Carole Nyakudya

"Zimbabweans are just a broken people; we have become an individualistic society like the first world. So, they replaced those things that we had in our culture, as ubuntu, with professional bodies. What we do as mental health is what we would have done with our grandmother’s aunts and uncles"

"I thoroughly enjoy television presenting. Over the years, Ive learnt to immerse myself in the media space and I strive to teach my audience something they have not heard before each time Im on air"

"Over the years Ive had to learn to manage my time quite well. If youre going to strike a balance youve got to be disciplined with time. It also helps that on the work front Ive a capable team that I trust so much. So, that gives me a bit of leeway to also do music and my television presenting on the side"

"We were more emotionally stable when we had the community spirit. That community spirit because of migration and all is no longer there. So, this trauma that happened to this young girl, had it been 20 years ago, we would not have been looking at mental health interventions. There were aunts, grandmothers and others in the extended family who would have stepped in, but these people aren’t there anymore"

"I always thought Id study Law, but when I moved to the UK in 1997 my aunt told me about mental health"

"to equip people with quality mental health care to make informed and healthy decisions about themselves, their relationships and their future"

"My late mother had to deal with mental health issues and my aunt was so convinced it would resonate with me"

"I looked it up and felt it was definitely the right thing to do"

"We also helped the group find a sense of purpose in life"

"So, we were just re-engaging for the second episode of our programme. We wanted to catch up with her and see how she was doing. However, to our surprise were the negative vibes that we got from people. They were cursing at her and some cursing at me for giving her an opportunity to speak. After that there were family members calling me saying, ‘don’t support her, don’t give her anything because she is doing drugs and she hurt her mom"

"And this thing about drugs is a big problem that will drive crime, prostitution rates to go up, the Zimbabwe as we know it is going to change because of these drugs"

"It isn’t a problem that we can sweep under the carpet, not at all. The problem with drug-related crimes is that it is very violent. It is actually something that requires the government and Zimbabweans to get involved, before it becomes a major problem. Poverty is also driving people to sell drugs and the war against it will be tougher"