The Latihan Is Paramount In The Lives of The Zone 5 Members

Membership overview

In some countries there have been openings, in others, the membership has declined.

In Zone 5, communication is the biggest issue, due to intermittent access to electricity with rolling outages, droughts, and civil wars. The pandemic has made it even more difficult, and has resulted in job losses, business closures, and restrictions on movements, and vaccinations are slow to be given.

Communication and activities

Communication in the Zone is mostly via email, telephone, Zoom and WhatsApp, when electricity is available. There is currently no Zone newsletter. Zone 5 and Zone 6 hope to have a joint Zonal meeting before the next World Congress.

South Africa is the one country where groups have meetings to keep the membership informed. Many of Malawi’s members have family in the UK and they usually travel between the two countries. South Africa and Malawi have had a few openings and despite Covid-19, members are reaching out to have a spiritual connection at this time. Zimbabwe only has one member, who traveled to South Africa to be opened.

Nigeria’s National Committee does not appear to be active, and their last Congress was in 2013. The International Helpers were planning to travel to Nigeria but had to cancel due to the pandemic. We are still hoping that the visit can happen when it is safe to do so.

Wing activities, enterprises and centerprises

South Africa has representative members for SDIA and SES. It is hoped that an MSF liaison will be found soon, and that links with SICA and SIHA will become closer as there are artists and health professionals among the members. South Africa’s members sometimes did outreach work with the poorer communities, handing out soup and other foods, but this has been suspended due to Covid-19.

A small group of the Cape Town members started a car repair and resale enterprise. Both groups in South Africa now have tenants renting their latihan premises, after MSF awarded them grants to repair their Subud Houses. We wish to thank MSF again, as without their help it could not have happened.