Chuka University Mental Health Walk

By Samuel Mwangi Ngari

Chuka University today held a mental walk to create awareness about mental health and to mark World Mental Health Day, which celebrated on 10th of October every year.

The walk started around 9.30 am at university pavilion heading towards Mungooni. Many students were in attendance, some of the clubs who participated in the walk include; The Red Cross, The Chuka Peer Counselling team, The Chuka Career Ambassadors, Chuka University Rover Scouts, Rotaract Club, Chuka Press Club and many more. Chuka university staff, Tharaka University, NACADA, Indomie instant noodles Brand, KCB branch and other parties graced the event.

Mental health awareness week is Heald annually at Chuka university to celebrate mental health. The theme for this year mental health awareness week was, Mental Health Humanitarian Emergencies. The sub-themes included, Understanding Deeper Struggles, Gambling and Substance Use, Weathering the storm, In Their Shoes, Tame the Tide and many more.

Chairperson- career ambassador Chuka university Ronny Muteithia, a fourth-year student pursuing Bachelor of Arts English and Literature attended the walk. Muteithia praised the walk to be effective since it allowed people to leave their hoses which is good for their mental health.

“The university this week held a lot of training activities on the sensitization on mental health for landlords, university staff, students, clubs and community stakeholders. These activities are grounds for creating awareness about the importance of mental health,” Muteithia quotes.

Jacob Munene a second-year pursuing Wildlife Enterprise Management had the following to say about the walk. “Walks are effective great stress relievers,” Munene said.

Munene urged the school to designate more safe spaces for students dedicated to mental health awareness, he further added that more mental health awareness weeks should be held annually.

Julius, a volunteer for the red cross, whose also in his fourth year pursuing Applied Computer Science, said the walk was great for allowing students interact, to network and improve their connection with other students. Julius advised the school to increase the number of student peer counsellors and increase the number of counselors to improve mental health among students.

The current Miss Chuka, Cynthia Macharia whose also part of the career ambassador team also attended the walk. Miss Macharia who is a fourth-year student pursuing Journalism and Mass Communication says creating mental health awareness is part of her responsibility as the reigning Miss Chuka.

Indomie an instant noodle brand in partnership with the university gave t-shirt to some of the participants and that was part of raising awareness about mental health.

“This walk increases students’ interactions, also the school by offering students t-shirts, sweets and water is a good way to mobilize comrades to attend. As we walk around Mungooni and around the university we are also raising awareness about drugs abuse, HIV/AIDS and on mental health. This will encourage students and the whole Chuka community speak out and seek help,” Miss Macharia quotes.

Kevin Ikall, a third-year student pursuing Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition and Dietetics praised the walk as a great way to relax from academic stress and advised the school to be holding a mental health day per month.

Ikall who is also part of Red Cross said his club was there to create awareness and offer first aid to participants. He also advised the university to help fund the Red Cross club to help the club reach out to more people and offer assistance. The Red Cross hold their club meetings every Tuesday at the Science Complex, opposite the computer labs in one of those rooms to members who would like to join them.

The male resident representative Tonny Jakom a fourth-year student pursuing Media Studies, who is also part of CUSA Welfare department advised Chuka students and the whole Chuka community not to remain silent if one is battling with mental health issues.

The awareness walkers made a stop at Kimbumbu to raise awareness among the community members and then continued with the walk towards Chuka Town. The participants led by students were dancing along the way thanks to the school music system and they were loud on the awareness about mental health. To say they were having fun is a great understatement.

The walk started at around 9.30 and regardless of the scorching sun the hope striders were not derailed and with each step their energy seemed to be rejuvenated. The group of around 200 volunteers made the event a success.

The school security officers gave security to students from the starting point to the end; they made it possible for participants to walk along the highway and also prevent them from getting hit by cars.

The school also provided the two buses, one from Chuka University and the other one from Tharaka University who also took part in the event. The school’s ambulance was also available incase of any emergences and luckily none occurred.

The awareness walkers finally made it to Chuka Town and made a stop at the Tharaka Nithi County Hawkers Shed to inform the people around about mental health awareness. The people around market listened and some of them even joined the walk showing the profound benefits of mental health awareness week. The walk proceeded to Chuka Stage with people raising the banners on mental health awareness.

As part of Chuka University corporate social responsibilities they decided to educate people in Chuka town about mental health awareness and engage them on ways through which they can find help.

The mental health awareness week is not just directed to students, it is also meant for the whole Chuka community, including the landlords, market vendors and any other persons.

The dean of students at Chuka University Dr Benjamin Kanga, made gave a speech in Kitharaka, a vernacular language used in Tharaka Nithi County and advised the community to come out and seek out for help. Speaking out according to Dr Kanga is not a sign of weakness. He also talked about depression and how it can affect the productivity of one’s self.

Dr Kanga said that Chuka University and the whole of Chuka town has a lot of counsellors, psychiatrists and psychologists making it easy for one to seek help. Dr Kanga added that some coping mechanisms that people use to deal with mental health include alcohol, drugs and other diversions.

Harriet Kagendo, a counsellor based at Chuka University urged people to avoid stigmatizing mental illness patients by not calling them names like ex-mathare and urged people to love them. Kangendo said people should seat down with these patients and reason together and walk with them to getting help. She urged the community members to also do activities that help their mental health to combat rising cases of suicide.

“Mental illnesses should be treated like other diseases and people suffering from mental illnesses should not get stigmatized whatsoever,” Kagendo a counselor at Chuka university said.

A female counsellor at Chuka University, urged people to find help in the school where counselling is done by using the slogan, my mental health is my choice but also my mental health matters.

Music and dancing are used to achieve good mental health and the school did a great job in employing both. Some activities were brought to a standstill to observe the students involved in the mental health awareness walk.

KCB group Chuka Branch and the university did a great job by keeping the participants hydrated by giving the bottled water in plenty. Mugicagi Brian one of the masters of ceremony talked about the importance of people not littering the environment on this day and moving forward.

Mugicagi noted it was important for people to keep the environment clean in efforts to celebrate Huduma day is celebrated in Kenya on October 10 each year, focusing on community development and sustainable practices. The day encourages activities that promote community welfare and highlights the importance of sustainable development. Originally known as Moi Day, it was renamed Huduma Day in December 2019 to honor the nation’s diverse cultural heritage, and it has since evolved into a day for community service and reflection. As we walked around primary school students were also planting trees to mark Huduma Day.

At 2.00pm the awareness walkers made a stop at Ndagani Shopping Centre to create awareness on mental health and also encourage people to go to mental health officers at Chuka university to get help.

A counselor at Chuka University talked about betting which is a rampant problem and stress exacerbates betting prevalence among students. She urged people to find better ways of dealing with stress and she also said people can visit their offices on the White House third floor at Chuka University.

We passed through gate A then gate B then gate F and lastly the awareness walkers arrived at the school pavilion at 2.23pm.

A brief award ceremony was held at the pavilion to celebrate all participants in the Mental Awareness Walk. Dr Kanga, the dean of students still emphasized on the importance of comrades supporting other comrades on mental health.

Dr Kanga gave awards, which were well packed Indomie instant noodles, given by the Indomie brand. The security team were equally awarded for their enormous contribution to the walk. Dr Kanga closed the event with prayers at 3.13 and together with students proceeded to plant trees.

Personally, it was a day well spent and funny enough I was able to figure out the way from Mungooni to Chuka Town. Showing up to such events is important for your mental health and also offers opportunities to change your environment. The event really did match the poster.

Remember its okay not to be okay and my mental health is my choice but also my mental health matters.