SheCentre: The Female Podcast

Auma Rita: Battling the Mind, Healing the Nation – A Mental Health Advocate’s Brave Journey

Resty Kansiime Season 2 Episode 22

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In this powerful episode, we sit down with award-winning mental health advocate, lawyer, and author Auma Rita, founder of Heart to Heart Spaces. Rita vulnerably shares her deeply personal journey through mental illness—from diagnosis and suicide ideation to healing and hope.

She opens up about being diagnosed with four extreme mental illnesses in 2019 and how that moment gave her the freedom to finally understand her internal battles. With raw honesty, Rita recounts her lowest point—planning to end her life after doing “enough” advocacy—and the promise she made to God during a self-funded marathon that saved her life.

Now three years later, Rita has dedicated her life to mental health advocacy, providing subsidized therapy, organizing community outreaches, and challenging stigma through education. She’s passionate about changing the language around mental health, teaching emotional literacy to children, and reminding others that “every part of the body is allowed to fall sick—including the brain.”

We also explore:

  • How Heart to Heart Spaces was born from a hospital admission
  • The self-stigma people face after diagnosis
  • Why mental health deserves the same urgency as cancer and diabetes
  • Her journey as a survivor of sexual assault
  • Her upcoming Mental Health Run in Kampala on September 7
  • And why she believes: “There is always a price to pay for purpose.”

Whether you’re on your own healing journey, supporting someone through mental illness, or passionate about mental health advocacy, Rita’s story will challenge, encourage, and inspire you.

🔗 Follow Auma Rita

📚 Books: Dear Me and Dear Us

📲 Instagram: @hearttoheartspaces

🏃🏾‍♀️ Learn more or support the upcoming Mental Health Run.

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