Essential Grace Magazine March Edition

Essential Grace Magazine March, 2021

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Vol. 1 Issue No. 7

@nyasokocreations +264 812 889 312

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Dear Reader Is it just me or is this year slipping by at an accelerated speed? We have come to the end of the third month, and most of us are still trying to catch up to 2021.

If you a have been following global news you will know that there have been just too many events squeezed into that little time-frame. Be it the transition – or lack thereof - of power in some countries, the death of some beloved icons, distribution of COVID 19 vaccinations, and even the extreme and out of character weather patterns across the globe. Much has been happening, and yet life goes on.

One thing that I have noticed that is of great concern is the side-lining of certain illnesses and conditions in the shadow of the COVDI 19 pandemic. The illnesses outlined in this issue are promoted in the month of March around the world, and I think they need to be spotlighted especially in this time we are living in. Tuberculosis (TB) is one such condition (from page 25) which when combined with the complications of COVID 19 may present a serious threat to lives of those affected. Kidney health is also an important condition to be aware of (page 21) in the context of all the known and unknown drugs/herbs we are swallowing in large quantities to rid ourselves of real or perceived COVID 19 infection. We have to be aware that our bodies are not machines, they do need regular check-ups, rest, and healthy habits in order to nip those underlying causes in the bud.

I realize that most people are fearful of hospitals right now however, the sooner we catch certain conditions like TB or chronic kidney disease, the sooner we can access the right treatment.

Mental health is an area that has suffered a lot since the pandemic started due to the anxiety, panic, fear, and grief that people in most societies are facing. Let us be proactive with our health as we go through this pandemic with the hope that there will be an end to it soon. Please make use of the resources provided to find the help you need.

Keep well and enjoy the read!

Julie Soko Managing Editor Essential Grace Magazine essentialgrace@zoho.com / @essentialgracemagazine2020 instagram.com/essentialgracemagazine2020 issuu.com/essentialgrace

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We join the world-wide fight against stigma, judgement and shaming of people with mental illness.

Our stories aim to normalize talking about mental illness, about challenges and problems we face as human beings.

We also promote local therapists and mental health workers that are trained and ready to help.

We explore nutrition for holistic health, and alternative remedies for common ailments, as well as habits that help in managing chronic illness.

Holistic wellness is a particular passion of ours. We aim to promote personal growth, awareness, and health in your mind, heart, and spirit.

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Meet the team Julie Soko

Contributors

Managing Editor

Nina Nyembezi Soko, Umodzi Mizere, *Hadassah, Steveria Kadangwe, Frank Chidampamba, Collina Nkhambule, Chilungamo M’manga

Special Thanks to:

Mtendere Kishindo Sub-Editor

Internet sources

Naomi Msusa Editorial Assistant Art and Design

www.worldbipolarday.org www.mentalhealthamrica.com www.worldkidneyday.org www.npr.org

Thandi Soko De-Jong Editorial Assistant

Essential Grace is a free online publication and registered magazine focused on promoting mental health and wellness in Malawi and beyond through different mediums.

Follow and subscribe to the magazine at www.issuu.com/essentialgrace to get notified when your monthly publication is available.

Comments and feedback on any of our articles or contributors can be addressed to essentialgrace@zoho.com or through the contributor’s personal contact information.

Contact us for information at 0991 938 203

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In this issue…

Cover feature – Nina Nyembezi Soko Monthly Themes Cancer Day Feature Part 2 International Women’s Day University Mental Health Day

Health and Wellness World Kidney Month

World TB Day Multiple Sclerosis Awareness 5 Health Checks You Cannot Put Off Are you really caring for yourself?

Mental Health

World Bipolar Day Personal Stories – World Bipolar Day

Resources Counselling and Mental Health

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Cover Feature Nina Nyembezi Soko Who is Nina?

I am Nyembezi Nina Soko, born and raised in Lilongwe Malawi. I am 25 years old.

Currently, I am pursuing a Master’s Degree in Agricultural Commerce at Lincoln University in New Zealand.

I enjoy a good book, putting my thoughts to paper, appreciating good music, inspirational photography, and having great conversations. I also enjoy a good work out, as well as cooking and baking up tasty treats.

I am very passionate about kids, I will jump at every opportunity to do something that involves children, including visiting orphanages to play and interact with children, creating solutions for underprivileged children, anything that will help to improve a child’s life for the better. My theory is that if we can impact the next generation while they are still young, we have a good chance at making a real difference in the direction of their future. I am an economist by profession, with experience in research and rural development. I am also an entrepreneur with a focus on the food industry.

Here in New Zealand, I volunteer at my local church working with young children. I also work with first-year students at Lincoln University, providing tutoring and pastoral care.

In addition to that is my focus is on all things mental health and wellbeing. I feel like it is a topic that is often overlooked, but also one that is affecting a lot of young people around the world. Which is why I do my part in making young people aware of their mental health, connecting them to the appropriate help if they need it, and helping them normalize conversations around it.

Growing up Loss. It's every little thing hey! Every little step in life has a way of shaping our lives, in determining who we become. I lost my dad when I was 5, and that was a life-changing event. I was not old enough to be sad about it, but I knew that he was gone for good. He had been sick for quite some time, and every day when I came home, I ran to his bedroom, stood by his bedside and stared at his stomach just to see if he was still breathing. Somehow at 5, I anticipated loss and death.

I knew it was just a matter of time. And eventually, a day came when I was picked up from school earlier

than the knock-off time. That in my life made me aware of how life is a gift, it can be taken away at any time, so it matters how you spend it. It 7|Essential Grace Magazine

My friends and I on my birthday in Lilongwe, 2017

matters what you leave behind for the people you love. Whether that is good memories, a good name, an inheritance, or nothing at all.

Encouragement. From a young age, I was made to believe that I was intelligent, and that made me believe I could achieve something great. My mother would always find some older woman who went to college to tell me how great college was.

That juice flowed from taps, (I bet juice dispensers, which I was disappointed not to find at Bunda, but I found myself remembering that conversation last week when I was getting some juice during breakfast here in NZ), such conversations shaped me.

Christmas party with the children of Rainbow Orphanage in Mitundu. 2017

Strictness and discipline. I was born in Kawale, what most people call the ghetto. You sort of figure that you are doomed by just finding yourself in a place like that. A lot of drug and substance abuse for young adults, teenage pregnancies, high school dropout rates. But my mother was determined that we don’t end up like the statistics. We weren’t allowed to play with most of the kids from around the neighbourhood. Though my brother and I would sneak out from time to time. In hindsight it is I see that it was good for me. That helped me know from an early age that company really determines your character. It helped me form friendships that were very beneficial and have been key in shaping who I become. My family was also just very strict and insisted on the blessed stick. I lived with extended family who did not hesitate to offer a whooping or smack, sometimes for things as trivial as refusing to brush your teeth in the morning. Haha. But having all those uncles and aunties that I was afraid of really helped to create a moral standard that I decided was good for me, especially as I got older.

My faith is also one thing that influenced how I made decisions. I am an observant person, and have been from the time I was a child. I could see people turning out one way and decided that it was never going to be me. Sometimes I guess it was just driven by the desire to be different, to be good and to stand out, but having a personal faith and relationship with Christ just helped to cement those standards. It gave me a reason that was much bigger than myself. To be good, and do good, for God, for myself and for others.

Challenges were also part of it, I think how we choose to respond to challenges play a big role in the person we become. The first time someone attempted to rape me was when I was 4, and I remember it, the second time I was 7. And one time I was 9 and an older man just reached out and grabbed my breast. Those events paralyzed me, in all occurrence my voice was chocked, and for the first one, I only understood what that was when I was much older. I had never told anyone because I feared they would blame me. But these things made me angry, they made me build walls. Some of what came out of things like these were strengths, but some of it was just wounds that I needed to heal from.

African woman

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Resilience is one word that comes to mind when I think of the Malawian woman. Gosh, we harbour so much. I look at my mother, who found herself a young widow with 3 children to raise and a very low wage. She had support, but she also had resilience. Like many Malawian women, she gave everything she had for her survival and for the survival of those who depended on her.

African women carry with them so much strength, without even knowing it exists within them. Most of them have to wear so many hats at a single time, but they do it with a smile. It is not easy, but these women make it look so, without a word, they let you know that to survive, you have to be resilient. You have to give twice as much to have a seat at the table, and when you are there, it will take resilience to thrive.

I think one of the weaknesses in most women, the one I see when I look in the mirror is the need to please everyone. We think about everyone else before we think of ourselves. Rarely as women do we ask ourselves, why do I do this? Why do I even want this? It is not even just about pleasing men or people older than us, the burden even spreads to fellow women, and peers. It is a lot to carry.

