DUNDEE KZN: Jeanri’s inspirational journey

Jeanri Boshoff has gone from the small town of Dundee to the big stage of the Provincial Mpumalanga MS pageant, but her journey hasn’t always been easy.

During her first year of varsity, Jeanri started struggling with an eating disorder (bulimia nervosa) and a major depressive disorder. While she didn’t realise at first how serious it was, it soon took over her whole life and after four years of struggling, she decided to finally tell her parents by means of a letter… And she sought help.
In 2016, Jeanri finally received the help she needed and has been recovering ever since.

“Today still, my depression stays constant, but I’ve learnt how to live with it and manage it by taking it day by day.
“But most importantly, I’ve learnt and grown so much through everything the last few years.”

Looking back, Jeanri reflects that there were instances during her schooling days where she had struggles, without realising just what it was. As a very social person who had lots of friends and fitted in easily in groups, she added that she often still felt alone.
“From the outside looking in, everything seemed fine, but I felt isolated and alone.” It was in moments like these that music became an outlet and kept her going.

While Jeanri may have found help for her struggles, she knew there were so many out there who still needed healing. And so started a new leg of her journey: to give back and help others suffering from a mental illness.

“I believe I had to go through what I did to be of help to someone else, by sharing my experience and raising more awareness about mental health. Also to show that you can recover and you are not alone. There is help and hope out there.”

And so Jeanri, out of her comfort zone, entered the Provincial Mpumalanga MS annual pageant and has since made it to the top 14. Her sole reason for entering was to use the platform to raise more mental health awareness. She’s also used one of her other talents, makeup, to raise much-needed awareness. As a self-taught makeup artist, makeup has given her a healthy outlet to express herself and has changed her life completely.

“When I do makeup, all the overwhelming negative thoughts go away and in that moment, it’s all about the creative process, executing the look and creating something beautiful.”

Last year, she entered her first competition and was one of the lucky winners of the Sorbet Makeup Artist Search
Competition. Now a proud Sorbet Ambassador, she has started creating a ‘mini mental health makeup’ series, where she tries to raise more mental health awareness through different makeup looks that she does on herself. She then shares this on social media, adding informative blurbs in the caption to help educate others on mental health too.

She’s currently focused on the ‘semicolon’, which stands for ‘your story isn’t over yet’.

“A semicolon is used as a message of affirmation and solidarity against suicide, depression, addiction, etc. It represents a sentence the author could’ve ended, but chose not to. The author is you and the sentence is your life.”

Jeanri has additionally focused on other makeup looks to address depression during the month of October, which is Mental Health Awareness Month.
She’s also looked at fun and creative initiatives outside the realm of makeup and pageants.

For Mandela Day, she decided to spread some kindness and positivity through the city of Mbombela by pasting 67 notes of kindness all over town. Such was the amazing response that Jeanri has done it during every other month since. She’s also been focusing on getting the community more involved with SADAG (South African Depression and Anxiety Group), who do amazing work for mental health.

Having been through the darkness and emerged stronger in the light, Jeanri’s journey has been a truly inspirational one, and one she hopes will inspire others to overcome their demons.

 
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