The unlikely origin of the friendship benches being rolled out at the Qatar 2022 World Cup 💬 “The Friendship Benches project is a reminder of how the simple act of sitting down to talk can make a huge difference to mental health'
Grandmothers in Zimbabwe have provided a valuable service in listening to those with mental health problems in a local initiative that has gone global For a decade, Lucia Ngabu, has listened to depressing stories but none touch her like that of a 19-year-old who had approached her in 2018.
Ngabu, 60, is one of the 400 the grandmothers trained to delivery therapy to people with mild to moderate level common mental health disorders, such as anxiety and depression, known locally as ‘kufungisisa’ in Shona, a Zimbabwean local language, where the project began. In New York, the benches attracted around 30,000 visitors after being piloted in 2016 and launched in 2017. The city so far has three permanent benches in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Harlem. In London, a pilot scheme was launched in April using funds donated by Mackenzie Scott, the former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.With the 2022 World Cup due to kick off in, Friendship Benches will be present to offer its services.
, who started the Friendship Bench in one of Harare’s townships called Mbare in 2007, is now scaling up the initiative to more than 60 primary healthcare clinics in Zimbabwe.
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