By Kudakwashe Pembere
Pamumvuri, a Zimbabwean private voluntary organization which focuses on mental health issues has been selected to implement a Grassroot Soccer Inc (GRS) initiative dubbed MindSkillz, which seeks to alleviate mental health challenges bedeviling adolescents in the country.
The project will be piloted in Bulawayo and Harare metropolitan provinces targeting 3 750 adolescents.
Speaking during the launch, GRS Partnerships Programs Manager Ms Happy Ncube said Pamumvuri is going to be their implementing partner in this project. The project is also being implemented in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia.
“So the project is in Zambia, Kenya, Mozambique and we recently signed a strategic MoU with the Ministry of Health in Malawi too. And then in South Africa, it is being implemented as an integrated programme, integrating one of our girls only program with the mental health component,” Ncube said.
GRS uses the power of soccer to build confidence and resilience in young people so that they can take control of their lives and health, on and off the field.
“So as such, we were able was fully adopted by the Ministry of Health as well as by World Health Organization through its special initiative. So we needed an implementing partner and upon consultation and visiting many of the partners, we will be piloting this,” she said. “We are not going to be implementing. Pamumvuri is going to be our implementing partner and we are going to be offering technical support to both Pamumvuri and the Minister of Health and Child Care.”
She explained the program will see coaches trained in the detection of some mental health issues for referrals to mental health experts.
“So we reach our adolescents through digital platforms. We are able to reach our adolescents via the in-person approach, which is the approach that is going to be implemented here in Zimbabwe. And we are also able to reach to our participants via the MindSkillz curriculum itself, around the promotion and positive mental health.
“Our coaches are well trained to identify and refer, and for Zim as well, they will be trained to also do that. And those are some of the topics that will be covered within the program. The program is a 12 session based program where we only require to see that participant for about 10 to 15 hours,” she said.
Pamumvuri Founder Mr Jacob Shamuyarira said the program will end in May 2025.
“The MindSkillz Implementation is starting April 2024 and we are ending in May 2025. This is a pilot which is initially targeting Harare and Bulawayo Metropolitan Provinces.
“The implementation sites for us will be guided by local authority approvals and guidance from the key ministries that we are going to be working with which are the Ministry of health and Child Care and the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and obviously guided by the provincial ministries for devolution.
“Those are the plans that we have for our implementation and we are quite excited about our partnership with the government of Zimbabwe, world health organization, and grassroots soccer towards improving adolescent mental health in Zimbabwe,” he said.
This pilot program comes against the background that Zimbabwe has the highest number of adolescent binge drinkers in Africa.
With 70.7% of males and 55.5% of girls aged 15 to 19, Zimbabwe has the highest rate of episodic drinking within this age group. On the other hand, there was a study which found that the country also has the highest number of adolescents with suicide ideations.
