School of Mines to tackle mental health crisis

Following a rise in cases of depression and suicide among students, the Zimbabwe School of Mines Student Representative Council (SRC) and Ignite Youth Organisation have joined forces to host an event to try and address this vice.

The event, in the form of a Mental Health Open Mic and ColourFest, will be held on Friday at the Zimbabwe School of Mines in Bulawayo, starting at 9am. There will also be an evening session from 5pm.

Vimbai Kaseke, the Ignite Youth programmes officer said the event will serve as an educational platform to discuss the mental health challenges faced by students in college.

“The event has been created mainly as an educational mental health platform for the incoming students at the Zimbabwe School of Mines. This is after the school recorded a number of depression and suicide cases from its students.

“As a way to prevent the occurrence of depression and suicide attempts, we have created this platform in order to discuss the mental health changes that they face and how the students can be assisted in the event they face depression when they attend school,” said Kaseke.

She said various activities and performances have been lined up.

“On the day, we’ll have mental health talks, open mics, a colour run, Zumba dances, and musical performances from various artistes.”

Artistes billed to perform include Voltz, Elluzeni, DJ Nospa, Bazooker, Maweqa Fanila, and DJ Wele. Special guest speakers for the event will be members of the Ignite Youth Organisation.

The dress code, Kaseke said, is a white t-shirt and tickets are available at the Zimbabwe School of Mines SRC department in Killarney.

“The event is open to all ages as it aims to provide support and awareness to everyone in attendance,” Kaseke said.