Conscious Leadership in Complexity for Women - Trauma Transformation in Communities in Windhoek / Namibia
with Visolela Rosa Namis (GEN Africa, Winhoek, Namibia), Nane-Tangeni Shindondola (Windhoek) and Heike Wegener (Schloss Glarisegg, Switzerland) with the support of Mena Vieira (Tamera, Portugal)
This was a journey for networking and offering workshops in cooperation with employees from the Ministry of Gender Equality, Health and Childcare of Namibia, Conny Manghono, Petronella / Ames, the Dolam, the residential child-care home in Katutura, as well as with the NGO ChildLine / LifeLine in Windhoek and Women Solidarity Namibia. The first three workshops in the main city were organised by Nane-Tangeni Shindondola, from Windhoek. The last workshop was organised by Visolela and held in the Katutura township of Windhoek, also known as ‘the place where we don’t want to be’. We networked with the Permaculture-Farm Project Aio Da Go, founded by Visolela in Otjozondjupa Region in 2016, attuning to possibilities for a further healthy and peaceful life and sustainable development for the rural communities with their traditional culture, art and medicine. Dreaming into a Health Centre in Windhoek with some of the participants.
20-21 May: Workshop with Employees from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Health
Embedded in the GEN Africa framework, we brought up personal and professional challenges in our life: work, family situation, projects, and we explored the individual approaches of counselling and the different talents everyone brings into their life and work. We exchanged ways to center ourselves, went into a deep somatic sharing and entered the space of our own wounds and protective structures. We were finding ways of relating to these wounds and the structures around them in a new way.
22-23 May: Workshop with employees of the Ministry of Gender and Health as well as employees of the NGO ChildLine / LifeLine
The next layer in this workshop was the theme of being superior and inferior in personal, professional and collective situations. We were working on the mistrust within us and between people, especially in families; the avoidance of the collective trauma and how to relate with the echo and pain of the fight for independence, the war and apartheid in the past which is still in the field and inside of us. We explored how we can be the healing surrounding for each other. We found ways to give ‘voice to the voiceless’. We worked in a very physical way with the informed water in our cells, strengthening our body- awareness; synchronising the physical, emotional, mental and energetic bodies in us and in our group. At the end we sang, danced and prayed with each other.
25-26 May: Workshop with friends of former participants, Women Solidarity Namibia, Dolam Residential Child Care Home
What is bothering me in my partnership, in my work, family, politics... and what is my part in it? We found ways from the personal to the collective, tuning into the challenges and the beauty of diversity in the field and inside of us. We were exploring our wounds in a tender way, witnessing our protective structures as well as touching our soul-power through gentle exercises, systemic constellations and a deep sharing of our rich and touching life stories. These were days of deep honouring of the male and female power inside of us and in our collective fields. Our gathering was an invitation to balance these mystical-creative energies, strengthening our love and compassion as well as our interest in our life purpose. We also started to find out what kind of next steps are waiting for us in our busy everyday lives.
2-4 June: Workshop with participants from Damara cultural women and the NGO Women Solidarity Namibia
The last workshop of this beautiful journey was in Katutura, where we met amazingly open women. We were touching deep human issues; archetypes like motherhood, being a daughter, being a women, we cradled our inner wounded child and found the beauty and strength in it; tenderly touching this precious moment of our lives and finding the impulse for the next step of our individual soul-purpose. We were cooking, eating and singing together to ground what we explored and what we are. I left Namibia deeply touched by the love of these women, listening to the echo of our deep connection and the openness to support each other’s soul-journey.
Next Steps:
Proposal for the Namibian Government for a long term support for the female social workers at their respective Ministries with the support of Tangeni
Networking, Women-Meetings once a month initiated from the 3rd and 4th women- Workshop: ‘Compassionate Women’ which was created as a WhatsApp group
Planning further workshops between November 2019 and January 2020, working in co- operation with the Ministry, ChildLine/LifeLine and with Women Solidarity, as well as working more on a grassroots level through the support group network of Visolela, GEN Africa, supporting the women in their projects through clearing their life-issues
Networking with Clio Pauli, former employee of GEN in Swakopmund as well as with Christine Nesongano, from Zimbabwe, who also lives in Windhoek for further co- operation. She works for the founding of the Zimbabwe Women In Diaspora Foundation
Arrangements with GEN and GEN Africa for further networking and project- development. Networking with Trauma Healing Network Namibia; they are planning a conference 17/18th of October 2019 in Windhoek
