Olamma Cares Expands Community Healing, Mental Wellness, Eco-Therapy through Umé Circle in Lagos

Oluchi Chibuzor

As conversations around emotional wellbeing continue to gain momentum across Nigeria, many women are increasingly confronting the realities of grief, family conflict, mental health challenges, caregiving responsibilities, and the emotional weight of experiences that often remain unspoken.

This, is despite growing awareness around mental health, access to safe, culturally relevant spaces where women can openly process these experiences remains limited, leaving many to navigate difficult emotions in isolation.

But in a world where many women continue to carry their struggles in silence, initiatives such as Umé Healing Circle are demonstrating the power of gathering, listening, sharing, and healing together.

In response to this need, Olamma Cares Foundation recently hosted another edition of its Umé Healing Circle at The Simi Johnson Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, bringing women together for a day of reflection, emotional healing, storytelling, community connection, and eco-therapy.

Held on June 6, 2026, a day after World Environment Day, the gathering created a safe and intentional environment where women explored themes of grief, forgiveness, family dynamics, identity, emotional resilience, and mental wellbeing through guided conversations, grounding exercises, mindfulness practices, and communal reflection.

Throughout the circle, participants shared deeply personal experiences surrounding loss, childhood trauma, dysfunctional family relationships, emotional neglect, anger, and the long journey toward healing.

Several conversations centred on the loss of mothers and primary caregivers, while others explored the impact of domestic violence, unresolved family tensions, and the emotional burden many women continue to carry silently.

The session also created space for conversations around mental health and self-awareness, with participants openly discussing their personal experiences and the importance of supportive communities in fostering healing and resilience.

Unlike traditional workshops or conferences, the Umé Healing Circle is intentionally designed as a participant-led experience, encouraging women to learn from one another through shared stories, empathy, vulnerability, and collective care.

The Lagos gathering reflected this approach strongly, with participants actively supporting one another throughout the day and contributing meaningfully to discussions.

Speaking on the initiative, Founder of Olamma Cares Foundation, Chioma Nwosu-Fakorede, said the Umé Healing Circle was created in response to the increasing emotional isolation many women experience as they navigate the pressures of daily life, relationships, caregiving, survival, and societal expectations.

According to her, “Many women are carrying invisible burdens. They are showing up for their families, careers, communities, and responsibilities while often neglecting their own emotional wellbeing. Umé was created to provide a safe space where women can pause, be heard, share their stories, and find healing in community. Sometimes the greatest gift we can offer one another is the reminder that we are not alone.”

The gathering concluded with Umé’s signature eco-therapy experience, where participants engaged in a therapeutic planting session using herbs such as rosemary, basil, oregano, and mint. The activity served as a symbolic reminder that healing, like growth, requires patience, nurturing, and consistency.

Participant feedback highlighted the impact of the experience. Reflecting on the gathering, one attendee described the circle as both challenging and transformative.

“I experienced different emotions throughout the process. I went from feeling light when I arrived to feeling heavy as I absorbed the stories being shared. Through the planting session and the process of letting go, I felt recentered and grounded. I left feeling safer, seen, and with a deeper understanding of myself and the pain people have endured and healed from. I still do not have all the answers about forgiveness, but I left feeling lighter than when I came,” a participant echoed.

The Lagos edition of the Umé Healing Circle forms part of Olamma Cares Foundation’s broader vision of promoting emotional wellness through culturally grounded and community-centred approaches that combine storytelling, connection, mental health awareness, environmental consciousness, and collective healing.

As the initiative continues to expand across different cities, Umé is creating opportunities for women to access safe spaces where healing, reflection, growth, and community can thrive.