We fail to say no because we don’t want to let others down. We go on and just do things without questioning them because it is cultural, even though it hurts us, and will hurt our daughters of tomorrow. We need to constantly question why we do what we do. Stop and ask if we want things for the right reasons. It would allow us to only fight for things that matter, and not waste time on things that had nothing to do with us in the first place.

It is a weakness that spreads from things as serious as a career choice to things a mundane as a hairstyle. Who are we trying to please, and what for? and to be clear living as a people pleaser and living a selfless life are two different things. You can be selfless and still say no to things that do not agree with your values, goals and passions in life. It is okay to say no. I hope I learn to, I hope you do too.

My proudest achievement is being brave enough to put myself out there. I did that when I decided to write my book, sharing a personal journey because I believed it would help someone. I did that when I pursued opportunities for further study, even after being turned down so many times I kept going. I also did that in my personal relationships, having gone through disappointments and failed relationships, one would think you just give up. I am proud that I keep opening my heart to friendships and new relationships in spite of everything I have experienced.

I have a blog where I share about life, faith, and relationships. Follow me on www.philosilove.wordpress.com.

I also have a personal life style blog on Instagram @miz_ace where I share about life generally.

Follow on Linkedin at Nyembezi Nina Soko.

I love partnering with people who are working on issues I am passionate about. Please reach out if you feel like we could make a great team.

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Building fences not walls Is a 31-day devotional on emotional healing. It takes you through a journey of self-reflection, to find out the cause of your emotional wounds, and how to begin your healing. The book has “to think about” and checkpoint sections, to get readers to apply text to their own life. It is practical and scriptural based, and most of those who have read it have said it made them realize that they carried a lot of pain that they never dealt with because they didn’t even know it existed in them.

Building fences not Walls was written for young people who want to experience better relationships. We have all been hurt, that is not unique to one person, but the impact of each encounter is different, and that is why a personal approach to a healing journey is necessary. When we build fences we stop any chance of light and love in our lives. The book is to help young people get to a place where they can set healthy boundaries, and form good relationships because they themselves are whole.

The book is free, and available as an e-book on www.philosilove.wordpress.com and also a kindle edition on amazon.

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Mental Health

World Bipolar Day

Personal Stories: Ps. Umodzi Mizere

*Hadassah’s Story 11 | E s s e n t i a l G r a c e M a g a z i n e

A SPECIAL MESSAGE FOR WORLD BIPOLAR DAY 2021 World Bipolar Day (WBD) is celebrated each year on March 30th. The International Society for Bipolar Disorders (www.isbd.org) would like to take this opportunity to reflect on connection, outreach and advocacy. WBD provides a moment to join together in solidarity around the goals of increasing awareness, acceptance and funding for this illness – all of which are key objectives of our forthcoming annual meeting, alongside promoting excellence in clinical care and research.

The coronavirus pandemic is having a huge impact on our communities worldwide and on WBD, we would like to support people living with bipolar disorder, along with their families and loved ones. During periods of stress and social isolation, it is even more important to maintain your quality of life and to attend to both your basic needs (nutrition, sleep and health) and those that give you fulfilment (hobbies, social interaction, exercise and relaxation). And keep in mind that social distancing does not have to mean social isolation.

Please be aware of advice available to help cope with any pandemic-related challenges. We have provided these links in the hope they may be useful to you, however, if you have any serious problems or concerns regarding your health then it’s recommended to consult your doctor before making any changes to your treatment or your lifestyle. www.worldbipolarday.org

Links to further information: https://www.dbsalliance.org/ https://www.isbd.org/ https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-forpublic 12 | E s s e n t i a l G r a c e M a g a z i n e

World Bipolar Day

by Pastor Umodzi Mizere I do not write as an expert but as a person who has struggled with bipolar disorder. I write to share what I would like people to know about bipolar disorder and what are signs of it from my personal experience. Before I go any further let me, first of all, define bipolar from what I know and have read.

What is Bipolar Disorder?

Bipolar Disorder is a mood disorder that causes mood swings from the lows of depression to the highs of mania. There are two types of bipolar, there is Bipolar Disorder 1 and Bipolar Disorder 2.

According to experts, Bipolar Disorder 1 can be seen in cases of extreme mood swings which can make your life difficult.

Mood swings can move anywhere along a spectrum from one extreme of deep depression to the other extreme of full-blown manic episodes which can sometimes be severe and dangerous. Bipolar Disorder 2 is considered less severe than Bipolar Disorder 1.

With Bipolar Disorder 2, a person may have elevated moods, irritability and some changes in their functioning, but generally, they can still carry on with normal daily functions. Instead of full-blown mania, there may be hypomania; a less intense form of mania. In Bipolar Disorder 2, periods of depression last longer than periods of hypomania. These are the definitions of Bipolar Disorder 1 and 2. Now I will go to some signs of bipolar disorder.

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Living with Bipolar Disorder 2 It was in the year 2009 when I first began to show signs that are typical of Bipolar Disorder. My behavior had changed due to the effects of an accident had that left me temporary handicapped in my right leg. Due to the complications from this injury, I experienced severe depression, sadness, anxiety, hopelessness, mild manic episodes and loss of interest in day to day activities. At the time I was a student in Bible College, and my student life was greatly affected.

My mother is a former nurse, and she suspected that I had Bipolar because of the signs and symptoms I was showing even while I was far away in Lilongwe at school and she was in Bvumbwe, Blantyre. My friends kept in touch with her to keep her informed of my condition. I have had mental health challenges from the age of 14 which was when my mother first recommended that I see a psychologist. At the time I struggled with moodiness and depression but at that time we had no idea I would one day be diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder.

In 2009, after returning from College and being back in Blantyre, my mum took me to see my psychologist who then diagnosed me with Bipolar Disorder. I remember it like it was yesterday, my psychologist mentioned that he had suspected that I had Bipolar Disorder because of certain symptoms I had been showing for the past years since my teens. I had been showing these signs and symptoms for a while but he was not quick to diagnosis because he wanted to observe me and before confirming it. Some of the signs and symptoms I experienced at this time were irritation, fatigue, low yet sometimes increased appetite. The performance in my ministry work was affected, I had problems concentrating, I experienced anxiety and guilt, just to mention a few.

Recognize the signs and symptoms 14 | E s s e n t i a l G r a c e M a g a z i n e

As I said before, I am not an expert on this condition. I have learnt so much about it from my own experience, as well as having had the opportunity to observe one of my family members show similar signs of bipolar which has given me even more insight into this condition.

Be aware of the following signs; racing thoughts, aggressive behavior, agitation, irritation, increased physical activity, risky behavior, spending sprees or careless financial choices, decreased need for sleep, sadness, hopelessness, guilt, low appetite or increased appetite, fatigue, chronic pain, problems concentrating, and poor performance at school or work. I cannot exhaust the list of all symptoms and signs of bipolar so these are just a few.

If you or anyone you know has some of these signs that are consistent and last or a considerable amount of time, then it’s possible they could have bipolar. It would be advisable to see a psychologist or psychiatrist as soon as possible and get help. Bear in mind that mental health problems can run in the family as well.

What does it mean to live with Bipolar Disorder?

Contrary to some popular theories, having some of the symptoms mentioned of bipolar does not mean that you are demonpossessed just as there are physical diseases there are diseases of the mind as well and bipolar is one of them. Having bipolar does not mean that you are demon-possessed or that you are mad. In fact, according to the Oxford Dictionary, the word mad means very foolish and not sensible. One who has bipolar disorder is not defined as foolish but mentally ill. It is therefore wrong to always associate demonic possession with a mental health problem, that is ignorance and stigma! A mental health disorder such as bipolar disorder is treatable with

psychotherapy and medication which helps the patient to live a functional and fulfilled life.

Bible shows us it was depression. King David dealt with his depression through faith in God;

So if you or anyone you know and love has such symptoms, I must stress again please get them help and support them just as my mother and some of my family members did! It is moral support and not judgement that helps a patient cope and begin to walk down the road to recovery by the grace of God!

“Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God “(Psalm 42:5).

Realize that having bipolar disorder does not mean it’s your fault or that you are bewitched. Rather, it means that you have a mental health disorder which is there because of a chemical imbalance in the brain, Recovery is possible through being accepted, being loved, being supported, along with proper therapy and medication.

Living Positively with Bipolar There are other factors that play a role for a patient with bipolar disorder, and some of these factors I have already mentioned but I will mention again. Medication, and psychotherapy, through psychotherapy a patient learns to cope and deal with bipolar disorder. It has taken me 12 years to have control over bipolar, by the grace of God! My medication has been changed three times over the years till the psychiatrist could find the right meds to work. I only began to stabilize last September till today. it has taken six months for me to be free from signs of bipolar and bipolar depression. It is very possible to overcome this by the grace of God and to live a productive and fruitful life as well!

