Malawi: Millennium University has organized a Youth Mental Festival for the youngsters of Malawi. The festivities are scheduled for two days, that is November 9 to 10 at the Blantyre Youth Centre.
The festival will welcome young people, their friends and families from across the nation to celebrate life. The event will serve as a platform for community, connection and positive change through good mental health.
The promotion of good mental health is one of the most important aims of the event. Dr Sandra Jumbe a senior lecturer and lead researcher in mental health shard her delight on the prospect of participating in the day long festivities. She said organize will facilitate different activities that will spice up the day and make the day unforgettable.
“We have a dynamic programme featuring activities like football and netball tournaments, music, dance and theatre. Alongside that we have inspirational talks, interactive workshops and panel discussions with mental health experts, our stakeholders and other local celebrities,” Jumbe who is also a health psychologist said.
Jumbe added that the festival is part of a bigger research project, ARISE, which is being led by Dr Jumbe. The project focuses on improving mental health literacy among the youth using educati on settings.
“The bigger goal is to work with ministries of education and health to roll this out across the country and create a national framework that embeds mental health into our education system. We also want to reach young people that are not in college or university so they can also learn about mental health,” she said.
She believes that this festival is very important to the youth because it gives a chance to educate the youth about mental health. They can understand how to manage it and help others in taking care of their own mental health.
“As a psychologist, I have always wanted to remove the taboo around mental illness and encourage people to open up when facing challenges. I see this festival as a great way to reduce stigma surrounding mental health,” she said.
Executive Director for Drug Fight Malawi, Nelson Zakeyu will be the guest of honour during the event. He said this is a very important event especially to the youth because it will help them receive advice from experts.
The experts can speak to the youngsters on how to desist from drug and substance abuse.
“Drug and substance abuse is very dangerous among the youth as it leads to delinquency; therefore, I’m asking all the youth to take care of their health by doing physical exercises. I also urge all the youth to come in large numbers so that they can receive advice from the experts,” Zakeyu said.
This is the second edition of the festival. The first one was held last year at the same venue during World Mental Health Month in October. On the day, there will be other celebrities such as Piksy, Patrick Mabedi, Mary Waya, Hazel Mak and Nicole Kamwendo, among others. This year’s theme is: healthy mind, healthy body.
