During the Global Fellowship Gathering hosted by IofC International at Asia Plateau, India in January 2025, a new workshop related to ‘Healing Wounds of the Past’ was introduced, run by Axel Dubinski from Germany, using his 20-year experience in this field. This led to requests for more in-depth training of IofC teams to gain extra skills in building resilience for the peacebuilders within their projects. In response, Axel Dubinski was invited by IofC to Tanzania and Kenya in April, and by IofC Australia to spend one month running workshops in Melbourne and Sydney.
The four-week program from 16 May to 16 June in Australia included five workshops in Melbourne as well as a one-day workshop in Sydney, with a total of 100 participants. The workshops enabled participants to recognise that we all have deep areas we can access, to better understand how our lives have been influenced by family, the workplace and relationships in general. These insights gave additional knowledge and tools to the regular IofCA practices of quiet time, inner listening, connection, correction and direction. The workshops were beneficial to many of the IofCA members who attended as well as to several new participants, who now wish to contribute to the work of IofCA.
"The workshop was an exploratory container to look at some elements of trauma (personal, social, systems) and its impact on the collective spaces we exist (society/work/ family). This becomes critical for peacebuilding work as one can only go as far in peacebuilding as one has done to find their own healing and peace. It’s not possible to give more in the healing space unless one is capable to look within or heal oneself. The game is both inner and outer in peacebuilding." - Linda Kader
Image: Small group session with Axel as part of the workshop at Armagh. Photo credit: Daya Bhagvandas
Axel Dubinski generously offered his professional time pro-bono during his month in Australia. There were also four promotional Zoom sessions with Axel prior to his arrival in Australia, hosted by Anne Holland and Mike Lowe, which drew an international audience. The time in Australia was an opportunity for Axel to learn about IofC’s healing and peacebuilding activities across our various initiatives. Towards the end of his stay, Axel supported the IofCA National Conversation 2025 from June 13 to 15.
A 2026 visit by Axel is being planned with workshops in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
'I came curious and open, without any specific expectations and was left blown away. I attended all seven days of Axel’s workshops, not my initial plan. I was impacted on an emotional, intellectual, spiritual and physical level. I was so inspired. A significant contrast to the feelings of horror, disbelief and lack of agency most of 2025 has left in me. I was surprised how gentle and simple the structure of the workshops was. I made significant headway without even realizing it. The workshops also cemented my appreciation that we cannot heal others when we have not commenced healing ourselves.'
- Helen Georgiou
"I had the opportunity to attend the Initiatives of Change Australia National Gathering 2025, hosted by the wonderful Axel Dubinski – or, as he prefers to be known, ‘Someone who speaks to broken hearts!’ This year’s conversation focuses on empowering changemakers to break through generational, relational and collective trauma — starting with the self: from self-awareness to accepting, feeling, and healing toward collective growth. This topic is deeply close to my heart and remains fundamental to my work in community development, particularly in the areas of peacebuilding, reconciliation, and healing — as I continue journeying alongside diverse communities with complex histories."
- Tracey Nyugen, Victoria University Masters student
"I found myself at Axel’s workshop as a 29-year-old globetrotter: aimless, spiritually unmoored, burdened with big questions about the world, and estranged from my father, whom I believed was at the root of my chaotic life. During the workshop, I sat alongside members of the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, and Generation X, listening to their stories and struggles while also sharing my own. As the dialogue unfolded, an arc of trauma passed down through generations was vividly presented. I began to understand how and why I had arrived at this point in my life—and why I felt the way I did. My inner anger was heard and accepted. I felt seen. A week after the workshop, feeling supported by the group, I initiated a video call with my father, with whom I’d had a difficult relationship for nearly a decade."
-Mia Du, Victoria University Masters student
Photo credit: Daya Bhagvandas