Bright Shitemi on tackling the mental health crisis in Africa

Bright Shitemi experienced depression and suicidal ideation as a young man following the traumatic aftermath of his mother's attempted suicide when he was a child. He learned firsthand how mental health is treated by Kenyan society and how people suffering are stigmatised, marginalised and even criminalised. In this episode, Bright shares how he came back from the brink and began working to bring mental illness out of the shadows so that every Kenyan can safely share how they're feeling and access professional and dignified healthcare and support through the pioneering non-profit he founded, Mental 360. He's an inspiring man on a beautiful, and very human, journey.

Get Involved!
Learn more about Bright Shitemi's work and how you can support him to provide access to mental healthcare to all Kenyans here: justpeoples.org/leaders/bright

Why Give a Buck?
Because with $2,500 USD Bright's team can deliver 12 weeks of group therapy and psychosocial support to 30 vulnerable teenage mums. And with $33,000 USD Bright can establish and run a community wellness centre for a year.

Meet Bright
Join us on the 22nd of August as we host a fireside chat with Bright. Register here. 

Transcript

Johanna: 0:00

Why Give a Buck? is proudly brought to you by Just Peoples, an international nonprofit that directly connects givers and doers to address global poverty. Hello, and welcome to Why Give a Buck? I'm Johanna de Burca,

Christey: 0:20

and I'm Christey West

Johanna: 0:20

Each month on Why Give a Buck? we highlight innovative individuals tackling poverty in their local communities across Africa and Asia, and explore why we should give a buck.

Christey: 0:25

Bright Shitemi's traumatic family history lead him on a path of depression and a sense that life wasn't livable. When he was at rock bottom, a simple Facebook post informed him for the first time that seeking help for a mental health crisis was an option. Today we're speaking with Bright about how his experiences of addressing his own mental health became the catalyst for him to make sure that all Kenyans had access to affordable and culturally appropriate mental health care.

Johanna: 1:01

Bright is the founder and Executive Director of Mental 360 , one of Kenya's most pioneering mental health nonprofits. He is a driving force in advocating for improved national mental health policies and care throughout Kenya, and is tackling the mental health crisis, one community at a time, through the establishment of community wellness centers. Bright is also the creator of the Boma wellness app, which leverages the 80% Internet and smartphone penetration among youth in Kenya to improve access to mental health care.

Christey: 1:36

Bright faced floods and rain to join us from his car. We're so happy to have you here Bright welcome. Thank you for joining us.

Bright: 1:45

Thank you, Christey for the warm welcome. It's very cold here, but you really warmed me up. I'm really excited to have this conversation and talk about mental health, especially for us young people in Africa.

Johanna: 1:57

Wonderful. Welcome. Welcome, Bright, it's so beautiful to see your smiling face. First of all, we'd love to hear about your reasons for setting up Mental 360. I know it's very personal to you. So we'd love for you to share whatever you're comfortable sharing.

Bright: 2:12

Thank you. My story actually starts a long time ago, around 1994. I was four years old, my father and mother, I saw them fight a lot, up to a point where my mother attempted suicide, and she had to be rushed to hospital. And that was the last time I saw her in that marriage. So my parents separated. Many years later, as a young boy in school, I realized I was going through a lot of emotional turmoil. I wasn't able to connect it to my upbringing, but I became very rebellious in high school. Thankfully, I still stayed in a straight line I performed well, I went to uni. But as I was going through life, you know, I'm a young man now and things started unraveling around me. So I lost a few of friends I met in high school and some in University to suicide. And every time I would lose someone to suicide, it would take me back to my mother's attempted suicide back in 1994. And when I do the maths, my mother must have been in her 20s. So this is a very young person. And it got me thinking what really leads people to that point? Yeah, well, around 2016, I was in Nairobi getting a job, I was struggling to make ends meet. I had a relationship back then, I had a daughter with my ex. And at that point, our relationship was getting to a tough time. I was also struggling with the relationship with my father, because we had a little fundamental differences. And I realized I was struggling to go to work, I would go to work and literally want to sleep all day. I was struggling to eat. I was isolating more and it hit me that I'm probably going through depression. Yeah, it got to a point where I decided to actually resign from work because I wasn't productive in any way. Look for a small place where I can stay and basically locked myself in that room. I stayed there for six months. It was six months of a total blackout. In that period, no one was reaching out to me, I realized that I don't have any friends. You know, you just disappear off the face of the earth. And I really sank into deep depression for around six months. So I got to a point where I said, Look, once I run out of cash, I will have to end my life. I remember I got to a point where I had around 3000 shillings left. 3000 shillings, to give you context, is about 30 US dollars. Okay, so I decided okay, I'm gonna have to go and say goodbye to my daughter. I manufactured a story and told my ex that I've been diagnosed with cancer and I have no money. So I've made a decision that I have to kill myself, please tell my daughter that I love her and to do this because of this situation, trying to soften the blow for my daughter when she grows up and she learns that her father died.

