At least 800 University of Zimbabwe (UZ) students converged at the university campus on Saturday to take part in a Colour Run Health Expo whose focus was to provide students with a platform to engage on matters of health and wellness.
UZ Student Representative Council secretary for social welfare Petronella Mabika said the interest in mental health and well-being in university students has grown exponentially in the last decades.
“We recently did a paper in August, focusing on mental health concerns and we established that anxiety and depression is on an upward trend. Since then we have been embarking on various endeavours to assist students overcome these challenges,” Mabika said.
UZ Student Representative Council Entertainment officer Kuzivakwashe Nyamuchengwa said “we often take it for granted that many students must, often for the first time, leave their homes and distance themselves from their support networks. These challenges can affect the mental health and well-being of higher education students.”
He added: “We are thankful to Simbisa who sponsored the event. Baker’s Inn donated 1000 boxes of Russian and Chips and Wa- faya also chipped to make the event a success.”
Wa-faya founder and CEO Spencer Meares said the entrance to the university marks a period of transition for young people and Wa-faya was playing its part in providing the platform to bridge existing gaps.
Wa-faya is a voucher based system created to offer those in the diaspora a seamless service to purchase goods and services in Zimbabwe.
“We are sponsoring this event and similar events which we are rolling out to all other universities. We had one at NUST University on Friday. Due to the success of these two events will roll out this same concept to other universities,” Meares said.
At the end of the event, students were treated to entertainment from singer songwriter Takura Bernard Shonhai famously known as Takura and Fadza Mutengi hit maker Poptain Yardbwoy (real name Ameen Jaleel Yaseen).