Foundation closes awareness month in Pimville

To close off the month of November, Crystal Fountain held a prostate cancer and mental health awareness fun walk in Pimville with an aim of ending the stigma and finding solutions.

The purpose of the fun walk was not only to educate the community about these two issues but to help them discover institutions where they can get professional help.

“November is a month dedicated to cancer awareness and mental health disorders.

“So we are doing a prostate cancer and mental health fun walk to link our community members and make them aware of the help they can get from different institutions,” said Tshepiso Tshabalala, a member of the Crystal Fountain NGO.

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This year, the Prostate Cancer Awareness Month theme is “Know Your Risks”. The theme highlights the importance of regular check-ups, sharing information about risk factors and symptoms, and providing support to those affected by prostate cancer.

According to Diteboho Marumo, Marketing Strategist at Crystal Fountain, both these conditions are surrounded by stigmas in black townships.

Mental conditions are still regarded as mood swings while men still refuse to visit the clinic for regular check-ups.

“Men are still stuck on old mentalities of toxic masculinity and assuming they don’t get ill. As a black society we still prefer using traditional methods even on chronic conditions that need medication,” said Maromo.

During the fun walk, members of this organisation gave out pamphlets and prevention methods to random members of the community. Awareness raising is very powerful because it educates people about topics which are new to them and encourages them to participate in bringing change.

“It is our task as NGOs to continue conducting dialogues and outreach in order to keep our communities informed on issues such as these so that they know the right channels to visit and seek help,” Maromo concluded.