Kwa-Thema – Zoe Zungu organised a youth empowerment workshop that mainly focused on psychosocial and mental issues.
The event was at the Kwa-Thema Skills School on August 31. The workshop started with performances and activities that included meditation and breathing exercises.
“The aim was mainly to support the youth because many are dealing with issues they never discuss. The focus was also to help them verbalise and overcome things they sometimes deal with at home,” Zungu said.
She said inviting Nozuko Ntshangase, an actress, life coach and the founder of the Uzukolwami Foundation, was one way she could help bring change.
She mentioned that Ntshangase empowers girls through her kasi to kasi girl empowerment workshops under her brand Uniquely Me.
“Uniquely Me is about me sharing my story of healing and the tools that helped me heal. It is about me raising awareness based on the subconscious and conscious mind. I help these kids tap into their imaginations.
“I believe most of our mental illnesses are not medical or chronic related. Sometimes, our struggles to deal with memories that often overwhelmed us caused them,” Ntshangase said.
She said we tend to keep feeding the past experiences that overwhelm us to our minds and bodies as if we are still surviving the trauma, forgetting where we are in life at the moment.
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“We forget to separate the past from the present. My workshops were established to equip the next person to heal from whatever they have faced or are going through alone.
“I give tips on how to move forward, including meditation, visualisation, movement, breathing, and empowering oneself with the knowledge that can help one find their mind power and emotional balance,” she added.
The session was thick with emotions. It enabled the crowd to share their experiences and traumas while learning coping techniques and methods.
Ntshangase highlighted how expensive counselling and life coach sessions are, saying that is one of the reasons she offers her services for free to the youth.
She also cited that as an individual who grew up in the township, she would have loved to heal before getting her big break as an actress, saying it would have saved her much drama.
“I think as the black community, we are slowly waking up to mental health issues. We do not have vast knowledge of them, and resources are limited, but NPOs and organisations are available to the public, such as the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG).
“They take the initiative of going into black communities to teach about mental health,” said Ntshangase.
She said she also wants to be a part of the small groups that want to bring change and knowledge into small communities through teaching about psychosocial and mental issues.
“I want to equip young minds to gain unshakeable confidence and lead with unapologetic authenticity. They need to break free from societal expectations and celebrate themselves,” Ntshangase concluded.
