I felt that no matter what I did, I failed to fit in and that my environment resented who I was. Moving back to Zimbabwe after growing up in the US, where my father raised us to become independent and strong women, was challenging. I was excluded by my peers at school, and I felt very lonely without friends. That resulted in suppressing my emotions and delving into performance as my value in life. As an adult, I jumped into failed relationships before I ended up in a controlling and emotionally abusive relationship. Driven by my subconscious wish to succeed in the eyes of my society, I pushed further into it while losing myself bit by bit until I could not recognize myself anymore. See how I reached a point where I couldn’t continue, and I decided to break out of the relationship. This allowed me to look at myself and face my deeper trauma. Learn how I found a community to share my emotions and how this allowed me to find strength in my vulnerability. I focused on developing myself; with it, I realigned the different parts of my identity and lived experiences. Since larger parts of my career and life were spent supporting others as a mental health professional, I now could utilize all my knowledge to strive in my journey. This allowed me to grow even further as a professional and use my lived experience in my work. This is my story.

I felt betrayed and disrespected by my husband, who was cheating on me, but I did not know how to handle it. I tried to share it with my loved ones, but they struggled to believe me due to the circumstances. I felt humiliated if it came out and was scared of what would happen to my family and children. The affair continued, and the distance between us grew with it to the point where I lost myself, and I felt it would have been easier if I had left this world. See how I found some “Gogo’s” (Grandmothers) that were speaking about depression and the symptoms of stress when I went to the clinic for a sore throat. When they explained the confidentiality and process of their free counseling, I dared to open up completely about my situation. Learn how this allowed me to lighten the burden and, together with my Gogo, find a way to get support within the family to face my husband. With that support, I managed to stand up for myself, and I decided to stay and work on our marriage together with him, but now as a more independent woman. This is my story.

The shame and degradation I was filled with hit me in my core, and I felt completely worthless. Growing up, I was an empowered young woman with dreams and ambitions of becoming someone in life. Those dreams and aspirations were shattered when I had a child at a young age. I found a new husband and got another child, but when I thought life was good, he started emotionally abusing me through unfaithfulness and misuse of power. I felt I had placed shame on my family and myself yet again, and my self-worth completely vanished to the point where I tried to commit suicide several times. See how I found a way to open up and lighten my burden through free counseling with the “GoGo’s” at Friendship Bench, an organization for mental health. I started their peer support group and found a community where we supported each other through our struggles. Learn how we also helped each other to create small businesses that allowed us to become more independent. This helped me to ensure that I was not dependent on any husband or man, so I could provide for my children and myself. This is my story.