Most family-tree software assumes one man, one woman and their children. African families are richer than that: households led by mothers, fathers with several wives, children raised by grandparents, adoption, two mothers or two fathers. My Family Tree is built for families as they really are, and owned by the families themselves.
Owned by the family
- A family's tree is private to the family: only the people it approves can see it.
- One master tree is the family's single source; branches are open forks of it, not private copies that drift.
- Curators review every change before it reaches the tree, and every change is on the record.
Drawn the family's way
A founder stands at the top on his own line. His wives stand on the line below him, and each wife's children hang beneath her, so every house of the family can be read at a glance. A daughter of the family keeps her husband beside her. Whatever shape a family takes, the tree takes it too.
A book for the gathering
For a family gathering, the whole tree prints as a book: a cover with the family's crest and the houses as contents, then each house on its own A3 page, with every name in full and a page number wherever a family continues.
A family that knows its roots knows where it can grow.
A free knowledge centre
Alongside the private trees sits a free public knowledge centre on African roots, clans and praise names. Start at family.myafricandream.net.
Dimpho Rabotapi, owner of Dimple's Joy and lead of Curio Earth and My Family Tree, a MAD-Executive Trainee Associate, wrote this article for MAD-Blog.