroup in her community. A light bulb went off and the SEED for SEEDling’s Place was planted in my spirit!”

“I knew immediately that it was something I wanted to do for my children as well. By October 2007, SEEDlings’ Place (SP) was born. We began as a play/support group open to anyone in the community who wanted to attend our monthly gatherings.

“The initial purpose of SP was to provide a sacred space for my children, who represent the communities’ children, to commune with other like-minded families, to learn, be supportive and grow together in a fun environment (which was our home for a long time). All this with the common goal of living a healthy lifestyle. But it didn’t take long for our community efforts and reach to expand into so much more.”

“We organized teams to participate in the first and second Bahamas Marathon, forming the Love Yourself and Your health team. I went on to co-host a weekly radio talk show called “Love Yourself Tuesday”. Then in 2010, I founded the Green Earth Festival, a one-of-a-kind wellness, and sustainability festival. As a community, we have also had cooking classes and the Green Smoothie Community Campaign.”

Rhonda also had the opportunity to become a valuable member of Akhepran International Academy. She worked in various administrative capacities at the school since its opening in August, 2011. From July 2017 to July 2021, she had the privilege of serving as school Principal, helping to guide the institution to higher heights in education. While she has recently embarked upon a new journey in health and wellness with SEEDling’s Place, she continues to serve on the Board of Directors for the school.

She is a past president of the graduate chapter of Eta Psi Omega Chapter, Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) Sorority Inc, 2002-2003.

After a more than 5 year hiatus from front-line wellness advocacy and SEEDlings’ Place work, Rhonda relaunched her company April, 2021. Pivoting to providing support in the online space, she has launched two online programmes, the most recent being the: “What’s Fueling You!” 28-Day Plant- Based Holistic Wellness Programme.

“This is an online programme especially for busy women, mothers and seekers of wellness who are ready to reboot, expand or delete the old version of themselves,” Rhonda explains, “The version that’s still too busy, in need of guidance, a road map, support, inspiration, or unsure where to start and sometimes stuck and struggling with making healthier, and more plant-based food choices and engaging in lifestyle habits that don’t serve them.”

“This programme is for people ready to be fueled and transformed into a new and improved version of themselves - shifting mindset, forming habits, setting intentions, and gearing up to be ready, set, and refueled! We are helping them create the version that’s at peace, feels good, full of vitality, energized, functions optimally, loves herself, is focused, intentional, confident, and busy being her best and healthiest self. Participants are guided to tap in and tune up their mind, body, spirit, heart, home, and environment, so they can become well and be prepareds to execute their purpose in 2023!”

What’s Fueling You begins its fourth cycle on February 18. Rhonda, known as the “Wellness Godmother”, provides personal coaching and creates a support and motivational group for each cohort. She arms her “wellness warriors” with more than 40 delicious plant-based recipes. She provides tools for self reflection, allowing those involved to release emotional triggers and past trauma. She also provides guidance on how to develop and enforce healthy lifestyle habits. The 28-day programme has given many participants new leases on life - mind, body and spirit. For more information, email info@seedlingsplace. com, or look for Seedling’s Place and Rhonda Wright on Social Media.