Another factor that also helps in dealing with bipolar is faith in God and the Bible. There are many Scriptures in the Bible that deal with the mind and I will mention a few. Kind David the Lord’s anointed king struggled with depression; I don’t know if it was bipolar but the

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King David placed his hope in God whom he trusted. God was the help of his countenance! Faith in God, hope in God in times of severe depression can also help a person overcome depression or bipolar depression!

The Bible also says, “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3).

God promises peace of mind for those who choose to continue to trust in Him and not lose hope! These are some of the ways the Bible deals with mental health.

From my own experience, the first diagnosis of bipolar can be really challenging.

Try this method of a combination of trusting in God, the Bible, receiving the support of friends and family, the appropriate medication, and psychotherapy to help when facing bipolar disorder. If you have bipolar disorder or know anyone who does please take heart and be assured that it does get better in due time by the grace of God! Lastly, know that bipolar disorder does not define who we are. We are not the mental health disorder. We are God’s pride and joy through faith in Christ Jesus. The grace of God is what defines us and not the disorder. The disorder is just a sickness of the mind and is treatable. Don’t be ashamed of it because God can use it also to work out goodness in your life and in others.

So, on World Bipolar Day, here are some aspects of bipolar disorder that are important to understand, so you can help combat social stigma: 1. Bipolar disorder affects every aspect of life: It may be difficult to fully comprehend the toll bipolar disorder can take on someone because it is an invisible illness. It can be as crippling --impacting relationships, working, and all aspects of everyday life—from sleeping to showering.

2. Bipolar disorder has many causes, from genetics to life events: A study that spanned nearly two decades revealed that there is no single genetic change, life event, or chemical brain imbalance that could be the root cause of bipolar disorder. Many times, it is a combination of several biological and environmental factors that can trigger bipolar disorder.

3. Bipolar disorder rarely exists alone: As if a mood disorder that involves long-spanning depressions and manic episodes wasn’t enough to deal with, bipolar disorder can also come with other physical and psychological conditions to worry about. These include metabolic disorders and migraines.

4. Everyone’s bipolar disorder is different: Bipolar disorder is like fingerprints and snowflakes— no two people have the exact same symptoms and each diagnosis can vary greatly.

However, there are two main types of bipolar disorder: Bipolar I which is characterized by one or more manic episodes that last at least a week and require hospitalization; and bipolar II, which is characterized by more depressive episodes.

5. There may be a creativity connection: Did you know that World Bipolar Day occurs on Vincent van Gogh’s birthday? Van Gogh, considered one of the most influential artists of all time, was posthumously diagnosed as having bipolar disorder. Another famous face of creativity is Carrie Fisher, known for her role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise.

She’s considered a heroine for rebelling against mental health stigma.

6. It is life-threatening, and support is vital: An estimated 1 in 5 people diagnosed with bipolar disorder dies by suicide. World Bipolar Day is an opportunity to show those living with the day-to-day challenges of this condition they are not alone, they have your support, and there is always hope.

Living with bipolar disorder may not be easy, but as van Gogh himself once said: “The beginning is perhaps more difficult than anything else, but keep heart, it will turn out all right.”

Read more about bipolar disorder on the Mental Health America website. Article written by Shannon Hazlitt

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World Bipolar Day *Hadassah’s Story

My story began with me growing up in a Muslim family. We had many ups and downs as a family. While I was about nine or ten years old, I remember there were times my dad used to beat my mum so much. He was an angry man but during these years it was extreme. When I and my siblings tried to stop him, he would beat us too. We were so scared of him. Nobody stopped this behaviour of his since he would not listen to anybody. I now understand that my dad had been through a lot as he had lost his job and had been ill for so long. It was after he recovered from the illness that he started becoming violent.

I was often a victim since many times I was the one who took action. I stood up to him when he was beating up my mom. He hated me so much, he called me rude and he would beat me up. This went on for a while until I finished my form 4 but it affected us kids so much. I remember this one time he beat me so much and he took my younger sisters on a road trip and left me behind. I was so sad. I went into the toilet where there used to be a big bottle of insecticides, grabbed the bottle to try to drink but my brother saw me quickly and he stopped me. I wanted to take my life, I was a Muslim but that day I took the Bible and started 17 | E s s e n t i a l G r a c e M a g a z i n e

reading, I knelt down and prayed after reading the Bible.

I was 14 years old at that time, I decided to choose a life of parties and drinking. I found myself pregnant when I was 17 years old, that was in 2007.

When my dad noticed he beat me up and I ran away from home, out of the city to stay with my cousin.

Unfortunately, the baby didn’t make it as he died during labour. They couldn’t hear his heartbeat anymore so I got a C-section to take him out. I had finished my advanced diploma by then, I found a job and I was well paid. It helped me to provide for my needs. I was happy but it would rarely last. Every evening I would go home feeling anxious about what I will find.

On the 31st of December, 2009, my friend took me to church for the very first time. I stepped into the church building during a youth festival, it was so great and fun. I gave my life to Christ that night when the pastor called those who wanted to receive Jesus, I went to the front. In my mind I was picturing my battles being over, I just wanted a new life, I cried my way to the alter and I received Jesus.

I was so excited.

When I got home, I wrote a letter to my dad, saying dad I know I have been a naughty child, I haven’t obeyed you in so many ways, please forgive me. I am writing this letter to tell you that I am now a Christian, I have received Christ to be my Lord and Saviour. I didn’t do it to get back to you or anything, I didn’t mean to offend you but I feel like I will find my peace with Christ. I slid it under the door of his bedroom and went to work.

When I was coming back, he had already packed all my clothes and threw them out. He threw all my books and warned everybody in the house that they will be kicked out too if they entertain me. My mum ran to me while I was getting inside and said my daughter you cannot come in am sorry but your dad doesn’t want to see you. I saw how she was terrified and her eyes were red, she had been crying. I picked some of the books and clothes and went to church, this was my home church now, the same

denomination as the one where I got saved. At the Lutheran Church, I met the pastor and I introduced myself and told him my story, it was in the evening and he was knocking off. He kindly told me to go back home and go into the house so I can find a place to sleep, he told me he was sorry he could not take me into his house because he had a lot going on as well.

I understood and went back home, I sneaked into the house, in the morning it was Sunday, I took my big bag full of my clothes and went to church. When testimony time came, the pastor introduced me to the church, called me forward and I shared my testimony. People were happy that I gave my life to Christ. After the service, a girl came up to me and said ‘that was a nice testimony, you are a brave girl’, the pastor saw us together and expressed how happy he was we had already met as he had intended to introduce us to each other. He made the formal introductions and I discovered that the girl who approached me was a psychologist teaching at Bunda College. She decided to help me by taking me to her home.

I lived with her for two months however, she had told me in advance that she was going to school outside the country for further studies. I told the pastor and he started looking for a place for me to stay. Soon, a young lady who used to know me from a long time back came forward and me a place to live. She had married a pastor from Lumbadzi Community Church and I lived with them for months, yet they gave me the freedom to still be going to my church. It was a very good family.

One day I got a phone call from my dad, he asked me where I was. I had been away from home for a year or two and he had never bothered to find out where I was until the day he called. After I told him and he said to come home right away. I was so excited; I didn’t think twice about it. I quickly told my foster family that I was going home. They asked me why we talked and they told me I was free to come back if anything happens. When I got home my dad told me that he called me because I am his 18 | E s s e n t i a l G r a c e M a g a z i n e

daughter and he can’t let me live out there with people he didn’t know. However, he told me to stop going to church and move back home. I refused to stop going to church. He got angry with me again but this time I couldn’t leave the house. I stayed and I found a way to continue going to church.

My father stopped talking to me and he treated me harshly. I was in my twenties but he continued to beat me up. I would go to church after being beaten, he never stopped beating my mum when he was angry. Yet through all this, I was so happy being a Christian. I loved singing, I was in the praise team and we had youth groups going on which I enjoyed being part of. In 2014, I got employed which allowed me to move out of the house and live by myself. This arrangement also made my church happy as I would no longer be sneaking out of the house or risking a beating.

Before I left home to live by myself, there was an incident when I was under a lot of stress which led to me falling sick. I called my friend the lecturer as we were still in touch. I called her and told her I was sick, she made it quickly to my home and came straight to my room where she found me standing not able to move nor feel my legs. She told me to give her the number of someone she can call to help, so I gave her my other friend’s number. He had a car so he came to us really quick and they took me to the hospital. My friend had told my mum and my brothers that I couldn’t move my body so they carried me to the car and we went to the hospital. I discovered that I was having a nervous breakdown and anxiety attack. I started crying so hard. Although I had a little movement my hands my legs were stiff and I had to be wheeled around the hospital. After examination, I was told my experience was psychiatric in nature.

