Peace and Reconciliation South Africa Project #46848

Volmoed RetreatCentre for Healing & Reconciliation

by The Volmoed Trust (for Healing And Reconciliation In South Africa)

Project Report | Apr 28, 2023
Volmoed Retreat Centre Report for April 2023

By Wilma Jakobsen | Project Leader

Volmoed Retreat Centre Report April 2023

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR GENEROUS DONORS!

This year has been busy thus far and for that we are thankful. A number of very special groups came to Volmoed, and loved the beautiful space and the peace that pervades.

A group came from the USA on a Tutu Travel Seminar. The Southern Africa Leadership Team of World Vision held a retreat at Volmoed. Students from Mennonite Eastern University in the USA spent a week staying with local families in Zwelihle, and engaged with young people from our youth leadership program at Volmoed during the days.

Unyoke, an international peace building organization, hosted their first meeting back at Volmoed since the Covid-19 pandemic. Members attended from different countries and continents.

A new youth leadership program of the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, called Leadership For Humanity, was held. Seventeen young entrepeneurs and activists from the Western Cape and some from Johannesburg and Zimbabwe, engaged in an intense week of learning and practice of the leadership values and principles of Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Each morning started with a yoga body movement exercise, then walking to a different beauty spot of Volmoed in silence - mindfully and meditatively, noticing and paying attention to sounds, sights, smells and trying to stay in the present moment. This was new for all of them, and many of them said it was a significant aspect of the week for them.

Some of the women said this was the first time ever that they had been in nature by themselves and felt safe. This is the gift of Volmoed.

We continue to think how to gather and share stories of staff, residents and supporters. There is a process beginning whereby we will gather monthly for a simple meal together and share stories. Given that Volmoed is a mix of language, race, ethnic background, education, class and gender, this has potential to be a rich experience.

As we continue through this year, thank you all for your ongoing support. The trustees met in mid April, and heard that while Volmoed has earned double the income in the past year than the year before, there is still a challenge of cash flow. In addition, Volmoed is at the age where essential infrastructure like water pipes and pumps are breaking and need to be replaced. This adds to the challenge of our finances. We are enormously grateful for each and every donor and simply could not do the incredible work we do without you.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR GENEROUS DONATIONS!

WE APPRECIATE YOU!

Links:

Volmoed Retreat Centre

Attachments:

Global_Giving_Volmoed_Report_Apr_2023.pdf (PDF)

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Dec 29, 2022
Volmoed Retreat Centre Report December 2022

By Wilma Jakobsen | Project Leader

Volmoed Retreat Centre Report December 2022

A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL OUR GENEROUS DONORS!

As this year ends, we are grateful! Finally, the number of groups, trainings and events are increasing along with future bookings. In this festive season we have more bookings over weekends than we have had since the beginning of Covid-19. This is good news!

We have new life! as our staff member Nomveliso gave birth to a premature baby, Akuminto. Thankfully after a few months in hospital, she came home with her baby, who is healthy and gaining weight, and then returned to work in December. Staff member Maggie got a new eye and new vision, thanks to cataract surgery on her right eye, which was largely paid for by donations from our wonderful, generous donors. Since the surgery all is well and we give thanks.

We managed to fit in a follow up to the significant August ‘Healing of Memories’ Workshop in November. Participants shared inspiring stories of how the workshop was life changing and transforming and how it has made significant changes in their lives in specific ways. It was rewarding to hear the stories and we plan to continue sharing stories on a regular basis.

Our annual Christmas Carol picnic brought together the Manenberg Church band, for a much needed weekend retreat and respite from the gang violence in their town that had escalated the weeks before. They played their instruments and sang their hearts out, despite the gloomy weather that in the end rained us out and sent us indoors. That did not dampen anyone’s spirits and it was a glorious time! The Volmoed Youth Choir and Drumming Group added their pizzazz and we sang together and enjoy a diverse group of locals and visitors at this special time.

Following the death of Archbishop Tutu a year ago, who was the Volmoed patron, we needed to appoint a new patron. We decided that we needed three new patrons! All three were friends and colleagues of Tutu, and share his commitment to justice, reconciliation, and peace. Each brings a wealth of their own experience to help guide us as we move into the future. They are a stunning team:

Professor Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, former Truth & Reconciliation Commissioner, is a psychologist by profession, internationally known for her work on dealing with trauma in contexts of violence. Her vast experience in dealing with trauma and reconciliation connects well with Volmoed’s founding vision as a place of healing, especially in times such as today.

