I started my career as a photographer for humanitarian and development organisations in 2002. In 2014, I sought to more deeply explore ways to support people in telling their own stories; through audio, photography, video, writing, and the research-based practices PhotoVoice and StoryCenter’s Digital Storytelling.
Over the years, I have provided storytelling, expressive arts and mindfulness, to hospice patients in India, young people with disabilities in the US, Kenya and Jordan, and youth in the US, Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan, and South Africa. South Africa has been home since 2012.
As an End of Life Companion/Death Doula, I incorporate my experiences in storytelling and the creative arts to support you and your loved ones in Legacy Projects and memory-making, creating a Life Review, caretaking, Compassionate listening, Sitting vigil with music, storytelling, creative writing, memory collage, expressive arts, Reiki, assisting with Advance Deathcare planning, and aftercare. I will walk alongside you mindfully, as you navigate grief and find ways to alchemise it creatively.
Like Kintsugi, the Japanese philosophy that the value of something is not in its beauty but in its cracks, we all have a story to share. I create a space for you and your loved ones to feel safe and welcome exactly as you are. We are all stories in the end.
Jenn is a StoryCenterdigital storytelling facilitator, certified End of Life Death Doula with Going with Grace, and trained Reiki Level 1. She has a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts/Photography from the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, and a Masters Degree in Communication for Development from Malmo University, Sweden.