Vryheid youth raises mental health awareness

With mental health issues on the rise across the world, a group of local young people has decided to take an in-depth look into how they can help young people overcome the growing pandemic.

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The group of 16 young men and women have started a project called the Innovation and Youth Empowerment Organisation (IYEO), with which they are hoping to take a deeper look into the stress-related issues young people (especially those still in school face.

“Issues such as depression and stress, especially among young people have recently come into the limelight across the world. People are finally realizing the pressure and issues young people deal with at their ages and we thought it would be a great move to have young people talk to us as fellow young people about their various concerns and worries about the future,” explained team member Sphiwokuhle
Tshabalala.

Having completed matric last year, the 16 are using their gap year as a time to reach out and speak to young people in grades 9 and 12 about topics such as anxiety, choosing the right subjects in grade 9, deciding what you want to study after completing grade 12 as well as providing them with a platform on which they can vent about the different issues they face as teenagers.

“During our high school career, we did not have anyone that had gone through what we were going through and was willing to step in and show us the right directions in order for us to make better decisions. So we decided to become the heroes that we needed when we were in high school,” said Sphiwokuhle.

“We are aware of other organizations of a similar nature to ours that have been initiated within the community, but most of these are formed by adults, and although we understand that they have positive ideas for the youth, we
feel it is important for young people to address young people,” he added.

The project was established in 2017.

“Our vision is to see more people joining our movement and for the people that we empower to carry our message forward and help the young people coming up after them. Such are the ways that we can develop the youth throughout AbaQulusi and in turn, make Vryheid a better place,” explained the young man.

The team has been visiting schools around Bhekuzulu and plan to branch out to help schools in the rural parts of AbaQulusi.

“The idea is simple, we want to be the change we want to see in Vryheid,” said Sphiwokuhle.

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