Christey: 5:01

Wow.

Bright: 5:02

So I came back to Nairobi. And as a scrolling through Facebook, I saw a friend of mine who had posted about his bipolar diagnosis. And so I reached out to him in a way to share about what I was going through. And this was the first person I had seen talk publicly about their mental health because it was highly stigmatized, I couldn't for the life of me, go on Facebook and say that I was depressed. Yeah, I reached out to him. And when we met, we talked about his situation. He told me "look, I started having challenges in high school". I told him about my situation and how I started having challenges. He helped me figure out that probably my upbringing had a part to play in it, the trauma that I was exposed to. And so I said to him, why don't you go to high school and talk to the kids about mental health? If your situations started happening in high school? For me, I didn't realize what was happening. But in high school, I was going through a lot of emotional turmoil. Well, why don't you go to talk to the kids about mental health, there could be many of them, going through this and we went to our former high school, I remember the guidance and counseling teacher telling us because you're here we have a big crisis, you have to talk to the whole school. So over the course of four days, we had conversations with kids, and about 30 of them reached out needing support, some of them going through depression, some of them battling addiction, some of them dealing with a lot of trauma, trouble from home pressures. And it became a challenge for me to go out and look for people who can come together and support them. So we got together with a group of volunteers. And we went back to school. And that's how we started. In a very short time, I found myself with a troop of six, seven people walking around talking about mental health. And I said, Come on, we are an organization, why don't we just go ahead and register? So 3 years later in 2018 we got registered and that's our story.

Johanna: 6:52

Wow, thank you so much for sharing that with us, Bright, it's so deeply personal for you and it's so incredible that you had come from such a dark place, and then just reaching out and having that one connection that you could talk about your feelings with led to this wonderful creation of support for so many others. And we'll talk more about how you're really expanding your reach to ensure that other young people aren't feeling alone when they're going through mental health struggles.

Christey: 7:19

Are you still in touch with the guy whose Facebook posts you saw? Who essentially saved your life? Does he know?

Bright: 7:26

Yeah, I told him, I told him, he actually got me out of that bed, I wasn't going to meet anyone. I mean, I had no one to talk to. So we're still in touch. He's a yoga instructor, we're still in touch we're still friends. He's also a mental health advocate. So we get to collaborate a few times.

Christey: 7:42

What a special role to play in your life. I wonder what he thought, maybe he didn't overthink when he posted that. But it's just so incredible. The power of that moment where you were considering going to tell your daughter probably quite soon. I imagine 30 USD doesn't last long. So you were really on the edge. And it brought you back. I don't know, it's just such a powerful moment, considering that you became such an important person for so many other people's mental health journey and their survival as a result. It makes me wonder if maybe if that Facebook post wasn't there, there would have been something else that saved you it was meant to be, do you know what I mean?

Bright: 8:18

Yeah, I really think for me, it's very important to find ways to connect or have peer connections, because at that point, I was going through my challenges. One, I had no resources, and I know many other young people don't have resources. So how can you afford to get therapy services? And then there's the informational resource. Do you have any knowledge of what you're going through and where you need to go? So many people going through mental health challenges don't even know the difference between a psychologist or psychiatrist or even that they exist and where to find them. And so it's very important that we have an element of awareness creation that people are first aware, and to reduce the gap to access mental health services, because you're locked out because there is no funds to access and it's very expensive. And the public health care system is overwhelmed. We only have one mental health institution, the major one in Nairobi called Mathari. Wow, we have only about 100 psychiatrists for population over 50 million. So that tells you that there's very little resource. So that's why it's very important for us to strengthen both social support systems, the peer networks and reduce the gap to access mental health services.

