Aura Fellowships 2025-2026: Brazil & South Africa
- mia8893
- Sep 30
- 7 min read
Launched in January 2020 — one of Be The Earth’s original programmes — Aura is an experimental journey to strengthen women willing to do the inner and outer work needed to transform themselves and the world. Through a holistic approach it offers financial, spiritual, and technical support to women forming a united circle. This fosters a strong sense of connection, belonging and sisterhood, building resilience to subvert the complexities of a patriarchal capitalist system.
Aura aims to restore women's connection with nature by embracing feminine principles and incorporating practices like moon gatherings, ritual and ceremony, collectively weaving soil, soul and story.
Since conception, 48 women have been or are going through the Aura Fellowship.
From March 2025 until September 2026, our current fellowships focus on women that are recognised as Social Educators: teachers, facilitators, community leaders, social workers and beyond. Many are focused on children.
This fellowship is special because, for the first time, it’s being facilitated by our alumni — midwives who are proudly and beautifully holding space for 10 women in Brazil and 10 women in South Africa, collaborating with Be The Earth’s team.
This March, both 18-month journeys opened with an in-person retreat — at Ponto de Luz in São Paulo and the Bertha Retreat near Cape Town — for the women to ground in themselves and connect with each other. As the women shared:
“Our retreat was beautiful, gentle, and filled with laughter. The women bonded over stories in various settings around the campfire, at the waterfall, at the dinner table, in the heated pool, on the trail, and on the mountaintop.
We also had time to dream together about what we wanted from the program, align our expectations, set our agenda, and discuss individually and collectively how we wish to be cared for.”
Meet the Aura Fellows: Brazil
Amanda de Jesus
“I'm 33 years old and a single mother to a ray of sunshine named Zion Nkosi, who's 2 years old. I'm a nutritionist and researcher, focusing on topics such as public health nutrition, Black population health, culturally and ancestrally based food, and free play rooted in Black and African cultures.”
Emi Tanaka
“A caretaker of the planet, with diverse skills dedicated to building the world. A cisgender woman, Asian, 51 years old. I work as an independent professional providing services to nonprofit and private organizations as a training producer and project coordinator.”
Gisele Ross
“I'm Gisele Ross, a midwife and obstetric nurse. My journey involves supporting women through all stages of life, whether in perinatal care (conception, pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, newborn) and home birth, or in women's health care more broadly.”
Juliana Vieira
“I'm Juliana Vieira, a Black woman, bisexual, a Juremeira, a member of the African-based terreiro, and a Gemini. That said, it's easy to understand that I live many parallel lives. I'm a designer, visual artist, art educator, and researcher of art, design, and agroecology.”
Lourdes de Paula
“I'm Lourdes Paula, a brown, homosexual woman with Indigenous and Taurus ancestry. Today, I'm an urban farmer. I'm an environmental educator who cultivates medicinal herbs and PANC. I'm a workshop leader at CERll, a center specializing in rehabilitation.”
Minéia Oliveira
“I am a Black woman from the Northeast region of São Paulo, a single mother to Nicolas, a resident of the outskirts of the East Zone of São Paulo, a community activist, a play educator, and a cultural producer.”
Rafaela Nunes
“My name is Rafa, nicknamed Rafaela Nunes, and I live in Parelheiros, the far south of São Paulo. I discovered myself as a Black woman through literature, a feminist through my experiences, an atypical mother/activist for the rights of people with disabilities through destiny, and an educator through a desire for revolution.”
Sabrina Aguiar
“I'm Sabrina, 21 years old, a Scorpio from São Paulo. I'm passionate about biology, I'm almost graduating, and I love exploring nature, my private refuge. Freedom is my motto, and music and art make me vibrate.”
Thauana Cruz
“I'm Thauana Cruz, I'm 40 years old. I'm a functional nutritionist and natural chef. Today, I coordinate a nonprofit, Instituto Academia Carolinas, where I primarily manage a women-run kitchen that feeds over 600 vulnerable people every day.”
Thayná Aparecida
“My name is Thayna Aparecida, I'm 27 years old, and I'm the mother of two boys, a 9-year-old and a 2-year-old. I currently work as a Social Project Analyst for Frente Alimenta. I'm passionate about life, and I've had many fresh starts that have made me stronger.”
Meet the Aura Fellows: South Africa
Christina Jooste
“My passion is to work with young people. I am all for empowering women in my community. I like motivating the young one to follow their dreams and to stay on the right track in life. I love spreading love and, most of all, spreading kindness wherever I go." Christina is the Office Manager and Facilitator for Usiko Stellenbosch in Jamestown.
