SDI Africa Community
Co-Leaders
Rev. Fr. Kevin Oodo, SJ
is a Catholic priest of the Jesuit Order, spiritual director and school leader working in Monrovia, Liberia. Originally from Nigeria, Fr. Kevin ordained and missioned to Liberia to help establish the first Jesuit owned school in the country. He is the director and principal of Xavier Jesuit School, Liberia and facilitates and directs retreats for religious, lay faithful, young adults, and youth. He has previously worked in Zimbabwe, Nigeria, USA and Canada. Fr. Kevin was an SDI New Contemplative in 2017 and since then, has been collaboratively working to initiate SDI Africa. He is a current member of the SDI DEIJ steering committee and spends most of his free time teaching and learning from less advantaged children.
Althea Banda-Hansmann
is the founding director of Transforming Moments Consulting, where she globally accompanies individuals and groups in spiritual direction, coaching, leadership development, and DEI. Althea is a staff member at Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation, co-facilitating the Soul of Leadership program, and serves on Luther Seminary’s spiritual direction team. She is a contributing author to Soul Food: Nourishing Essays on Contemplative Living and Leadership. A member of SDI’s DEI steering committee, she also facilitates Decolonizing Spiritual Direction Practice workshops and journeys with those seeking a path that nurtures justice and reclaims wholeness from the impacts of oppression.
Marilyn Naidoo
trained as a spiritual director in 2009 in Ignatian Spirituality. She completed a master’s degree at the University of Zululand in 2008 on Spiritual Direction conducting empirical research and published an article on this “Iviyo as contextual spiritual direction in an African Context.” She is active in spiritual direction networks in South Africa, is an accredited member of the Centre for Contemplative Spirituality and currently completing the Soul of Leadership program with the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation. She is currently a Professor in Practical Theology at a local public university, focusing on faith development and combining academic knowledge with practical wisdom to offer compassionate guidance. Her latest publication (2024) is Being Spiritual while doing Research (Lit Verlag).
Wanjîkū J. Kîarîe, M.Div, SD, SEP™, FCST
is a trauma-informed Integrated Wellbeing practitioner and founder of Integrated Living. Wanjîkū holds a Master of Divinity in Biblical Studies and is a spiritual director trained in the Holy Conversations Spiritual Formation Program by the Anglican Diocese in Massachusetts, USA. She is a Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner. Wanjîkū is a student of Dada Euphrasia (Efu) Nyaki and Thomas Hubl, under whom she has and continues to be trained in integrated ways of healing ancestral, individual and collective trauma. She is a mother of five, two of her children are with the Ancestors and three are with her in Nairobi, Kenya. She is a published author, blogger, and liturgy writer. She is a current member of the SDI Board of Directors.
Membership
Those actively living in Africa are eligible for discounted SDI membership rates. Please complete and submit the application form below for review. Physical address is required.