Johanna: 9:25

And you mentioned to us that one of the ways that you do this, because obviously, as you mentioned, it's so stigmatized to actually talk about mental health. You've shared with us before that in your work, you use poetry and music to talk about mental health.

Bright: 9:39

Yeah, so I think as I was going through what I was going through back then music and poetry were really a powerful tool for me, it is what used to soothe me and help me get through or deal with my emotions. And I realize that when you engage young people, especially in such complex and heavy topics, you need to connect to them on a personal level. And these connections happen through storytelling and through art. Art has been a very powerful tool, especially in the African traditional context, in a way of passing messages through generations in a way of encouraging people even in times of war, in times of sorrow, so carrying the message through art became a very powerful way to communicate. Based on that we started a project called the Creative Arts Festival. And apart from using it as an awareness platform, it's also an advocacy tool. We bring in the national entities like the Ministry of Health, the government, or to advocate for policy issues on mental health through art. And we had a major success in 2019, when you had our inaugural event, and you had the ministry there, we had a presentation from the parliament, were able to push for implementation of the Mental Health Amendment Bill, which was actually done one year later. What we had previously was the law as it was during the colonial times, the British colonialists left in 1963. So we were pushing for policy review. So there are certain issues in the law that stigmatize people with mental illness, for example, they couldn't own property that are deemed to be unable to work. So if someone is diagnosed with depression, then they have to leave their job because they're not able to work, legally speaking. So we had to change those things, there was the issues of informed consent, people who are going through mental illness will be taken forcefully against their will. Sometimes they'll be even put in chains and locked in houses. Yesterday, someone reached out to a friend calling out for help, because his family had actually put him in chains because he has some form of mental illness. And they were beating him, trying to beat the demons out of him, these very barbaric ways of trying to treat mental illness which don't work. Oh, my goodness If you think that it's appropriate to share what happened, what was your intervention, and were you able to help him and his family? It's an ongoing issue. Unfortunately, they're very far away. It's not a place I can access physically, they are in the north eastern part of Kenya, that's towards Somalia. And the people who are perpetuating the violence and the barbaric treatment methods are the family. So the family can't be part of that solution. At the moment, it's an active case, I'm trying to get through to the government facilities, there be the police, because with the law that you passed, that's an illegal thing happening over there. You can't chain someone because of a mental illness. I'm actively pursuing the case, I'm hoping to get in touch with local police in that area, so that they can look at him and hopefully get him from that situation. Unfortunately, and this is the most frustrating bits, if you are able to get in from that situation. Where do we take him? Because the government doesn't have any facility? What do we do? Now imagine that's one case, or do you have 1000, 2000, 5000 of assault cases happening. What do you do so you become very challenging, very helpless, because at the end of the day, they have to go back to their families. So we are hoping that once you're able to get him out of that situation, you can have a conversation with the family and tell them look, we can have alternative ways of addressing this problem that actually work. Because someone who is able to record the violence they're experiencing, share those images reach out to someone for help, that's someone who has very good cognitive ability, they realize what they're going through, they're being abused, and they need help. So you can't keep putting such a person in that situation. You're not helping. So we're pursuing the case. And we hope we get a positive outcome with it

Christey: 13:33

Well, if anyone is committed to see it through and get a good result. It's you.

Bright: 13:38

Thank you so much, I appreciate it. But this is still happening right now. And that's why it was very important to have those policy changes that these issues can now be addressed legally. So in the festival, we launched a book called The Many Faces of Mental Health. But also more importantly, we had human stories. We had songs that talk about these issues that you're trying to advocate for the parliamentarians were there, they listened to it, some of them broke down to tears and cried, they realize that these are real issues affecting people and even affecting them, because some of them talked about their own mental health challenges. Even the ones who are secretly or privately going through mental challenges tend to stigmatize these issues. So those are very powerful events, the message resonated with parliament, and one year the law had been passed in Parliament and the President was able to ascend to it. And now we have new mental health law.