Mandisa Sakawuli
“I have been working with children for more than 25 years. Seeing children not getting a right to education would make my heart ache. Educating a child is to educate the world. The kind of change I hope to bring is to bring peace into the world.” Mandisa works at the Sustainability Institute in the Lynedoch Children’s House with 3-6 year olds.
Suewaida Visser
“Children bring so much joy to my life. When I am with my children, I just live me into them and forget all about my obstacles. I feel that the kind of change I want to make is to enter someone else’s struggle and walking alongside, to inspire and build on becoming the best you can be.” Suewaida works as a permanent afterschool assistant at Excelsior Pre-School in Pniel.
Noxolo Mthwa
“I want to bring confidence into the world because people are not motivated and this makes them lack confidence. By raising children, teaching them values and skills to survive is similar in building the future of our beautiful world.” Noxolo works as the principal at Nondzame Primary School in Pniel.
Nelisa Pulo
“I work with the community by always communicating with different people who need different help. And by always speaking with women who have problems like me who need advice. I hope to bring change by making sure I help all the women who need help.” Nelisa works at the Dwarsrivier Valley Community Advice Office in Pniel.
Leana Claasen
“I support young people who strive in their communities and help grow them to become better than yesterday. I find joy in helping one person, one child a day and in using my creative mind to help myself and others.” Leana works as the Aftercare Manager at Usiko Stellenbosch in Jamestown.
Yoliswa Bambiso
“I grow my community by being a pillar to my kids in my programme, motivating them. I try and inspire them with good things and making sure they stay on the right path.The kind of change I hope to bring is by building each other up as women and to stop looking down on one another.” Yoliswa works as part of the facilitation team of Lalela Cape Town in both Hout Bay and Pniel.
Shannen Jassen
“I am working with the age group 3-6 years guiding the child to independence and to teach the child age-appropriate skills, to help build community. I hope to see a world where we are caring and loving each other. And to always be grateful for what we’ve got.” Shannen works at the Sustainability Institute at the Lynedoch Children’s House with 3-6 year olds.
Mariska Samuels
“I do better because I know better”. This is my philosophy in life that I inspire the learners I teach. I joined this programme to learn the tools to deal with the challenges I face and to inspire others to do the same. I would like to change how we as humans look at each other.” Mariska works as a teacher at the Kusasa Academy in Lanquedoc.
Julia Jansen
“I love working with children, it gives me joy to help all children and take care of them. My mother worked with children and gave them her everything. I would like to plant seeds in my life and watch them grow up.” Julia works at the Sustainability Institute at the Lynedoch Children’s House with 0-3 year olds.
Meet the Aura Midwives: Brazil
Daniele Custódio
“A researcher for over 10 years, Daniele works in the field of food and nutrition security, conducting socioeconomic investigations for the development and validation of public policies. As a coordinator and activist, she works on topics such as combating hunger, agroecological urban agriculture, sustainable agriculture, family farming, and poverty eradication."
Daniele is also an Aura Alumni, facilitating women's circles in our network, fostering spaces for exchange, acceptance, and female empowerment through active listening, knowledge sharing, and the recovery of ancestral practices.
Renata Laurentino
“Artist-facilitator of individual and community processes, researcher of childhood and femininity. Renata designs experiences and environments with children, women, families, and educators. She is dedicated to working to harmonise relationships and community environments where children and creative people thrive. She recognises life as a vast studio, nourished by art, culture, and the humanities."
Renata is also an Aura Alumni, and now facilitating our current Brazilian cohort alongside Daniele.
Meet the Aura Midwives: South Africa
Ross Van Niekerk
“I live in Lynedoch EcoVillage, Stellenbosch, South Africa. I am working at the Sustainability Institute, supporting children from birth to high school. I believe through children we can learn so much. My love for working with women/mothers is that if their mindsets can change it helps the child, herself, and people around her, the ripple effect. Women who are empowered will not be allowed to be abused and also not abuse their children. Healing is the main focus. By allowing women to use basic methods to heal themselves we will have healthy, loved women and children."
Ross is also an Aura Alumni, now facilitating our current cohort of women in South Africa.
Jasmine Jacob
“Jasmine loves to help create clarity and shared understanding for individuals to realise their power to feel better and do better, together. By day, she is systems scientist and independent consultant focused on supporting individuals and organisations to think more strategically about collaboration, leveraging resource networks and monitoring & evaluating for impact in complex contexts. By night, she is an amateur creative and jiu jitsu enthusiast."
Jasmine is facilitating our Aura Fellowship in South Africa alongside Ross.
Alongside these 20 Aura Fellows and 4 Aura Midwives — spanning 2 vast continents — we honour the web of mentors and practitioners supporting these women, as well as the land holding them all.
Stay tuned as we share more stories and ripples of change seeded by Aura and these women in months to come.