Learnings from Phola

Our usual assignments as faculty for Dulwich Centre are to teach and facilitate narrative therapy workshops. Thus, when Cheryl White asked us both to meet up in South Africa to join in a different role i.e. ‘a learning perspective role’ – we were intrigued and excited about the adventure. Several months later, we landed in Johannesburg, South Africa in November 2023 to meet with Ncazelo Mlilo and learn about how her organisation Phola is responding to significant hardships.

A bit about our adventures
Our first day of learning began while gathering with the Phola team who introduced us to the informal settlement communities in which they work. We heard vivid descriptions of the many hardships experienced by the communities. Moreover, stories of pride were shared in how the Phola team are working alongside children, young people, women, men and families and using narrative practices to make visible and honour their survival skills.

Two of our days involved visits to the informal settlement communities of Zandspruit and Lion Park. During these visits we had the honour to hear stories of hope and survival from women who had engaged with Phola through the Tree of Life and COURRAGE narrative programs. One afternoon we had the opportunity to see Phola in action in one of their mobile counselling vans. Close by was a medical clinic that made referrals to Phola staff and volunteers for individual and family counselling, support and advocacy. It was interesting and uplifting to see how accessible the counselling services were using vans that could be moved between communities as needed.

During our week-long adventure Ncazelo Mlilo invited us to join a large group of women and their children in Zandspruit who were beginning a Tree of Life program. On a beautiful sunny morning outdoors, we heard descriptions of activities the women enjoy, what they value, and the skills and abilities they draw on to navigate hardships.

Towards the end of our time with Phola we met with a group of men in Matholesville who had participated in the OUTTRAGED group for men seeking to address gender-based violence. The men spoke about what drew them to the group, the steps they are taking to separate from violence, and their hopes for various initiatives to help address the hardships faced by their community.

Some of our learnings
One week in Johannesburg may seem ever-so-brief. But the rich learnings from our time with Phola and Ncazelo Ncube-Mlilo were significant.

Here, we’d like to share just a few learnings that have meaningfully stayed with us:

• It was clear from meeting with women and men, that a significant aspect of both the COURRAGE and OUTTRAGED methodologies developed by Ncazelo Mlilo and Phola International, was the invitation for them to take action in their own lives and in the life of their community. For example, we heard the men speak about being ‘on call’ and ready to respond to other men reaching out for support to not jeopardise their family’s safety. We also heard their plans to initiate a football competition for young men in their community to lessen the impacts of boredom. From the women we heard how they have re-engaged with skills to create an income. Overall, it was clear that community action and economic activities were not separate from narrative practice in this context, they were intertwined.
  
  
• At the same time, it was confirming to see how significant it was for people who are facing extreme  material hardships to have the opportunity to  speak about what and who matters, what they hope for, and how they’re getting through
• I (Chris) learnt something about the importance of dignity. It was clear from speaking with both the women and the men that somehow the work of Phola had created a context for dignity – this is my word, my meaning making, of course. This was evident in the way the women spoke about their children, their homes and their recent initiatives to create a life apart from the effects of gender-based violence. Dignity also seemed present as the men spoke about some of the steps they were taking away from violence and the contributions they were seeking to make to other communities who were seeking to address gender-based violence. In my current practice context, I meet with people whose dignity has been eroded by the decontextualising of their lives. Striving to create a context for dignity has become far more prominent in my work.
  
  
• I (Angel) felt that I had returned to my work context with a strong commitment to reinvigorating collective and group work more fully into my independent practice. I had left public practice as a school social worker a few years ago and ever since, much of my work has been providing individual therapy to people of all ages and genders affected by the trauma of violence, oppression and injustice. However, with each day that I witnessed the community and collective work of the Phola workers I was vitally reminded of the far reaching possibilities of group and community workin relation to responding to significant trauma. Now almost one year after our South Africa adventures, I am so pleased to be facilitating more Tree of Life groups for those experiencing the toughest of times, while also engaging more fully in collective narrative practice.
  
  
• Perhaps more of a confirmation than a learning for us as narrative practitioners – it was compelling to see what was made possible when culturally resonant metaphors are combined with narrative practices to enable richly described double storied accounts of people’s lives.
  
  
• Seeing first-hand how Phola has been creating their own culturally resonant forms of healing practice has supported and encouraged us to have conversations about avoiding psychological colonisation with those in our own work contexts.

Conclusion
We hope this small piece gives you a glimpse of our experience of witnessing the significant work of Phola in the informal settlement communities of northwestern Johannesburg. We also hope that perhaps the glimpse was enough to spark your interest in visiting and learning from Phola yourself through the “School Without Walls” initiative. Thank you so much to Ncazelo Ncube-Mlilo and the Phola staff team for a highly significant week.

For more information about the Phola School Without Walls, click here