‘Broken’ man healed at men’s network
Moses Cherrington remembers the exact date of his stroke: September 19 2010.
He stayed in hospital for six weeks but after arriving back at his home in Hamilton he sat on the sofa and did not much else.
‘‘Everything changed, (he was) just so broken,’’ his wife Renu said.
It was Moses’s first stroke, and it left him unable to drive. He lost his licence and his job shortly after.
‘‘Suddenly after 20 years everything fell on me. I didn’t go anywhere, I stopped inviting people over. He was there and suddenly he changed.’’
‘‘We always had a good marriage but it was the stroke and medication. He would just sit on the sofa,’’ Renu said.
But after deciding to make a first step, Moses and Renu attended an open day of the MATES Men’s Network in Hamilton.
MATES aims to lower the rising rates of suicide, family violence, depression, health challenges and low self-esteem through supportive environments for open communication and encouragement.
They meet every Thursday in
The MATES Network aims to lower the rising rates of suicide.
Hamilton at the Western Community Centre, 46 Hyde Ave, Nawton. Meetings run from 7pm to 9.30pm, and Renu and Moses said the experience was ‘‘eyeopening’’.
Moses said the men at the centre were young and old, from all walks of life. He said it was a place to go that anyone could be a part of.
MATES chief executive Kerry Babbage said when men start to take responsibility for their actions it creates a community.
‘‘It was quite different, entrusting your total self to strangers,’’ Moses said.
He calls it ‘‘dumping the load’’, but to dump you need to have the trust to share, he said.
‘‘ Come and try it out,’’ Moses said. ‘‘Guys are in this black hole and don’t know what to do. MATES Men’s is the light at the end of the tunnel.’’
The network has also launched a radio programme on Free FM 89.0 to further help men. The show is replayed on Mondays at 9pm, Babbage said.