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Courses

Bomabotsetse: Indigenous postpartum course for certified birth workers

Afrika Ikalafe Pluriversity

Bomabotsetse

Indigenous postpartum course for certified birth workers

Course Date

17 to 22 August 2025

Mothers who give birth in a healthcare setting may give birth to a “healthy” baby. Yet, they may feel disconnected to hospital rituals. It is our view that safe birth is not limited to giving birth to a physically healthy baby. Instead, it incorporates an experience that respects cultural and spiritual beliefs of the mother, baby, family and clan. Being part of the training programme creates an opportunity for you to join a group of healers, midwives, counsellors and birth advocates who draw from different disciplines. At the heart of their practice is the need to recover, restore and preserve Indigenous knowledge of birthing which was suppressed and is still excluded because of colonialism.

We acknowledge that biomedicine saves many lives of women and babies with complications. However, failure to dismantle hierarchy of knowledges between biomedical and Indigenous birthing practices contributes to a perpetual erasure of wisdom which was passed from one generation to another. We believe that such preservation is necessary to save many people from cultural and spiritual alienation. In the end, a balance between physical, mental, cultural and spiritual safety is necessary to heal the world, one birth at a time.

About The Course

Who is the course for?

This course is for you if you:

  • Already trained and practicing as a certified/registered birth worker
  • Passionate about preservation of Indigenous knowledge of birthing which was initially suppressed during colonialism.
  • Believe in a birthing person’s right to cultural safety.
  • Believe in dismantling the hierarchy of knowledge within biomedical and Indigenous midwifery practice.
  • Open to face your own trauma, prejudices, and judgements which may emanate from a state of internalised oppression.

Starting with an understanding of the historical overview of the political economy of birth in South Africa, the course will outline historical factors that contributed to an erasure of Indigenous knowledge of childbirth. As a way of reclaiming knowledge that was almost wiped out because of colonialism and apartheid, participants will learn about the theory and practice of childbirth rituals and ceremonies.

The course ends with a cultural immersion week with an elder who is based in a village in Northern Cape. Because the elder speaks Setswana, a written and speaking knowledge of Setswana/Sepedi/Sesotho is essential.

How will this be delivered?

  • The course combines 5 days face to face lectures at a rural based lodge followed by virtual
    gatherings and support.
  • If you pay for a retreat, you will participate in an intense cultural immersion retreat with
    elders.

Location / Venue

This course will be accommodated at Zaagkuilsdrift Bird Sanctuary and Lodge . The venue is chosen because of its proximity to Kgomo Kgomo village. The latter is not only Dr Mmatshilo Motsei’s ancestral home, but it is also a place where she has initiated several community projects such as Indigenous law and rural governance in partnership with Centre for Applied Legal Studies, University of Witwatersrand. The venue makes it possible to contextualise Indigenous knowledge in collaboration with community based groups such as traditional leaders, women, youth and children.

Host and Convenor

Dr. Mmatshilo Motsei, is a healer, midwife, author, and Executive Director of Afrika Ikalafe Pluriversity, which is an institution that specialises in personal and societal transformation and is founded on African spiritual principles. Her overall aim is to uncover the old truth that Africa is great and powerful, and that our soul is afflicted because of colonial poisoning of the mind. Read more

Course Outline

Course Payment Packages

    R14 800Without Retreat
    Fee includes

    • 5 days lectures by academics and elders
    • 5 nights’ accommodation and meals
    • Participation in a community seminar on Indigenous midwifery with rural based elders and
      mothers
    Enroll Today!

    With Retreat

    R19 800
    Fee includes

    • 5 days lectures by academics and elders
    • 5 nights’ accommodation and meals
    • Participation in a community seminar on Indigenous midwifery with rural based elders and
      mothers
    • If the amount for the retreat is included in your payment, you will be part of an intensive cultural immersion weekend in North-West or Northern Cape province. The fee covers transport from Pretoria to the venue, 2 nights’ accommodation, meals and participation in birthing rituals led by elders.
    Enroll Today!
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