The Lindwall Foundation in South Africa


You, created only a little lower than
The angels, have crouched too long in
The bruising darkness,
Have lain too long
Face down in ignorance...

History, despite its wrenching pain,
Cannot be unlived, and if faced
With courage, need not be lived again.

Lift up your eyes upon
The day breaking for you.
Give birth again
To the dream.

- Maya Angelou, from "A Rock, A River and A Tree" inaugural poem for President William Jefferson Clinton, 1993.

With the historic April 27, 1994 elections and the dramatic inauguration of Nelson Mandela as president, South Africa began to emerge from the terrible legacy of apartheid. Despite this monumental human rights victory, decades of brutal violence, trauma, and oppression have taken their toll on this beautiful nation and much remains to be done in healing deep-rooted pain, conflict and suffering. With their long tradition of service and healing throughout the world, Isa and Yolanda Lindwall took an interest in South Africa in the late 1990s, and found a population eager for growth, development, education and change. South Africa proved to be fertile ground for Releasing, and the seeds of Isa and Yolanda’s work evolved into ongoing projects involving Lindwall Foundation CEO Dr. Stephen Marcus and his wife, Barbara Kroll.

As if by fate, Stephen and Barbara found themselves drawn to work with South African communities that have been profoundly damaged by apartheid repression, police brutality, murder and torture. Yet they also found that these communities were receptive to Releasing, and they could work together in a dignified, empowering and non-patronizing, building strong friendships and alliances. The results were amazing.
  • Releasing helped a former apartheid freedom fighter emerge from prison and encourage youth to leave lives of crime and become productive members of society.
  • Releasing helped a young gang leader turn his back on his criminal past, and in the process transforms other gang members' lives.
  • Releasing helped a widow whose husband was killed by the apartheid police to overcome her grief and find new perspectives on her life, while becoming a leader in her community.
Through trust and enduring friendship, the Releasing work inspired a sense of growth, progress and new possibilities. Many of the people who experienced Releasing found new ways to impact their communities in constructive roles as teachers, husbands, parents, workers and entrepreneurs. As a result the Lindwall Foundation is currently developing a special Training of the Trainers Program in Personal and Community Healing, which will serve as a foundation for future Releasing international outreach work throughout Africa and other parts of the developing world. The current program is being developed with a strong research and evaluation component, and will add to some of the powerful community healing work that has been happening in Africa through South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Gacaca Community Courts dealing with the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. In the future, the Lindwall Foundation seeks to build on this experience and offer a viable training program in Personal and Community Healing that can be implemented in communities rebuilding in the aftermath of wars, terrorism, political repression and natural disasters.

For more information on Releasing work in South Africa, click here.