Christey: 14:26

It's the most beautiful advocacy win.

Johanna: 14:29

Wow.

Christey: 14:30

I can't believe you brought the politicians to tears. What a powerful way of not only reducing stigma, but actually getting them to probably begin their own journey to mental wellness.

Bright: 14:42

Yeah, that was amazing. Because when you talk about things in abstract ways with numbers, it doesn't really register until people hear human stories and they're like, Whoa, yeah, I saw that. It's in me it's in someone. I know. It's in my children. So I need to do something about it.

Johanna: 14:57

Oh, big time. Yes, absolutely.

Christey: 15:00

I had another question related to the policy, I think last time we talked, you said it was a crime to attempt suicide. And people who failed ended up in jail rather than getting health care. Is that still the case?

Bright: 15:16

Yeah. So when we pushed for the mental health bill, that was a big sticking point, because the government argued that, look, human beings or people are government property. And so when that happens, there's a criminal element to it. And so we felt, okay, we've got a 90% of what you wanted, let's get ahead with the law first and have it passed. Now, we are addressing the issue of decriminalization of suicide as a standalone issue. And the conversations are ongoing. But as that is happening, we're even raising awareness among police officers, we are seeing a change in attitudes and behaviors. So for example, nowadays, when a police officer reports on a scene of crime where there was an attempted suicide, their first point of contact is a mental health institution or somewhere to get them support and not to take them to prison. So it's encouraging when you hear of such instances, it means the message is getting to the people, even before the policy change, even before we've sorted things, legally, people are already changing their behavior. Wow, this is so encouraging what an incredible impact you're having. That's fabulous. That's so good. And do you mind explaining a bit of the context around what it means to face mental health issues when you're living in poverty? I know that you have a lot of focus on really financially vulnerable groups in Kenyan society. Do you mind just sharing a little bit about the extra challenges. So people who live in underserved communities are really highly affected. Because one, the access to support is non existent. As I said, there's only one major mental institution in Kenya. And so even for a family to come to you and say, We want to take this family member to an institution, they can't afford the transport, they can't afford the cost of care. I gave the example of a friend of mine who comes from the northeast and part of Kenya who's been chained. Yeah. And if you go across many of the families living in poverty, that's usually the result because he can't afford the primary health care system, or you're not even knowledgeable enough to know that this is can be addressed in a different way. People tend to drift now towards witch doctors, traditional medicine, but these things have shown not to work. And sometimes in those places, an element of violence, people being beaten, you know, beating the demons on someone. So this is happening across many, many settings. And it's quite unfortunate, but it's because people are not knowledgeable. And it's because people cannot afford access to care. So it's really important that we work with people in underserved communities, because they're the most affected due to the financial constraints that they have, apart from the fact that when they're going through a mental health situation is that the situation they didn't even is a trigger. So when you talk about that, and it's, for example, Kenya has a lot of post election violence issues, those violence rates are higher in poverty areas. When you talk about issues of flooding, we talk about what is happening right now, flooding, yes, it's affecting mostly people who are in these underserved communities. And so they're the most vulnerable groups. And so it's important that we're also going into these settings in a big way, have these conversations, strengthen the peer support system, because with knowledge, they become aware that all these are ways you can address, that there is organizations that actually help people who are going through these challenges. And as a community, we can also support each other in that way. They say information is power. And it's really important that we go in a big way in the underserved communities and have these conversations.

Christey: 18:53

Absolutely, My goodness. And are they receptive to your awareness raising campaigns, because obviously, they're used to thinking that it's stigmatized, or it's criminalized, or for all of the reasons that you've listed? It's a kind of shameful thing to be depressed or feel mentally unwell. So when you come in and do your awareness raising campaigns and say that it's part of the human condition? What kind of responses do you get from people?

