Lutendo Lishi

I am a 29 years old mother of two girls. I am from Nzhelele, in Limpopo Province. I am a second born to my single mother of 3 girls and 1 boy.

I am a postgraduate certificate in education student at Stellenbosch university. I hold a bachelors degree with honours in psychology. I am a postgraduate students support counselor and a helpline trainee lay counsellor. I previously served as a mentor and student leader of the mentorship programme. I was recognised in top 500 most employable graduates in 2020.

I am passionate about mental wellness and my dream is to become a psychologist.

Being a Mamandla fellow means being an advocate for change. It means ambition and dedication to being the change that I envision. It means commiting myself into being the backbone for mothers who need support in dealing with challenges of motherhood. It means getting on the ground, collaboratively working with mothers, empowering them to improve their lives.

I wish to deal with issues on mental health such as prenatal and postpartum depression. I realised that clinics prioritise physical check ups for babies and mothers. I want to voice the necessity of giving mental health equal priority. I want mothers to speak up. I want to offer them the platform, knowledge, skills and direct them to relevant places of assistance. Together, we can eliminate saying such as ‘a sad generation’ by being mentally nourished mothers pouring love and happiness onto our little ones. Happy mother, healthy and happy baby!