WITH youths as their target audience, the Massy Group in Guyana recently provided cash prizes to four winners in an art competition they launched to promote suicide prevention and mental health awareness.

The close to 40 participants were required to create a painting based on this subject using acrylic paint on a 24 x 30 centimetres canvas and in a two-minute video, had to show and explain their painting.

It’s now five years that the company has been rolling out projects focused on mental health and suicide and Director within the Massy Group and Head of the Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Steering Committee Christpen Bobb-Semple said it is due to the high suicide rate among youths in the country.  “We saw it as another platform to involve our youths in something that was innovative and creative. Suicide is affecting a lot of our young people in Guyana, so we wanted to have activities to target that audience so that they can channel their energies in positive ways,” he shared at the ceremony recently to announce the winners.

The company has been partnering with various stakeholders to host the events and, according to Bobb-Semple, will continue to do so to be able to make the best impact. “One life lost is one too many,” he offered.
Jamal Durant and Suriya Walcott have won the senior and junior categories, respectively, in the first-ever Massy art competition in support of suicide prevention and mental health awareness. Durant won $60,000, while Walcott won $30,000.

Tia Adolphus, another competitor in the senior category, and Jermain Garnett, who entered the junior category, both placed second and were awarded $40,000 and $20,000, respectively. Massy Guyana also presented all the winners with plaques to honour them for participating.
Massy Group launched the competition last August 8 in collaboration with the E.R. Burrowes School of Art under the theme, “Creating Hope Through Action.”

Durant, one of the winners, remarked: “Prior to this, I had never participated in an art competition even though I paint, so I am very happy to have won the senior category.” Additionally, he shared that he entered the competition because he saw how useful his talent could be in highlighting various facets of what affects society, including mental health and suicide, with emphasis on the male population in Guyana.

As for Walcott, he offered: “I am honoured to be the winner of the junior category. Since Guyana is within the top three countries with a high suicide rate, I was inspired to do the painting because I felt I could help prevent this from continuing in some way, and I can do it through art.”

Adolphus shared that she is proud of her painting. “I feel so honoured to be part of the competition and to be chosen second place. Art is a form of expressing one’s emotions and I wanted the piece to reach those who are also suffering with their mental illness and bring more awareness to suicide prevention because I feel as though mentally unstable persons often get neglected.” She added, “Our mental health is just as important as any other condition, and I want those who are feeling alone and helpless to know they are not alone and they should never give up on themselves.”

During his remarks, Garnett said he was honoured and happy to have placed second. “Thanks to Massy for this competition and to my family, who told me I was capable and should stop limiting my talent to modelling clay and play dough, I now have a different view, having won something with my first painting.”

He explained that he also entered this particular competition to help remove the stigma from mental health issues and contribute to suicide prevention because “many people do not realise that mental health is one of the leading contributors to suicide. Mental health problems are real, and I want people to know that not only adults experience issues but children and teens do too.”

Meanwhile, since 2018, the Massy Group in Guyana has been advocating for suicide prevention and mental health awareness through partnerships with government agencies and non-governmental organisations.

The Massy Group is encouraging everyone to educate themselves on the telltale signs of suicide. If you or someone you know may be at risk for suicide, seek help by calling the lifelines: 223-0001, 223-0009, 600-7896, or 623-4444.