In Zimbabwe, where mental health resources are scarce, the Friendship Bench is demonstrating real, positive impacts. With its simplicity and cost-effectiveness, the Friendship Bench has crossed Zimbabwe’s borders and is being replicated in six other countries, lighting the path toward addressing the global mental health gap. The piece showcases the impact of McNulty's grants directly to communities.
We knew we needed to focus on the community and not just the organization. Picture community grandmothers, treasured for their wisdom and cultural knowledge, sitting on benches and providing therapy sessions. This approach, steeped in cultural values, has not only resonated with the community but has also shown scientifically backed success, even outperforming traditional therapy methods.
Our stories are human focused, driven by everyday people changing the world. It sounds big, because it is. Our partnership with McNulty Foundation allows us to identify some of the best change makers out there making the types of impact we love to highlight in our work.
The film has had over 400K views on Youtube alone as well as screening at conferences globally. Our audience was moved and inspired by the simplicity and effectiveness of the Friendship Bench strategy. The comments on the video had one common theme, a love for grandmothers. Our approach at Freethink is always looking for the relationship at the heart of the story. This is one of our best examples of this strategy succeeding.
