Community & Culture

We Are IH: Spiritual health practitioner encourages connections

November 21, 2024
Spiritual Health Practitioner, Thandazani Mhlanga

Name: Thandazani Mhlanga (he/him/his)
Job Title: Spiritual Health Practitioner
Years of Service: 6 months with IH, 13 years in spiritual health 
Worksite: Cariboo Memorial Hospital (CMH)
Community:  Williams Lake
Ancestral Territory: Swaziland / Zimbabwe; currently resides on Secwépemc and Tŝilhqot’in Nations territory
Favourite Quote / Advice to live by: “One belief, more than any other, is responsible for the slaughter of individuals on the alters of the great historical ideas. It is the belief that those who do not share my faith – or my race or my ideology – do not share my humanity.” Alfonso Borello, The Book of Dignity

Thandazani was born in Zimbabwe but his cultural heritage and origins are rooted in Swaziland. The family moved to Canada 17 years ago for a fresh start, with Thandazani first settling in the Interior eight years ago, and returning to the area about two-and-a-half years ago with his wife and children. 

Learn more about Thandazani’s journey with IH

Helping others navigate through some of the trials and tribulations of life is at the heart of Thandazani Mhlanga’s work as the first-ever spiritual health practitioner serving Cariboo Memorial Hospital (CMH) in Williams Lake. Thandazani started working at CMH this summer (2024) and is settling into his role well. 

His family, and his dad in particular, shaped his interest in becoming a spiritual health practitioner from a young age.

“I would say my dad and my granddad were my biggest influences, they were these were the spiritual giants around me in my upbringing. My dad has always been a very open-minded person, someone who is not threatened by information that is outside of his comfort zone.”

-- Thandazani Mhlanga

At CMH, Thandazani is available to support patients and staff. He describes a spiritual health practitioner as the person you connect with to journey through the turning points of life. At times of sadness, a spiritual health practitioner is a person you sit down with and you say ‘help me locate myself.’

“In a mall there’s a map of the entire mall and it usually has a sign that says ‘You are here.’ That way you can orient yourself and say ‘I want to get to there, but I am here’. The map shows you how to get where you are going. My work is to help people see the map!” Thandazani explained.“Because the map is different from one individual to the next, and in times of crisis, people don’t usually see themselves in their maps. So I help them be able to say ‘I am here’.”

four people are sitting around a round table engaging in a discussion.
Spiritual Health Practitioner, Thandazani Mhlanga talks with Cariboo Memorial Hospital Indigenous Patient Navigators Jackie Mattice (from left) and Rachel Ferguson and Allied Health manager Jane Barnett in the Sacred Room at Deni House in Williams Lake. 

Thandazani finds the work challenging and very rewarding.

“It’s like seeing someone move from a place where they were grasping for anything in the dark, to a place where they are saying, ‘hey I am here.’ Nothing beats that for me.”

A patient in the hospital wanting Thandazani’s support and guidance just has to ask staff to connect with him, which is information he really wants out in the community.

“I am also here for the staff. The good people who work here see a lot and that can cause a serious earthquake in their spiritual landscape. I’m here to debrief those things” 

-- Thandazani Mhlanga

“I am not afraid of tears. I am not afraid of anger. Anger comes up a lot. It is the one thing we humans have mustered to mask all other emotions. When someone is afraid, but they don’t want to say, they mask it with anger.”

Thandazani also enjoys learning from others, which he is excited to do following an invitation to talk with elders at the All Nations Healing House in Williams Lake. For those interested in speaking with Thandazani, he encourages them to reach out.

“I don’t have all the answers but I have the space to explore. We can just go on that journey together.”

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