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Putting mental health in the spotlight through filmmaking

20 October 2022 | Story Gerda-Marié van Rooyen

Using her experience in theatre and her passion for students, Gali Mokgosi, Residence Head of House Madelief, helps students explore and implement skills to cope with the demands of university life. A Health and Wellness coordinator for residence life, she helps improve their lives by teaching them the value of sufficient sleep, nutrition, exercise, recreation, positive coping strategies, healthy social and sexual relationships, and a sense of belonging within residences.

Mentoring and supporting university students

As a former English lecturer for first-year students, this go-getter saw an urgency to mentor and support university students. In 2016, she landed a job as residence head and resigned from lecturing to focus on theatre and residence affairs. Soon after her appointment, she and her colleague, Nthabiseng Mokhethi, Residence Head of House Ardour, were asked to coordinate the Residence Life Health and Wellness portfolio at a time when there were many suicide attempts and mental health issues, and drug and alcohol abuse plagued residences.

“Our main responsibility as Health and Wellness coordinators is to support Residence Committee Health and Wellness representatives (RCHW) in their respective residences. We facilitate training for RCHW peers and help them to think broadly about how campus life inside and outside the classroom – including residence life – affects and is affected by the physical, mental, and spiritual health of its students.”

Using film to address topical issues

With an honours degree in Drama and Theatre Arts, this UFS alumna knew she had to adapt to virtual means for her portfolio to continue supporting students during COVID-19.

“There was a need for intervention, and I saw an opportunity to close this gap by helping students through their challenges using films. I wrote films that directly address the challenges students were/are facing. Being a residence head, content for my films is always under my nose, and the storyline is undeniably relevant to them.”

Mokgosi wrote and produced four films for the various student support offices, with the help of Shibashiba Moabelo, Institutional HIV/AIDS Programme Coordinator at Kovsie Health, and Pulane Malefane, Assistant Director: Residence Life. These films are, I am, Triggers, Versus me, and Monate jou lekker ding.

This scriptwriter says when students can identify themselves in a story, they tend to gravitate towards a solution as suggested by the story. Students across the University of the Free State’s (UFS) three campuses act in the films. After watching a film, students engage with each other and receive tools to explore the story and reflect on the outcomes as suggested by the film.

Proving her sensitivity for inclusiveness, she had an opportunity to be part of the art skills exchange programme in Deaf theatre at Gallaudet University, Washington, DC. She also presented a research paper in Athens, Greece.

Mokgosi is looking forward to experiment with Deaf films in 2023.

Asked how she looks after her mental health, she reveals: “I take care of my mental health through prayer and meditation. I believe the first place to prosper is through my spiritual life. God is my strength from day to day. He is my all in all. Without Him, I will fall.”

News Archive

Food insecurity should not stand in the way of education

2015-06-11

Every year, hundreds of students drop out of university due to financial difficulties – only to return to dire financial circumstances. It is only a few who manage to secure a bursary to fund their studies. These bursaries often pay only for academic and residential expenses, leaving students without additional funding for food.

The University of the Free State realized that up to 60% of its students were food insecure. Many of these students admitted to having to work after class to buy food or having to beg from friends. In 2011, the UFS launched the No Student Hungry Bursary Programme (NSH), which provides modest food bursaries to food insecure students. Currently, 130 students receive food bursaries from the programme to ensure they have one less thing to worry about while they are studying.

This year, at our Autumn Graduation Ceremony, six beneficiaries of the NSH Bursary Programme, received their degrees – an achievement all them feel they could not have reached was it not for the support by NSH.

For Tshililo Nethengwe, accounting student from Venda, her first year at university in 2012 was a daily battle. Although her parents managed to pay her study and accommodation fees, the meager monthly food allowance her parents could afford was not enough to last her the month.

“Every morning I used to tell myself not to think about food because I am here to study. Somehow, I still managed to get something to eat – even if it was just a few slices of bread a day. I was very determined to succeed in my studies, and NSH took away the burden of needing to ‘hustle’ and beg for food.”

Tshililo was one of six NSH recipients who received their degrees and is now doing her honours in B.Com Accounting.

“The NSH Bursary Programme invests in potential, and supports academic achievers who come from challenging backgrounds,” explains Vicky Simpson, co-ordinator of NSH.

“We promote the success of undergraduate students, enabling them to focus on their studies and not on where their next meal will come from. Successful graduates will have a positive and direct impact on our economy, different communities, and many households.”

The NSH food bursary is awarded to students on the basis of financial need, academic excellence, and the commitment to serve the community. We have helped more than 500 students since 2011, when Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector, started NSH.

“These students share amazing stories that inspire us. Many had to endure hardship, but they managed to persevere, worked hard, and made it to university. The ability to buy a meal makes an enormous difference.”

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