Bright: 19:19

We usually are very strategic in the way we engage communities because we realize that some of them already have really strong beliefs on certain topics and issues. And so we take a multi sectoral approach when you go into a community first. We want to work with lived experience persons, who are the people who are affected first of all. And we train them, we raise awareness among them, and we empower them to be voices of change or peer support channels in their own communities. Secondly, we go to the second layer now of stakeholder engagement. And these stakeholders are the powerful voices who can actually affect or inform how communities perceive things and their attitudes towards things. These are the religious leaders. These are the political leadership. These are the county government, the local chief. In Kenya, we even have them there on tar as someone who has small groups of families around a small area. So we involve them in a stakeholder engagement and where we have conversations about these issues, the most admirable thing is that once you have these conversations, when we humanize them, they realize that yes, true, it's affecting us. And I see it every day. And we need to do something about it. So they take ownership of it. So once the stakeholders have taken ownership, it has a ripple effect, because the political leaders who are very persuasive or who have a huge hold on people, when they talk about mental health issues, people listen to the religious leaders. Now, once they become educated, once they know these things, and they go in their community to talk about these issues. People become educated and people easily change. So do that approach where we engage the lived experienced persons putting them at the center of our intervention, because they become a shining light, we talk about an issue, for example of someone with mental illness who cannot work, someone with mental illness cannot be treated. And they see someone who they know in their own community who say, used to struggle with a form of mental condition. But this someone is now empowered, the petitioning the county government on policy issues. They are leading the community conversations when it comes to mental health. They are leading support groups, they are empowered to even run their own businesses, they can now work, it changes perceptions. So it's very important for us to put people with lived experience at the center, and to engage stakeholders to have that huge impact in communities.

Christey: 21:39

Wow, incredible, deep and effective work.

Johanna: 21:44

Could you share with us Bright about your community wellness centers.

Bright: 21:49

And so after we've engaged the needs of experienced persons and trained them, and we've engaged the stakeholders, we set up a community wellness center. And it becomes very cost effective because the leadership, the stakeholders themselves, or the lived experience, people will say, Oh, by the way, this is the model, we have a space that you can use whether the city don't have to pay for the space, because it's a community space, the county government will say, Oh, we have a resource here that you can use, we have a field here that you can put up a structure, and it becomes the Community Wellness Center. And because they own it, they run it themselves. The peer champions are there every day, on a rotation basis. People who need material support report to that place, are they equipped to identify support and refer if there is need for referral, and because the whole community owns it in becomes a very easy way to operate. And so the community wellness centers have worked very well. we've piloted Community Wellness Centers in three communities now. And we want to scale across communities in Kenya, informal settlements and sub communities in Kenya. And it has worked very well, in places we've piloted so we've seen real impact because attitudes are changing on a huge communal level, which is exciting. And people are now talking about mental health issues for people who previously would never talk about them. Men opening up and the people with lived experience are the ones who are championing it. So it's really powerful for community.

Christey: 23:15

Wow, that's transformational. I remember a similar thing happening in New Zealand because we have a high suicide rate in New Zealand. And actually in Christchurch, where Jo and I are from, there's a particularly high rate, and I don't know if you know, but rugby is very popular in New Zealand. There's a kind of legend All Black called John Kirwan who played in the 80s and 90s, maybe the era anyway, he's beloved by a certain generation of kiwi men. And he came out and said, "I have depression", this All Black hero, this tough guy, and he said, "I have depression". And it changed so many people because if John Kirwan can have depression than I can have depression, too, you know, and there had been lots of other awareness campaigns within New Zealand about mental health and this sort of thing. But when John Kirwan came out, a respected man who plays rugby, and said he had depression, then lots of men suddenly started listening, and John Kirwan read this website and men were reading his books, and because they respected him, and if he had lived experience, then that sort of gave them the permission to say, "me too", and to seek help, and it opened up the conversation, it sort of cracked it and it led to a real shift in how mental health was perceived in New Zealand. But I mentioned that because it's similar to what you're doing, getting these respected people from within the communities with lived experiences to come out and share their stories to give other people the permission, you know, you're not going to be stigmatized. It's okay to say that this is happening and to get help.

