Live In Courage
Living the Future Today
There is a vibrant vivacious village nestled, like an oasis in a dessert; in Harare, Zimbabwe. Here, the colour of the soil is more reddish brown, and when the sunlight hits the leaves of the trees, a green prism with a thousand different shades can be seen - of what is left of the forests. Among what remains, there are rocks with shapes you have never seen; piled in such a way that you would think giants had balanced them to remember where they had been - somewhat like the balancing rocks we make on our hikes in Cape Town.
When I first arrived at Kufunda for the pop-up, co-creating learning village in January this year, I did not know the land, so naturally, I got lost in the village - I honestly did not know which way was up. However, by the time I left - only ten days later, my feet walked as if it has walked here for years and it felt like home.
When you walk the land, a great variation of plants, trees, flowers and insects command your attention. The animal life of birds, dogs, horses, cows and goats give deep feeling to this ecosystem of nourished earth.
The people form part of the wisdom at work here: in the biodynamic farming, the Waldorf school, the collaboration within the community and the relationship with ancestry. It is a way of living rooted in gratitude for the support of all beings.
"She creates new forms eternally. What is now, has never been; and what has been, will never be again. All is new, yet ever the same." - John Wolfgang Von Goethe
The opening circle was held in the Dare (pronounced da-re), a beautiful circular structure with a thatched roof, surrounded by trees. We sang and danced, with each country dancing into the circle.
The candle for the Learning Village was lit, calling in through the cosmos all the countries that were present.
On the wall of the Dare, “Living the Future Today” is painted : encompassing the living and powerful idea of dreaming together to co-create the future.
What is a Learning Village?
This is a pop-up village where people from across the world come together to learn, celebrate and share in co-creation for a week. The theme this year was : Beauty; celebrating being in fullness.
The beauty of creating a soulful life.
The beauty of things happening at the right time and in the right place.
The beauty of receiving an invitation and saying yes.
The beauty found in the spirit of co-creation and community learning.
Every morning before the official start of the day we did medicine movement with Maaianne, mother of Kufunda. Simply put, Medicine movement is a conscious dance for the soul and a way of connecting with yourself through movement.
The official start of everyday, after sharing a delicious breakfast, was in a circle, then listening and speaking to the trees and sharing the wisdom of the element guiding that day. In the later morning and afternoons, people offered gifts, workshops and conversations. We would end the day with pastels on paper, making art together and reflect.
Earth, Water, Fire and Air
Our rhythm for the week involved working with the four elements, moving from earth to water, then fire and air.
Each element with its unique qualities opened a different way of meeting ourselves and one another.
On earth day, we could bring our focus to the roots, the soil; being grounded, steady and the ancient story of the bones.
I offered a workshop Root of the Voice, sharing work from the Vocal Leadership Academy.
We worked with the verse Inner Quiet
Quiet I bear within me,
I bear within myself
Forces to make me strong.
Now will I be imbued
With their glowing warmth.
Now will I fill myself
With my own will's resolve.
And I will feel the quiet
Pouring through all my being,
When by my steadfast striving
I become strong
To find within myself
The source of strength,
The strength of inner quiet.
-Rudolf Steiner.
and explored grounding the voice, connecting to a powerful place from which we can speak.
On water day, we could focus on fluidity, the loving and living waters of life around us and within us. The element of giving and creating form. The one that takes on all other elements. In the afternoon, I offered a flow art workshop with poi, making the figure of 8. It was beautiful to see people smiling from ear to ear, moving the waters in their body literally but also imprinting a playful way of learning with both the left and right hemisphere.
Space was co-created for conversations inspired by the experiences of each day. One such conversation we had as a women's group where we were given a shell to listen into and asked:
What is both a burden and a blessing for you?
I was moved listening to each woman's personal blessing and burden. Each with their own experiences and stories to tell. Because this reflection is mine, I can share that for me, what came up was the burden in seeking the depths of wisdom and the continuous effort to grow.
We are human beings, far from our source, passing through this human experience to learn what we need to learn and become what we must become in freedom. Freedom is the blessing, the freedom to seek those depths. Yet it is also the burden, because to seek the source freely, we must first experience ourselves as separate from it.
To this day, that group conversation lives with me.
During this learning week living and sharing together, a few of us witnessed a mamma cow in her final moments. She had become ill, and she succumbed to the illness. We planted a tree where she was buried, and together, we mourned her. It brought a profound understanding that she had been a valuable part of the whole and had now returned to become part of the whole in another way.
I was deeply impacted by the experience, and looking back, I wish we had more time to share more in conversation about death and rebirth: what it means to return to the whole, not as an ending, but as another beginning.
On fire day, it was about making your mark - your mark being a symbol of your own way of being in the world. What has your soul been called to do?
Fire as a living centre of warmth, and gathering together, the warmth of presence. It can consume one form and it can release and transform another.
I offered both an outer and inner fire. The outer fire came through fire dancing; the joyful presence of the element itself. The inner fire came through courage in the Hero Within workshop with Act of the Heart. For me, this becomes the gentlest, softest and yet most potent medicine: to know that we are always protected and guided, and that the courage within the heart is the microcosm of a greater, macrocosmic courageous being. Inner fire is not a force, but a quiet warmth that allows us to remain present when we would rather retreat. It is the courage to become visible, make our mark and bring what lives within us into the world.
