Building Resilience Through Respite:
By Dr. Mary Augusta Adam
In April 2023, Beloved Community Coalition (BeCoCo) collaborated with several community partners in Eldorado Park, a community located on the south side of
Johannesburg, South Africa, to launch an initiative to hold safe, supportive and restorative spaces for community activists and organizers to explore tangible and practical solutions to trauma and grief. Lorraine Jantjies, BeCoCo Co-Founder and Director, who served as the Mistress of Ceremonies, articulated that the purpose of the “Respite and Restoration” convening was to provide fuel for the fighters of injustice and violence. Through food and fellowship, the gathering sought to provide care for the caregivers and custodians of compassion.” Marcelle Daniels of the Caitlin Douman Foundation and #YesEldosAgain Movement was grateful for the group-nature of the experience. “I personally have identified that I used to have a certain circle of people I could confide in but in the last 18 months or so I have shut everyone completely out. This session made me realize that I just cannot do it on my own. Healing myself emotionally will enable me to serve my community with a healthier mindset.” Given the need for self-care, there was an extraordinary atmosphere of support and solidarity.
Over the past years and more recently, Eldorado Park, an under-resourced community of over 100,000 residents, has experienced increase in number of drug -influenced and gun-related violence, Uber high-jacking and gender-based violence. Together with the #YesEldosAgain Movement, BeCoCo co-created and coordinated a safe and supportive space to introduce the concept of “Healing and Well-being Circles” for those affected by trauma, grief and loss. This concept of communal therapy invites collaboration in pursuit of collective healing and resiliency. Caught-up in the paralysis of poverty caused by economic divestment and economic under-investment, communities like Eldorado Park has had to develop grassroots solutions to combat a pervasive preying culture.
The “Respite and Restoration” gathering was a hybrid experience hosted by one of the BeCoCo Partners, Come Back Mission, at the NESPRO Centre of the St. Andrews Methodist Church. In addition to 30 in-person participants, BeCoCo Co-Founder & Director, Rev. Kelvin Sauls participated online from Los Angeles. This community intervention strategy through a process called “Healing & Well-being Circles” is the first of its kind that seeks to reimagine a healed and transformed community through group therapy. For many participants. the respite and restoration “Healing & Well-being Circle” was very helpful, insightful and impactful. The experience highlighted the importance of self-love and self-care. Often activists and organizers get caught up with their day to day living not realizing that they are also faced with their own unidentified personal and familial trauma. The depth of people’s pain and passion to undermine the drivers of such emotional paralysis result in activists, organizers and families to neglect their own need for respite and restoration, healing and wholeness. The overall consensus was expressed as follows by one of the planners, Cheryl Pillay, of Comeback Mission and YesEldo’s Again Movement, “When we do identify the trauma but find ourselves in a space where we fill our lives with things to distract us from coming to terms with our own critical need for dealing with our personal and familial trauma. This experience was timely and long overdue.”
Given the importance of spiritual wellness, Rev. Heidi Peterson reminded participants that “we are called to be hopeful and remain in faith.” Rev. Heidi reminded participants to avoid isolation, and instead actively seek out supportive and caring community that should look out for, and reach out to one another. “We must become each others strength and support for the arduous journey ahead, she said. The essence of her presentation is captured in this declaration, “I am my brothers’ /sisters’ keeper! We must develop a disposition of intercession for and with one another.” As protagonists for beloved community, activist and organizers must embrace practices that promote their holistic well-beng for long-term sustainability.
With culturally appropriate therapy at the heart of this vision, experienced Educational Psychologist Eleanor Bosch and qualified trauma & grief therapist, Lorna De Villers provided expert insights on the nature, types of trauma, and how it rewires the affected persons brain, thinking and behaviour. With valuable lived experience, and evidence-based perspectives on the respite and restoration, in-person and online participants were engaged from start to finish. Their creative presentation and innovative facilitation provided a glimpse of how we envisioned the recurring group sessions to be carried out. Coach Smiley of Breakthrough Football Academy commented, “…the insight gained on the types of trauma and the effects it has on us as a child, adolescent and even as a adult was refreshing…” Eleanor and Lorna highlight the importance of self-love, self care, and self-preservation. For them, the urgency of personal respite and communal resiliency is captured by the phrase, ‘You can’t pour from an empty cup’. At the end of the day, cups were running over!
As a male participant, Ansley Brown was delighted for the safe space provided for men to share openly and honestly. “Expanding the circle is one of my bigger dreams. Extending an invite to men to participate is a priority that should be addressed urgently as men also have issues of abuse, not only as perpetrators but also in some instances as the victim. Restoration must include proactive and preventative education of men and boys from the onset, so that through early intervention in schools and in the home, we can curb the scourge of Gender Based Violence against all members of society. My congratulations to the facilitators of this wonderful initiative,” he commented.
When Lorraine provided the opportunity for participants to share thoughts about their experience, there were positive reinforcement that respite and restoration were needed and long overdue! Participants were looking forward to more sessions of safe and supportive spaces. Some of the reflections included:
It was one of the most enlightening and uplifting experiences that I have had in a long time.”
The speakers were all eloquent in their presentations and knowledgeable about their chosen subjects.
The Restoration and Healing Circle has brought a new dimension to our chosen profession and has given us insight to the epidemic of self neglect we are dealing with.
“We have started a new chapter in our journey toward a healthy society and can only grow stronger from the inspiration gained through the Healing and Restoration Circle.
In his closing remarks, around 3:00am LATime, Rev. Sauls quoted words from American poet and woman’s rights activist, Audre Lorde, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” These words provide light and strength for the journey to engage in respite, seek-out restoration, and pursue resilience.
Our Mistress of Ceremonies and BeCoCo Director. Lorraine Jantjies announced BeCoCo’s ongoing commitment to co-create, coordinate and collaborate on co-hosting recurring “Healing and Well-being Circles” sessions with partners. She continued, “BeCoCo is committed to convene and host quarterly respite and restoration hybrid sessions to invest in the agency and vitality of our fronline fighters for more just, equitable and thriving communities.
Join us for the next Respite and Restoration Community Healing and Well-Being Circle on Saurday, June 3rd at 9am!
Dr. Mary Augusta Adam is a Medical Specialist in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in SOWETO. As a BeCoCo Partner, she serves as the convener of the Faith and Health Collective.
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