When Mary Lange asked a group of Upington women: `What do you know about the Water Snake?', this triggered a set of lyrical short stories, in an attempt to capture the myth of the Water snake. The women's response to her question formed the basis for the Water Stories , here published with a set of original drawings by regional artist Betta Steyn. Johanna (Nana) de Wee, Martha van Rooi, Maria (Mokkie) Malo, Noxolo(Girlie) Prescilla Saaiman and Elizabeth (Bessa) Sixaxa became narrators - sharing with us their beliefs surrounding the Water Snake. Religion, myth or folklore, these Water Stories provide a glimpse into beliefs, customs, traditions and everyday realities of these peoples of mixed cultural descent. The original regional Afrikaans narrations have been supplemented by an English translation as explanation. Subject fields include cultural studies, linguistics, religion, archaeology and anthropology.

Veerkragtigheid is daardie “iets” wat mens laat opstaan as die lewe jou platslaan. Dit is nie iets wat net sommige mense het nie, almal word daarmee gebore. Ilse Salzwedel, bekende radiopersoonlikheid en joernalis, bespreek die eienskappe van veerkragtige mense en gee raad om dit te ontwikkel. Sy kyk ook watter dinge jy moet vermy wat jou veerkragtigheid kan tap. Ilse gebruik voorbeelde uit haar eie en ander bekendes se lewens om te wys dat veerkragtigheid vir ons elkeen beskore is.