As men, we do not look for help when we have problems because we are supposed to be independent and informed on everything to solve our problems. While at the university I needed basic essential items but I did not want to burden my mother, and I did not want people to see me struggling, so I could not ask for help. I was overwhelmed like many children in my generation who are growing up fatherless. Without father figures, we lack guidance and are forced to navigate life according to our ideas which affects in the long run, especially when we make poor decisions. Men need to be listened to, to be heard. Listen to the other side and do not judge them but help them find solutions.
“Men are supposed to be strong and all-knowing. This makes them live in denial and isolation when things are not going well for them.”
- Leon Gidaguyi, DEI Embrace Foundation Volunteer
Leon was raised by a single mother. “I was lucky I did not take the same path as some of my friends who felt burdened, neglected, and abandoned and resorted to drugs and alcohol when they were done with university and could not find anything to do with their lives. One of my high school friends, Herman, lost his father, and his mother remarried; everything seemed fine on the outside. However, I later learned that he had to care for his two siblings because his stepfather would only provide for his biological children. He got into the wrong company, started stealing and taking drugs, and was later killed by a mob. I wish he had shared what he was going through with someone because talking gives you strength, and you realise you are not alone. COVID-19, has brought new challenges apart from economic; we also struggle to find our identity, do something with our lives which affects us mentally.”
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