Sheknatu Isata Bangura, a contestant in the upcoming Miss Freetown Beauty Pageant for the Central Area, joined health officials, community leaders, and members of the public on Saturday, October 10, 2026, to walk through Freetown and mark World Mental Health Day. The event, which started at Youyi Building in Brookfields and ended at Family Kingdom, brought together stakeholders from the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, other government ministries, departments and agencies, development partners, and grassroots representatives to raise awareness about mental health and foster community action.
“Walking is a natural extension of my belief that beauty should transcend physical appearance,” said Bangura, a fifth-year medical student. “Beauty needs to be married with intelligence, compassion, and action,” she told the attendees and observers. Her dual role as a healthcare trainee and pageant contestant informs her approach. She sees the Miss Freetown platform as an opportunity to speak out on issues that affect Freetonians’ daily lives, with mental health at the top of her priority list.
The walk was a visible reminder that mental health is an important part of overall health. Mental health is “a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community,” according to the World Health Organisation. Mental health is more than the absence of mental disorders. “There is no health without mental health,” declares the WHO, a message repeated by organisers and participants throughout the event.
This year’s theme for World Mental Health Day was “Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change”, and much of the conversation centred on it. This focus on listening to people with lived experience of mental health conditions and allowing their voices to shape services and policy aligned with Bangura’s advocacy goals. She called on Freetonians to create platforms where people can tell their stories safely, without being stigmatised or dismissed.
At the Miss Freetown stage and in community engagements, Bangura highlights three interrelated aspects of mental well-being that everyone should know and cultivate:
• Emotional wellness is the capacity to process and deal with emotions such as happiness, sadness, stress and anger.
• Psychological well-being includes cognitive functioning, self-esteem, resilience and problem-solving skills.
• Social well-being is the ability to create and sustain healthy relationships, meaningful connections with others, and a sense of belonging.
“These areas reflect how mental health affects all aspects of everyday life, from personal relationships and education to work, family life and community participation,” she said. She encouraged community members to reach out and check on their loved ones, to listen without judgment and to talk openly about mental health. “Most importantly, let’s remind ourselves that it’s okay to ask for help,” she said. Every story matters. Every mind matters.”
Bangura also called on communities to reduce stigma by creating safe spaces for open discussion and encouraging people to seek help early on. Her medical background informs her focus on practical, compassionate solutions to mental distress, and her pageant background provides her a larger platform to spread those messages throughout Freetown.
“As the Miss Freetown pageant draws nearer, Bangura said her campaign will continue to focus on advocacy, education and service to show that a crown can be a powerful tool for positive change rather than just a symbol of beauty. “I hope that by participating in public health activities on World Mental Health Day, I can encourage others, particularly the youth, to take mental health seriously and collaborate to build a more compassionate and supportive society,” she said.