I don’t remember what happened next because I lost my memory. According to those that were there, most of it was not as bad as I remember. I remembered a few details but not a lot. While all this was going on, I became a very prayerful person. but I was experiencing attacks in

my dreams even during the day. One day while at work, I excused myself to attended a funeral ceremony. It was an Islamic ceremony. When I returned to the office, I began to cry so hard that they called my sister to come and pick me up which she did. I went home to my parents. My dad said something along the lines you may go anywhere you want but, you will still come back to me. I ignored him because by then I had started hearing voices and the voices were so loud that I struggled to tell whether they were real or not.

A lot of things happened that week that were so strange until one morning I started running around barefoot. When my mom tried to stop me but I pushed her away. She is a strong person but, on that day, I was stronger than her. I escaped somehow and ran to the road but some boys from home chased me and caught me. They took me to the hospital where I was again referred to the psychiatric department. This was when I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder Type 1.

I lost my job while I was having this episode. I remained in the psychiatric hospital for three weeks before being discharged. When I came out, I was feeling much better so I told my parents that I had decided to stop being a Christian and that I want to go back to Islam. I did this because I wanted to make peace with my dad. I started wearing hijab and going to mosque sometimes. I stayed isolated from all the church members, only keeping in touch with a few friends that were persistent. Everything

changed, I had gained weight because of the medication I was prescribed. I was on Sodium Valproate and CpZ (Chlorpromazine). I didn’t like myself anymore, I stopped all the things I enjoyed doing. I used to love books yet I stopped reading, I stopped listening to music, stopped watching movies and stopped hanging out with friends. My faith became boring for me. I stopped believing in God, I hated to hear the word of God whether from the Bible or Qur'an. I started living on auto-pilot.

Four years later, it was during Easter in 2019, I decided to go to church and I sneaked out of the house. I felt happy and the church was happy but ever since then, it has been either sneaking around or not going to church at all. My Christian life is not where it is supposed to be but as I still wear hijab and convince my dad that am a Muslim. I believe that I have made peace with Christ and that is all that matters. I now have a job and I live in my own place. I have a son although I am not yet married but I am praying that my Christian life should be stable again. *the names and some events in this story have been changed to protect the author’s identity. If you or anyone you know can relate to some of the symptoms described in this story, please seek help from professionals. Contact details are available in the Resources section of the magazine. Send your feedback, questions, and comments to essentailgrace@yandex.com

"Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images

you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused." ~ Alan Cohen

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Health and Wellness World Kidney Month

World TB Awareness Day

Multiple Sclerosis Awareness

5 Health Checks you should not be putting off Are you really taking care of yourself?

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WORLD KIDNEY DAY THEME 2021 The World Kidney Day theme for 2021 is “Living Well with Kidney Disease”. The objective is to increase education and awareness about effective symptom management and patient empowerment, with the ultimate goal of encouraging meaningful participation in every-day life. Whilst effective measures to prevent kidney disease and its progression are important, patients with kidney disease – including those who depend on dialysis and transplantation – and their care-partners should also feel supported, especially during pandemics and other challenging periods, by the concerted efforts of kidney care communities.

Your Amazing Kidneys The kidneys are complicated and amazing organs that do many essential tasks to keep us healthy.

The main job of your kidneys is to remove toxins and excess water from your blood.

Kidneys also help to control your blood pressure, to produce red blood cells and to keep your bones healthy.

Each roughly the size of your fist, kidneys are located deep in the abdomen, beneath the rib cage.

Your kidneys control the bloodstream levels of many minerals and molecules including sodium and potassium and help to control blood acidity. Every day your kidneys carefully control the salt and water in your body so that your blood pressure remains the same.

Your Kidneys: •

Make urine

•

Remove wastes and extra fluid from your blood

•

Control your body’s chemical balance

•

Help control your blood pressure

•

Help keep your bones healthy

•

Help you make red blood cells

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What you need to know about Chronic Kidney Disease?

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a progressive loss in kidney function over a period of months or years.

Each of your kidneys has about a million tiny filters, called nephrons. If nephrons are damaged, they stop working. For a while, healthy nephrons can take on the extra work. But if the damage continues, more and more nephrons shut down. After a certain point, the nephrons that are left cannot filter your blood well enough to keep you healthy.

When kidney function falls below a certain point, it is called kidney failure. Kidney failure affects your whole body and can make you feel very ill. Untreated kidney failure can be life-threatening.

What you should not forget: •

Early chronic kidney disease has no signs or symptoms.

•

Chronic kidney disease usually does not go away.

•

Kidney disease can be treated. The earlier you know you have it, the better your chances of receiving effective treatment.

•

Blood and urine tests are used to check for kidney disease.

•

Kidney disease can progress to kidney failure.

Kidney diseases are common and harmful yet often treatable Common: Between 8 and 10% of the adult population have some form of kidney damage, and every year millions die prematurely of complications related to Chronic Kidney Diseases (CKD).

Treatable: If CKD is detected early and managed appropriately, the deterioration in kidney function can be slowed or even stopped, and the risk of associated cardiovascular complications can be reduced.

How is kidney function measured?

The main indicator of kidney function is your blood level of creatinine, a waste product of the body produced by muscles and excreted by the kidneys. If kidney function is reduced, creatinine accumulates in the blood leading to an elevated level when a blood test is checked.

Stages of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Usually, kidney disease starts slowly and silently and progresses over a number of years. Not everyone progresses from Stage 1 to Stage 5. Stage 5 is also known as End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD).

Causes of CKD kidney disease. High blood pressure causes just over a quarter of all cases of kidney failure. Diabetes has been established as the cause of around one-third of all cases and is the commonest cause of ESRD in most developed countries.

Other less common conditions include inflammation (glomerulonephritis) or infections 22 | E s s e n t i a l G r a c e M a g a z i n e

(pyelonephritis). Sometimes CKD is inherited (such as polycystic disease) or the result of a longstanding blockage to the urinary system (such as enlarged prostate or kidney stones).

Some drugs can cause CKD, especially some pain-killing drugs (analgesics) if taken over a long time. Often doctors cannot determine what caused the problem.

Symptoms A person can lose up to 90% of their kidney functions before experiencing any symptoms.

Most people have no symptoms until CKD is advanced. Signs of advancing CKD include swollen ankles, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, decreased appetite, blood in the urine and foamy urine.

Treating CKD There is no cure for chronic kidney disease, although treatment can slow or halt the progression of the disease and can prevent other serious conditions from developing.

The main treatments are a proper diet and medications, and for those who reach ESRD, long term dialysis treatment or kidney transplantation. In the early stages of kidney disease, a proper diet and medications may help to maintain the critical balances in the body that your kidneys would normally control. However, when you have kidney failure, wastes and fluids accumulate in your body and you need dialysis treatments to remove these wastes and excess fluid from your blood, dialysis can be done either by machine (hemodialysis) or by using fluid in your abdomen (peritoneal dialysis). In suitable patients, a kidney transplant combined with medications and a healthy diet can restore normal kidney function.

Dialysis and kidney transplantation are known as renal replacement therapies (RRT)

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because they attempt to “replace” the normal functioning of the kidneys and are discussed in more detail below.

Prevalence of CKD About 1 in 10 people have some degree of CKD. It can develop at any age and various conditions can lead to CKD. Kidney disease can affect people of all ages and races. African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians and people of South Asian origin (those from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or Pakistan) have a higher risk of CKD. This risk is due in part to high rates of diabetes and high blood pressure in these communities.

CKD can occur at any age, but becomes more common with increasing age and is more common in women. Although about half of people aged 75 or more have some degree of CKD, many of these people do not actually have diseases of their kidneys; they have normal ageing of their kidneys. Simple blood and urine tests can detect CKD and simple, low-cost treatments can slow the progression of the disease, reduce the risk of associated heart attacks and strokes and improve quality of life. www.worldkidneyday.org

The majority of chronic kidney disease we see in Malawi and globally are largely due to high blood pressure and diabetes. Poor eating habits based on food that has high fat content may lead to an increase in cholesterol levels and problems with heart health.

The relationship between chronic kidney diseases and high blood pressure are cyclic; chronic kidney disease can lead to high blood pressure and high blood pressure can lead to chronic kidney disease. It is therefore advisable for everyone with chronic kidney disease to be screened for high blood pressure and diabetes.

According to my experience in medical field, I have observed that we have a great number of people with chronic kidney diseases but they fail to present early to the hospital and rarely seek medical intervention especially when their symptoms are mild. Although I can say that in comparison with other countries, Malawi is better off when it comes to the prevalence of kidney disease.

