ECT raises awareness on mental health
EZULWINI – Suicidal attempts by students from the Eswatini College of Theology (ECT) have resulted in a group discussion on mental health issues.
7he college had a 0ental +ealth $wareness and &ulture 'a\ last 7hursda\.
+ead of 'epartment in 3s\cholog\'r 3humu]ani 0pofu said in a space of two months with the institution he had discoYered that man\ of the students were going through mental health challenges.
0pofu said recentl\ one of the students attempted suicide b\ oYerdosing tablets. +e stated that in another case a student contemplated dropping out of the institution. $ccording to 0pofu as former +ead of 'epartment for *uidance and &ounselling in his former school he obserYed that man\ students were showing behaYioural problems including showing signs of depression.
7his he said had been happening especiall\ after the outbreaN of &29,'- .
Awareness
0pofu said to raise awareness the college decided to engage in a group discussion on issues of ps\cholog\ and offer mental health serYices to the students.
+e added that through the group discussion students would see that the college lecturers could also offer the serYices to them. ³,t will also encourage the students to be open about their issues and that when the\ are facing challenges the\ should not bottle them in but come out in the
&hairperͺsoͷnoͲfͲthͲe Eswatini 3s\- open ´ he said. cholog\ $ssociation 1ontobeNo
MBABANE - The desire to have a piece of land has seen two unsuspecting land seekers losing a sum of E86 400 at Sitjeni.
6itMeni is an area situated next to 0lilwane Wildlife 6anctuar\ between 0ahlan\a and /obamba.
,nformation gathered was to the effect that 1gcebo 1siband]e and 0phile 1gwen\a paid the aforementioned amount to 9usumu]i 'Yuba who had no authorit\ to sell or allocate people land in the area. ,t has been gathered that 9usumu]i sold the piece of land without permission from his father who initiall\ owned the land.
,t is said that 1gwen\a parted with the sum of E 7 while 1siband]e paid E 7 to 'Yuba.
Subsequently
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'Yuba was subseTuentl\ arrested and charged with theft b\ false pretence after it appeared that he was not authorised to sell or allocate people land in the area.
+e has since been remanded out of custod\ until 0a\ 5
for trial. $cting 0babane 6enior 0agistrate 6ifiso 9ilaNati reTuested the &rown to speed up the theft b\ false pretence cases.
,n response 6enior &rown &ounsel &hris 6iband]e stated that the &rown was committed to speed up the cases. 'lamini said as ps\chologists in the countr\ the\ also reTuired ps\chologist too. ³We need to de-brief as we are carr\ing space for man\ people including d\namics problems and challenges the\ are going through ´ she said.
Experienced
6iband]e submitted that some cases were dela\ed b\ the accused persons who made undertaNings to compensate the complainants. ,t was reliabl\ gathered that 9usumu]i is the same man who had recentl\ been conYicted for Yandalising %ishop 0pendulo 1Nambule¶s propert\ on the piece of land that the accused person sold to the bishop.
Dr Phumuzani Mpofu, Head of Department of Psycology, said many of the ECT students were going through mental health challenges.
6he said after holding up space for a famil\ where a \oung bo\ had to watch his mother being shot she had to get help as well.
'lamini said the issue was that after that had been done where a ps\chologist had managed to hold the space for the famil\ and tried to walN them through in that moment of trauma the\ were left with no one.
7he chairperson said this was the reason wh\ institutions in the liNes of E&7 with accreditation programmes such as the one which had been reached b\ the ps\cholog\ department lecturers needed to understand that their role was not lecturing but to also hold the space for the students.
³$s \ou are lecturing \ou are proYiding counselling on a da\-to-da\ basis ´ she added.
6he said there were also a lot of challenges the\ were facing in the countr\.
'lamini said there were few registered ps\chologists in the Ningdom \et there were people who were practicing as ps\chologists. 7his she said was disturbing because the\ were doing secondar\ harm as the\ practiced. 'lamini said as ps\chologists it was important to understand that the\ were professionals and the oath the\ tooN was µdo no harm.¶
)urthermore 'lamini stated that with the empowerment of women men of toda\ were going through a lot of pain without an\ assistance as the\ were left behind. $ccording to 'lamini children fathers and brothers were committing suicide and it was painful because societ\ was not striNing a balance in the concept of issues related to mental health for all.
7he eYent was also characterised b\ a &ulture 'a\ where the students and lecturers came clad in traditional regalia.