The warm sun filters through thorny acacia branches onto a weathered wooden bench tucked beneath a mango tree. A gentle grandmother—known affectionately in Shona as an ambuya utano, or community health grandmother—invites a weary stranger to sit, asks softly, “Would you like to share your story with me?” It’s the kind of opening that feels like a comforting embrace—an invitation to be seen, heard, and understood.
In Zimbabwe, where the weight of decades of hardship—poverty, conflict, and trauma—has left many suffering from kufungisisa, or “thinking too much,” the Friendship Bench has bloomed into a simple yet revolutionary form of mental health care.
What began in 2007 in Mbare, a township of Harare, with fourteen grandmothers offering outdoor talk therapy, has blossomed into a global movement rooted in empathy, trust, and community healing.
Roots In Resilience
The program’s founder, psychiatrist Dr. Dixon Chibanda, sparkles in my memory like a resilient pioneer. The tragic death by suicide of a patient—one whose family could not afford the bus fare to return to the clinic—haunted him deeply.
Zimbabwe had only a handful of psychiatrists and psychologists for millions of people, and Chibanda realized that change had to happen within communities, not just hospitals.
He recruited local grandmothers—respected, wise, and trusted—trained them in eight days of problem-solving therapy, empathy, and active listening, and placed wooden benches in clinics and under trees across neighborhoods.
Profound Impact
By 2016, results from a rigorously controlled trial published in JAMA revealed that those who sat with a grandmother experienced sharply decreased symptoms of depression—just 14% remained depressed after six months, compared to 50% in standard care.
By 2024, the program had reached all ten provinces of Zimbabwe and helped thousands maintain HIV viral suppression—underscoring how mental health is deeply intertwined with physical wellbeing.
Today, more than 3,000 grandmothers across over 70 communities have supported hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans. One case study reports 700,000 beneficiaries and a staggering 78% reduction in suicidal ideation among participants.
A Shared Circle — Circle Kubatana Tose
A vital and often overlooked part of the program—the fourth point I promised not to miss—is the peer support group known as Circle Kubatana Tose, meaning “holding hands together.”
After the one-on-one therapy, clients are invited into these community gatherings, where others who have endured similar struggles share stories, encouragement, and small victories.
It’s in these circles that the magic of belonging truly unfolds: people who have been weighed down by isolation find belonging; voices silenced by stigma find strength. Through shared laughter, empathy, and understanding, healing becomes collective.
Spreading Seeds Of Hope Globally
This model, born of Zimbabwean soil, now grows in far-flung places. In Washington, D.C., HelpAge USA launched Friendship Bench DC in 2024, training older volunteers as “grandparents” who listen—with no judgment—to visitors in senior centers, schools, and community spaces.
In the UK, a pilot launched in Sussex in spring 2025 has set up indoor benches in libraries and halls, staffed with lay counselors (both “grandmothers” and “grandfathers”) who offer weekly sessions of non-judgmental listening and practical support.
From New York to Qatar, Malawi, Kenya, Zanzibar, Vietnam, and El Salvador, the Friendship Bench model has been adapted—through frameworks like “Friendship Bench in a Box” enabling low-cost replication and scaling.
Even global health thought leaders are taking note. A Financial Times analysis of volunteer mental-health movements around the world highlights Friendship Bench as a remarkably effective and scalable model, particularly in under-resourced settings.
A Story Of Hope, Not Hype
Let me share one moment I’ve carried with me: in Harare, a young mother sits across from an ambuya utano. She clutches a note—their homework: three small, achievable actions this week. Without pressure, without judgment.
Weeks later, she returns with a shy smile: the chores are done, she slept through the night—and the weight that once felt crushing has eased. At Circle Kubatana Tose, others greeted her as a survivor, a healer in progress.
This program is not about charity—it’s about reclaiming dignity, in ways that are culturally attuned and deeply human. There’s no villain, no quick-fix magic. It’s about real, sustained relationships, forged on benches and in circles.
Looking Forward
If mental health care often feels dominated by long waits and clinical walls, Friendship Benches offer an alternative rooted in connection. They ask for simple things: to listen, to empathize, to believe someone’s story matters.
In Sussex, they’re calling waiting lists and stressors “the real problem,” and responding with compassion. In urban Zimbabwe, grandmothers deliver solace with wisdom shaped by community. In Washington, D.C., older volunteers fold hearts into healing, one conversation at a time.
From Zimbabwe to the world, Friendship Benches carry hope—the kind that lingers long after the last word is said.
Sources:
Positive News
King’s College London
ASRA
Friendship Bench Zimbabwe
AARP
The Guardian