Stephen Mlangiza, final year student at the University of Malawi, College of Medicine.

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The clock is ticking! A World TB Day campaign for action!

On World TB Day, WHO calls on everyone to keep the promise to:

Accelerate the End TB Response to reach the targets set in Sustainable Development Goals, WHO End TB Strategy, the Moscow Declaration to End TB and the political declaration of the UN High-Level Meeting on TB. Diagnose and treat 40 million people with TB by 2022 including 3.5 million children and 1.5 million people with drug-resistant TB. This is in line with WHO’s overall drive towards Universal Health Coverage and the WHO Director General’s flagship initiative “Find. Treat. All. #EndTB” jointly with the Global Fund and Stop TB Partnership.

Reach 30 million people with TB preventive treatment by 2022 so that those people most at risk receive TB preventive treatment, including 24 million household contacts of TB patients - 4 million of whom are children under 5 and 6 million people living with HIV. Mobilize sufficient and sustainable financing to reach USD 13 billion a year to support efforts to end TB; for every USD 1 invested to end TB, USD 43 is returned as the benefits of a healthy functioning society (Economist/ Copenhagen Consensus).

Invest in TB research to reach at least USD 2 billion a year for better science, better tools and better deliver.

www.who.com

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World Tuberculosis Day 24th March, 2021 Each year, we commemorate World Tuberculosis (TB) Day on March 24 to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB, and to step up efforts to end the global TB epidemic. The date marks the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the bacterium that causes TB, which opened the way towards diagnosing and curing this disease.

TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious killers. Each day, nearly 4000 people lose their lives to TB and close to 28,000 people fall ill with this preventable and curable disease. Global efforts to combat TB have saved an estimated 63 million lives since the year 2000.

The theme of World TB Day 2021 - ‘The Clock is Ticking’ –conveys the sense that the world is running out of time to act on the commitments to end TB made by global leaders. This is especially critical in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic that has put End TB progress at risk, and to ensure equitable access to prevention and care in line with WHO’s drive towards achieving Universal Health Coverage.

What Is Tuberculosis?

What are the Symptoms?

An infectious disease caused by bacteria that spreads through the air through coughing, sneezing or talking.

A cough that persists for 3 weeks or more

When TB enters the lungs, the immune system will either attempt to contain or kill the bacteria.

Coughing blood Persistent chest pains Fever

When effectively contained, the bacteria remain inactive and is called latent TB infection. This does not cause illness or spreading to others.

Night sweats

If the bacteria become active, the latent TB infection develops into active TB disease, which causes illness and may be spread to others.

Losing weight without any effort

The risk of developing active TB illness is higher in people with other conditions that weaken their immune system. Such as those living with HIV/AIDS. Left untreated, active TB infection can lead to death.

Treatment for TB infections includes multiple antibiotics taken over a long period of time.

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Feeling weak and tired

Decreased or lack of appetite TB infection that is not restricted to the lungs may include: Persistent swollen glands Abdominal pain Pain and restricted movement in an affected bone or joint

Tuberculosis and COVID-19 Dual burden of TB and COVID-19 Tuberculosis (TB) and COVID-19 are both infectious diseases that attack primarily the lungs. Both diseases have similar symptoms such as cough, fever and difficulty breathing. TB, however, has a longer incubation period with a slower onset of disease.

While experience on COVID-19 infection in TB patients remains limited, it is anticipated that people ill with both TB and COVID-19 may have poorer treatment outcomes, especially if TB treatment is interrupted. TB patients should take precautions as advised by health authorities to be protected from COVID-19 and continue their TB treatment as prescribed.

Continuity of essential TB services during COVID-19 pandemic Health services, including national programs to combat TB, need to be actively engaged in ensuring an effective and rapid response to COVID-19 while ensuring that TB services are maintained. WHO Global TB Program, along with WHO regional and country offices, has developed an information note to assist health authorities in doing so.

Prevention: Measures must be put in place to limit transmission of TB and COVID-19 in congregate settings and health care facilities, as per WHO guidelines.

Diagnosis: Accurate diagnostic tests are essential for both TB and COVID-19. TB laboratory networks have been established in countries with the support of WHO and international partners. These networks as well as specimen transportation mechanisms could also be used for COVID 19 diagnosis and surveillance.

Treatment and care: TB program staff with their experience and capacity, including in active case finding and contact tracing, are well placed to share knowledge, expertise, and to provide technical and logistical support. The use of digital health technologies should be intensified to support patients and programs through improved communication, counselling, care, and information management, among other benefits.

Human resources: Respiratory physicians, pulmonology staff of all grades, TB specialists and health workers at the primary health care level may be points of reference for patients with pulmonary complications of COVID-19.

Coronavirus deaths & impact Policies widely adopted in response to the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19, particularly lockdowns and reassignments of health personnel and equipment, are having an impact on the performance of global TB detection and care programs.

A global TB case detection decrease by an average 25% over a period of 3 months, (as compared to the level of detection before the pandemic) will lead to a predicted additional 190,000 TB related

deaths. This will bring the total predicted deaths from TB in 2020 to 1.66 million deaths. This is near the global level of TB mortality of 2015. This would be a serious setback in the progress 27 | E s s e n t i a l G r a c e M a g a z i n e

towards the End TB targets.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Awareness Multiple sclerosis is a disease that affects the nervous system and causes damage to nerves in the spine and brain and can cause physical, mental and even psychiatric problems. The disease tends to flare up and disappear, but cause permanent neurological problems especially as the disease progresses.

The cause of MS is unclear but genetics and environmental factors triggered by viral infections are considered as some of the causes. It is suspected to be caused by an immune system malfunction where the immune system mistakenly attacks the myelin sheath on the nerve cells – the myelin sheath helps with transmitting signals. This attack slows or blocks the signal transmission and sometimes even damages the nerves.

There is no known cure, however, there are treatments to improve function after attacks and prevent a new attack. Medication, physical therapy and alternative treatments are some of the ways people living with this condition can manage it. MS reduces life expectancy by up to 10 years. About 19,000 people die from this disease globally per year.

Symptoms of MS are wide and can include visual symptoms, speech problems, painful sensations, musculoskeletal weakness and spasms, throat problems, fatigue, cognitive impairment, depression, anxiety, unstable moods and problems with the urinary system. Visual, motor and sensory problems are the most common.

Relapses are unpredictable but can be triggered by common viral infections like the common cold as well as things like stress.

MS is more common in countries that are further from the equator. There were 2.8 million people living with this condition globally in 2020 but statistics from Malawi are not known (www.atlasofms.com) and it is not common. Whatever the case, get yourself checked when you start experiencing strange symptoms to be able to mitigate the effects of this debilitating disease.

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Five Medical Check-Ups You Cannot Afford to Postpone: Even During COVID! If you are like me, you have waited as long as possible to go to the hospital during the pandemic. I only went to the hospital when I had to–for treatment and mandated check-ups. Who wants to expose themselves to COVID-19? However, medical experts report that patients are going to the hospital when their conditions have worsened or too late for treatment to be effective. Here in Malawi, we have seen pictures of the empty Children’s Ward at Queens because parents are not bringing their children any more, for fear that they will die from COVID19.

1. Cancer Screenings

4. Mental Health Issues

With any type of cancer, early detection saves lives.

A woman is more likely to die from advanced cancer than COVID-19. More and more, people are delaying going to the hospital with problems like breast lumps, problems swallowing, and other signs that could indicate cancer. Regular screenings like pap smears, prostate exams and mammograms should not be postponed to improve the chances of the effectiveness of treatment.

The pandemic brought a plethora of mental health issues with it–anxiety, depression, increased suicide, and drug overdoses. Life situations have drastically altered in short periods through bereavement, overwhelming of health workers, loss of employment and personal financial crises. Besides, people with mental health conditions are neglecting to take their medication, and constant monitoring is therefore essential to manage such conditions.

There is a list of mental health practitioners in this magazine if you require help. Do not postpone!

2. Prompt Check-ups of New Red Flag Symptoms Ignoring persistent problems allows them to flare up and worsen one’s condition. Attend to any condition which is affecting your daily life promptly. There are still a lot more people dying from delayed heart condition check-ups, for example.

3. Follow-Ups for Chronic Conditions Chronic conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes and kidney disease are more manageable with regular doctor visits and check-ups. Much as in some contexts, it is easy to have virtual visits, things like laboratory tests and physical exams are necessary to monitor any issues that may arise–for example, diabetes can affect your sight or cause nerve damage. The long-term damage is not worth it.

5. Sexual Health Maintenance STIs are spreading during the pandemic, and people are delaying seeking help for their conditions.