Bright: 24:46

That's the power of storytelling, You're humanizing these things and talking about them. Because mental health challenges are sometimes hard to tell hard to see. We can be smiling here. When one of us is going through a lot, then you'd never know. You'd never know. And so telling the story is very important. That's how we get the message out. And people understand because in many cases, suicide comes as a shock to people, oh, so and so died by suicide, or they looked so OK. I just saw them yesterday, what was going on? So one, they're not aware of the telltale signs, and two, because you can mask it is very hard to tell. And so that's why the power of telling these stories is very important to encourage other people to talk about what they're going through and get support.

Christey: 25:27

Absolutely.

Johanna: 25:28

And I'm just curious to hear what kind of traumas people are facing in Kenya with things like the refugee crisis, sexual trauma, extremist groups, what are the main kinds of traumas that people are dealing with?

Bright: 25:42

So I think the very first thing you see is that mental health challenges stem out of families, with usually generational trauma from families violence within families, for whatever reason, so you can trace this to somewhere, some trace it to the World War, where the grandfather or someone went to the war and when he came back, he had PTSD, he was violent and all these things, or he was abusive, and then it got transmitted into the children and their children's children. Some of it, can traced back to the colonial structure, some of it can be traced back to just genetic factors. Yeah. And because people are not aware, they tend to carry it forward. For example, I grew up watching my father and mother fight a lot. Whatever their mental health situation was, that could have been normalized for me in a way that as a man, now with a father or husband, I could be making out the same balance to my wife, because it was what was normal for me. That's what I saw growing up. So we see a lot of these family generational issues going along. The other big issues, of course, the issue of the economical factors. Many people in Kenya, it's definitely over 50% are living under the poverty line. So people are in a highly, highly stressful environment. And this triggers them in many, many ways. And because they're not aware of how to deal with what they're going through, it's sometimes seeps into a form of mental illnesses. There's issues of traumas now like sexual violence, gender based violence in societies, which is very rampant. Some of them are cultural, some of them are happening even in cities. The stats that I've seen personally, because I do mental health work, 70% of the women I've had conversations with and who've opened up to me, I've talked about the abuse that went, and this is sexual abuse. 70% is a huge number. And that's just people who are opening up to me, sexually abused as children. It happened for most of them

Johanna: 27:38

Sexual abuse. 70%?

Bright: 27:40

People don't talk about these things. So it's tough, people keep quiet. When you go to the other side of the male children, they've also gone through these traumas. But for them, even especially the conversation doesn't happen. For example, even now, in Kenya, we don't have any rescue centers for boys who have been sodomized or abused. There's nothing to support such children. So those are the patterns we've seen, economical factors, generational traumas, and adverse childhood experiences like sexual violence.

Johanna: 28:12

Okay. And what is the context for the LGBTQI? Community? Are they under increased pressure?

Bright: 28:15

Yes, yes, indeed. So they are one of the biggest at risk communities that are affected by mental health challenges. At some point, in some contexts, people who identify as LGBTQ experienced physical violence, they experience this association are being disowned by their own families. And so they have to leave by themselves. Without the family structure support, it can go really bad for many people. And so people also get rejected by the religious leaders. I have another friend shared with me in the story that the gentleman who came to me and said, Look, I am struggling with my sexual orientation. And I identify as a Christian, for example, but I would never talk about this, because I'm a church leader, and it's causing internal conflict, and now they're thinking about suicide. So these stories cut across the LGBTQ community, because it's a highly stigmatized issue. And what's funny is people are happy to live in secrecy. Even some of them stigmatizing the LBGT community, yet they are themselves part of the community. So it's a very complex discussion, but it's happening, suicide rates among the LGBTQ community is quite high. And the key part of where we want to also focus on because a high at risk community, okay, and if you go across Africa, thankfully for us in Kenya, the judiciary has been quite progressive. So as much as the society has rejected and stigmatizing some of these issues, the legal fraternity has been very progressive. If you go to other contexts, it's much much worse, but it's work that needs to be done. Awareness support for for LGBT communities. It is because they are really affected.

Christey: 30:04

Thank you so much for sharing such heartfelt experiences with us. The work that you're doing is so deep and transformative. And I know it's something that any human being can relate to. Just because, as we mentioned, being human is a little bit traumatic for everyone at certain times in life. It's an incredible achievement to go from six months in a room by yourself, and planning the end of your life to everything that you're doing now. It's really the phoenix rising from the ashes, your personal story. How do you stay so bright?

