Community Changemaker: Onai’s Story

Onai Chikumo, a dynamic MindSKILLZ Coach and emerging media personality, has become a voice of hope and inspiration for young people in her Bulawayo community – and across all of Zimbabwe. 

Her journey into advocacy began in high school, where she served as a peer educator with the Grassroot Soccer (GRS) SKILLZ Teen Club program. That experience planted the seeds of a lifelong passion for youth empowerment and well-being.

“I quickly learned that while many adolescents were eager for information, what they needed even more was someone who would simply listen to them without judgment,” she recalled.

From those early days of supporting her peers between classes, Onai has evolved into a powerful presence in Zimbabwe’s adolescent health space through her work with GRS. As a trained MindSKILLZ Coach, she became a beloved mental health supporter and role model for young people in her community. Participants from MindSKILLZ – GRS’s flagship mental health promotion and prevention program – shared how her mentorship helped them open up emotionally, stay focused on school, and build the confidence to pursue their goals. 

As one said, “[The program] changed our lives. We now focus on our schoolwork, we’ve started opening up to our parents, and we understand our goals – all thanks to our Coaches.”

In addition to working directly with young people as a Coach, Onai played a prominent role in GRS’s MindSKILLZ media initiative, which included mental health-themed radio dramas, podcasts, social media skits, and short visual dramas. Onai’s voice and storytelling featured heavily in the weekly podcasts, where she shared real-life scenarios and gave relatable advice to listeners. 

The impact was immediate. “Being invited as a guest on a mental health podcast for young listeners was a truly enriching experience,” she said. “What stood out the most was how it actively opened the path of parent-child communication. We helped parents understand how to listen [to their children] without judgment, and gave young people the tools to express themselves.”

As the program aired, Onai received positive feedback from listeners, who shared how the podcasts helped them better understand mental health and that keeping a healthy mind is essential to personal growth. 

The experience has opened new doors for Onai. She now hosts a new drive-time show called “Youth Talk with Tinny”, airing every Friday on National University of Science and Technology (NUST) FM, where she is keeping the vital conversations on mental health she helped start ongoing. 

“Listening to GRS’s mental health-themed radio dramas, those stories moved me,” she said. “They gave voice to silent struggles and sparked conversations in homes and schools. That’s when I knew I had to use my voice for something meaningful.”

While Onai is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Informatics and finishing her third year, she continues to balance her studies with community engagement. She also has supported GRS as a research assistant, contributing to collecting data to better understand the impact of both the MindSKILLZ program and the media initiative.

“Being a peer educator changed my life. While I was helping others, I found myself, too,” she said. “GRS gave me the platform to grow, to speak, and now to lead conversations that matter.”

As the MindSKILLZ media initiative concludes, its success is evident in stories like Onai’s. Onai’s journey is proof that investing in young voices doesn’t just change a life — it empowers the next generation of leaders to change lives, too.