Dressed in a purple golf shirt and a pair of black trousers, 22-year-old Sankhani Kamanga of Khwechu Village, Traditional Authority (TA) Kafuzira in Nkhotakota District, walks out of his marital home and heads to a small brick tailoring shop just 40 meters away.

Inside the shop, he carefully brings out his electric sewing machine, powered by solar energy, and sets it up on the veranda, ready to begin the day’s work.

“My father bought this electric sewing machine for me from South Africa, and I built this shop myself to start the business,” Kamanga says proudly.

Through his thriving tailoring business, Kamanga’s life has changed significantly — both financially and socially.

“This business is helping me a lot because I can now buy soap, food, and other basic needs for my family. Every day, I make not less than K1,000 from my tailoring shop, and I also save some,” he explains with a smile.

Kamanga is one of the mentally stabilized individuals in the area who benefited from counselling and financial literacy training through a three-year Comic Relief–funded project titled “Passing and Supporting: Building Tactics for Community Mental Health Care.” The project is being implemented by Youth Net and Counselling (YONECO) in partnership with Zomba Mental Hospital and Tackle Africa.

Married and a father of two, Kamanga recalls how his mental health challenges began.

“I became ill unexpectedly when I was already married and had one child. It all started because of smoking cannabis and alcohol abuse,” he says.

Through the project, he began receiving treatment and was later introduced to a Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA).

“I borrowed some money from the VSLA, which I invested in farming during the 2019/2020 season. I also used part of it to buy pigeons, and they have since multiplied,” Kamanga shares.

His father, Thomson Dumang’ombe, says his son’s condition began in 2018 while he was working in South Africa. He expresses deep gratitude to the project for restoring his son’s health and dignity.

“I am very happy now to see that my son is doing well and living a normal life again,” Dumang’ombe says.

Health Surveillance Assistant (HSA) at Kasitu Health Centre, Jonathan Chirwa, says financial literacy training has helped improve the lives of stabilized mental health patients in the area.

“At first, they didn’t know how to generate or save money, but after the training, many have started small-scale businesses,” Chirwa explains.

He says 70 mentally stabilized individuals have so far been trained under his jurisdiction through the project.

Chirwa notes that stigma against people recovering from mental illness was once widespread, but community sensitization has greatly improved attitudes.

“Before the project, stigma was very high, but now people are more accepting and supportive,” he says.

He adds that drug and substance abuse remain major causes of mental illness among young people in the area.

“Many youths remain idle, and this leads to smoking marijuana and alcohol abuse,” Chirwa says. “We are now working closely with community structures, caregivers, and traditional leaders to sensitize young people on the dangers of drug and substance abuse.”

For Sankhani Kamanga, life has truly turned around, from battling mental illness to becoming a successful tailor, husband, and father.