Delayed treatment of STIs can cause serious repercussions and long-term, irreversible effects like sterility. Waiting is not an option.

There you have it. The pandemic is with us in the medium to long term. Don’t let fear ruin your health.

Putting your health on hold is a mistake.

An article found on the National Public Radio (www.npr.org)

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Monthly Theme International Women’s Day

World Cancer Day Feature; Part 2

University Mental Health Awareness 31 | E s s e n t i a l G r a c e M a g a z i n e

A challenged world is an alert world.

Individually, we're all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day.

We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women's achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world.

From challenge comes change, so let's all choose to challenge!

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2021 #ChooseToChallenge

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Step Up and Challenge Inequality – IWD2021

by Frank Chidampamba

There is no denying that the world we live in is not inclusive. It is not inclusive enough because women serve as Heads of State and in Government in only twenty-one countries while 119 countries have never had a woman leader. According to a recent report of the United Nations Secretary General on the Status of Women as of 2020 would mean that we need to wait for another 130 years to achieve gender parity in this regard. The world is not inclusive enough because women have been excluded from taking key political positions. It is not inclusive enough because the youth have been excluded from leadership roles in transforming their societies. The Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s report titled “African Youth: Fulfilling their Potential” and the African Union Roadmap on Harnessing the Demographic Dividend Through Investment in Youth, the median age of African leaders (which is somewhere around sixty years) is three times the median age of African population. Youth have ended up being mere spectators in the development dispensation.

Girls have dropped out of school due to early pregnancies. As if that is not enough, heartless and monstrous men continue to rape our children, girls and women. While the cases may not be common, there are also women who rape minors. In short, people have been subjected to, and continue to be exposed to all sorts of injustice and inequality.

People have been segregated on the basis of their gender, age, race, nationality, refugee status.

The 2030 agenda for sustainable development that was adopted in 2015 with seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has a central transformative promise of “leaving no one behind.” This call is crucial considering that many have been left behind in key social, economic and political processes across the world. Goal number five of the SDGs specifically seeks to address gender inequality and women empowerment. The goal seeks to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls across the world.

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The women empowerment talk is not a strange phenomenon. Advocates for women’s rights have demonstrated countless times worldwide demanding better working conditions, fighting representation in decision making, fighting gender-based violence, fighting for their rights to vote, and what have you.

Progress has been made in reducing gender inequality but it has not been good enough.

While we celebrated the inauguration of Kamala Harris as the first female, first black and first Asian-American United States Vice President in January this year, we still have Sahle-Work Zewde of Ethiopia as the only female president in Africa. It is good that the legislative branch of government is headed by a woman. Malawi has only recently had its first female Minister of Finance as if Chancellor College has only been producing male economists all these years.

On 8th March this year, we celebrate the 110th International Women’s Day (IWD). Clara Zetkin (1857-1933), a German advocate for women’s rights was the first to suggest creating a special day for women during an International Conference of Working Women held in Denmark in 1910. The first IWD was celebrated in 1911. It is good to celebrate the achievements our women have made. It is good to take pride in celebrating the strides made in fighting inequality.

In my book, Install the Happiness Software Within You, I share views on the need to take responsibility for our life. I share that it is absurd to expect that everyone in the world will treat us better. I share these thoughts not because I want to encourage people to go insane and cause unnecessary pain and harm to humanity. But I consider realising that the world we have may not be a perfect one meeting all our needs is a good step towards living a meaningful 34 | E s s e n t i a l G r a c e M a g a z i n e

life that is less boring. Taking responsibility for our situations and standing up to face our fears head-on is quite liberating.

The IWD2021 theme, #ChooseToChallenge, gives us a chance to make a choice today and choose to confront the injustices of the world. That’s why I chose to title this article “Step Up and Challenge Inequality.” I want us to step up and challenge inequality because if we don’t step up and challenge it, then nobody will. And this has to be a collective action.

Fighting for gender equality is not doing charity work. Fighting for gender equality is not fighting for women. It is fighting for a better world for everyone. The fruits of gender equality benefit society as a whole.

The inequality fight might not have yielded the desired results thus far due to a number of reasons including our mind-set that is stuck with misconceptions. Actually, both men and women continue to hold on to baseless stereotypes that women are soft-hearted and natural nurturers while men should be leaders, aggressive and emotionally unconcerned. Create a Whatsapp group today where you want to mobilise money together and provide loans to one another and find out who steps up to be the chairperson. It will be usually a man. And women would even be the first to suggest the name of a man to take the lead. It’s so worryingly worrisome.

With the aforementioned but unfortunate status quo, it becomes very important to put in place deliberate measures that seek to create a fair, just and equal world in which every person, female or male enjoys their full rights. We need to create a world in which every person, female or male realises their full potential without hindrances from anyone, whether systematic or deliberate.

As we celebrate the IWD2021, let us take time and reflect on what we can do to make the world a better place for everyone including our women. We need to challenge the discriminatory systems put in place. We need to fight for the inclusion of everyone in all sectors. We need to have more women interested and leading in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Okay, it’s also good to let a man lead the Ministry of Gender sometimes so as to send a strong message that gender issues are not just women issues. Since Edda Chitalo took the office of the Minister of Gender in 1994 in Malawi, the rest of the ministers of gender have been women. Our efforts in fighting inequality need to be increased geometrically if

we are to achieve gender parity sooner than later. The world needs the participation of everyone if the real transformation is what we all anticipate. Make a choice today to celebrate the achievements of our women. And most importantly, make a choice to challenge gender inequality today. #ChooseToChallenge today.

And in case you didn’t know, we also have International Men’s Day (IMD). It falls on 19 November. According to BBC, more than eighty countries across the world celebrate this day including the United Kingdom. This day is however not recognised by the United Nations as is the case with IWD.

About my book: Install the Happiness Software Within You, The book is a succinct attempt that empowers us to take responsibility for our inner peace, comfort and personal happiness in a world where problems are inevitable. The book further points us in a new direction where we learn and unlearn our approaches and reactions to events (good or bad) that happen to us so that we can tame our negative thoughts and afford authentic smiles coming right from within us. Dr. Chiwoza Bandawe wrote the foreword for my book.

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and improvement of quality of life. Early detection plays a big part in this. Cancer treatment can be ‘radical’ to cure or ‘palliative' especially applicable to advanced cancers and ‘symptomatic’ where the disease is too advanced for any treatment and treatment is only meant to alleviate symptoms.

Treatment methods include surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and hormone therapy to stop the cancers from growing and spreading. Usually, there are combined treatment methods and early treatment has high cure rates, improved organ function and preservation of quality of life. Follow up care after treatment is important to monitor its effectiveness.

What is the Malawi Government Doing about Cancer? Part 2

By Steveria Kadangwe This is the second article discussing the Malawi National Cancer Control Strategic Plan (2019-2029) which can be found here https://cutt.ly/lkYUFHv. To recap, the previous article talked about the objective of the strategy and some of the interventions that the government is implementing. If you have been following my articles, you know that I am passionate about cancer prevention, and this article stems from research I was doing to find out what the government is doing on cancer prevention.

The previous article discussed the risk factors, the guiding principles and strategies including raising awareness, early diagnosis and detection and prevention.

Strategy 3: Cancer Treatment and Follow Up care Cancer control programs cannot be effective if there is inadequate treatment and follow up care.

Treatment is meant to achieve long term survival 36 | E s s e n t i a l G r a c e M a g a z i n e

Currently, Queens and KCH are the two hospitals with oncologists running the clinics. Chemotherapy and surgery are the treatments being offered and more complicated cancers are not carried out in the country due to a lack of infrastructure and trained human resources. The government spends quite a bit of money sending patients abroad for complex surgeries, radiotherapy and intensive chemotherapy study was done between 2007 and 2010 at KCH showed that most of the procedures done were palliative with the worst outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa.

Anticancer drugs are in short supply and erratically available despite being on the national essential medicine list. There are no radiotherapy services and many patients with advanced cancers do not complete their treatment due to different reasons The National Cancer Treatment Centre is therefore essential and needs to be operationalized quickly to provide the right infrastructure and resources to effectively deal with diagnostics, registry and the different types of treatment in an autonomous environment. Also, there is a need to procure nuclear medicine-related materials, improve documentation and train staff at all levels in medical oncology and chemotherapy, including postgraduate programs for cancer surgery, pathology, imaging and cancer nursing and some kind of accreditation programs

Strategy 4: Palliative Care and Survivorship Palliative Care is a specialized medical discipline focused on improving the quality of life for patients with terminal or life-threatening illnesses by preventing and limiting suffering through the identification of pain assessment and providing physical, psychosocial and spiritual support.

