At only 23 years old, El-shaddai Masauli is doing what her peers can only dream about.

She is young, but determined to change the narrative of young women in the country.

El-shaddai wears many hats to give back to society.

She is an entrepreneur, Miss Culture Malawi second runner up, a farmer, an interior designer, marketer, teacher and a mental health advocate.

What really drives her to do all that she does?

Her response: “My journey hasn’t been easy. It is by the grace of God that I am still alive, overcame my distress and reached this far. Most importantly, I am able to reach out to other young people about the effects of mental health.”

El-shaddai says she had been harbouring suicidal thoughts for a while.

Her focus on mental health and entrepreneurship is to keep busy and flood her mind with positivity.

El-shaddai (4th from left) with some girls she mentored

“Waking up each morning and having a business to focus on every day is a testimony,” she says.

Currently, El-shaddai uses the modelling platform to reach out to people, especially young women battling with mental health.

She mentors youths through Tiwale, a non- governmental organisation in Tsiriza, Lilongwe.

The mentor partnered with Ellen Chilemba, owner of Tiwale, to work with women and girls on empowerment to impact their lives positively.

“For me, modelling has proved to be good for networking and empowering other people than just a beauty pageant. We are living in troubled times where the majority of people, especially women, are battling psychosocial challenges which expose them to suicide.

“So, my mentorship and motivation is dwelt on mental health to support young people to build resilience,” she says.

El-shaddai lost her mother at the age of six and her father when she was 10.

Since then, she has stayed with different relations which exposed her to numerous challenges.

The model says she overcame to become the woman she is today.

“I remember praying when my late mum was in hospital at just six years old. And I told God that if only He could heal my mother, I would build a church, but she still passed on,” she says.

El-shaddai adds that after the death of her mother, she almost stopped believing in God because she experienced the void that only a mother could fill.

She says: “I lost my confidence in the world. I could not share how hurt I was. I felt alone in a world full of people and I struggled to fit anywhere.

“And in 2018, I got scammed and lost a lot of money which I had to pay back in a month. This happened when I was a middle person in multiple businesses. This misfortune happened at the same time I was shouldering a huge responsibility at home. My relatives were getting divorced, plus examinations on my plate.”

And with all the tension at home, El-shaddai was left to pay her university fees and other needs.

She adds that circumstances forced her to stay on her own at the age of 19.

However, El-shaddai, who is now an advocate for mental health and women empowerment, believes sharing her experiences can save other people who are stressed and depressed.

“I do not like comparing situations, but I know most of us have been through so much— be it mentally, emotionally or financially. And it gets overwhelming to the point that you cannot even share how you feel. But still, breaking the silence becomes a great relief.

“Better still, using my personal experience has turned out to be a powerful weapon to reach out to others who are faced with psychosocial problems,” says El-shaddai

She says common causes of mental health problems range from social to economic, citing lack of school fees and parental neglect.

“Relationship challenges such as breakups and too much expectation from people may also lead to mental health. Therefore, young people must not expect positive outcomes from people all the time. They must be prepared for rejection, too, for them to be able to handle themselves emotionally and psychologically,” she says.

El-shaddai adds that majority of young women and girls she has interacted with take her motivation talk positively.

She has reached out to over 500 and is geared to reach more as she is looking for women-led organisations to partner with.

She urges youths to seek help and open up to deal with mental challenges.

She observes that many people suffer from extreme mental health challenges because they do not break the silence.

“And people must be willing to help those who reach out rather than mocking them. It is sad that often, people take it for granted when others are faced with mental health issues,” she says.

She also suggests that schools should introduce guidance and counsellors to handle psychosocial issues affecting students.

El-shaddai is Lush Africa Foundation public relations officer and communications manager.

She is inspired by her late grandfather Stanley Masauli to embrace entrepreneurship.

“He taught me about his work and business strategies at a very young age and made me realise that the sky is the limit.

“On the other hand, the entrepreneurship culture in me was sparked by the traumatic life experiences I went through,” she says.

The mentor attended Zomba Baptist and Chirimba Local Education Authority primary schools.

She also attended Ndirande Hill and Chinkhuti Community Day secondary Schools in Lilongwe.

El-shaddai is a third year student at Pentecostal Life University ,studying community development.

“My ambitions are to involve local communities in various farming projects and opening up a foundation under my late mother. I want to help as many women as I can through my future projects,” she says.

She urges young women to dream big and wake up from their comfort zone.

“No one will push you unless you push yourself first. And always remember that it’s your future and if you fail today, try again tomorrow without giving up. And it’s not easy being an entrepreneur, but it is possible.

“I am set to inspire many women to change their stories. Because of the Miss Culture Malawi platform, I will be representing Malawi at the Miss Africa international this September,” she says.

The post El-Shaddai Masauli: From suicidal thoughts to a role model first appeared on The Nation Online.