In late October of 2022, the Zone 3 and 4 Gathering took place in Assisi, Italy. Five out of seven members of the International Steering Committee attended the gathering and met with several National SIHA Representatives in the beautiful town of Assisi. Among those attending was Albatina Phillimore, Siti Salamah Sallie, and Marisol Greenslade from the UK, Jamil Hugenholtz from the Netherlands, and Elsa van Amern from Germany. This was the first time the current steering group was given the chance to meet in person after months and years of Zoom meetings, so it felt very special.
During the gathering, SIHA ran six "Listening with Love" workshops, a session to support youth in reducing stress symptoms, and also facilitated a Constellations workshop. We took the opportunity of having our International Helpers, Joan Fromme and Alan Boyd, join us in several latihans and testing sessions. Members of the committee, and other therapists, also found time to carry out treatments, using a massage bed brought all the way from the UK by Siti Salamah! Our Zone 3 & 4 Reps made contributions during the Zone meetings, including discussions about collaborations between the Wing Chairs, especially in regard to preparations for the 2024 World Congress in Kalimantan.
In addition, we were able to have discussions about the role of SIHA (Albatina had a good chat with Nahum), and a group of us met with Suyono and Hannah to discuss our role in offering health support for members. We also discussed the status of SIHA as a Wing. SIHA very much sees its role as supporting Subud members in all aspects of wellbeing. We talked about how to address emotional issues and tensions which can arise in our Subud groups.
Two online Zoom meetings took place during the Assisi Gathering. Firstly, the regular SIHA Carers Group was joined by others in the Zones. The Carers Group offers support for those in a caring role. Secondly, members of the Mental Health Team met with attendees from around the world. It was decided to rename the group from the Mental Health Team to the Psychological Safety Team. Several new members have recently joined this group and we plan to continue to grow and develop this important work in Subud.
In addition to our new website, which is a fantastic resource for all Subud members and includes archive publications, forums for chats about health issues and wellbeing, we now have an updated mailing list to keep members informed about current SIHA events.
In closing, we would like to say a big thank you to Hannah, Salama, and their team who worked so hard to make this event happen.