Before We Can Heal, We Must Trust
- Embrace Village
- 6 hours ago
- 2 min read
By Pippa Jarvis, Managing Director of Embrace Village
Every weekday morning at Embrace Village, a quiet and sacred rhythm begins. The mothers who arrive for the day gather in a simple circle - no hierarchy, no agenda, just presence. In this circle, each woman is invited to speak. Not perform. Not impress. Simply speak.
It might sound small. But in a country where trauma, poverty, and fractured systems too often define the social landscape, these circles are revolutionary.
We’ve learned that before real social change can happen - before children thrive, before communities stabilise, before healing can take root - there must be trust. And trust is not built through forms or handouts. It’s built person by person, morning by morning, as one mother looks into the eyes of another and says, “Me too.”
At Embrace Village, these daily discussion circles are where transformation begins. A mother speaks of her child’s night terrors, and another offers a remedy passed down through generations. A woman voices her fear of disclosing her HIV status, and someone beside her quietly reaches out a hand. These moments of shared humanity do not erase hardship - but they soften its edges. They remind us we are not alone.
Over time, something remarkable happens. Patterns emerge. Isolation gives way to solidarity. Solutions come not from outside consultants, but from within the group. The mothers themselves begin to notice what their community truly needs. And because they have been seen, heard, and held - they are ready to act.
Too often, social interventions focus on fixing. But what if the starting point was listening? What if the first step in solving any problem was creating the kind of space where people felt safe enough to speak from the heart?
At Embrace Village, we’re not offering a quick fix. We’re building something far more enduring: a community rooted in trust, where voices rise before policies, and relationships are the ground from which all change grows.
So the next time someone asks what makes a community resilient, our answer will be simple: It starts with a circle. And the courage to show up.
Donate today: https://embracevillage.com/donate/