Cultural Competence and Unintended Bias

Iya Affo is a Culturalist and Historical Trauma Specialist. She earned Western Certification as a Trauma Specialist and is a descendant of a long line of traditional healers from Benin Republic, West Africa. Iya is a member of the Royal family in Dassa Zoumé; The Sacred City of 41 Mountains, a Chief in the Village of Ouidah and a High Priestess in the West African Yoruba Tradition. In these high cultural and religious roles, Iya has spent much of the last 20 years mediating family conflicts, tribal disputes, and consequences for misconduct in the community.

In ceremony she was bestowed the title, Iya, which means Holy Mother and given the name Wekenon- Mother of the Universe. Iya has visited more than 30 countries around the world and has resided in Native American, Yoruba, Buddhist, Hindu and Taoist communities in various countries. While on pilgramage to Benin Republic, she lived among medicine men and women to learn the ways of the Shaman and understand the truth about the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Holocaust. In China, she lived in the Shaolin Temple, the cradle of Zen Buddhism, where she immersed herself in Chinese culture and worked with orphans and families in crisis. After a spiritual calling to India, Iya sojourned in a Hindu ashram and lived a minimal lifestyle while imbuing Hindu customs and ideology. During her time in India, she worked with a local university in bridging the cultural gaps that prevented graduate level engineering students from successfully completing English competency examinations.

Iya strives to cultivate love and inclusivity in hopes of facilitating the decolonization and subsequent healing of indigenous people. She advocates for the harmonization of Traditional Medicine and Western Medicine to facilitate holistic healing.