Look at nature. It is so courageous! It is constantly creating, and transforming through warmth.
On air day, we brought our attention to the lightness element, often taken for granted, perhaps because it cannot be seen with the eyes. We could bring our attention to the medicine of treading lightly, and the gift of letting go. With this lightness of thought, we offered our gratitude.
In the light weaving of thoughts, Jacqualine guided us through a workshop of words with creative-writing, where we all wrote beautiful poetry!
The air carried our words into the clouds, and the stories that had come alive through our time together into the blue sky and beyond.
We co-created a dreaming circle where we shared what we bring from the dream world. It came about as a result of being together and people noticing a certain intensity or uniquely strong dreams. In indigenous understanding - different from what I work with in Jung’s emphasis on the individual - no dream belongs only to one person; dreams carry messages for the community.
Within our shared dreams, the fascinating paradox of two worlds (where past and future collide) emerged as a common theme - how wonderfully mysterious!
We planted acacia trees around a pond, and even if not every sapling grows into a mature tree - each of us became forever etched into the land.
Planting is always hope for the future.
We learned together, danced and dreamed together. We faced loss together and planted together. This being together was healing. This healing in community felt like water flowing gently over ones whole being, awakening a deep remembrance. Deep soul connection fills your inner cup, and what once seemed to be of great concern begins to feel less important. There is no need to try so hard. That is the learning of the will within a healthy community culture.
Personal Learning
The awakening of an I, an individual within the community.
I arrived with the following inner question : What does it mean to be an individual in this community? How do you not lose yourself within a community? And what part of me comes to life within this particular environment.
My internal weather was not always clear; sometimes I felt a dark cloud of deppressive thoughts with life's challenges, for which the cure was to reach out and connect, to take a walk, and to participate more fully, and not withdraw.
Because of this environment it was safe to participate more fully. The people gifted me sunshine in inspiration and laughter. Through their will, and how they have lived their lives, it helped the inner world expand, and grow larger.
This I say to you dear reader : It is important to show who you are. Only when you show who you are, do you meet the real mirror in others, and only then can you reflect truth back to them. This is what I learnt.
I believe sometimes a nourishing environment can have the opposite effect on a soul starved for belonging, and rejecting it out of fear. There was a time where I was that soul. There was a time where I was unable to call up the inner parts of myself that can rescue me from the Bluebeard in my mind - meaning inner qualities of discernment, that makes loving and protective choices.
Even though it was much easier to be fully present here, where self-consciousness, comparison, unworthiness dissolve in the presence of such a healthy culture, in my experience the quality of ones own inner world will determine how the effect of the outer environment will be. I am profoundly grateful that I could be open and receptive to this healing village.
I will always remember the echo of our feet, listening to the rain in unison and witnessing each person’s unique imprint on the world. In Zulu tradition, in South Africa, we would call this our Sawubona. We are forever a part of Kufunda. We have made our mark, not only on the walls with our artworks, but also in the soil, and in the hearts of each individual of the community members who work, build, love and share in living on the land with togetherness and friendship.
How I came to be here
I met the vibrant and beautiful Maaianne, mother of Kufunda, and her husband Paul, a man of wry wit, quiet and deep strength, both wise both are wise and deeply affirming human beings through the Anthroposophical Society of the Western Cape. During the year long course "Active Practical Love" (with Briar Grimley, and Penny Perrin), the threads were being weaved, and I got to know them in this container, hearing about Kufunda through sharing with one another.
In 2025 the fates weaved us together through the Karma Drama workshops with Mike Chase, where we were part of a 2 weekend process. You can read about this transformational experience here (if there is no link, it will still come).
At the end of 2025, Caroline Hurner shared with me Medicine Movement with Maaianne, and from the first time I went, it felt like I had been looking for it, for a long time. Movement with prayer, movement as medicine - perhaps a story to be told for another day. During these sessions, Maaianne told us about the Learning Village, and I was inspired to see if it was meant to be, to experience the village I heard so much about.
This did not become possible on my own. With the help from Kufunda, the ASWC, and every donation I received, I would not have been able to share in this experience. For this, my gratitude runs deep. Thank you!
Following the White Butterfly
A few weeks before the gathering, I was looking for a place to live. I attended Maainne’s movement medicine dance in Cape Town every week, and on the last one for the year 2025, I asked the question,
“Where should I go?”
At the end of the dance, what I received was : “Follow the white butterfly.”
I looked out for white butterflies, but would did not see a single one until the first time I walked down the forest path in Kufunda towards the Dare.
And so I follow the white butterfly.
In anthroposophy, a healthy culture is described as the nourishing earth in which the “I” can grow - the ground for individual freedom. I have never felt so free and, at the same time, so deeply part of something bigger than myself as I did during this experience.
Could this be an indication of the future of humanity?
As it says on the mural wall:
“Living the Future Today.”
BE
Wise roots grow far and wide
In deep, moist cosmic darkness, and
stillness breathes; listen.
Life deep within, moving
Thoughts like steam
Feeling like water
Body as ice; knowing.
This warm star, becoming
Uniquely bright within me,
Guides the way; willing.
Pure rustling leaves softly
Calls to me: Africa!
Whispering:
Beauty is to BE.
-Shelani van Niekerk
In loving memory of the beautiful human, Tino.
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