Palliative care applies to any cancer patient regardless of age, type of cancer and stage of diagnosis. Support provided includes pain relief, wound care, stoma care, incontinence care, nutritional support, end of life care, financial support and even accommodation.

Malawi has a palliative care policy and there is a palliative care desk in the ministry of health. There are service providers that have been trained and in 2015 there were more than 60,000 patients accessing palliative services, of which 76% were adults and 24% were children.

The policy, therefore, looks at ways of improving the quality of life for people with progressive or threatening cancers and to scale up palliative care to support patients and their families by developing standards, providing services even at home, support the integration of palliative care at oncology facilities as well as the provision of rehabilitation.

Strategy 5: Governance and financing of the cancer control program The strategy outlined in this document should be implemented and followed up to ensure that it is effective, using existing institutional infrastructural human and coordinating frameworks and al relevant players to be involved. Also, adequate and sustainable funding should e prioritised to ensure that everyone gets access to services with universal health coverage. Linking the cancer centre with

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other countries would also help to make this effective. There are also opportunities to use public-private partnerships to get investors from the private sector and key performance indicators to improve cancer control programs Strategy 6 Cancer Control Research, monitoring and evaluation A multidisciplinary approach is very critical to the effective implementation of the cancer strategy.

Research should be carried out in areas of pathology, epidemiological factors, clinical, psychosocial and behavioural as well as health systems and policies. Although research is happening, it is not well coordinated and nor evenly distributed. the National Cancer Policy also strives to establish monitoring and evaluation protocols as well as implementation plans. The goal would therefore be to ensure effective coordination of cancer research by advocating for government funding, developing an agenda and ways of disseminating the information. Besides, research should also be carried out on the effectiveness of treatments and palliative care as well as using research and data use by establishing a cancer registry for research data. Monitoring and evaluation strategies should be done according to international standards and with a proper plan for monitoring and evaluation and data collection.

So, there you have it. The policy is quite detailed and has a lot of plans and direction in terms of taking control of matters surrounding cancer diagnosis, treatment and the care of cancer patients. It remains to be seen how it will be implemented to be effective – one area being publicity because for example I stumbled upon the policy by accident and had never heard of it before.

University Mental Health Awareness

By Collina Nkhambule College...Goodness! We always think secondary is crazy and a rollercoaster until you get to college. I was not prepared for the craziness and mess that comes with being in college. I for one had one hell of an experience from a messy relationship, to bad grades and studying something I had no interest in. This was all before my diagnosis of clinical depression, PTSD and severe anxiety so I was pretty confused about what was going on with me at the time. I was convinced I was lazy, unmotivated and really someone who did not want to function as well as others. I was insecure and had the lowest self-esteem. In a nutshell, college was a nightmare for me.

the flow and not being able to express yourself, and for someone like me who is a highly sensitive person (HAS) life was not exactly easy.

Pretending you are not deeply affected by things going on around you, because you want to show your peers that you have it all together was so exhausting. I had a hard time pretending to be alright and I cried quite a lot. Although trying to pretend otherwise, I ended up wearing my heart on my sleeve which did not make a good impact on how people perceived me. Living like that can be extremely lonely.

Being in college comes with being broke for the majority of us. I was broke a lot and this really sucked. This along with having to keep your grades and appearances up was not easy. With lecturers not being understanding or allowing room for you to process your personal issues. How is a 19-year old supposed to keep up with all that pressure?

It was hard all around. I think the hardest Burn out, stress, anxiety and depression thing is being different and not Most of us go to college are most definitely inevitable and there knowing why. The wanting to stay in at an age where it is are hardly any support systems set up in bed all the time and being convinced very easy to be place in colleges to help students with you are just lazy and not worthy of pressured into things their mental health issues or concerns. the money being spent on your that don’t align with As students, we were expected to be at who we are, there is a college education. I studied peak performance as long as our need to fit in or be cool Accounting and Finance in College and physical well-being is intact. and especially the the fact that it was not my passion in famous pretending to the slightest made it even more The pressure of having to do well be an “adult” challenging for me to stay focused. while at the same time keep your social As if it wasn’t enough having to worry about all that, I was at an age were seeking approval and trying to fit in was at its peak., Not fully having discovered who I was and what I stood for made it very easy for people to make me feel like a failure or constantly second guess myself.

Most of us go to college at an age where it is very easy to be pressured into things that don’t align with who we are, there is a need to fit in or be cool and especially the famous pretending to be an “adult”. Being an adult mostly looks like going with 38 | E s s e n t i a l G r a c e M a g a z i n e

life normal enough not to be labelled weird can take a really heavy toll on students and neglecting that just because the problem is something that we cannot see can be extremely dangerous. We are so focused on just being healthy physically we neglect our mental health and walk around with so much pain.

There are so many cases of students resorting to unsafe coping mechanisms because the system has not set up safe spaces for students to comfortably discuss their emotional or mental

struggles without fear of being shamed or judged.

Most students fear that they will be ridiculed or not perceived as serious with their education. That is why we have a high number of students abusing alcohol and drugs. We have students practicing unsafe sex as a means of coping or trying to fit in.

During my college years, I knew a lot of people who were abusing codeine (a sleepinducing and opioid analgesic drug derived from morphine). The codeine they used was in the form of different cough syrup bought in local medicine stores. They would often mix it with Sprite to create a drink that gave them a high that would almost leave them feeling numb or not having a care in the world. They would forget about their problems or the pressure that comes with college life. Having conversations with them about why they were on would reveal that school is exhausting and no one understands them. The same response would come from those abusing alcohol as well. The idea was that they have got to relieve this pressure somehow. To this, I would often wonder at what cost though?

I do not really know how I got through college because that place made me cry a lot. The panic attacks that I constantly had to hide from others around me were something that I never thought I would not be able to get past. I was lucky to have met an amazing support system offcampus in a church called Flood Church where we used to have meetings every Wednesday back then. That place was literally my safe space. We were allowed to be vulnerable without being judged and spoke to the leaders and each other about our mental and emotional challenges.

These events made going back to school easier because I learnt that I was not alone and

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that there was nothing truly wrong with me and my experience of college life. I wish we had that support system on campus because all I really needed was someone to talk to and listen without thinking I am crazy for experiencing my emotions so deeply or losing interest in the things I was doing. In the end, we are all really just looking for direction or redirection for others and if we cannot find it in our friends, amongst our peers in school or our lecturers we are braced for a hard ride through college.

Collina is a mental health advocate, student, podcaster, and grateful airbreather.

Listen to her show The Little Mental Health Project available on Castbox

ARE YOU REALLY TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF?

By Chilungamo M’manga Self-care is anything that you do for yourself that feels nourishing. Self-care includes all the steps an individual can take to manage stressors in his or her life and take care of his or her own health and well-being. It is not simply for the feelgood effect. It has its own benefits which help promote physical, mental, and emotional health and well-being.

Research suggests that self-care promotes positive health outcomes, such as fostering resilience, living longer, and becoming better equipped to manage stress. It does mean being thoughtful and intentional about how you’re treating yourself and your body. Small changes like making time to take a walk, having a short exercise routine, or choosing to go to bed a little earlier than usual can reduce stress and help you feel more relaxed and resilient.

Disease outbreaks not only disrupt the basic flow of life and impede economic growth, they can also elicit both acute and long-term effects on individuals' well-being. In other words, the toll on individuals is not just physical and financial, but emotional as well. The COVID-19 pandemic has radically changed the way we live, from our work to our learning to our social lives. Our new reality poses a unique set of challenges for all of us. Navigating this new normal is not easy. Now more than ever, practicing self-care is essential when it comes to taking care of our emotional health and well-being.

Self-care is not selfish. This is a time where most people are experiencing some incredible levels of anxiety and stress. Focusing on what makes us feel nourished, on what gives us meaning is part of easing those feelings and giving us a more solid foundation. Ever since I started the journey of my profession, this has been a period I have had to help a lot of adolescents deal with stress and depression. Risk factors have varied from school pressure, financial challenges, grief, and parent-child relationships.

Unfortunately, however, many people view self-care as a luxury, rather than a priority. Consequently, they're left feeling overwhelmed, tired, and ill-equipped to handle life's inevitable challenges. When you’re a parent, selfcare often slips to the bottom of the list.

Parents, when was the last time you took a deliberate step of self-care?

Young professionals, when was the last time you took a break from chasing your dreams or building your career and just took care of yourself?

Taking care of yourself is not a luxury. It is essential. And during this time, self-care is a MUST. It's important to assess how you're caring for yourself in several different domains so you can ensure you're caring for your mind, body, and spirit.

In the bible, in the book of 3 John 1:2 says "Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul."

