Individuals who attended the free wellness retreat hosted at the Shanmuga Goushala (in Newcastle) on September 19 and 20 benefited from a holistic programme designed by the man recognised internationally as ‘the pioneer for wellness in the public service in South Africa’, Dr Pravesh Bhoodram.

The two-day programme included yoga classes, a mandala dot-art session, a fire ceremony, interactions with the cows being cared for at the sanctuary (goushala) and activities geared towards goal setting, group engagement and self-reflection, as well as presentations on ‘Who defines you in the age of social media?’ and ‘Parenting’ – all geared towards mental clarity, self-discovery and family bonding.

From public service to personal wellness

Bhoodram – who is the founding member of the EAP (Employee Assistance Programme Association in South Africa), established in 2001 – is best known for implementing the first wellness programme in the Department of Correctional Services.

This followed the findings of the Jali Commission report, which identified stress as a major contributor to suicide in the department.

Due to his success at Correctional Services, Bhoodram became the first person on the African continent to receive the special recognition award from the International EAP Association, which was presented to him at a ceremony hosted in Vancouver on October 30, 2001.

Bhoodram then went on to assist 24 national departments in setting up wellness programmes and, in 2004, he received the EAPA International award for the best ‘Chapter in the World’.

He obtained his Doctorate in Social Science in 2010.

EAPA-SA received awards in 2018 and 2019 from Africa Associations for the conferences it hosted regarding mental and physical wellness.

Furthermore, Bhoodram was the manager and co-ordinator for the national team that competed in the World Police and Fire Games in Calgary, Canada. The team returned with 118 medals (22 gold).

From poverty to purpose

Bhoodram’s own life story is a journey from poverty to purpose. He happily shares it, if it means it will inspire others to move beyond their challenges and limitations through hard work and creativity.

“This is the philosophy I live by,” says Bhoodram. “My boundaries are limited only by my own creativity and not by anything else.”

For the first 14 years of his life, Bhoodram and his family lived in a tin shack without access to water and electricity. “We worked ourselves up from there,” he recalls.

After matriculating, Bhoodram obtained a Degree in Education and taught Physical Education and English at Lincoln Heights Secondary for 12 years before being appointed as the Human Resources director in the Department of Correctional Services.

“When I started at Correctional Services, I did not know or understand anything about wellness. My point of reference was physical wellness through sport. I understood coaching, constitutions, training, teams, high-profile sport. That was the field I graduated in at university and I was busy with my Masters in Sport at the time,” said Bhoodram.

“I was asked to have a look at the challenges that officials in the department faced, which contributed to stress and to the high rate of suicide.

“That was when I realised there is something called the EAP. Because I had never heard about EAP before, I went to the experts in the field for a better understanding,” he continued.

“They all told to me that I won’t succeed. They said it will never work because you have to be a social worker to do it, I had no knowledge of social work, I was a sports person. How was I going to do a programme that deals with the psychosocial dimensions of wellness that will need clinical assessments and clinical management?”

Bhoodram decided to find out and learn.

“I decided to try anyway,” he conceded. “… And, through my efforts, I managed to introduce something to government that was never there before. I had to convince senior management, the then minister and people at the highest levels that this is what we needed in the country.

“A few years down line, when I got the award, it helped me because I could go to them and show that we were doing something right.”

Bhoodram employed 65 people in his first intake and made sure that 90% of the recruits were social workers.

“I had two reasons. Firstly, because that is the underlying profession for wellness, but also because I wanted to learn from them. Where I didn’t know, they knew. Where I couldn’t understand, they could,” he explained.

“I was good in policy co-ordination and development, in creating clubs, like we did in sport. I knew about coaching, but I didn’t know social work, so they did all of that hard work and I put it together. We then received the Public Service Award for the first wellness programme in the public service. Eventually, it moth-balled. Now, 97% of government departments have EAPs. That is my legacy in the country,” said Bhoodram.

He served on the board for the EAP Association of South Africa for 27 years without any remuneration and only recently stepped down in order to give younger people an opportunity.

“But I am still involved and do presentations when the board requests it,” he added.

Following his retirement in 2020, Bhoodram has dedicated his life to serving the community, using the knowledge and experience he gained throughout his career to help people reset their physical health, lower stress levels and gain mental clarity for long term well-being.

He does this through structured activities that encourage mindfulness, spiritual connection and healthy habits.

Bhoodram is also an honorary game ranger for SanParks.

“I use everything I learned over the years in wellness and I train game rangers. I am part of a programme called ‘Embrace’. Embrace is a programme that deals with psychosocial challenges that rangers have in the field, like stress, depression, trauma and financial issues, which might lead to problems like addiction.

“Rangers are under pressure due to the conditions under which they work, like dealing with poaching, for example, or with animal attacks. Rangers sometimes find their friends eaten up by wild animals or bitten by snakes,” explains Bhoodram.

“The ‘Embrace’ programme is geared to take care of the rangers and this is a voluntary thing that I do at my own cost in my own time.

“We do retreats in the game parks, where we deal with the psychosocial aspects of wellness. I have learned through experience that the universe always has your back. You have to align your thoughts with the universe, but very often people tend to rebel against the alignment of the universe.

We are conditioned by our teachers, our parents, the environment and community we live in, and even your spiritual beliefs. They put you in this box and they put concrete around you.

“It is my dream to remove that conditioning; to remove that concrete. My aim is to teach wellness in a different way, though mindfulness, meditation, breath-work and through art.”

The founder of the Shanmuga Goushala, Pops Govender, said he was so impressed by the turnout at the family retreat and the enthusiasm of the participants he intends to invite Bhoodram to host it annually.

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