- At eMbo, about 50km outside Durban, flood survivors are teaming up with researchers from the Africa Health Research Institute at the University of KwaZulu-Natal to show how climate disasters affect people’s mental health.
- eMbo’s people lived through the devastating floods of 2022.
- Through digital storytelling, such as drawing pictures of their experiences and voice recordings, residents turn their personal trauma into evidence, detailing the emotional costs of floods and droughts.
- The project is part of the Wema (The impact of extreme weather events on the mental health of vulnerable populations in Africa) study, which is doing similar work in Kenya, Mozambique and Burkina Faso, creating a picture of how climate change is affecting communities across Africa.
- The goal: to use this newly collected evidence to push for policies that make mental health support a core part of disaster recovery, not an afterthought.
In today’s newsletter, our Health Beat team looks at the mental toll of climate change. Sign up for our newsletter today.
Bhekisisa is a collaborator on the Wellcome Trust-funded project, led by the Africa Health Research Institute (Ahri) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Bhekisisa, however, operates editorially independently of the project. Find out more about our funding policies.
Anna-Maria van Niekerk is Bhekisisa’s news editor. She joined the centre after six years as the managing editor of the investigative television show, Carte Blanche. Anna-Maria has an extensive career in in-depth health and human rights reporting and has been named both the Vodacom Journalist (2002) and Discovery Health Journalist of the Year (2010) for exposés on the selling of human body parts for muti in Limpopo and the devastating consequences of HIV denialism.
Mia Malan is the founder and editor-in-chief of Bhekisisa. She has worked in newsrooms in Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington, DC, winning more than 30 awards for her radio, print and television work.
Jessica Pitchford is Bhekisisa's TV and multimedia editor. She's been a journalist since the early nineties and has reported on some pivotal events in South Africa’s political history, such as the country’s transition to democracy and the work of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission.
Thatego Mashabela was a multimedia producer at Bhekisisa from February 2024 to October 2025.
Ryan Logie specialises in documentary filmmaking, bringing a deep passion for storytelling to every project.
Jeannine Snyman has worked in TV for over 25 years and has extensive experience in all aspects of the production chain.
