-Nanette Flemming-
My sincere hope is that the report reflects the wonder and transformation that transpired out of this trip, not to mention the relationships that were built between the three communities. It was truly magical to witness.
So true gratitude from all three communities and myself to Seeds of Wisdom and their supporters. Thank you for believing and supporting an endeavor that few see or understand what strength it builds.
The trip started with false starts and trepidation and ended in sacred gifts and sharing of indigenous brotherhood between the Namibian and South African groups.
The original first trip to Namibia, a few years ago, was for the benefit of the youth (especially the dance group) so that they could experience the healing and trance that their elders were telling them about. Most of the youth that accompanied us were small children when their own Elders were still able to trance and heal. Sadly, just before the land claim, most of these healers had passed or were disabled in a major car accident on their way back from the Kalahari.
This first trip in 2018 ended up being more of a ‘demonstration’ of the dances by two different groups we had met at Tsumkwe. The trip lacked a deeper connection and as a result the group envisioned a return trip which was made possible by this grant. They also wanted to meet the healers that had worked with their parents and Elders twenty years ago during the filming of a movie some of the Bushmen from South Africa had done with Bushmen from Namibia, “My Hunters Heart.”
We set up our camp with one of the healers we had met previously in an area about 42km from Tsumkwe. To our dismay we discovered the chief of the community and main healer would not be able to dance again in his life as he had badly broken his leg a few months prior to our arrival.
With good fortune he accompanied us to the visit with another group nearby, where we discovered that we had now met the healers of “My Hunters Heart,” as well two of their apprentices who could also support Ricky, one of our group, who had started his apprenticeship with the healers in Namibia a few years earlier.
Our greeting turned into a lengthy talk and in-depth view on the healing dance and plants involved. It also gave the youth that have a calling into healing the process of the training. The visiting group also had chance to express their wishes and needs for the dance.
It was decided to move the entire second group we met to the Chief’s community in two days’ time. In the interim, we visited the living museum near Tsumkwe, where by synchronicity, we had a discussion on the poison used for hunting. We had an amazing exchange with the guide from the museum, and on our way out, we found the larva responsible for the poison.
After two lengthy trips moving everyone from the second group to the Chief’s community, it was a very festive atmosphere that reined as some of the families between the communities had not seen each other in a year or more.
The next day, the whole group was prepared and briefed on what to expect and what plants were needed and what food to consume before the dance. Not a tree or plant was looked over without a discussion, identification and the uses exchanged and compared to those found in South Africa.
That night, with three big fires, a very powerful healing dance took place, and everyone in the group was tended, touched and diagnosed. The women were many and strong from the two Namibian groups.
The next morning we all went to the Bushveldt and found the plants that were needed. Each person dug up and prepared them with lengthy discussions on how to use it, different names and doses.
We prepared for another dance that night, but it rained continually, and the next day the second group that we had transported first had to return to their community.
It was with extreme gratitude and strength that the group returned to South Africa, and with an open invitation to return to Namibia anytime they needed. There were also discussions to find a way to bring the second Nahome group to South Africa so that even greater numbers of the South African Bushmen could receive training and healing.
