{"id":2252,"date":"2015-10-01T13:29:00","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T13:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/?p=2252"},"modified":"2025-10-17T14:55:40","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T12:55:40","slug":"founding-of-wings-to-transcend-namibia-wttn-namibia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/founding-of-wings-to-transcend-namibia-wttn-namibia\/","title":{"rendered":"October 2015 \u2014 Founding of Wings to Transcend Namibia (WTTN),\u00a0Namibia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">October 2015 \u2014 Founding of Wings to Transcend Namibia (WTTN),&nbsp;Namibia<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jholerina&nbsp; B. Timbo (Madame Jholerina) founded Wings to Transcend Namibia (WTTN) in October 2015. WTTN is a non-governmental organisation that advocates and lobbies for equity and inclusion of trans people in Namibia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Madame Jholerina said that the reason for founding WTTN was that<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading has-vivid-cyan-blue-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-3e45a87b680e2b6dd3adcb92b5ff36d4\">\u201cthere was no actual progress or investment into realising transgender people\u2019s needs\u2026 So, my feeling was it is time that we, as trans people, organise ourselves and start a movement of our own.\u201d <\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/beyondthemargins.africa\/the-fight-against-being-a-human-no-mans-zone\/\">https:\/\/beyondthemargins.africa\/the-fight-against-being-a-human-no-mans-zone\/<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"739\" height=\"845\" src=\"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Wings-to-Transcend-Namibia.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3415\" style=\"width:864px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Wings-to-Transcend-Namibia.jpeg 739w, https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Wings-to-Transcend-Namibia-262x300.jpeg 262w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 739px) 100vw, 739px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mission<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From their website:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading has-vivid-cyan-blue-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-91f195a90a6ef898049eb45af3df0e4f\">\u201cWings to Transcend Namibia will be a champion and pioneer that works for social reform, legal gender recognition, and medical justice, through leadership development and empowering of transgender individuals and communities while lobbying local government, civil society and policymakers in national and international spheres about the needs of the Transgender community in Namibia\u201d.&nbsp;<\/h6>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Contact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wingstotranscendnamibia.wordpress.com\/\">Website<\/a><br>Email: <a href=\"mailto:wingstotranscendnamibia@gmail.com\">wingstotranscendnamibia@gmail.com<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WingsToTranscendNamibia\">Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Watch our interview with Madame Jholerina<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We interviewed Madame Jholerina on 14 March 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Trans Activism in Namibia \u2014 Madame Jholerina from Wings to Transcend Namibia\" width=\"1290\" height=\"726\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KUyTCQawT-8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">In memoriam: Celebrating the life of Madame Jholerina (7 September 1985 \u2014 9 October 2025)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We sadly bid farewell to and celebrate the life of Madame Jholerina. Jholerina Brinnette Theodora Timbo passed away last week on the 9th of October 2025. She had only <a><\/a>turned 40 a few weeks before. She was a colourful person, proudly wearing her traditional attire and boldly claiming space everywhere she went. She claimed the name \u2018Mama Trans\u2019 as she was a mother, sister, ally and supporter to many young and newly out trans women, who came to her looking for a voice to speak their truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Celebrating the life of Madame Jholerina Timbo\" width=\"1290\" height=\"726\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UV2hkl6XlJs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jholerina was part of the emerging years of the early trans movement in Southern Africa. She attended the <a href=\"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/december-2008-eastern-and-southern-african-trans-gender-identity-institute-south-africa\/\">first trans- and intersex-specific workshop in Africa<\/a>, hosted by IGLHRC (today known as Outright International) and <a href=\"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/july-2005-gender-dynamix-gdx-founded-south-africa\/\"><strong><em>Gender DynamiX<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, held in South Africa in December 2008. It was at this Eastern and Southern African Trans\/Gender Identity Institute that she met art activist, Gabrielle Le Roux, and collaborated as a participant in the series of drawings, known as the \u201cProudly African &amp; Transgender\u201d project. She was also one of the participants in the <a href=\"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/first-inter-continental-trans-and-intersex-advocacy-meeting\/\">first Intercontinental Trans Advocacy meeting<\/a>, in Barcelona, Spain in June 2010, where the series of artworks was exhibited for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Jholerina_Barcelona-2010.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6674\" style=\"width:925px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Jholerina_Barcelona-2010.jpg 768w, https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Jholerina_Barcelona-2010-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Jholerina_Barcelona-2010-113x150.jpg 113w, https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Jholerina_Barcelona-2010-9x12.jpg 9w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jholerina in Barcelona, 2010, the first exhibition <a href=\"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/december-2008-proudly-african-transgender-south-africa\/\">Proudly African and Transgender portrait drawing series<\/a>. Pictured here with her collaborative portrait with Gabrielle Le Roux <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She founded <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WingsToTranscendNamibia?