Program Details
Date: Monday, July 31
Time: 12:00 – 1:00pm
Facilitator: Habibatou Ba, Support Specialist (she/her)
Session: Individual Impacts – Collective Care
Registration Deadline: July 27 @ 12:00pm
Delivery: Both in-person and online
What is it?
The session includes an energizing pilates class for the first 30 minutes, which is then followed by a presentation led by the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (SVPRO). Participants will have the opportunity to learn how the everyday continuum of stress can create trauma responses within the body. We will talk about the ways in which systems normalize a culture of harm and stress. SVPRO will discuss the neurobiology of trauma and then address individual and collective healing through grounding.
Facilitator Spotlight
Habibatou (Habi) was born and raised in Dakar and moved to New York City at the age of 15 before setting roots in this Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh territory 15 years ago.
Her interest in social justice and cultural understanding was sparked during her studies at the United Nations International School in New York City. During her time there, she was exposed to 100 nationalities and a myriad of cultures – which gave her a platform to speak her mind. Following this initial spark, she later studied Cultural Anthropology and Philosophy at UBC. In pursuit of higher education, she came to understand that her differences were a valuable asset. She then began to work on various projects, focused on communities that were fleeing violence.
Meet Habibatou (Habi)
Habi combines her deep experience in harm reduction and trauma informed practices centered on feminist and anti-oppression values, with a lust for life and an insatiable curiosity for the world around her. In addition to her work at UBC’s Sexual Assault Support Centre (SASC), she spent 10 years working in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside in transitional housing shelters and recovery projects that provide support to sex workers, people fleeing domestic violence, and gender-based violence. In addition, she went to culinary school to train as a chef and worked as an apprentice in a reputable fine dining restaurant which introduced her to structural and collective work and the power of food in healing.
Every day at work, she keeps an open mind, thinking of different ways to support one’s healing path. She truly believes that healing happens in ways we connect with our environment, it happens in relation to our intersections, some of hers being: having lived in three different countries, speaking three different languages fluently (English, French, and wolloff), the culinary arts, anthropology, and her experience working in sexual violence prevention & response. On her days off, you can find Habi enjoying walks/foraging with her daughter and their dog, cooking up a feast, or weightlifting at the gym.