Updates from The Area II International Helpers

International travel

While travel in 2020 was limited, members of the Area 2 dewan visited South Africa and Malawi, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Portugal (also joined by Isti da Silva from Area 1). We received a great and warm welcome everywhere.

The Cape Town group is very committed and own their premises, which they have renovated. In Johannesburg, the premises have also been renovated. The group meet once a week as the area is dangerous. Malawi is a group of relatively young people, and they have just moved premises. They are all very dedicated to the latihan.

In Angola, the two groups in Luanda practice the latihan in members’ spaces. In DRC, we did latihan in the Kinshasa and Matadi Subud houses, and with the group in Kisantu. 

We visited Susila Dharma Congo projects in Kingantoko and Kwilu Ngongo, and a member’s school enterprise in Matadi.

In Portugal, we visited the Porto group, which has a strong Subud family spirit, and did latihan. We also participated in the National Congress in Lisbon, and the agenda included approval of budgets, and the Bucelas restructuring project.

Overcoming 2020’s challenges

When Covid-19 restricted travel, we used Zoom to keep in touch with the countries. There is an Area 2 latihan every Sunday morning that many people attend and feel connected through.

We virtually attended National Congresses, the Annual Meetings of Zone 3 and Zone 4, and the kejiwaan meeting of the female helpers in Zone 4. We had two all-African zooms, and a virtual meeting with Subud Greece.

It has been noticed that more people are expressing themselves during online meetings than is possible in live meetings (e.g. Zone 4 female helpers meeting).

The predominant topic for members is doing latihan alone. Most members and office holders miss meeting in person. A common issue is the aging membership. Financial contributions have also been an issue as they are dropping in many countries.

Supporting the kejiwaan

In addition to reviving the Area 2 Sunday latihan, we have been offering to meet with Kejiwaan Councilors and Zone Representatives and have joined helpers in casual and more formal meetings.

We supported WSA, WSC, and MSF meetings, and SICA, SIHA, SESI, Care Support, and Archives, as International Helper liaisons.