Today we’d like to introduce you to Uwimana Zakiya.
Hi Uwimana, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
After surviving a near-death relationship, I left with what was most valuable to me. My three, at the time, beautiful children and my health intact. However, I learned that there was untreated trauma within myself. While healing I realized that my children too had trauma that was left un-nursed. I immediately began to focus my energy on what I call today Iwa-Pele Parenting. Iwa-Pele is a Yoruba word meaning good character. The basis of this style of parenting is making no judgements, assume you are doing your best, speak with integrity, and take nothing personal. Following this formula with a few additional holistic options has fostered emotional and mental healing. My children went from timid, insecure, and withdrawn to chasing dreams and thriving as independent thinkers with healthy boundaries and relationships. I now encourage women and men to use these methods to heal themselves and their children after any traumatic experience.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. Iwa- Pele parenting requires both parents and children to release relationships and habits that no longer foster safe and healthy thoughts, actions, and feelings. That can be very difficult. One of the roots of Iwa- Pele parenting is building the bridge. Building the bridge (B.T.B) is a part of the program where the generation of the parents and the generation of the children learn to communicate effectively by understanding the thought process and viewpoints of one another. So, when speaking about accountability with one another as it pertains to releasing hazardous patterns and cycles, it feel less like an attack and more of an awareness. Though this particular module can be the most trying it is also the most rewarding.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As a parenting coach, I encourage the release of old-time parenting. Generations before did not have the freedom of using their voices in times of need and trauma. I introduce the idea of giving children the opportunity to use their voice and be heard. I introduce the idea of learning your parents to understand them and the choices they have made. I introduce the idea of respecting family as individuals but also respecting the place they have in your life. I am most proud of the families, including mine, that have benefited from using the theories I have introduced. I am proud to see children I once counseled to be college graduates, career women and men, and Iwa-Pele parents themselves! I am honored to still be in contact with some and see the healthy lifestyles and relationships they maintain. My own children, who are my crown jewels, continue to make me proud through striving to be the best they can possibly be and processing issues as they come with no residual emotional soot. I would say what sets me apart from others is I consider an Iwa-Pele partnership to be lifetime. There is a saying that it takes a village to raise a child so what sense would it make to dissipate the village after the child has grown when the same village can support others? The village is here and we are thriving.
To inquire about coaching sessions, email me at missuwi365@gmail.com.
We’d love to hear about what you think about risk-taking.
Iwa-Pele parenting is about taking risk. It’s about stepping out of traditional parenting behavior’s and using alchemy to produce a fresh new perspective on child-parent relationships. I believe if the matter is important enough the risk is well worth it. I took the risk of a completely different style of parenting without a blueprint. All I had was my intuition, the opinions of others, and books, lots of them. I adjusted formulas based upon results from my own children. Adjustments included were diet changes, more or less outside activities, trigger discoveries and learning healthy coping mechanisms, and more. Each adjustment was considered a risk. Progress was not guaranteed but through the risk a lesson was always learned. Actions and reactions are all science. Without risk there would be no science.
Image Credits
Uwimana Zakiya
