When Winnie Makhwanya was a teenager, her parents got divorced.
This made her think about how life circumstances impact psychologically on young people.
After school, Makhwanya studied psychology, graduating with an honours degree in 2012. Passionate about empowering the youth, Makhwanya, now 27, used all her savings to set up the Keagile Wellness Development Centre, a non-profit organisation which operates out of various hubs in four townships, north of Tshwane.
The centre is run by four registered counsellors from the Health Professions Council of South Africa, but more and more volunteers are coming on board.
Makhwanya and her colleagues literally go door-to-door, visiting families, schools, and non-governmental organisations to conduct needs-analyses in these disadvantaged communities.
They respond by planning and implementing relevant programmes, including career guidance workshops, as well as psychological and emotional support interventions.
To date, Keagile has worked with more than 10 schools in the region. In 2016, Makhwanya also started City Counsellors, which designs and implements employee wellness programmes for businesses.
The sky is the limit for this young go-getter whose next goal is to establish a mobile counselling unit, and eventually a dedicated Keagile centre.
Makhwanya understands that mental health is our true wealth and it’s her mission to enrich us all.
|When you get a no, don’t give up.|
