A lady committed to educating and changing the stigma around mental health is what Boitumelo Mancwe is doing in her community through her non-government organisation “NGO” called Unsuicidal Thoughts.
This October, it is Mental Health Awareness month in South Africa where we acknowledge those who are suffering from mental health issues and educating citizens around mental health. We got to sit down with Boitumelo Mancwe, who is the founder of Unsuicidal Thoughts and she told us her story as to how she established her NGO.
So, who is Boitumelo Mancwe when she is surrounded amongst her friends and family? Well, Boitumelo describes herself as a kind, loving, caring individual who just cares more than she should, always ensuring that she puts the needs of others before hers. She best describes herself as a free-spirited lady.
Having spent most of her childhood upbringing in the North West Province, she was faced with a complicated childhood, where she did not grow up with her mother, most of her childhood, so she spent it mostly with her extended family which also contributed to the childhood trauma she faced at the time.
“Growing up was challenging for me , a girl with a low self-esteem, never noticed and just minding her own, I learnt at a young to love my own space but with the pressures of growing up I also wanted to fit in and I also loved to challenge myself so I learnt how to make friends and approach people but only if I was comfortable with doing so,” as she mentioned how it was like growing up in North West.
We asked her how her journey of starting Unsuicidal Thoughts and she said, “Because of my childhood trauma , and relationship with my mom, I had depression and I used to cut my wrists and that would make me feel better, a friend of mine Bucks saw the marks and mentioned “dude life is so good why would you want to kill yourself “ next thing he commits suicide so when time went I still continued with cutting myself and I remember how I would drink and always make sure there’s alcohol at home without my parents knowing , I sit by a corner and cried so hard and I made a decision there and told God that I no longer wanna live that way , that I don’t want to feel the pain I am feeling and if I do can he give me the courage to deal with it in a better manner. And I also prayed for purpose and Unsuicidal Thoughts came up and ever since I’ve been trying to do my part in the community.”
When it came to the changes that she would like to see out of her NGO (Unsuicidal Thoughts), she just said that she would remove the stigma that has been created when it comes to mental health and just offer help to those in suffering from any mental health 24/7.
The people who have been supporting Boitumelo in running Unsuicidal Thoughts are two of her co-founders by the names of Kea and Ntebo who have been assisting her in running the NGO’s campaigns and also receiving major support from her family as well as her close friends.
We also wanted to find out from her how receptive is her community when it comes to being informed about mental health awareness and she went on to say, “Mental health is something that isn’t easy to speak about especially how society has defined it , so it’s difficult to get people that speak about it freely , hence Unsuicidal Thoughts has been established to educate , create awareness and free environment where people can come out and speak about it without them being judged, mental illness is challenging and isn’t easy, especially because people would rather not educate themselves about it and be more understanding towards people that suffer from it.”
The memorable moments that Boitumelo remembers from running her NGO is by just having hosted conferences, which she is grateful to the Lord, which at the end has made a huge impact and became a success. At the end, she says that all those moments she encountered through working under Unsuicidal Thoughts had been memorable and ones to cherish.
When it came to the partners or organisations that she closely worked with on her campaigns for Unsuicidal Thoughts, Boitumelo added by saying that the organisation has been able to host her events at the Roodepoort City Hall, thanks to the hosts of the hall, and currently they are working with a lady by the name of Sindi, who is a Wellness Counsellor, so when people need further assistance when it comes to their mental health, Boitumelo would refer them to the lovely lady, Sindi.
Projects that Boitumelo is planning to work on around Unsuicidal Thoughts, she went into detail by saying, “There’s a lot of projects that we should be working on but with the way things are without connections or resources you really can’t go far so we work with what we have and try our best to assist people where we can.”
How people can assist her in running her organisation, they can get in touch with her on her WhatsApp number which is 078 872 3354 or get in touch with her through her social media platforms on Facebook (unsuicidalthoughts) and Instagram (unsuicidal_thoughts).
With the final question we posed to Boitumelo… We wanted to find out how people would like to remember her when she is given her flowers and when it is all said and done on this world, she concluded the interview by saying, “The lady who covered the world on her shoulders to make it a better place for people who suffer from mental health.”