Bright: 30:39

I love that you asked that question. Because when we talk about mental health most of the time, it's usually a very, very sad story. It's very triggering story. But there's also the other side of the redemption, someone who was in a very bad place, and now they're doing amazing stuff, or now they do well, they go to work. And so we need to also highlight a lot of these positive stories. Yeah. Because then people realize, okay, I can do that. I'm also going through this right now. But I can get better if I do 1,2,3,4,5 things. For me, I realize that one, and that's the key approach that we take, is a strength in the social support systems. I have a beautiful family, having my kids, my wife who understand my story and who are very supportive, having also people around you, it could be friends that identify with you, and they don't judge you and they open up their space anytime for you to have conversation. That's a very key part of positive mental health and sustainable mental health. Because I usually use an example of saying, if I take you to the best hospital, the best mental health institution in the world, and you get the right treatment, and you get out of there, and you fall back into the hands of a triggering situation, what does it help? So it's very important to invest in those social support systems. Another thing for me is nature. I love nature a lot. I take my walks in nature, they ground me, they helped me reset from feeling anxious, just going on a stroll. And that's free. Anyone can go on a stall in nature, some of these things that are just free. It's the music, right now music is free, basically, you can listen to YouTube, if you have internet. Interacting with things that help you get in touch with your emotional side. And lastly, for me through sport. I play when I can, as much as I am getting older every day. I try to go and play basketball. It helps you you know, release endorphins. And yeah, it really helps. Yeah, people don't think that much about it. But it really does help that you be getting some physical activity. It helps you.

Christey: 32:43

Awesome, I love that. I totally relate. I used to have a lot of anxiety on the daily and when I started doing regular exercise, it made a huge difference. Anxiety comes and goes but it's not there daily buzzing in my head on my neck and my back, like it used to, and exercise stopped that. And yeah, same as you, nature, good friends to talk to. Those sort of quality friendships that lift you up. And yeah, music, dancing, all of these things that are free. They are the best things in life, aren't they?

Bright: 33:15

Oh, they are. The best things in life are free.

Johanna: 33:18

Beautiful. Well, I can't wait to we get to see you in person again, Bright, for some dancing for some strolling in nature. Although last time we were in Kenya, we slept in these tents and there were like lions outside so the nature stroll wasn't quite as relaxing as we thought it might be.

Christey: 33:35

That didn't come the anxiety that day.

Johanna: 33:37

It was actually highly anxiety inducing!

Christey: 33:40

We're so excited to continue on the journey with you and help you expand your reach as much as possible. So thank you so much for sharing with us. We're really happy to hear this. I feel hopeful.

Bright: 33:52

Thank you so much, Christey.

Johanna: 33:53

Thank you so much, Bright.

Bright: 33:54

Thank you, Jo. I'm really excited and thank you so much.

Johanna: 33:59

For anyone listening in who's interested to learn more or support Bright's vision, you can visit justpeoples.org/leaders/bright. You can find these details in the show notes.

Christey: 34:13

To give you an idea of how much your support could help Bright to realize his dream of creating an African society where everyone has access to mental health support. Around$2,500 USD would enable Bright's team to deliver 12 weeks of group therapy and psychosocial support to 30 vulnerable teenage moms. And $33,000 USD can support an entire community for a year by funding the running costs of a community wellness center.

Johanna: 34:42

You are such a bright person. Were you christened Bright when you were born? Or is that a name that has been given to you based on your brightness?

Bright: 34:53

I was given the name Bright when I was born. I remember some friends who used to joke and say Bright, why did they call you Bright? You're not that Bright, no? Yeah, but to hear you say that my name reflects the way I am is really nice. It means I'm in a good space

Johanna: 35:12

Why Give a Buck? is proudly brought to you by Just Peoples, an international nonprofit that connects givers directly with local leaders at the forefront of tackling poverty in their local communities across Africa and Asia. You can learn more and directly support the work of Bright and other inspiring leaders by visiting justpeoples.org.