Your Neighbourhood Show By Ubuntu Foundation
Theme:
Your Neighborhood Show is a podcast by the Ubuntu Foundation about building and celebrating community. Hosted by Carolyn, the series delves into the universal human experience of connection and disconnection, highlighting personal stories of belonging, resilience, and community-building.
Purpose:
Through heartfelt conversations and inspiring stories, the podcast aims to normalize moments of disconnection in life, explore ways to overcome them, and celebrate the power of human connections in enriching lives. Carolyn’s own journey of rediscovering community after moving across countries serves as the foundation for the series.
Key Focus Areas:
- Stories of Connection and Disconnection:
Real-life stories from diverse guests about their struggles and triumphs in finding belonging. - Community-Building Strategies:
Insights and practical tips for fostering meaningful relationships and building supportive networks. - Highlighting Inclusive Initiatives:
Featuring organizations and initiatives that create spaces of belonging for marginalized groups, promote peace, or bring people together. - Personal Growth Through Community:
Exploring how connecting with others fosters personal transformation, resilience, and happiness.
Target Audience:
Anyone who has felt disconnected, seeks a sense of belonging, or is passionate about building stronger, more inclusive communities. Whether you’re a neighborhood advocate, a community leader, or just someone searching for ways to connect, this podcast provides stories and strategies that inspire and resonate.
Why It’s Unique:
Rooted in Carolyn’s own experiences of culture, migration, and resilience, Your Neighborhood Show brings warmth and authenticity to conversations about community. By sharing deeply personal and diverse stories, the series humanizes the universal need for connection and offers listeners actionable ways to build their own network of support and belonging.
Your Neighbourhood Show By Ubuntu Foundation
Episode 17: Caterin Castro on Cultivating Joy as a Compass
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In this heart-warming and deeply reflective episode, host Carolyn Vincent welcomes Colombian-born creative Caterin Castro, whose journey from Medellín to Brisbane is as rich in spirit as it is in resilience. A former English teacher turned Zumba instructor, circus performer, and cooking class leader, Caterin shares the challenges and joys of adapting to a new culture while staying true to her passions. Together, they explore the nuanced layers of connection and disconnection, childhood memories that shape us, and what it means to build community from the ground up. This episode is a celebration of authenticity, emotional intelligence, and the quiet power of starting over.
⏱️ Episode Breakdown
00:00 – Welcome & Show Intro
Carolyn introduces the podcast’s theme—navigating connection and disconnection—and warmly welcomes Caterin Castro.
02:30 – First Impressions & Background
Carolyn recounts meeting Caterin shortly after her move to Australia and shares admiration for her energy and positivity.
04:00 – Childhood in Colombia
Caterin shares vivid memories of her creative mother and studious father, including a delightful story about doing laundry with music—by stomping in soapy buckets like grape pressing!
10:45 – School Struggles & Emotional Growth
Caterin opens up about being bullied, excluded, and labelled "too much" as a high-achieving student—and how her brother's tough-love advice helped her reshape her approach to connection.
20:30 – Shifting Relationships
A reflective conversation on changing dynamics with family members and how emotional closeness evolves over time and distance.
24:15 – Circus & Self-Funding University
Caterin reveals how joining a circus helped her pay for university, all without her parents knowing. She shares her mother’s initial concerns and how performance art helped her grow in confidence and independence.
32:00 – Teaching Transformation
Her teaching journey—from students rejecting her methods to becoming one of the most sought-after instructors thanks to injecting fun, emotional connection, and creativity into her classrooms.
39:00 – Emotional Learning & The Joy of Movement
Caterin discusses her belief that emotional connection fuels better learning—whether in school, the kitchen, or the dance studio.
44:00 – Zumba, Community & Smiling Through Movement
Now teaching Zumba in Brisbane, Caterin reflects on creating joy and connection through eye contact, rhythm, and warmth.
47:30 – Being Held Back & Proving Herself Through Joy
From being told she’d “never be a belly dancer” to launching cooking classes despite being labelled “not qualified,” Caterin reveals how joy—not credentials—drives her forward.
52:00 – Migration, Faith & Full-Circle Generosity
Caterin and Carolyn revisit the emotional story of her arrival in Australia—no furniture, no history—and the beautiful chain of community generosity that helped her rebuild.
54:30 – Looking Forward: Dreams of a Movement & Healing Space
Caterin shares her vision for a dance, circus, and healing retreat space—rooted in joy, community, and holistic well-being.
🎧 For more stories of reinvention, resilience, and connection, listen to Your Neighbourhood Show.
📱 Available on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | ubuntufoundation.com.au/your-neighbourhood-show