Crazy Hat Masquerade Ball debuts in Mbombela
Mental health was placed under the spotlight at the Crazy Hat Masquerade Ball last Friday. The charity function was held at Emnotweni Arena which was sponsored for the evening.
This event was held to benefit Young World Educare, which was founded by Zuannè-Marié van der Merwe, who also struggled with emotional issues when her husband died in a car accident and she was left without financial or emotional support. The first Crazy Hat Photo Search was launched in October 2016.
Van der Merwe and Tish van Rooy (Mpumalanga Ambassador for Young World Educare) teamed up to bring Mbombela the very first event in the area.
“I was busy with the Crazy Hat Photo Shoot competition and spotted Tish and her family (who ended up winning the Crazy Hat Photo Shoot Family Award). We connected again on Facebook in 2019 and two and a half months later the Crazy Hat Masquerade Ball was organised.
“Tish has been amazing throughout the whole organising process. Frankly, she was the driving force behind the entire project in Mpumalanga.”
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The Crazy Hat Masquerade Ball has previously been held twice in different parts of the country.
Inspirational stories were shared throughout the evening. Marcelle Metz shared her story. She was raped at age four and later married an abusive man who died horrifically in a car accident in front of her and her children. She then got engaged once again, but her fiancé died shortly before the wedding. She told of her nervous breakdowns and suffering from depression, and how she eventually was able to turn everything around – bringing hope to those in the audience.
Speakers also included Dr Simon Mothapo, a psychiatrist of Akeso Psychiatric Hospital. He spoke to the audience about some of the patients that he worked with.
The evening featured entertainers such as Zané Jansen van Rensburg, Twané Lourens and Pulse Dance Studio. Jacques Lombard and Jansen van Rensburg were co-hosts for the evening and kept the programme running smoothly, while Dewald Jacobs auctioned off a painting by André Meintjes.
During the performances by the entertainers, models from Hillicks Model and Talent Agency as well as Ramps to Runway graced the stage to represent the theme of the evening; “From Black to White”. This theme was in recognition of mental health illness (the darkness) and seeking help and getting better (moving towards the light). Overall the evening was a great success, and has hopefully better prepared the Lowveld to deal with mental health illnesses.
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