Zoe Lauckner’s Testimonial
Hey all you lovely Sungoma supporters! Thanks for reading this testimonial about why Sungoma is such a special place for me.
I want to start my story 8 years back. I moved out of my family home when I was 15 years old, and if you can imagine, trying to find a landlord who trusted a 15 year old well enough to rent an apartment or house to them was difficult to say the least. I struggled on for many years with this, despite having a full time job at the lovely Duncan Garage Cafe, good references, a strong community of support and a good head on my shoulders. Guilty by association, the fact that I was young immediately implied to landlords that I was also untrustworthy.
That was, until I met Russell Davies, the owner of the Sungoma Art Center. I was 18 years old, in my second year of University, had no car, no money of my own, and had already faced years of hardship being a young woman living on her own, trying to remain independent and stable. Russell offered me something that is a fundamental need for all human beings – a place to call home.
This diagram is known as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. At the bottom of the pyramid is the most basic life needs: air, food, water, shelter, sleep, and so on. Once that need has been met (and only then) can someone continue to climb up the pyramid and onto the next need: safety – and so on and so forth. If the basic fundamental needs are not met, one can never move onto the next stage, meaning that if you are constantly seeking shelter and unable to find stability in that basic fundamental need, then you’d might as well forget about relationships, safety, self-esteem, balance, etc.
Russel Davies offered me two gifts, when I came into his life as a very lost 18 year old woman: Shelter and trust. I have been on the property for almost 5 years now, and am forever grateful for the opportunities that the land has offered me. I have grown here, learned here, loved here, and I intend to stay here for many more years to come!
Sungoma Art Center 