Dr Lionel Louw taught in the Department of Social Work at University of Cape Town for many years until his retirement as few years ago. Lionel has long been engaged in the struggle for justice and reconciliation in South Africa and has a passion to serve the new generation of leaders.

Dr Mary Burton, formerly the President of the women’s organization Black Sash, also served as a commissioner on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and continues to be engaged in the ongoing struggle for human rights, reconciliation and justice in South Africa.

They are a stunning team. At a special event in November they planted a tree in memory of Archbishop Tutu, and a second tree as a sign of their appointment and acceptance of their new role as patrons.

As this year ends, thank you all! for your ongoing support throughout the year. We are enormously grateful and could not do the work we do without you.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT AND ALL YOUR DONATIONS! WE APPRECIATE YOU!

Links:

https://www.volmoed.co.za

Attachments:

Global_Giving_Volmoed_Report_Dec_2022.pdf (PDF)

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Sep 1, 2022
Volmoed Retreat Centre Report September 2022

By Wilma Jakobsen | Project Leader

A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL OUR GENEROUS DONORS!

Our big news is that Covid-19 restrictions in South Africa were lifted on June 23 – no more masks, social distancing or sanitizing are required, though people are still encouraged to be careful in public spaces. This is a huge deal for us at Volmoed. Slowly, slowly, some groups are starting to return, events and trainings are taking place o r being booked for the future, and it feels like we are emerging into a wider and more spacious place, we can breathe again!

Music took centre stage when the Ingoma choir from Imizamo Yethu informal settlement, Hout Bay, came for a weekend of singing and rehearsals, that included physical and spiritual wellness. They enjoyed yoga, boxing, and sound meditation. Wilma Jakobsen, the Volmoed chaplain, welcomed them on the Friday night and told the Volmoed story, and offered questions for their personal reflection during their weekend in this beautiful place. She took them on a scenic hike with a view of two waterfalls, to the De Bos dam, where they stood on the wall and sang ‘Stand By Me’ for the bystanders. Everywhere they went, they sang! They offered two beautiful songs at the Sunday church service, what a joy. For many, it was the first time they ever went on a weekend camp and they loved it.

An American group, led by Michael Battle and Edwin Arrison, both connected to the Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation, came to Volmoed as part of the Tutu Seminar. They were a group of Episcopal and Methodist clergy and lay leaders, learning about race and gender justice and the history and context of South Africa. They engaged about gender and racial justice in the church and society, about poverty and economic justice in South Africa. They met with Prof John de Gruchy, with Wilma the chaplain, and attended community services. Our young leaders in the Volmoed Youth Leadership Training Program, took them on a tour through Zwelihle informal settlement, to experience the joys and the challenges of the disparity and inequity of life in South Africa. It was a profoundly meaningful time for them.

On the large, beautiful property, we are working on the never-ending task of clearing alien vegetation, taking our alien trees and planting new indigenous trees that people have donated in honor of a loved one. We hope to work more formally with Stellenbosch University and that the students will come on a regular basis to help us with this challenging task of caring for our property.

We also have new life – Grace, a young mother, gave birth to Hope! Our family of cows brings great joy to visitors and especially to children, and many people learn to milk cows for the first time, with Blazio Dilla, who cares lovingly for them.

A highlight this past month Volmoed was the ‘Healing of Memories’ workshop with Michael Lapsley and Fatima Swartz from the Institute for Healing of Memories. We had worked for many months to make this happen, as part of our vision and mission for reconciliation and healing. The workshop took place over two sets of two morning sessions and was profoundly meaningful for those who attended, with trilingual translation in English, Xhosa and Afrikaans.

Many of our staff and residents attended and expressed that it was ‘life changing.’ What a gift! Bonds of community and relationships were strengthened and deepened. Many have asked that the process continues, and we are working out how to do that.

Volmoed is a partner of the Community of the Cross of Nails, in Coventry, England, and participated in the 60^thanniversary celebrations of Coventry Cathedral through an online presentation by the chaplain, Wilma Jakobsen, and Mpho Tutu, on the legacy of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, focused on reconciliation.

As always, thank you for your ongoing support throughout the year. We are enormously grateful.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT AND ALL YOUR DONATIONS!

WE APPRECIATE YOU!

Attachments:

Global_Giving_Volmoed_report_Sep_2022.pdf (PDF)

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