__cft__[0]=AZUMn16n1_H_MEtNkYCvuCjygWWdRL88f4rVrFPxBQdj2DKIEec5-QWciiFrVzKWhVEXksG37gBSWWR25azyUgHG6EqYxO_eIEteV_qNl820wwuCCa1joyJSEyIGJADsiA1DWeqneuUHwnpaxjIwhDMTIjebpUzIJ9Ca35-nbVKAVv3H6L9W6jkVxy2IAS3Nqdg&amp;__tn__=-]K-R\">Wings To Transcend Namibia<\/a> (WTTN) in October 2015, because, as she put it: \u201cthere was no actual progress or investment into realising transgender people\u2019s needs\u2026 So, my feeling was it is time that we, as trans people, organise ourselves and start a movement of our own.\u201d To many, Madame Jholerina was so much more than the founder of WTTN. Apart from the lives she touched and the work she did outside of her role at WTTN while she was the Executive Director, she also served as a Grant-Making Panellist for the International Trans Fund (2023 \u2013 2024), was a Mandela Washington fellow (2018), and part of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI, 2016), among many other accomplishments. She was an undeniable force, as her tireless and passionate work was only outshone by her warm heart, her endless generosity, and her naughty sense of humour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our co-founder, Liesl Theron, who knew Jholerina since 2008, shares her reflections on the news of Madame Jholerina\u2019s death: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading has-vivid-cyan-blue-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-8449bc7bb0eca829b073e0d17422ac5f\">\u201cMy heart is still very broken after I heard the news Thursday about the passing of Madame Jholerina. The most recent time we saw each other was in June 2024, when I was organising logistics for the ITF and you attended the GMP meeting in Mexico City. The last day of GMP activities included attending the Mexico City Pride. You were boldly in bright colours as always, with a flower crown on your head! I remember those early years, way back in 2008 with our first regional trans projects, and you were part of it! We giggled every time, when you told me that you took over the name \u2018Mama Trans\u2019.\u201d<\/h6>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Trans &amp; Intersex History Africa (TIHA) Digital Archive team mourns with her family, friends and colleagues, and we strive to honour her legacy by continuing to work for the rights of trans Africans. Rest in power, Madame J. Thank you for all that you did. <img decoding=\"async\" height=\"16\" width=\"16\" alt=\"\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\" src=\"https:\/\/static.xx.fbcdn.net\/images\/emoji.php\/v9\/t9f\/2\/16\/1f3f3_200d_26a7.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"16\" width=\"16\" alt=\"\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffe\" src=\"https:\/\/static.xx.fbcdn.net\/images\/emoji.php\/v9\/tdd\/2\/16\/1f64f_1f3fe.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"16\" width=\"16\" alt=\"\ud83d\udc95\" src=\"https:\/\/static.xx.fbcdn.net\/images\/emoji.php\/v9\/t7\/2\/16\/1f495.png\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2014 Liesl, Victor and the TIHA team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-pale-pink-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-af0966f612bc2e53a7bc41b0f80417f4\">Memorial Service, 16 October 2025, Namibia<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the 16th of October, the <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NamibiaDiverseWomenAssociationNDWA\">Namibia Diverse Women&#8217;s Association (NWDA)<\/a><\/em><\/strong> held a memorial service for Madame Jholerina in her home country, Namibia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Memorial Ceremony for Jholerina Timbo, Namibian Trans Activist\" width=\"1290\" height=\"726\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rB-4CjP0t6k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1153\" height=\"2048\" src=\"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Jholerina_Mexico-City_2024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6672\" srcset=\"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Jholerina_Mexico-City_2024.jpg 1153w, https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Jholerina_Mexico-City_2024-169x300.jpg 169w, https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Jholerina_Mexico-City_2024-84x150.jpg 84w, https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Jholerina_Mexico-City_2024-768x1364.jpg 768w, https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Jholerina_Mexico-City_2024-865x1536.jpg 865w, https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Jholerina_Mexico-City_2024-7x12.jpg 7w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1153px) 100vw, 1153px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Madame Jholerina, June 2024 in Mexico City, her last Grant-Making Panel meeting as part of her 2-year term with the International Trans Fund<\/em><br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>October 2015 \u2014 Founding of Wings to Transcend Namibia (WTTN),&nbsp;Namibia Jholerina&nbsp; B. Timbo (Madame Jholerina) founded Wings to Transcend Namibia (WTTN) in October 2015. WTTN is a non-governmental organisation that advocates and lobbies for equity and inclusion of trans people in Namibia. Madame Jholerina said that the reason for founding WTTN was that \u201cthere was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3415,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[335,261,337,577,336,42,32],"tags":[414,89,1542,91,119,413],"class_list":["post-2252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-art","category-audio-video","category-in-memoriam","category-interviews","category-organisations","category-trans","tag-jholerina-timbo","tag-namibia","tag-namibia-diverse-womens-association","tag-proudly-african-and-transgender","tag-wings-to-transcend-namibia","tag-wttn"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2252"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6711,"href":"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252\/revisions\/6711"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}