Stories from hilltops heal the world. . .how Matobo children inspired a global impact therapist

Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter

WHEN Ncazelo Ncube-Mlilo received her gong from the Duchess of York at the Women Changing the World Awards in London, she looked perfectly at home.

In that moment, as she secured second place for the prestigious Golden Heart Award, Ncazelo exuded royalty, accepting an accolade that cemented her position as one of the top therapists in the world.

Dressed in a resplendent pink and purple outfit, which seemed to splash a dash of colour onto the Duchess’s all-black ensemble, Ncazelo looked regal as she accepted yet another honour on a night that was proving to be the crowning glory of a career spanning over two-and-a-half decades.

In such colourful and royal settings, Ncazelo, who had already walked away with two awards on that same night, could not dare forget where it had all begun.

At the turn of the century, as HIV and Aids ravaged Zimbabwe and other African countries, she found herself in Matobo. There, she was immediately confronted by the harsh realities of the scourge.

Working with children from the area, the holder of a degree in Psychology from the University of Zimbabwe and a Master’s degree in Narrative Therapy and Community Work from the University of Melbourne quickly discovered that some of the knowledge she had acquired through years of diligent study was inadequate for children who had grown up around the hilltops of the Matopos.

She realised she needed to find a way to truly reach them and the hundreds of academic pages she had devoured offered no ready-made answer.

“I am very passionate about developing Afro-centric mental health solutions,” she told Sunday Life in an interview.
“My career began in the 2000s when I got a chance to work with children affected by HIV and Aids at a Salvation Army camp in the Matopos. I learnt a lot working with those children and that propelled me to seek ways of working that meet people where they are. I think from the children I learnt that you cannot use Western ideas and Western methodologies to fix African ideas.”

She continued, “A lot of the stories that I got from the children had to do with their traditions, their belief systems and their culture. So, the meanings that they attached to their experiences had a lot to do with their own cultural beliefs and coming in from a Western point of view, you would shoot far above their heads.”

As a trained narrative therapist, Ncazelo knew that the key to unlocking the power of healing for these children in extreme distress lay in their stories.

“Narrative therapy is an approach that helps people to access what we call alternative stories. Narrative therapy simply means that I specialise in using stories to help people heal from the effects of trauma and to create pathways to preferred ways of living. These are stories that give people hope. Often, when people experience trauma, they just focus on the problem-saturated stories of their lives.”

“So, we try to help people see that although they might have problem stories, they also have alternatives. We try to get them to focus on their hopes, their dreams and other things that they tend to forget when things are hard and life is difficult.

“When people are encouraged to access these different stories, they become hopeful, develop a sense of urgency and start living their lives fully. So, we move away from counselling that is problem-saturated and trauma-focused,” she explained.

Global impact
From her foundational work with the children of Matobo, Ncazelo would go on to create the Tree of Life (ToL) approach, which has now been adopted by over 60 countries across various continents.

Rooted in Narrative Therapy principles, ToL uses the tree metaphor to empower individuals, particularly those who have experienced trauma, to reconnect with their roots, skills, hopes, dreams and relationships.

“The lessons and the dilemmas I learnt from the children of Matobo propelled me to work with an Australian called David Denborough to create a methodology called the Tree of Life. We created this in 2006 and it has become extremely successful as it is used in over 60 countries around the world.

“It is used in numerous countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Singapore the United States of America and many others. This is a methodology that was inspired by African children.

“This is where my journey began, and since then, I have grown a stronger appetite to ensure that mental health solutions for African people are informed by their preferences, knowledge, and wisdom,” she said.

A key part of her work as an African therapist, Ncazelo emphasised, was to highlight the strength that local communities could draw from their traditions and customs.

“We do not displace the trauma; we acknowledge its presence and its effect on people’s lives. But we also ask, ‘How did you survive this? How did you manage to keep going? How did you manage to achieve all you did despite the hardships and the traumas that you have been through? What skills have you been using to survive? Where did you learn this from and who taught you these skills? Why did they teach them to you?’” she elaborated.

In addition to ToL, Ncazelo has developed several other targeted methodologies, such as COURRAGE, Narratives in the Suitcase and O.U.T.T.R.A.G.E.D, a programme aimed at preventing gender-based violence (GBV) through engagement with men and boys.

These methodologies continue to shape mental health practices worldwide.
In 2015, Ncazelo founded PHOLA, a non-profit organisation focused on providing culturally sensitive mental health services to those affected by trauma, violence and abuse.

PHOLA’s mission is to promote healthy emotional development, offer mobile mental health and trauma counselling to women and children in schools and communities and train mental health professionals using indigenous knowledge and practices.

As PHOLA’s influence continues to spread in South Africa, the former St James Mission girl said she was eager to bring it to her native Zimbabwe.

“I am proud to say I am a St James girl. I went to St James Mission in Nyamandlovu and that is where I got a very brilliant education. My dream is to grow and to take PHOLA beyond South Africa and bring it to other African countries, including my own beloved Zimbabwe,” she said.

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