Julias Odhiambo, a champion for mental health and Zetech University, school President
When Lena Kanana began experiencing persistent stomach pains during her second year at university, she thought it was stress.
What she didn’t realize was that the burning sensation in her gut was the physical manifestation of something much deeper—unseen, unspoken, and quietly overwhelming.
“I had stomach issues, which led to painful ulcers. The pain in my stomach was unbearable, but the weight in my heart was even heavier,” she says.
At home, her single mother was struggling to keep Lena in school. Medical help was a luxury. The guilt of being a financial burden took a toll.
Days blurred into nights of sleeplessness and anxiety. Alone and introverted, Lena hid her suffering until suicidal thoughts crept in.
“I couldn’t take it anymore. I felt like a burden. I stayed indoors. Sometimes I just wanted to end it all,” she recalls.
But Lena’s story didn’t end there. A single, vulnerable conversation with a peer who had gone through similar struggles became her turning point.
“She understood. I realized I wasn’t alone,” Lena says.
“That one conversation changed everything.”
That peer connection, though informal, reflects a promising and underutilized solution in Kenya’s response to the rising tide of mental health issues among university students.
A Crisis Demanding Attention
Mental health among university students in Kenya is increasingly being recognized as a national concern. With academic pressures, financial struggles, and the lingering stigma around mental illness, the crisis is both real and widespread.
According to estimates, four out of five students who die by suicide in Kenya were depressed at the time of their deaths.
But across the country, change is beginning to take root—not just in policy discussions, but in practical, people-centered solutions.
Emerging Responses: Campus-Based Mental Health Interventions
Several universities, including Zetech University and Kenyatta University, have taken steps to tackle the crisis from within.
At Zetech University, the student leadership has placed mental health front and center of its agenda.
Julius Odhiambo, the student president, is leading peer-led mental health advocacy and awareness initiatives.
His belief is simple but powerful: “It’s not about counting cases. It’s about listening to stories.”
Under Julius’s leadership, the student government has launched regular wellness check-ins, mental health sensitization drives, and informal peer support groups.
These are cost-effective and immediate interventions that create safe spaces for students to share, listen, and support one another.
“Sometimes it’s easier to talk to a fellow student. They understand your world,” says Julius. “What we do is make it okay to say ‘I’m not okay.’”
Zetech has also partnered with trained counselors who visit the university on scheduled days to offer confidential one-on-one sessions for free—a practical workaround to the national shortage of mental health professionals.
At Kenyatta University, Dr. Eunice Njango Githae leads the Counseling and Guidance Department. She advocates for integrating mental wellness directly into academic systems.
“Every student should take a unit on emotional intelligence and coping strategies, just like they would take a unit on communication skills,” she says.
“If we normalize mental health knowledge, we reduce fear and stigma.”
Kenyatta University has made progress by embedding mental health topics into orientation programs and deploying student mentors trained in basic psychosocial support.
What’s Working—and Why
While the scale of the problem remains daunting, the initiatives at Zetech and Kenyatta universities demonstrate that solutions don’t always require massive budgets.
What’s proving effective, according to both students and faculty, is the combination of peer support, intentional visibility, and proactive engagement within the student community.
These types of interventions are helping to reduce the stigma around mental health and normalize help-seeking behavior.
By tapping into trusted peer networks, universities are offering students a safe and relatable way to open up about their struggles.
This peer-centered approach allows for early intervention, often preventing issues from escalating into full-blown crises.
Moreover, these models are highly adaptable and scalable.
A student-run support group, for instance, does not require complex infrastructure or significant financial investment.
Universities can implement scheduled counselor visits, initiate peer mentor programs, and organize mental health awareness weeks with minimal resources.
These low-cost, high-impact strategies make mental health care more accessible and culturally relevant for student populations.
Importantly, the growing success of these programs lies not only in their structure but also in their ability to create safe, supportive environments where students feel heard and empowered.
As a result, these interventions are becoming blueprints for other institutions seeking sustainable, student-centered mental health solutions.
The Challenges That Remain
Despite these efforts, systemic barriers persist.
Mental health services across Kenya remain underfunded. In many universities, the counselor-to-student ratio is severely inadequate.
For some students, the fear of being labeled “weak” still stops them from seeking help.
But there’s growing consensus on the way forward: collaboration between institutions, investment from government, and normalization of mental health conversations within student life.
Professor Owen Ngumi, a mental health advocate and counselor at Zetech, puts it simply:
“Mental health should be treated like any other health issue. And that begins with acknowledging it, funding it, and training for it.”
A Path Forward
Lena Kanana’s journey is not unique, but it is a powerful reminder of the importance of being seen, heard, and understood.
Her story—and others like it—show that even small, intentional steps can disrupt the cycle of silence.
Today, Lena is speaking out, slowly healing, and encouraging others to do the same.
“I may be struggling now,” she says, “but this isn’t the end of my story.”
And thanks to growing efforts by students, educators, and health advocates across Kenya, she may be right.
