Naledi’s Story On Navigating Mental Health Challenges And Finding Purpose
Sometimes, we suffer in silence. I started having mental health issues at a young age, not knowing what they were exactly, and in turn, they formed part of my personality. These mental health issues then started being apparent in my early adult years; they were a manifestation of all my childhood traumas. I learned that I had depression and anxiety when I went to varsity and did more research on what I was going through.
I found that I had all the symptoms: I had no desire to live, I had given up and struggled with being in social situations and articulating what I wanted or needed, and I was very withdrawn and always very negative-minded. Because I was quiet, my mind was a dangerous place to live in. I then attempted to commit suicide with failure. I had a support system that tried their best to help me overcome this even though they didn’t understand what I was going through.
As time went on, I then started to read self-help books because I was tired of living in constant pain. I didn’t want to survive; I wanted to live. I drove myself out of the pit of depression even though it was a very long and tough battle. Today, I am happy I get to tell my story. There’s a lot that people go through and never get assistance or even self-help. Mental health issues are a very vital part of our overall health as they distort views of an individual in so many ways. It is important to keep healthy habits for our mental health so we can not only live but thrive.
If I were to offer advice to someone going through similar mental health challenges, my primary suggestion would be to find the root cause of their distress because mental health challenges often stem from deeper, underlying issues. Identifying what specifically triggers your emotional responses and understanding the reasons behind these triggers are crucial steps. Uncovering the ‘whys’ paves the way to addressing and resolving the core issues at hand. While this approach may prove beneficial for some, it’s important to acknowledge that it might not be effective for everyone.
Moreover, it’s important to allow yourself to experience and process your emotions fully – but refrain from acting impulsively on negative thoughts, as such actions can be harmful and sometimes even worse. Allowing yourself the space to express feelings such as sadness or anger is very important for releasing stress. For those who find it difficult to express emotions openly, journaling could be a helpful option.
Above all, if you’re struggling with mental health issues, I think it is important to be kind to yourself more than anything. Practice self-love through doing things that make you feel alive and happy. This helped me to find myself again and to find purpose in little things.
Mpho Mogodiri is Celebrating our Indigenous Heritage
We really need to reconnect with our roots to nature and listen to the elders around the world. I call them living libraries because they actually know most of the things that we don’t know. They have this knowledge, but they don’t know who to share this knowledge with. It’s because we are not asking them about these things. It’s something that I’m trying to spark with my business. To say, ask your grandmother about this, ask your grandfather about this, ask your elder about this and let there be a bit of information sharing. My grandmother would share her stories around fruits. For example, the wild sour plum. Those are the things she would talk about. I feel that knowledge like hers should be preserved somehow. 
People don’t go into the wild as much as they used to. There’s a lot of activities to do now. There’s a TV in every home. There’s PlayStations, there’s Twitter, Facebook and so on. For us, when we wanted to play, we would go foraging and people are no longer interested in foraging. And if people are not interested in something, it loses its value.
I got introduced to foraging by my grandmother. I grew up in the Northwest, in a village called Seolong. We would go foraging with my grandmother and also with friends. It was actually fun to do it. I think it was a great, formative period. It’s a part of who I am. It’s a part of my identity and culture. I believe right now we are losing this knowledge which forms a great part of who we are.
The impact that starting my business had on me is that I really had to connect with my childhood again. Not only that but it’s also taught me that challenges in life are seasonal like the items we would forage. I appreciate nature more. I get to impact other people’s lives because when I go foraging, now, I go with a group of young people. They teach me about these fruits because some of them have been doing this their whole lives. Now they are paid for that knowledge and skill and they get to be paid through me. I get to put food on somebody’s table. It has impacted me that I’m doing good. I’m sharing my gift with other people. I’ve learnt to really listen to the ingredients and just go with the flow. It has shown me a different Mpho. 
At Indigenous Delights, we produce luxury food, such as jams and chutneys, made out of indigenous, raw products. We exclusively source our raw material from women and youth in the villages in the Limpopo province. We do this to ensure that we provide a way of earning income for women and youth, and also to ensure that the materials we get are indigenous to that area and are collected sustainably.
I wanted to make something that I grew up loving, indigenous delights, into modern food. There’s a certain stigma that comes with some indigenous fruits that I grew up eating. I ate that a lot when I was young because we had nothing else to eat. So, some of the foods are seen as poverty foods. We’re trying to break through that stigma.
Evolving to me means growth. It means pushing boundaries. Knowing that fear is there, but saying to the fear, 'I acknowledge you, fear, but I'm not gonna let you paralyze me'. Evolving means chasing your dreams the only way you know how. Evolving is also growth in terms of knowing yourself and making things happen for yourself and for those that are around you. It’s about opening the door for those who come after you.
