On the 21-23 June 2019, Justice and Peace Commission in the Archdiocese of Durban organized a healing of memories workshop for Mothers and Daughters. 15 mothers together with their 15 daughters from different parts of the Archdiocese came together for the workshop.

According to Mr Kalie Senyane, the coordinator of Justice and Peace Commission in the Archdiocese of Durban, the main purpose of the workshop was to talk about their pain and break barriers between mothers and daughters and help them find closure of their past painful experiences.

One of the participants Mrs Zangwa said the workshop help her to open up and go through the first stage of healing after more than a year of struggling to accept the terrible experience of losing her partner. She attended the workshop with her mother and she said she would like to attend the workshop of the same nature with her children so that together with them they can go through the process of healing after losing the husband.

Ms Lee Abbolt from Christ the King Parish in Durban, who is committed in uplifting and empowering women in her parish said she did not know about healing of memories program but she was invited to attend.  She said the workshop was very important and it helped her to open up and share her experiences with participants who were totally strangers to her. She also said she is going to encourage others women in the parish to attend the workshop in the future. Lastly she recommended that every women should go through the workshop once or more in one’s life time. 

Normally, Justice and Peace Commission organizes the workshops of this nature four times a year for mothers and daughters and four times a year for fathers and sons. They focus in bringing new groups every year so that more people can undergo the program and be able to go to their different parishes to train more people in promoting healthy relationships between parents and children and in bringing healing from painful experiences of the past to all.

After the workshop each group organizes some gatherings as a way of following up about the developments. Those who have attended the workshop also are encouraged to organize different kinds of workshops so that more people can benefit from the program at all levels of their parishes.

The Healing of Memories workshop in the Archdiocese of Durban started in 2017. Justice and Peace office saw a great need of getting involved in mitigating programs to help mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, in addressing antagonized relationships amongst them, and bring healing from painful experiences of their past, and promote reconciliation.

Mr Senyane said since the introduction of the program it has helped to build relationships and communication between parents and their children and it has also paved a ground for a better understanding of each other.

Since the program started about 590 people have passed through the training. 18 parishes in the Archdiocese have already conducted workshops in their parishes and there are dialogues being held between parents and children; mothers and daughters, and fathers with their sons.

Mr Senyane further said during dialogues there are also people coming from outside who are not Catholics but they have loved the program. “The program continues to spread in the Archdiocese”, he said. He further said the dialogues are also held to address social issues such as peace building, racial abuse, rape culture, gender based violence and forced marriages for children under age, and in finding the way of how best men can play a better part in alleviating social problems.

Since the beginning of the workshops there has been a lot of improvement of relationships between parents and children. Many of them are able to discuss their issues openly. Mr Senyane confirmed that they have been receiving many testimonies from people who have benefited in the program. He said the Archdiocesan Bishops would like to see more workshops and dialogues taking place in the archdiocese.

Once a year there is women and men conference separately for all the people who have in the workshops, sharing the experiences of their developments and how the program is doing in their different parishes.

According to Mr Senyane, in the beginning, it was not easy to organize the workshops and dialogues but now there are many people who are interested and they come forward to register to be part of the program. 

Mr Senyane also expressed that if there are more people who are interested but they are outside of the Archdiocese of Durban, they are free to help in organizing facilitators for them, who can come to them to give workshops and facilitate dialogues.

For more information kindly contact:
Mr Kalie Senyane: Justice and Peace Coordinator: Cell: 082 072 4427
Nomathemba Zondi: Daughter attended workshop: Cell: 079 489 9168
Snethemba Hlabisa: Daughter attended workshop: Cell: 067 175 1261.