Meet our Founder

Babalwa Stamper, the pioneer behind Yana Indigenous Healing, is a passionate advocate for indigenous healing practices and their transformative power. Rooted in her deep respect for African healing traditions and her own personal spiritual journey, Babalwa is committed to sharing her the wisdom of those who came before her.

From a young age, she was drawn to the healing arts and the profound connection between physical, spiritual and mental well-being. The name Yana actually came during my meditation sessions, I would constantly find myself chanting this phrase amongst other things I did not understand so I looked it up. The Hebrew meaning of this word is ‘God is gracious’ and in isiXhosa it means rain, a word associated with growth, purity, prosperity, life. I knew I was on the right track.”

YANA aims to remove the misconceptions that still exist today around traditional medicine, indigenous herbalism and African spirituality. “I want to dispel the myth that there is darkness associated with natural plants and roots used by many for traditional healing purposes. These methods have been in existence long before western medicine, in fact, western medicine was born out of the knowledge of indigenous communities throughout the world. I want people to embrace the beautiful scents and powerful properties of natures’ gifts, I want them to know that they are the graciousness of God, they are YANA.”