Residents walk to raise awareness for men’s mental health
On November 20, residents participated in a men's mental health awareness walk from Virgin Active to the Polokwane Game Reserve.
POLOKWANE – The initiative by Standard Bank was hosted virtually and participants had a choice to run or walk alone or with friends.
The coordinator of the walk in Polokwane, Pearl Sekwati, explained that the purpose of the walk was to raise awareness for men’s mental health.
“Generally, when someone struggles with mental health issues such as depression, we tend to make it seem like they are just acting out, which in turn leads to suicide. We want to stop the cycle and create a safe space to have difficult conversations while we walk,” she said.
The walk is family friendly and can be done by all members of the family of all the age groups. Pearl explained that a few residents used to only have the walks on Sundays and it was during these walks that they would have conversations about mental health and personal experiences. “Over time, we realised that one day a week was simply not enough and we started to walk during the week as well,” she said.
Khathu Ramukumba, an eight-year-old boy who took part in the walk, said that he did so because it was good exercise and his mother explained to him that it is for a good cause.