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It is the will of God that you do well in all aspects of your life and remain healthy. Now, it is your responsibility to make sure that you take the necessary steps to ensure that this happens. Selfcare is vital for building resilience toward those stressors in life that you can't eliminate. When you have taken steps to care for your mind and body, you'll be better equipped to live your best life.

I have categorized self-care into five types; physical, spiritual, social, mental, and emotional self-care. We will begin by looking at Physical SelfCare. You need to take care of your body if you want it to run efficiently. Keep in mind that there's a strong connection between your body and your mind. When you care for your body, you'll think and feel better too. Physical self-care can include how you're fueling your body; getting enough sleep, exercising, eating well, etc.

The second type and yet most important type is the Spiritual Self-Care. Research shows that a lifestyle including religion or spirituality is generally a healthier lifestyle. Spirituality helps you discover and pursue your purpose. Turning to your faith in times of stress is an effective coping mechanism.

Naturally, people desire to be in control. Control over their own life, life events and sometimes others’ actions as well. But we all know that realistically there are a lot of things that a person can’t control, and this brings distress to individuals.

Believing in a higher power (God) fills man with faith and trust that someone superior is in charge and will be able to control things in their favor.

Romans 8:28 says “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

This knowledge helps Christians to live a peaceful, stress free and fulfilled life. Nurturing your spirit is one of the ways of practicing spiritual self-care. For Christians, spending time reading the word of God, praying and gathering with other believers in places of worship helps deepen their relationship with God

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hence be more in control of life and be able to handle daily stressors effectively.

The third type is Social Self-Care. Socialization is key to self-care. But, often, it's hard to make time for friends and it's easy to neglect your relationships when life gets busy. Close connections are important to your well-being. The best way to cultivate and maintain close relationships is to put time and energy into building your relationships with others. Everyone has slightly different social needs. The key is to figure out what your social needs are and to build enough time in your schedule to create an optimal social life. Find time to meet and spend time with friends and families. Make efforts to nurture the relationships you have. Build a strong support system.

Mental Self-Care is the fourth type. The way you think and the things that you are filling your mind with greatly influence your psychological wellbeing. Mental self-care includes doing things that keep your mind sharp, like puzzles, or learning about a subject that fascinates you. You might find reading books or watching movies that inspire you fuels your mind. Mental self-care also involves doing things that help you stay mentally healthy. For others it may be as simple as taking a walk when feeling overwhelmed, listening to music or taking a break from social media The final type is Emotional Self-Care. It is important to have healthy coping skills to deal with uncomfortable emotions, like anger, anxiety, and sadness. Emotional self-care may include activities that help you acknowledge and express your feelings on a regular basis. Whether you talk to a family member or close friend about how you feel, or you set aside time for leisure activities that help you process your emotions, it is important to incorporate emotional self-care into your life. Learn to acknowledge how you feel about things or situations. After acknowledging them, be able to express those emotions. Talk to someone about the emotions. You should also learn different ways of managing your emotions if they seem to get out of

hand. Avoid nurturing emotions like bitterness, unforgiveness, hatred, jealousy etc. Someone once said, “unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die from it”.

Ephesians 4: 31-32 says “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you”. Forgiveness helps you heal emotionally.

In conclusion, develop your Self-Care Plan. Self-care is not a one-size-fits-all strategy. Your self-care plan will need to be customized to your needs. A self-care plan for a busy college student who feels mentally stimulated will differ from that of a retired person who yearns social connection, and most definitely different from a nursing mother who constantly feels overwhelmed. Assess which areas of your life need some more attention and self-care. And reassess your life often. As your situation changes, your self-care needs are likely to shift too.

When you discover that you're neglecting a certain aspect of your life, create a plan for change. You don't have to tackle everything all at once. Identify one small step you can take to begin caring for yourself better. When you're caring for all aspects of yourself, you'll find that you are able to operate more effectively and efficiently.

It is tempting to ignore many health concerns in this COVID 19 season. Many are fearful of hospitals and choose to avoid getting medical help for their concerns.

This is not ideal, none of the illness and diseases that were there before COVID 19 have taken a break.

Take care of yours and your family’s health!

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Resources Beit Cure International Hospital The Beit CURE International Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi, is a 72-bed teaching hospital that specialises in treating the orthopaedic needs of both adults and children.

Address: PO Box 31236, Blantyre 3, Malawi Tel: +265 1 871 900, +265 1 875 015, +265 1 873 694, +265 999 505 212 Fax: +265 1 874 397 Email: malawi@cureinternational.org Website: www.curehospital.mw/ Malamulo Hospital Malamulo Hospital has been providing healthcare to one of the poorest districts in Malawi, Africa since 1902.

It's located 65 kilometers southeast of the city of Blantyre in Thyolo District in the southern part of Malawi.

Malamulo is a major referral hospital for Malawi and Mozambique.

Address: Makwasa, Malawi Tel: +265 1 470 222, +265 1 470 255 Fax: +265 1 470 231 Email: enquiries@malamulohospital.org Website: www.malamulohospital.org/ Blantyre Adventist Hospital The hospital was founded by an American couple, Dr. Elton and Dr. Rheeta Stecker in 1974, as an offspring of Malamulo Hospital to help raise revenue for Malamulo Hospital operations. Blantyre Adventist Hospital is a Type 4 institution under SDA General Conference Policy.

Address: P.O. Box 51, Blantyre, Malawi Tel: +265 1 832913 Website: www.bah.mw/ 43 | E s s e n t i a l G r a c e M a g a z i n e

Zamumtima Sizawekha (ZS) means if you have a burden, you do not have to carry it on your own in the Chichewa language.

The ZS project began in October of 2020 by recruiting students from different programs of study at Chancellor College. They were selected from different years of study and different ages. The project brought them together allowing for the sharing of information from different disciplines and backgrounds around mental health stigma. It was a rigorous selection process, with both written applications and formal interviews with potential applications. Here are the projects that will be rolled out by this trained group of students: Visit our website and social media pages for more updates on our work at https://www.artgloafrica.org/opportunities

Group One: Za pa easy si za pa easy This team is looking at using community theatre, paintings and drawings to spark conversation about underlying mental health issues among already existing youth clubs. They are hoping to engage at least 1040 youth in the area of Thom Allan. They plan on working inadeptly with a small group of people and incorporate music, poetry, drama, storytelling and dance in their activities. They observed a need for more conversations to be had in mental health in Thom Allan and felt that training existing youth clubs is an effective way to change that.

Group Two: Nkhawa si dhilu Over four weeks, this team plans to use drama and forum theatre specifically to cartel misconceptions and stigma around depression. During this time, they intend to reach at least 2000 young people in the area of Chikanda and at Chancellor college. They want to create small clubs, and have 30 youth form the community learn about and practice forum theater. Their research highlighted that certain groups of people are either not sure or believe in misconceptions that are to do with mental health. They want to focus on a small group of youth for their first 3 weeks of their project and then having the youth showcase what they have learned through this form of art in the community. Thus, these youth in their group will become ambassadors of the message, even after the projects initial run, since they have been built in capacity with it.

Group three: Osaphweketsa Madando This team has planned to use sports, theatre, paintings and music in activities which include; a fashion show, sports and mobilization event, listening sessions, participatory drama sessions and a painting session.

This group felt a need to connect mental and physical health by incorporating sports into their activities because, during their research, their respondents had listed physical activity as one of their coping mechanisms when stressed. They are incorporating art to help people freely express themselves through it but also start conversations about art pieces such as painting that depict issues to do with mental health.

The fashion show will showcase thought provoking couture that will be the basis for more conversation on mental health and mental health stigma. Chancellor College and Chikanda are their areas of interest and they 44plan | E s to s e reach n t i a latGleast r a c 3000 e M apeople g a z i nover e four weeks.

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At YOUR IMAGE by A. D. Henson we focus on enhancing you from the inside out. We also believe that it is important for one to be in the right place of work for them to reach their full potential. That is why we have partnered with Global Vocational Assessments to offer you this opportunity through our Career Guidance & Counselling Service. Vocational assessments allow you and/or your child to be a step ahead regarding the future. To gauge the career options that work best for you.

This assessment is based on your personality, strengths and interests. This way you can save money and time from studying courses that were never your true calling. Also; if you are interested in changing careers this is a great tool for you to use while making the necessary change and transition.

Our services are not limited to Malawi and are offered virtually or in person (observing covid19 precautions). Results of the assessment are instant, often available within the hour of consultation Book an appointment NOW via email: yourimagebyad@gmail.com or WA +265991323293 46 | E s s e n t i a l G r a c e M a g a z i n e

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Essential Grace Magazine Promoting mental health and wellness through media Contact us essentialgrace@zoho.com / essentialgrace@yandex.com

Call: 0991 938 203 48 | E s s e n t i a l G r a c e M a g a z i n e