This past Saturday, I joined the annual Cancer and Men’s Health Walk at Yardfit, and I left with a full heart. The funds raised support the Pink Project and the Blue Project, which work closely with the Cancer Association of Zimbabwe.

Families, friends, colleagues and strangers walked side by side for a cause bigger than any one of us. It was beautiful to see the community come together like this, and all the more fitting because it is ‘Movember’, the month dedicated to men’s health.

Movember reminds us that men’s health is about more than the physical. Mental health deserves the same attention, and we need to keep putting a light on it. We live in a world that expects men to be supermen: strong, unshaken and always in control. That expectation leaves little room for a man to say, “I am not okay.” Yet being vulnerable is not weakness. 

It takes courage to speak about what you are carrying, and it takes all of us to create spaces where men feel safe to do so. The more we talk about men’s mental health, the easier it becomes for the next man to speak up. So here is a small challenge: check up on someone today. Ask them how they are doing, not as a formality, but because you want to know. Then listen. You do not need to have the answers; being a listening ear goes a long way.

Support doesn’t have to end at the finish line. It can continue long after the walks and runs are over. Click here to watch the video recap.